1987 740 GLE died on me tonight

gamehen · Post by **gamehen** » 11 Dec 2003, 20:59

I have a 1987 740 GLE with 95,000 miles. Only owner. Car has been very reliable. This evening went out and when I returned to the car in the parking lot it would not start. I had noticed that for the past couple of weeks at times it would stall, but would always restart. This time it just will not turn over. Battery is fine.

Had it towed to my hometown and it is currently at my local garage. They won't be able to look at it till tomorrow, but they didn't seem too confident in being able to diagnose Volvo problems.

Any ideas on what I should have them look at? May have to have it towed to a Volvo dealer if they can't find the problem.

petershen1984 · Post by **petershen1984** » 12 Dec 2003, 08:37

If the engine stalls, the problem is most likely with fuel delivery and ignition. My 740 GLE (88) has had the fuel pump replaced, the spark timing readjusted, and ignition components replaced (coil, distributer, cables...).

No Volvo is too old to fix!

Volvord · Post by **Volvord** » 13 Dec 2003, 15:26

There are seveal common problems with Volvo's than cause no run, fuel pumps, fuel pump relay, ignition amplifier, to name a few.

A stalling car is more difficult to diagnose than one not running, when a car stalls the problem is intermitent, whereas a no run has an ongoing problem. An engine needs compression, fuel and skark to run, a simple series of diagnostic tests will isolate which of these is your problem, then further testing and diagnosis should be able to isolate the specific trouble.

andy_w · Post by **andy_w** » 14 Dec 2003, 14:48

I had exactly the same problem. Could be the 'hall sensor'.
This sensor sits on the distributor and in the event the engine stops turning 'turns of the ignition spark'. This get faulty with age, due to heat , oil, water etc and can fail leading to the engine stopping suddenly.
try a google serach for more detals.
cheers
andy

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 02 Jan 2004, 12:59

It could be the Hall sensor or the ignition amplifier.
Look at the tach-meter when trying to start. If it is showing 500 - 600 rpm, the ignition system is OK. If the tach is showing 0 rpm, ignition is dead and it could be a good idea to change the Hall sensor or ignition amplifier. It is always good to have a look at the tach-meter when it's stalling, the tach is connected straigt to the ignition coil, low voltage side(no rpm=no sparks).
It is rather wellknown that the origin ignition amplifier had problems and was improved some years later.