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I just dropped over a thousand bucks on my '90 250DL Wagon. New suspension bushings (some urethane) and Konis in back. New motor mounts, too. Feels like a different car. This morning, the car failed to start. One has has nothing to do with the other, but it may enlighten you to my current state of mind.
Actually, it died on the way home from the shop and wouldn't immediately start again. A few moments later, it fired back up and got me home. So today, I spent several hours under the hood rechecking my recent timing belt job. Okay there. I was getting fuel, as I was able to flood the engine fairly easily. That doesn't speak to the fuel pressure, but there was fuel there to be had, and the fuel pressure regulator is quite recent.
I did note that I was getting a yellow spark off the wire from the coil. I tried a different wire, and got the same sort of spark. So I went out and got a new coil. It's a cheapeaux especiale, Duralast from AutoZone, 36 bucks, but that was the best I could do on short notice, and I figure it's good enough for diagnosics, and if I want, I can get a decent one later. I also tossed in a new set of plugs. The car started and ran, but I note that I'm still getting a yellow spark off the coil wire.
So, two questions:
1. The simple one: What else might I look into in the interest of getting a nice fat, blue spark off the coil?
2. The complicated one: Now that Bosch has been bought out by some other company, fired their entire workforce and moved to Southeast Asia, what kind of coil should I get? I would normally have opted for the Bosch "Blue" coil like I put in my 1800, but I'm now trepedatious. Bosch, for instance, bought out Blaupunkt, and I got a Blaupunkt for my car, which went badly south just after the warranty ran out. So, any suggestions on a good coil?
-EdM.
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'90 240DL Wagon 'Lola' -- '72 1800ES 'Galadriel'
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Primary wire connections clean at the top of the coil?
May be coincidence, but I got a weak spark along with several other weird and intermittent symptoms before I finally narrowed the problem down to my fuel pump relay on my '91. That relay has two circuits, one for the fuel pumps, and the other leads up under the hood to something (ignition?)
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The LH2.4 Fuel relay has 2 relays inside.
The Fuel relay powers the pumps and O2 sensor heater. The Main relay powers the Fuel relay coil, IAC valve, AMM pin 5, ECU pin 9, Injectors, and Cold Start Valve (if present).
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.
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I know this is not a common problem but have you checked the flywheel sensor? They usually just give up the ghost and never fire again but as you know there is an excepting to everything..Yellow spark could be anything from the already mentioned ignitor/amp to just leaking wires or even a bad ground to the ignition system..Max:>)
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Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., V15 Phase II Cam Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights and now NEW ECODES with the turn signals, 1992 black 244 next project
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I thought of that. I did the flywheel sensor fairly recently, and here's hoping I never have to do it again. Perhaps the biggest pain in the *** of any job I've ever done on a car.
-EdM.
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'90 240DL Wagon 'Lola' -- '72 1800ES 'Galadriel'
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Just wait till you replace the blower motor...:>)
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Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., V15 Phase II Cam Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights and now NEW ECODES with the turn signals, 1992 black 244 next project
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Replace the blower motor? Are you kidding? I've been putting that off since the day I bought the car. I may be crazy, but I'm not insane.
-EdM.
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'90 240DL Wagon 'Lola' -- '72 1800ES 'Galadriel'
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First thing that comes to mind is the ignition power stage mounted on the driver side inner fender well just above the battery. Disconnect the negative lead of the battery, unplug the harness from the power stage module and check for corrosion on the pins, clean if necessary. Next unscrew the power stage module from the fender well, clean up any evidence of rust or corrosion. Reinstall the module, plug in the harness and reconnect the battery. Retest the spark, if it is still weak, consider trying to replace the power stage module.
jorrell
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92 245 245K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently in pieces
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Is there a testing procedure for the power stage? Or do I just do a like-for-like replacement? I'm having some trouble finding a source for a new one. Any suggestions?
And what about my coil question from the original post? What brand should I think about? I mentioned having gotten a Duralast, but actually it was a Wells, which at least is a name I know. Still, I assume it's crap and I should get a good one.
-EdM.
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'90 240DL Wagon 'Lola' -- '72 1800ES 'Galadriel'
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The power stage is a black box even in the Volvo service literature... they basically say test through replacement.
Get a good used one to test it's function. See if it helps. Otherwise, get a new Bosch unit from FCP... the aftermarket ones aren't great, supposedly.
-Ryan
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Athens, Ohio
1990 245 DL 133k M47, E-codes, bunch of fun accessories
1991 745 GL 290k (Girlfriend-mobile)
Buckeye Volvo Club
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The ignition amplifier / power stage does have a failure mode when it gets hot stalling the engine. Once it cools off the engine will run again. Use a heat sink dielectic compond to mount it. Dan
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