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1990 240 won't start sometimes, now all the time

Help -- I know nothing about cars...I have a 1990 240 w/180K on it - I bought it 1.5 years ago and have had no work done to the car. End of last winter, it would often not re-start if it had been turned off for less than one hour. Then the weather warmed up and the problem went away. Since it's cold again, this intermittent restart problem has returned. This week, my husband drove it to work in order to open her up on the highway, and after about 15 minutes, all the power went out

-- lights, dash, radio. He parked it at work and would not restart for several hours. The next day (yesterday) it would not start at all. Dash lights come on but won't even turn over.

Is this an electrical problem? Could it be the fuses and if so, is it easy enough for us car dummies to DIY clean them? Battery? I'm afraid to bring it to a mechanic due solely to my ignorance and lack of cash.

Thanks!

Reply to
julianne.corey
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It's likely to be something simple, battery cables, engine ground strap, something like that.

What's your approximate location? Someone here may be able to recommend a good mechanic. If you know nothing about cars you probably don't have much in the way of tools anyway so a mechanic is probably the way to go, but you do have to find one you can trust. A local independant shop that specializes in European cars and has been around for a long time is usually the best way to go. They wouldn't survive long if they were ripping people off.

Reply to
James Sweet

I'm in the Boston area. Medford, Somerville, Cambridge side of the river is more convenient. Any recs would be greatly appreciated.

--Thanks!

Reply to
julianne.corey

It's been along time but, 15 years ago, when I lived in Arlington, there was no doubt that the best repair shop around for my old Volvos was Cinderella Motor Carriage in Alewife (right behind the rotary). All they fix is Volvos and they know more about the old ones than any dealer. They weren't cheap (except compared to dealers), but they always found the right problem and fixed it on the first try.

Note that I have no connection with Cinderella except as a satisfied customer (long ago), and don't even know if they're still in business.

-----

-RL

Reply to
Robert Lutwak

I think it is two separate problems. The first is the "crank but no start" problem which sounds like a classic failure of the fuel pump relay. The solder connections on the circuit board inside crack and it doesn't like to work when warm.

The other failure - all lights going out and now won't crank - is very likely at the battery. It could be the battery itself, but I suspect the cable connections to the battery. Cleaning those (take it apart, clean/scrape, and put it back together) is a real good place to start. Batteries made since about 1980 have a frustrating failure mode where they will become intermittent. Whacking the posts with a hammer, about like cracking a hard nut (flick of the wrist, not a heavy blow), will often make the connection inside come together enough to get to someplace the battery can be replaced.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

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