1993 940 Turbo will not start

Hi

I recently purchased a 1993 940 turbo that has 120,000 miles. It is a 4 door
sedan automatic, 4 cylinder. The seller took great care of the car, and kept
a record of all the services.

He never had any trouble starting the car while he owned the car (original
owner).

Once I brought it home, I went out to a store a few miles away and the car
died at a stop sign. I then started it up and it seemed to work fine and
drove on. Then at the next stop sign the car died. Now it will not start at
all. It cranks well, but that is about it.

I took out the Fuel pump relay and resoldered all the joints, cleaned the
contacts on the relay panel board, etc, but still the same problem - no start.


Not sure what to do next. The car is stranded a few miles away from my house
and would love to get it out of there (before I have to spend $100 on a tow)

All ideas are welcome.

TIA!

 

Check the Ignition Amplifier and firing point sensors for connection
problems.

All the best, Peter.

700/900/90 Register Keeper,
Volvo Owners Club (UK).

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll check that now. ... Do you know where these are
located, the Ignition Amplifier, and the firing point sensors?

TIA

 

Can you hear the fuel pump running? I had one fail that kept buzzing but it
had broken internally so it wasn't pumping. Try spraying some starting fluid
into the air intake pipe and see if it tries to start, if that works then
the problem is fuel, otherwise look at the ignition.

 

crawl under the drivers side and tap the silver
fuel pump w/a wrench...mine did that a few times as the
pump was dying...

 

The fuel pump seems to 'whirr' for maybe two seconds after the ignition is
turned on, and I can feel the fuel pump relay clicking at the same time. I
then opened the hood in search of the distributor cap, of which there either
is none, or I could not find. The spark plug wires attach to this very
compact 'thing' that runs right up against the firewall and the back of the
valve cover. If that is the distributor cap it looks like a major pain to
open up and tak a look inside.

Lacking any better ideas, after rapping on the fuel pump under the driver's
seat a few times (as suggested), I cleaned all the contacts as best I could
where the spark plug wires connect to the 'thing' crammed into its very
inconvenient location, as well as cleaning the coil terminals.

Heretofore the car just 'turned over' but when I then re-attempted to start
the car for just a second it sounded like the engine was about to take, but
that was all. I might have sprayed something into the 'air intake' but I do
not even know where the intake is located. And as for what to spray into it,
are you suggesting the starter fluid you use to light a barbeque? If I knew
exactly where the air intake was and exactly what to spray in there (aside
from gasoline) I'd have done that as well.

As an aside, this is truly a drag. This is a car for my dau to use. We spent
several weeks trying our best to cherry pick the right car with the right
miles, the right seller, best condition, etc etc etc, and on my nod, we got
this one -- one that I am sure of now is a total piece of s*, and a lemon. We
just drove the damn thing home and the first time out it breaks down, and
just sits across town in an empty lot. I can have it towed and repaired by
a mechanic, but that will cost at least $500 to $600, and I do not want to
spend a penny on a repair only after less than one hour of taken ownership of
the car, but since I can't get the f*ing thing started how am I supposed to
get it back to the seller who lives 50 miles away, even IF I can negotiate a
return and a full refund?

Once I start spending money on this thing I am committed, and I am not sure
that is what I want to do. Being on this site you'd almost thing Volvo's
were the cars of gods, but it seems like just another s&tty car that breaks
down and has all kinds of bugs. I have bought some bad cars in the past,
terrible cars -- but at least they worked for several months before I had to
do anything with them. And the price I paid for them reflected the bad car.
You want to know what a bad car is? A mercury sable station wagon, 1990
vintage, with 116k mile at 8 years old. I needed a car to get the kids about,
and did not want a van, so this was the next best thing. I spent $5,000 on
that dog, transmission to power sterring issues, brakes, water pump,
everything.

The point is here this car is, the Volvo, totally clean, near perfect body,
120K miles, no leaks at all, very good interior, new tires, seller has all
service receipts, been impeccably maintained, and we have it for less than
one *hour* and it sits across town broken down not starting!

Is this a sign that the car is about to have a long string of bad luck? Is
this what Volvos are all about, they suddenly hit the skids and become a
money sewer and a constant headache for as long as you own the car? Is there
no such thing as a reliable car?

 

That's the distributor cap, it's really not too hard to access, if you flip
the little levers on the hood hinges the hood will open all the way vertical
and then you can use a box end wrench (8mm?) to take out the three bolts
holding the cap on.

 

you know you have 2 fuel pumps, right?

 

I think there is one under the driver's seat and one in the fuel tank. The
one in the fuel tank = $$$$$.

But once I get this car fixed I'll be ready to hit the open road ... at $3.09
per gallon. The Europeans have been paying about $4 for years, but Europe is
like legoland, all the distances are grossly scaled down. In the US all the
distances are much larger, by 10x. Thus even though Europe paid $4, because
average distances travelled were considerably less, the per capita amount of
gas used was 'generally' quite similar to what a driver in the US had to pay
at ~$1.50.

The only way to fight back is to develop another technology -- one that will
simultaneously make oil and gas obsolete, but as a bonus will destroy the
federal government, an option reserved in the declaration of independence"

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure
these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People
to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. "


Time to pull the plug on the federal govt. Time for better and *meaningful*
technologies that will keep people out of the manipulative trap of monopolies,
and I am not talking about a fancy updated version of the i-pod, or a cell
phone with new bells and whistles.. I sure wish I were a lot smarter. I hear
water can be used to power a car by separating the hydrogen gas out of the
water molecule. Something called the HydroStar.

Anyway, thanks for the tips. I'll drag myself out to the car for the tenth
time and pull the lid on the distributor.

 

The one in the tank is about a third the cost of the main pump under the
car.

 

Something very similar happened to my '95 940 with 160K miles on it last
year. It did require a tow. It turned out to be a dead ignition coil.
Unusual, but it does happen.


Bob

 

how much $ was the 940t?

 

I had a tear in one of the hoses in the tank pump so it was sucking air. The
car would not start.


Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca

 

$3,000

 

Yep, I finally had it taken to the mechanic. No time to work on it. It is a
car for my dau, she is off to colege soon, so that is the way it goes. It can
be anything really. By the time talk of pulling fuel pumps from inside of gas
tanks hits the board, it is time to turn it over to the mechanic. Somewhere
in the fuel or ignition (both?) the mystery of a non-start lies.

One thing I like about the car is it is only a 4 cylinder, and the engine
compartment is big, most things are easily visible, so for the at home hobby
'mechanic' it is not a bad car. The downside is if you are not mechanically
inclined, or just dont have the time, a car like this can potentially be a
real nightmare, as one visit to the mechanic can equal the cost of the car.
I am still undecided about whether or not I want to keep the car. The seller
is paying for the repair. Once it starts, I might simply drive it back to
the seller and get my money back.

As much of a hassle as that is likely to be, it cannot be a good sign that
within one hour of getting a used car home it breaks down and is stranded on
the side of the raod across town.

 

hummm...that's a bit high...but, the 940t is a great car,
once runnin' good....what happined when you tried spraying
starter fluid and turning over? did it "catch" or "sputter"??

 

One thing that no one has mentioned was a major source of non-start for me
for a couple of years in my 1989 760 turbo. It was the "charge air
over-pressure switch", which is supposed to cut all power to the fuel
injection (including pumps) if it detects too much turbo boost.

IPD doesn't sell it, and my local dealer had no idea what I was talking
about, so I just eliminated it from the starting circuit with a 6" length of
wire and 2 alligator clips.

Prior to trying this, I had replaced nearly everything in the ignition and
fuel injection systems. I did this at least a year ago, and the car has not
once failed to start since then.

Best of luck,
--Dale

 

As I've said before on here, location and condition are everything. A
cosmetically nice 940 in the right location is worth $3K easy, I see them go
for $4K+ fairly regularly.

 

Sounds like you'll be in for a surprise in a few years when the wastegate
hose rots out or falls off. I would *highly* recommend replacing that
switch, you can get one from a junkyard. Without it you'll break a rod and
knock a hole in the side of the block before you know what happened, that
switch is the last line of defense, uncontrolled boost skyrockets at an
astonishing rate.

 

1. s m via CarKB.com >>

so, did you hear from the mechanic yet? what
is/was the problem...??