Suddenly dead after an uphill right hand turn

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Guest, Jun 22, 2003.

  1. Guest

    Guest Guest

    My '79 242 4 speed was moving very well as usual with what the fuel
    gauge says was about 1/3 of a tank. I'm doing about 50mph, slow
    reasonably (well, alright maybe a little quickly) into a sharp uphill
    right hand turn. No warning. One hiccup then nothing.


    Electrics are fine. Turn the key, starter motor works beautifully. Try
    starting about 3 times. Never starts. Neighbor brings me home, I call
    AAA, and 1/2 hr later tow truck arrives moments after i try a final
    time and, of course, she fires up as usual. No muss, no fuss. Like
    nothing ever happened.

    New plug wires a few weeks ago. New cap/rotor few weeks ago. Same
    fuel. Very very rainy here in NY, i don't recall driving through a
    puddle or anything.

    Fuel pump quiet as a mouse. Bought my gas from the same place as
    usual. I often let the tank go close to empty (it's one of my few
    bad habits). My 242's not special.. God only knows how many hundreds
    of thousands of miles it has been driven. I love the car, and take
    very good care of it. It looks like a rust bucket but it runs like the
    wind. (A brick in the wind).

    I've owned the car for the past 5 years. Reliable reliable reliable.

    Any suggestions regarding how to attack this problem? I was fortunate
    to be only a few minutes from my home. Next time, i may not be the
    case.

    Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

    BTW, there is a fine Volvo mechanic in town.. but I've done all
    repairs except for front end work.

    Larry
     
    Guest, Jun 22, 2003
    #1
  2. Guest

    Mike F Guest

    Intermittent failures of this type on your car are usually the fuel pump
    relay or the pickup coil in the distributor. The fuel pump relay can be
    removed, the cap popped off, and any cracked solder on the little
    circuit board fixed. The pickup coil is about $20 and is not too hard
    to replace.
     
    Mike F, Jun 23, 2003
    #2
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