I am a long time SAAB owner, don't hold that against me!
A friend of mine has an 86 Volvo 240 DL Wagon she has owned since new. It has been well taken care of. It has about 180k miles on it.
Lately, it sometimes doesn't start. It cranks, but does not "kick".
This happens about once every 2-3 weeks. It does not seem to coincide with warm or cold, wet or dry. Recently it happened after sitting 10 minutes at the supermarket. Several times it has happened after the car has been sitting in the parking lot at work after a workday.
She returns 30-45 minutes later and it starts just fine.
Her long time trusted mechanic has moved to somewhere in Georgia. We all know that intermittent problems are very difficult to diagnose, especially ones which only show up once every 2-3 weeks.
Any suggestions? Is there a common problem which might be the cause of this? Maybe a fuel pump relay or??
Is there another news group or mail list where I might post this? Or a FAQ?
The owner is a woman who is not a mechanic by any stretch of imagination. If it were my car, I would certainly perform some tests or wiggle some wires in an attempt to find the cause, but she might not be capable of this.
Thanks for listening. I will watch for your answers but feel free to e-mail me directly.
Charles.