Stalling problems -- what's more likely to fail -- fuel pump relay or fuel pump

The trickle of fuel is a clue, if the pump is working up to spec fuel should shoot out. According to my data book, fuel pump spec is 103-160 liters/hour at 13V,

87-145 at 12V and 70-128 at 11V. If your pump is nowhere near this, I'd change it first.

The 93 is a bit of an oddball, in that it has an older fuel system than

94 and newer. The following applies to 94 and newer, but should mostly apply to your '93.

The fuel pump relay hides under the cover beside the main fuse box, number 103. There is also a main relay, mounted above the rad, beside the fan relay. It's usually gray, 4 round pins.

If you want to check the relays, splice a test bulb between the following wires and ground: fuel pump relay - red wire over the cover over the fuel tank sending unit in the trunk main relay - green wire at the relay

ive been having that problem with mine i drive a 86 740 gle try disconnecting the amm censor wires when its running and if that doesnt do anything you may be getting a bad connection to the amm or it could be bad which is not a good thing. you do have an amm dont you

Usually the relay is the cause of stalling, either can be the cause of no-starts. Bad pump can burn out a good relay too.

The computer has a default "Limp" mode that will cause the car to run very rich and poorly with the AMM disconnected. You should avoid connecting or disconnecting anything that is part of the computerized system while the ignition is on.

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate"

I'm going to have to order a new relay and tell the shop "install!" forcefully. The tech keeps saying that he sees more fue pumps than relays. However, the price differential on the job (at least ten times the cost of the relay for the fuel pump makes me a bit suspicious....)

Well it's easy enough to jumper the relay for testing purposes, if the shop hasn't thought to try this already then perhaps you should find another shop.

Yeah, you got that right. The rule for repair techs is go for the most expensive possibility first, and if that doesn't do it, then you can afford to eat the cost of the cheaper fix if you have to try it next. All relays go bad often, although as the guy said, your seeing a trickle of fuel puts a different spin on things. Could be clogged fuel line, filter, in tank inlet filter. (Last time a mechanic got the (wrong) idea that my fuel problems needed a new pump, it turned out that the in tank inlet on the new pump was pre-collapsed from the factory, so he had to replace it on his own dime. haha).

Meanwhile, I still can't figure out what's with my 240. Cranks but won't start; mostly when it's been standing an hour or two. Works fine first thing in the AM, 8 hrs later after work, or if it's only been standing half an hour. Starts fine if I roll down a hill and drop it into second, or give it a shot of starting juice. So I replaced the relay; and nothing changed. I can hear the pump whining when it won't start. ??

When it won't start:

1) Check the battery voltage and the coil voltage when the motor is cranking. The fact that it can bump start but can't start when cranking is a clue. 2) It could be that the starter is drawing too much current and/or the battery is going weak and has difficulty starting a hot motor that has been sitting and heat soaking. 3) Check that the coil is getting voltage when cranking. I had a car that had an ignition switch go bad and would not supply voltage to the ignition system when the key was in the start position but did when the key was in the run position. Do the same with the Ignition Power Stage. Do the same with the fuel pump relay.

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate"

Well, pretty close! It was a cracked distributor cap. Bleeding off enough juice to be iffy ignitioning when it was also cranking. Don't know how it relates to the half hour/1 hour/8 hour thing, but that's the mystery of life. Now I have a spare relay.

Aren't simple solutions great! Restates the importance of putting the cap and rotor on the regular maintenance list for all of us.

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate"

The dumb part is that the only other time a car wouldn't start on me was ten years ago with a Civic, i kept focusing on the fuel system but it turned out to be...... a cracked distributor cap.

I took the car into the cdealer on an unrelated problem -- the recall on the gas tanks for 1994 850's and others -- check the volvo.com website for recall notices and have your VIN handy to see if you're a candidate.

Had the shop check out the relay versus pump question, and got a third opinion: Technician believes that it would be the speed sensor over the fuel pump relay.

Four question marks exploded from my forehead, and I went "say what?"

Does anyone have an idea what is being talked about.

?? Unless they mean the connection from the relay to the ignition system that shuts the FI down if there is no ignition pulses?