1993 940 Turbo will not start

Hi

I recently purchased a 1993 940 turbo that has 120,000 miles. It is a 4 door sedan automatic, 4 cylinder. The seller took great care of the car, and kept a record of all the services.

He never had any trouble starting the car while he owned the car (original owner).

Once I brought it home, I went out to a store a few miles away and the car died at a stop sign. I then started it up and it seemed to work fine and drove on. Then at the next stop sign the car died. Now it will not start at all. It cranks well, but that is about it.

I took out the Fuel pump relay and resoldered all the joints, cleaned the contacts on the relay panel board, etc, but still the same problem - no start.

Not sure what to do next. The car is stranded a few miles away from my house and would love to get it out of there (before I have to spend $100 on a tow)

All ideas are welcome.

TIA!

Reply to
s m via CarKB.com
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Check the Ignition Amplifier and firing point sensors for connection problems.

All the best, Peter.

700/900/90 Register Keeper, Volvo Owners Club (UK).
Reply to
Peter K L Milnes

Thanks for the reply. I'll check that now. ... Do you know where these are located, the Ignition Amplifier, and the firing point sensors?

TIA

Peter K L Milnes wrote:

Reply to
s m via CarKB.com

Can you hear the fuel pump running? I had one fail that kept buzzing but it had broken internally so it wasn't pumping. Try spraying some starting fluid into the air intake pipe and see if it tries to start, if that works then the problem is fuel, otherwise look at the ignition.

Reply to
James Sweet

crawl under the drivers side and tap the silver fuel pump w/a wrench...mine did that a few times as the pump was dying...

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

The fuel pump seems to 'whirr' for maybe two seconds after the ignition is turned on, and I can feel the fuel pump relay clicking at the same time. I then opened the hood in search of the distributor cap, of which there either is none, or I could not find. The spark plug wires attach to this very compact 'thing' that runs right up against the firewall and the back of the valve cover. If that is the distributor cap it looks like a major pain to open up and tak a look inside.

Lacking any better ideas, after rapping on the fuel pump under the driver's seat a few times (as suggested), I cleaned all the contacts as best I could where the spark plug wires connect to the 'thing' crammed into its very inconvenient location, as well as cleaning the coil terminals.

Heretofore the car just 'turned over' but when I then re-attempted to start the car for just a second it sounded like the engine was about to take, but that was all. I might have sprayed something into the 'air intake' but I do not even know where the intake is located. And as for what to spray into it, are you suggesting the starter fluid you use to light a barbeque? If I knew exactly where the air intake was and exactly what to spray in there (aside from gasoline) I'd have done that as well.

As an aside, this is truly a drag. This is a car for my dau to use. We spent several weeks trying our best to cherry pick the right car with the right miles, the right seller, best condition, etc etc etc, and on my nod, we got this one -- one that I am sure of now is a total piece of s*, and a lemon. We just drove the damn thing home and the first time out it breaks down, and just sits across town in an empty lot. I can have it towed and repaired by a mechanic, but that will cost at least $500 to $600, and I do not want to spend a penny on a repair only after less than one hour of taken ownership of the car, but since I can't get the f*ing thing started how am I supposed to get it back to the seller who lives 50 miles away, even IF I can negotiate a return and a full refund?

Once I start spending money on this thing I am committed, and I am not sure that is what I want to do. Being on this site you'd almost thing Volvo's were the cars of gods, but it seems like just another s&tty car that breaks down and has all kinds of bugs. I have bought some bad cars in the past, terrible cars -- but at least they worked for several months before I had to do anything with them. And the price I paid for them reflected the bad car. You want to know what a bad car is? A mercury sable station wagon, 1990 vintage, with 116k mile at 8 years old. I needed a car to get the kids about, and did not want a van, so this was the next best thing. I spent $5,000 on that dog, transmission to power sterring issues, brakes, water pump, everything.

The point is here this car is, the Volvo, totally clean, near perfect body,

120K miles, no leaks at all, very good interior, new tires, seller has all service receipts, been impeccably maintained, and we have it for less than one *hour* and it sits across town broken down not starting!

Is this a sign that the car is about to have a l>> Hi

Reply to
s m via CarKB.com

That's the distributor cap, it's really not too hard to access, if you flip the little levers on the hood hinges the hood will open all the way vertical and then you can use a box end wrench (8mm?) to take out the three bolts holding the cap on.

Reply to
James Sweet

you know you have 2 fuel pumps, right?

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

I think there is one under the driver's seat and one in the fuel tank. The one in the fuel tank = $$$$$.

But once I get this car fixed I'll be ready to hit the open road ... at $3.09 per gallon. The Europeans have been paying about $4 for years, but Europe is like legoland, all the distances are grossly scaled down. In the US all the distances are much larger, by 10x. Thus even though Europe paid $4, because average distances travelled were considerably less, the per capita amount of gas used was 'generally' quite similar to what a driver in the US had to pay at ~$1.50.

The only way to fight back is to develop another technology -- one that will simultaneously make oil and gas obsolete, but as a bonus will destroy the federal government, an option reserved in the declaration of independence"

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. "

Time to pull the plug on the federal govt. Time for better and *meaningful* technologies that will keep people out of the manipulative trap of monopolies, and I am not talking about a fancy updated version of the i-pod, or a cell phone with new bells and whistles.. I sure wish I were a lot smarter. I hear water can be used to power a car by separating the hydrogen gas out of the water molecule. Something called the HydroStar.

Anyway, thanks for the tips. I'll drag myself out to the car for the tenth time and pull the lid >you know you have 2 fuel pumps, right?

Reply to
s m via CarKB.com

The one in the tank is about a third the cost of the main pump under the car.

Reply to
James Sweet

Something very similar happened to my '95 940 with 160K miles on it last year. It did require a tow. It turned out to be a dead ignition coil. Unusual, but it does happen.

Bob

Reply to
Aleric

how much $ was the 940t?

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

I had a tear in one of the hoses in the tank pump so it was sucking air. The car would not start.

Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see: Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)

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Reply to
Boris Mohar

Reply to
s m via CarKB.com

Yep, I finally had it taken to the mechanic. No time to work on it. It is a car for my dau, she is off to colege soon, so that is the way it goes. It can be anything really. By the time talk of pulling fuel pumps from inside of gas tanks hits the board, it is time to turn it over to the mechanic. Somewhere in the fuel or ignition (both?) the mystery of a non-start lies.

One thing I like about the car is it is only a 4 cylinder, and the engine compartment is big, most things are easily visible, so for the at home hobby 'mechanic' it is not a bad car. The downside is if you are not mechanically inclined, or just dont have the time, a car like this can potentially be a real nightmare, as one visit to the mechanic can equal the cost of the car. I am still undecided about whether or not I want to keep the car. The seller is paying for the repair. Once it starts, I might simply drive it back to the seller and get my money back.

As much of a hassle as that is likely to be, it cannot be a good sign that within one hour of getting a used car home it breaks down and is stranded on the side of the raod across town.

Aleric wrote:

Reply to
s m via CarKB.com

hummm...that's a bit high...but, the 940t is a great car, once runnin' good....what happined when you tried spraying starter fluid and turning over? did it "catch" or "sputter"??

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

One thing that no one has mentioned was a major source of non-start for me for a couple of years in my 1989 760 turbo. It was the "charge air over-pressure switch", which is supposed to cut all power to the fuel injection (including pumps) if it detects too much turbo boost.

IPD doesn't sell it, and my local dealer had no idea what I was talking about, so I just eliminated it from the starting circuit with a 6" length of wire and 2 alligator clips.

Prior to trying this, I had replaced nearly everything in the ignition and fuel injection systems. I did this at least a year ago, and the car has not once failed to start since then.

Best of luck,

--Dale

Reply to
Dale James

As I've said before on here, location and condition are everything. A cosmetically nice 940 in the right location is worth $3K easy, I see them go for $4K+ fairly regularly.

Reply to
James Sweet

Sounds like you'll be in for a surprise in a few years when the wastegate hose rots out or falls off. I would *highly* recommend replacing that switch, you can get one from a junkyard. Without it you'll break a rod and knock a hole in the side of the block before you know what happened, that switch is the last line of defense, uncontrolled boost skyrockets at an astonishing rate.

Reply to
James Sweet
  1. s m via CarKB.com >>

so, did you hear from the mechanic yet? what is/was the problem...??

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

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