Car cranks but won't start

I am not very mechanically inclined by any means. But I'm trying to figure out why my Volvo won't start right now. It's a Volvo 240D 1986. It's been very wet out lately and it stalled on me the other day. I went to start it this morning and it wouldn't budge. The engine is cranking, I can hear it, but it just doesn't start. Thinking about it being low on gas I went to the store and put in a few extra gallons plus some of the dry gas to no avail. If anyone can help me out I'd appreciate it.. Otherwise I guess I'll call a tow truck! :)

Reply to
unilynx
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It could be moisture condensing on electrical parts. I had a Peugot with that problem. When I was at home, I could blow warm air from a hair dryer over the distributor, and start the car. On an older car, the wiring can make it hard to start in wet weather. Dirt collected on the wires lets moisture build up.

Reply to
Marvin

It could be a fuel pump relay, or fuel pump.

Reply to
Mr. V

Well you need fuel, spark, and compression for it to run. Assuming the cranking sounds normal you probably have compression so the next thing to do is check to see if you have a spark, if that is present then you have a problem with the fuel system. Report back what you find out and we'll go from there.

Reply to
James Sweet

I used to have to whip the mag out of my car and shove it in the oven for 20 minutes or so on damp days before it would start.

Reply to
Mike Lindsay

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the link above is a picture of a crack i noticed...

not sure if this has anything to do with it or not.. but i've had the car towed and it seems like it must be something to do with the fuel pump.. it cranks and theres a spark so..

Reply to
unilynx

That's the preheat tube, I usually just yank those and toss them, if the airbox thermostat fails the hot air from that tube will kill the expensive AMM and unless you live in a cold climate the preheat tube does little.

Reply to
James Sweet

Oh okay thanks. Well I live in Maine and we have pretty cold winters, but if it's not a huge thing I probably won't worry about it..

Reply to
unilynx

Looks like it was the Fuel Pump Relay.. That's what my mechanic told me. Total came to about $120

Thanks for everyone's input! :)

Reply to
unilynx

...except cause you to fail the smog test if it's cracked, torn, or missing.

Reply to
clay

For future reference: In some model years (iirc), the hazard signal relay is the same unit as the fuel pump relay. Check your manual to confirm but might save a towing bill in the future.

Reply to
clay

As far as I know there's no Volvo like this. All injected models up to '77 and LH injected models up to 1984 do use "plain normal" relays that are used elsewhere, but all the rest use specific fuel pump relays. Of course I'm not sure about non North American models, but I'd assume they're the same.

Reply to
Mike F

Yeah, my mechanic said that it was not the same. It was specifically a fuel pump relay.

Reply to
unilynx

I'm not clear on what you're saying here. First you say you don't know of any Volvo like this. Then you say some injected ones up to '84 use relays that are also used elsewhere. Sounds like you're contradicting yourself...*g* I guess what you're saying is, later models like the OP's '86 are not like this. I'd have to agree, after chasing my fuel problem, that the ones that have the relay on the left of the doghouse in the driver foot well have specific relays. Those like my '83 that have two relays behind the panel under the glove box, use a generic relay that could also be used elsewhere.

What I know is, all I could say was sonoma beach when I read that there was another relay just like my fuel pump relay under the dash that I could have switched and maybe got home on my own wheels.

I'll backtrack and find where I saw this tidbit. I didn't confirm it on my '83 as it requires tunneling into the dash but if the trade off were another $160.00 towing bill, I think I'd start digging.

Reply to
clay

The statement was the fuel pump relay is the same as the hazard relay, which it's not. It can be the same as other relays, depending on the car, but not the hazard relay.

Reply to
Mike F

You're right. It's not the hazard relay, it's the central lock relay...

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Reply to
Clay

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