Proper starting technique - 240?

I'm still getting used to my (new to me) 1992 240 wagon.
Most of the time, it starts after a couple of seconds, without touching
the gas pedal. Occasionally (either or hot or cold it seems), the
starter will crank for 3-4 seconds and the car still won't start.
Stepping on the gas pedal doesn't help. I shut it off, turn the key
again and it starts immediately. I've tried stepping on the gas pedal
before cranking, and it doesn't seem to help. More of a nuisance than
anything, but I'd like to resolve this before winter. Any tips on how
to get a more consistent first-time starting, or what I should look for
as a possible source of the problem?
Thanks.

 

You should never have to touch the gas pedal when starting. The fuel
injection takes care of everything. Check for voltage at the coil when
the ignition is on, then again when cranking. I don't know about the
240, but I have had other cars where the ignition switch failed and
turned off the voltage to the coil when cranking.

__ __
Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
\__/olvos
'90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate
"Shelby" & "Kate"

 

My '83 245 starts the same way... if I grind it, it takes 4-5 seconds
or more to lite.
What I figured out (and learned the reason why from this ng) is if I
bump the key once, then bump it again, it lites immediately.
On rare occasions, it takes a third bump. In any event, the motor never
makes a full revolution on the starter before it's running.
Moving the gas pedal does nothing as there is no accelerator pump. (some
cars will even backfire and blow up the airbox if you squeeze the gas
while starting.)
The reason is a leaky fuel pump. Apparently, the fuel pressure bleeds
down as the car sets. First bump gets the system up, second bump and it
goes.
Not an indication if imminent failure... mine has been this way for 9
years. Just one of those quirks we learn to live with, driving 'older' cars.

 

It's fuel injected, in proper running order you hop in, turn the key, and it
should start in a second or less. If it's having starting problems you
should get that looked at.

 

It could be a leaking check valve (the fuel system should hold pressure
while it's off) or a sticky fuel pump relay. My money is on the relay.
Stepping on the pedal while it's off doesn't do anything... it's not
connected to the fuel injection at all. No accelerator pump on EFI.

Bill

 

Also a weak pump (they lose capacity as they wear) will take longer to
repressurize the system, and this is where the capacity loss shows up
first.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

Thanks for all the thoughts folks! I'll investigate the fuel pump and
such. I have a new fuel pump relay that I had ordered as a spare, and
will try that to see if it solves the problem. If not, maybe I'll
order a new fuel pump just to be safe, in case it's weakening and
acting up. I assume the check valve someone was mentioning is part of
the pump?
Cheers.

 

Yes ans also available as a separate part.

Bob

 

BTW any drippage from the injectors will also allow the sytem pressure
to drop. Sometimes a hot soak will force fuel from the injectors and
after an extended cool down leave an air pocket in the fuel rail. By
bumping the starter the injectors don't stay open and the pump overruns
for a few seconds and quickly recharges the system.

The injector tips live in an extremely hostile environment and are the
victims of deposits than can form on the sealing surface of the pintle.
Using an injector cleaner, such as Chevron Techron, or BG44K, can
effectively remove deposits when used with a tankful of gas during
normal everyday driving. IOW don't use it when you're going on a trip
because iy acts slowly and depends on the regular heat up cool down
cycles to properly do its job.

Bob

 

In reading the Volvo books I have (Haynes, Bentley, Green) I saw
somewhere that when the ignition is turned on, the fuel pump runs for a
couple of seconds. I've tried it and I can hear it, it runs for a
couple of seconds then shuts down. I can also hear the fuel pump relay
click when that happens. Maybe that's designed to re-pressure the line
before starting the engine? Anyway, I've now adopted the practice of
giving it that 2 seconds with the ignition on, before engaging the
starter, and so far it's started every time. I'll investigate further
if the problem reappears.

 

I found with most efi cars just turn the key to ignition wait a second then
start ,it gives the pump time to pressure up the system .

 

i dont touch the gas pedal when i start my 240, it goes into fast idle a few
moments after i start it from cold. what i did notice was that if i pushed
the gas pedal down on starting it would backfire sometimes . . so no pedal
now and all is well

 

I've been using the technique I indicated above: leave the ignition on
for a couple of seconds (until I hear the fuel pump relay click off)
before engaging the starter and it starts consistently. However, I've
had an instance of it not starting, and that time, I didnt hear the
fuel pump relay click, which probably means that the fuel pump didn't
run for a couple of seconds with ignition on as it's supposed to do
(repressurizing the line). I have a new relay that I'll put on and see
if that improves things.