1. Home
  2. Volvo automobiles
  3. Got my '81 240 going!!

Got my '81 240 going!!

Okay, I brought this 245DL home last weekend, it wouldn't run. Owner said it had an intermittent problem, but it wasn't intermittent for me. Wouldn't start. Until I pulled an injector, and tried the starter, and it sprayed. Reinstalled injector, and it started on one cylinder, and would eventually rev but only fire on cylinder #1. Checked #2 plug, dry as a bone but had spark and compression.

So today, before I went looking for fuel pumps, I pulled #2 injector, and tried starter. Presto, it sprayed. reinstalled it, now it runs on two cylinders. What the....? So I pulled #3 and #4 and ran the starter and they sprayed. Reinstalled them, and now it runs like the day it came off the production line even with 280K.

Explanation? I don't know for sure, but here's a theory: There was some air in the injector lines, and was at the highest point just above each injector. Since air has give unlike liquids, it didn't create the hydraulic pressure necessary to spray through the injector. When I removed the injectors, the highest point was then the end of the injector, and the fuel pushed the air out. I don't think I buy this completely, but I put 25 miles on it today without a hiccup.

Any other ideas? KennyH

Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Reply to
KHanawalt
Loading thread data ...

There was a curse on the car and by opening the cylinders to the light of day the curse was lifted.....?

You didn't, by chance, make the sign of the cross when the injector was removed, did you...?

I am thinking, on the serious side, that the problem was not with the injectors themselves, but with some part of the wiring harness that you disturbed when doing the removal- like the connectors on the injectors themselves perchance? There are some years of Volvos that have wiring problems, could this be related to that?

from Randy & Valerie __ __ \ \ / / \ \/ / \__/olvo 1993 960

Reply to
Randy G.

Funny guy, you are. Well, this has the mechanical CIS so the injectors don't have connectors. Oddly, only the ones that had been removed functioned, first #1, then #1 & #2, then I removed #3 and #4 together, and presto.

Now I have another problem:

I drove it Sat 30 miles or so, and Sunday I started it a couple of times, moved it once. Now the pumps won't run, as is the case if there's no ignition signal. I put my timing light on it, and there is no spark coming from the coil.

I washed it Sat. a.m. and it wouldn't start until I removed the distributor cap and dried things out a little, but then it ran for the next two days. I don't get it.

This new problem could be part of the bad wiring problem, I suppose, but previously I only had fuel delivery problems. Go figure. KennyH

Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Reply to
KHanawalt

The fuel pump relay only turns on when it sees the same pulsing signal that's also fed to the tachometer. So if you have no ignition primary, the fuel pumps won't run. Cleaning the dist cap wouldn't have had any effect on your problem then. You don't say if you checked the low tension side of the ignition. Also there's 2 different ignitions, one bought from Chrysler!, one from Bosch. The Chrysler one has the computer mounted on the windshield washer reservoir bottle bracket.

Reply to
Mike F

Somehow, when I typed that, I KNEW the car was mechanical FI... I'll stick to the voodoo answers, then.. ;-) from Randy & Valerie __ __ \ \ / / \ \/ / \__/olvo 1993 960

Reply to
Randy G.

We all need a little entertainment. BTW, it failed the emissions test yesterday a.m. CO limit is 1.50 PPM, and I was at 1.94 at idle.

So after perusing

formatting link
I used my 3mm allen wrench to lean it out as far as I could with it still idling smoothly, I had to increase the idle speed with the knob.

Presto! It passed with flying colors. Now the CO is .54. Big difference. Thanks for the advice with my other problem! KennyH

Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Reply to
KHanawalt

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.