Volvo 240 Wiring Trouble, Occasional Hard Start

[MalibuLx3]

Lately I've been experiencing the occasional hard start with my 1992 Volvo 240. It would crank and crank and crank, only to finally fire up after about 5 seconds or more of cranking. The problem has been very intermittent, and not really dependent on any factors I can see. Once the car is started, there are no drivability issues whatsoever.

I popped the hood to take a look around, and this is what I found after unclipping this wire harness from the firewall:






This harness seems to disappear under the intake, and possibly into the main harness, so I'm not yet able to locate what exactly it goes to. After reading around, it appears Volvo 240's are notorious for deterioration of wiring insulation, however, I believe I read it should have been corrected by the time my 1992 Volvo was manufactured.

Here is a close up of the connector:




And here is the car in question, at 176,000 miles!:


So I guess my question is what is this deteriorated wiring go to? And what is the best way to fix it?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[MalibuLx3]

FOUND IT!

Engine Speed Sensor/Impulse Sensor and although it might be an a bit of an ackward spot, it's definitely doable! And yet it's only around $40!

[billofdurham]

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

Good diagnosis. The wiring on the earlier 240s was exceptionally prone to losing its insulation but the later models had better stuff fitted. That wire runs very close to the back of the engine, touching it regularly. One solution to protect your super-duper new wire is to cover it with "Cable Tidy". This has been used by a mechanic friend of mine on various cars with susceptible wires.

You could even get it from Amazon. Ordering it through Matthew's link might give him a few cents to keep the site running. The link is for the UK site.

Bill.

[MalibuLx3]

Bill,

Thanks for the reply, I'll check into that stuff.