'86 245 intermittent won't start

airmassmeter.

Fuel pump relay, the soldering cracks on the circuit board inside and the car won't start, this is the #1 no-start problem I've found.

Fuse panel corrosion, happens much more readily in some climates than others, visual inspection is pretty easy, rolling the fuses with a finger will usually at least temporarily cure this.

Hall sensor in distributor, this will cause both lack of fuel and lack of spark if it fails, often gets intermittant first. Easy to check by pulling the center wire from the distributor, and hold it near bare metal under the hood, crank the engine and watch for a spark.

Another thing I've seen cause this problem is a corroded connector at the fuel pump under the car, twisted it around a bit and seated it firmly and it's been fine ever since.

airmassmeter.

Dunno but I have had the same the last 2 days (80 model FI) since a battery failed. All those failed attempts at starting might have upsset it. 3 fuses affect starting on mine and jiggling them seems to help, but it's too much of a coincidence that it only started playing up after the battery, maybe it's just the wait that dries the flooding out. I'm going to try changing plugs.

1. Rotted wiring
2. Clean all wire harness connections and dont forget all the battery connections
3. A few choice swear words.

Harold

You don't say what engine he has. My 1989 760 turbo (B230FT) had the same intermittent problem for a couple of years. Several hundred dollars later (both fuel pumps, the Hall effect sender, ignition coil, ignition relay, fuel system relay, coolant temperature sensor, ignition power stage unit, plugs, wires, cap, rotor), I finally found the problem. The "charge air overpressure switch" (basically, a vacuum-operated on/off switch that monitors for excessive turbo boost) was defective, cutting off power to the fuel system relay (and thus the pumps), even when there was *no* boost (the car was not running).

The Haynes manual for the 740 only covers through 1988, and it specifies the switch as being under the dash, by the pedal cluster. For some totally head-f*cked reason, the Volvo engineers moved the switch up under the hood for 1989, and MOUNTED IT TO THE COOLANT OVERFLOW TANK! Like dramatic heat cycling would ever affect an electronic device....

My local dealer had never heard of this part, and IPD doesn't have it either. I spoke with IPD's go-to turbo guy (can't remember his name), but he told me that if I suspected a faulty switch, to just short across the two wires that go to it, and see if the car starts then. Two alligator clips and a scrap of wire (essentially free), and the car has not failed to start in many months.

Good luck. I know it can be frustrating.

--Dale

airmassmeter.

He said it's an '86 245, there was only one engine available in North America in that car, the B230F.

I'm having the same problem with my 850SE 20 valve 1994 model. I'll try out some of these solutions. Thanks.