1990 volvo 240 dl wagon 5 speed 180,000miles, fuel problem.

rustyrods · Post by **rustyrods** » 16 Sep 2008, 10:13

Ive just arrived back to the states from a year abroad, and left my volvo in the driveway. although it was run periodically over the past year, it has since developed a fuel problem. the intank fuel pump was replaced a year ago, and at that point it ran well.
now:
The engine trys to start, however once running, it struggles and stalls. The last attempt, the cylinders filled up with fuel. it had to be relieved to crank again, by removing the plugs.
could this possibly be a fuel regulation problem, or ECU problem?

its just odd, that the car was once very reliable and ran without problems until it sat.
could the fuel have an effect on an internal part from sitting?
it appears to be getting fuel on the return line on the rail, because we removed the line and checked for fuel there, thinking originally that it wasnt getting fuel, but now it seems to be getting way to much.

any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. thanks.
brandon

chuckcintron · Post by **chuckcintron** » 16 Sep 2008, 10:25

I think you are in the wrong forum, but before this gets moved I'll offer: did you flush out all the old fuel from the car and put a new fresh tank of fuel in? Old fuel can be a big problem and give these symptoms. It collects water (from condensation) like a sponge, and since the draw is from the bottom of the tank you could be feeding a mix of almost pure water to the engine (fuel is lighter than water, and 'floats').

-Chuck

Post by **vegasjetskier** » 16 Sep 2008, 11:37

Your fuel will go bad after sitting for a year unless you put a product like Stabil in it before you store the car. You've probably just got a tankful of bad gas. I'd drain and refill it, add a can of fuel system cleaner, and try again.

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 16 Sep 2008, 17:45

If you unplug the MAF sensor, and it is the culprit, the engine should smooth out for a few seconds, however the engine will turn off if the sensor is not plugged in.

Hope this helps
Darrell

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 16 Sep 2008, 20:45

DeRail wrote:If you unplug the MAF sensor, and it is the culprit, the engine should smooth out for a few seconds, however the engine will turn off if the sensor is not plugged in.

Hope this helps
Darrell

Well, not necessarily...it could go into a "limp mode" and keep running but it won't be great and your gas mileage will plummet.

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 17 Sep 2008, 19:29

MadeInJapan wrote:
DeRail wrote:If you unplug the MAF sensor, and it is the culprit, the engine should smooth out for a few seconds, however the engine will turn off if the sensor is not plugged in.

Hope this helps
Darrell

Well, not necessarily...it could go into a "limp mode" and keep running but it won't be great and your gas mileage will plummet.

Ahh, did not know about that. For some reason I thought that only the FWD's had limp mode.