89 740 dies after a turn

Kingofqueenz · Post by **Kingofqueenz** » 23 Jan 2006, 17:53

My 1989 Volvo 740 GL wiht 178k miles on it died today. I started the car , went around a few block and around the 5th block all of a sudden the car shuts off, i try to start it, and it turns over but wont start. The battery is perfect. I dont hear anything wrong with the starter.

The only thing that happened was i was going to school and went through a small puddle and everything seemed fine. I got to school shut the car off and when i left i turned it on and it seemed like nothing was wrong until it died.

What do u think could be the problem, do u think the alternator got wet from the puddle, but i thought it would die right away if that happened

Thanks for the help. i searched for this in the forums and didnt come up with anything on this exact situation, if anyone else did please link me.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 23 Jan 2006, 18:15

check your fuzes first including the big one for the fuel injection on the drivers side fender.

if they are ok you have to check for spark and gas.

To check for spark use inductive pickup timing light on the spark plug wires

to check for gas you need a fuel pressure gage or after cranking a little remove plug and see if it is wet with gas.

if no spark check hall pickup if you have a distributor, speed sensor if you do not, ignition control module(on drivers side fender down by the air box),

if no gas check fuel pump relay(white relay in second row behind ashtray), intank prepump, and main fuel pump, radio supression relay(located on coolant overflow bottle, supplies 12v to injectors)

good luck and let us know what you find.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 23 Jan 2006, 18:17

forgot to mention one more check to make unplug your air mass sensor and try to start car (this puts computer in limp home mode) if car starts now then turn off, plug in air mass sensor again if car does not start you have a bad air mass sensor.

Kingofqueenz · Post by **Kingofqueenz** » 23 Jan 2006, 20:03

ok thank you, i just brought the car into the shop, if hte mechanic cant find the problem i will mention your advice.

Kingofqueenz · Post by **Kingofqueenz** » 24 Jan 2006, 13:09

My mechanic just called me, first he said it was the distributor cap and i said no way its that, and then he called me back and said its the crankcase sensor, so he is gonna change that and hopefully it will start. Do you guys think this is the problem?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 25 Jan 2006, 04:59

my mechanic said he changed that and its still not fixing the problem, he said he keeps changing a fuse and when the car heats up the fuse blows, so now he is gonna try and change the fuel pump, what do u guys think?

Kingofqueenz · Post by **Kingofqueenz** » 25 Jan 2006, 19:12

ok guys , i just got my car back, he said it was a relay that had to be changed , some kind of short, anywayz, he charged me 150 bucks for just a relay because he said he spent 2 days looking for the problem, how much do u think he ripped me off by?

Another thing, he changed the distributor cap and the rotor and was gonna charge me another 120 on top of the 150, so i made him take it out and put back the old one.

turbo · Post by **turbo** » 27 Jan 2006, 11:37

i have an '85 760 turbo that has had every part you mentioned replaced/repaired. your problem(random stalling) is what i originally had problems with. the fact that your's was doing it after such short trips does sound electrical(relay), but doesn't mean there's not another part 'shorting' it out(fuel pump likely). mine has an intank fuel pump and an external one, as well as intank 'screens' and external filter.those, along with the air mass meter, pressure regulator, intake hose, ballast resistor, and distributor have been replaced. my distributor was replaced not because it didn't work, although the points were worn, but because the hall sensor(rpm sensor)was too damaged to repair and it worked out easier to replace the entire distributor.the hall sensor turned out to be 99% of the problem(random stalling). as far as being overcharged at a shop, i would be suspicious if i 'didn't' get overcharged at this point! after 3 shops and $1200.00 in repair, just to still have problems, i decided to go old school and start doing the work myself. $18 for a Chilton's repair manual, i find online parts dirt cheap w/ exchange warrantys, and in the past 3months i have replaced my external fuel pump, fuel filter, ballast resistior, distributor, alternator belt, and i'm doing my own oil changes. shop's are for suckers with credit cards and money in the bank(not all, but the majority), and you have so much more confidence in your car knowing if something goes wrong, there's a good chance you'll know how to fix it. good luck, when you get your Volvo right you wouldn't trade it for anything. except a newer Volvo.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 27 Jan 2006, 15:24

this is probably heresy but the new volvos are not worth having. I love my 240 and 740 but after volvo was bought out they cheapened the design to the point that the new ones are not reliable and not worth having. Go to the forums for the new ones and hear people scream about it. For one small example look at the brakes. the 240 and 740 have 4 piston calipers that are among the finest you can get. The newer volvos get a single piston sliding caliper it works ok if you keep afer them and keep the sliding part of the caliper clean and lubricated but they definitely are fairly low down on the food chain. If i get another volvo it will be another 240.

turbo no/go · Post by **turbo no/go** » 27 Jan 2006, 18:45

yeah instead of newer i should have said better.i would only have an older one to(85-91).760 740,240 etc...