1985 Volvo w/stalling & cutting out problems

[mdelisle]

I just recently acquired a 1985 Volvo wagon that for the first 2 weeks I drove it had no problems at all. Starting on the 3 tank of gas I started having stalling problems when coming to a stop light and then more recently it's cutting out while driving down the road. It's as if the gas line it crimped. Sometimes it stalls out when this happens and other times it doesn't stall out all the way just loses power and makes like miserable. The car had been sitting for 6 months with no one driving it prior to my acquiring the car. I'm tempted to think that there's gunk in the gas tank that's clogging the fuel lines and/or fuel pump. My mechanic is going to be changing the fuel pump but he's not in his shop for the next couple of days due to a family emergency. I'm wondering if there are any additives that would be safe to use in the gas tank to help dissolve the gunk that might be in there. Any help would be appreciated. I'm a pet sitter and spend a great deal of time driving from client to client and this is making my life really miserable (and I'm getting tired of people laying on the horn when the car stalls).

Marci

[denisond3]

Sitting for 6 months should not be any big deal.
There is a fuel pump relay on 240s that has a reputation for getting quirky. I only know where it is on an 88/89 - and that just about where the front seat (rightsde) passengers toes would be if they stretched their legs to the firewall. If thats where yours is, you will need to detach the pasteboard 'cover' that covers the under-dash area to see it. We had to replace one recently. It cost about $30 and took 10 minutes to change. If you go to ebay.com and do a search for '240 fuel pump relay' you should see people selling them, with a picture of it. One upon a time the color of the relay meant something - but I think thats not true of the aftermarket relays. Its not just a simple relay, but also has a circuit board in it, to sense the engine running in order to keep the fuel pumps going.
That is what I would try first. The next thing would be to learn if your car has two fuel pumps, one inside the tank, the other one under the rear seat floor on the drivers side of the car. Volvos will usually work -okay- if the pump inside the tank has died, but they may stall; but that main pump under the car must work...or the motor wont. When you turn on the ignition key, both fuel pumps should hum for about 2 seconds. If you have an accomplice turning the key on, you will be able to feel the pump that is under the floor of the car running. With the trunk lid open, and the carpet pulled back, you will see a round access door in the floor. Unscrewing this will let you see the fitting in the fuel tank top where the 'in-tank' pump is connected. Holding a wooden stick to the top of the fuel tank, with the other end touching behind your ear - will let you hear if the in-tank pump is working.
The in-tank pump has a nylon 'sock' on its inlet end. This is a coarser version of the fuel filter, and is meant to stop the larger pieces of rust or crud from being sucked into the pump. If this 'sock' has gotten clogged, it can lower fuel pressure. This is the 3rd thing I would check. It means pulling the fuel pump up from the tank though, along with the fuel sender and float assembly.
Changing the fuel pumps (and filter) on a 22 year old car is a good idea anyway, if you ask me. And I would change that fuel pump relay too! While you are at it, you could clean or replace all of the fuses on the fusebox that is inside the car. A couple of those fuses are for the two fuel pumps - and I dont have a high opinion of 20 year old european fuses and fuse holders either.

[Cyberr]

Lets se. 1985 = carburettor and not injection. And okay, long time I had one of them.

Injection engines (1988 and newer) have 2 electric pumps. And yes the relay fails, give to an electric man and he can fix it, no need to buy new.

But the carburettor engines have just one mechanical on the engine, and vacuum carburettor.


The distributor have one little golden thing mounted on its outside (Condensor), these can be good to replace – these can cause problems with the ignition when they get hot. A new Cap, Points Set and Rotor might be a good idea also. And wires, plugs and oil if you want to give the car luxury service.
(Easy thing to make the engine like new, give it a new air filter for more economic driving)
(It can be the coil also, if you have one extra – test it)

Another thing to check when you have running problems with a carburettor Volvo is the inside of the carburettor. On top there is a plug where you can fill oil; does it have oil all the way up? However – remove the screws to the whole top, and you will find a rubber detail – membrane, this one can have a crack and that could mess-up a lot. Easy to change by yourself also like the other I have mentioned.

BUT, when you have gone so far as this, you should change 2 more parts in the carburettor – nail and a small nut which the nails enter and I don’t know the English name on, “mouthpiece”. Easy to change by yourself but… You should let the mechanic adjust it so it mixed the fuel correct. And if you don’t want to screw so let him adjust the new Points Set also. B21 B23 = 0.40mm = 0.015748031” (I think you have the b23 engine) B20 = 0.35mm = 0.013779528”… You have to convert our mm to your “



Long list, but simple things that doesn’t cost a lot to replace and things you can do by yourself.

[mdelisle]

My mechanic is trying to replace the fuel filter and is having a hard time getting the old one off because the bolt holding it to the fuel line is rusted and he's scared that he'll break it off thus leaving me with no car (and my work requires me to be driving every day). And even worse, he can't find a bolt to replace it. He's contacted the local auto parts store and there's nothing available through after market and when he contacted the dealer he was told the thing they could do is sell him a entire fuel line assembly for $400. We only need the bolt and to spend $400 just to get the bolt is patently ridiculous. He's trying to find something at the wrecking yards but in the mean time I'm struggling to keep the car running when driving it. Somedays it isn't bad then there are the other days ... when it stalls out 4-5 times in a one mile stretch.

[Cyberr]

Have you checked the carburettor as I recommended? Just unscrew a plastic thing on top the carburettor and check if there is any oil in it… If not = it leaks = not good.

Have you replaced the condensate at the



Does it die when you are driving, or when you are standing still at red light?

What’s the colour on the sparking plugs?

Place an extra cable from the negative pole on battery to the chassisand/or to the engine.

Check all fuses – could be play – so even if it’s whole so could it fail when it vibrates.

Check so the gas wire isn’t to loose, some with older models with your problem have found that the gas wire wasn’t too tight. They had to give some extra gas or choke to keep it running. Or actually it isn’t supposed to be tight but the carburettor settings should be adjusted.

When you have it standing and engine on, does it sound like It should or does it “slur” not running clean and even.



Describe the problem more, when the problem starts, how the car sounds before and after, how long you have to wait, how it respond to gas, if it runs normal at anytime and so on.
-it makes it easier for me to search on our Volvo clubs for answer.

Not sure what they are trying to find, for $400 but that sure sounded really expensive. It’s an old Volvo, just take anything you can get and mount it, buy a bolt from the local metal shop. :-)
You don’t need any strange fuel lines since it’s a carburettor without any extreme pressure in the lines.

If it sounds like it will take for ever and ever so could I buy a bolt and send it but that will take about 1 week, and I don’t know what the cost are to send it, can’t be much. Just didn’t understand what he needed so… I have a feeling that he should check the other thing I mentioned, easy things to save time…