Sudden Death

Did your timing belt break. With all these oil leaks etc, I would not be surprised if your timing belt broke. Usually when the timing belt breaks the engine is very quiet when you crank the engine because there is no valve noise and no compression.

One word of warning. Coolant and oil are the life blood of an engine. Much more important than cabin heat. Check you levels regularly. Your car is obviously on its last legs unless you get it fixed.

Ron/Champ 6

Agreed. I also think it is the FPR - whose failure is fairly notorious for that model year. Also, the engine would most likely be a non-interference B230 in a '88 240.

AC

Sounds like Santa wants you to have a new car!

As one who drove 240s for about 20 yrs or so (musta been a masochist) I know it's necessary to have a catastrophic failure to finally realize it's time for something better.

I know, I know - even though the main seal and water pump are drooling, and the car barely was running, you still want to have someone tell you everything's gonna be OK - so go to the Brickboard and you'll find plenty of folks who'll commiserate with you and tell you the ol' gal is worth saving:

But they're wrong (trust me) - just find yourself a nice 940 Turbo or

None of the redblock 8 valve engines were interference, at least not those used in the US market.

Still, if the timing belt broke the engine will not sound right when you crank it.

Verify fuel flow, when my main pump failed the motor in it was still running, it was just not pumping. If your tank pump was bad you may well have killed the main pump, that puts a lot of strain on it.

Also replace the engine wiring harness if you have not already, in that year car it will be bad.

How's the cosmetic shape? 240s are fantastic cars, they're easy to work on and will run pretty much forever very cheaply so long as you take care of the well documented issues that pop up at certain ages. I've driven other cars but whenever I hop back in my 240 I know why I've kept it all this time.

Check the fuel filter. My old car (95 850) was sold to the local butcher and randomly died with no warning or any change except for the motor no longer running. Wait ten minutes or so, it would catch when turned over and run as if nothing had happened.

If you're getting lots of fluids coming out, check to make sure that there is no mixing (main gaskets are gone and block is probably cracked.)

Does sound as if it is time to start reading the local buy-and-sell newspapers and finind out who handles Volvo lease returns in your area. Get a more recent one for about 5-8 thousand less than the dealers charge.

I got my 2001 V40 that way and saved 3 thousand right from the get-go (figure in the dealer prep and taxes and you're pushing 5 thou).

In article , Ron writes

Some education please. What does the term "interference engine" mean?

Means that in normal operation, the valves extend into the cylinder below the highest point in the pistons' travel--so if the timing belt breaks, some of the pistons will hit extended valves, damaging both the piston and valve, requiring engine replacement.

Gary

Moving components inside an interference engine, namely the pistons and the valves occupy the same space, just not at the same time. Broken timing belt causes the valves to stop moving while the pistons continue and things crash resulting in anything from a few bent valves to a pretty well destroyed engine. Virtually all engines with more than 2 valves per cylinder are of the interference design, as are some with only 2.

In article , Gary Heston writes

I see. Thanks, that makes it completely clear. Presumably, then if you had a high compression engine, say a diesel, it would likely be an interference type?

Yes, I'm not aware of any non-interference Diesel engines, the compression is *so* much higher than a gasoline engine that you really can't have much empty space at the top of the cylinder.