She was a drive-by sighting in front of a local towing company, grease penciled "For Sale" carelessly scrawled across her windshield..."Won't run," the man said. "I'll take her," I said. To make a long story less long...Like any true 240'ing Volvo lovin' person would do, I got her rollbacked to the house....$500, title and all.

I have worked diligently to resurrect this little cream-colored beauty, a 1985 244 DL automatic gracefully poised on jackstands for WAY too long, and have had numerous successes with rehabilitating her, and with getting her running smoothly again.

Enough attempts at creating empathy. Please accept my apology, and let me get on to why I am seeking the collective wisdom of The Board.



Last night, around 10:00 pm, after carefully replacing a "failed the ohms test" 501 IAC valve with a "tested good/came from a running car" 520 IAC valve, I started her up. What a satisfying moment when ones' hard work is rewarded with that Singer sewing machine sounding Volvo smoothness.

Approximately five minutes later, after the temperature gauge began to climb, I decided I would turn the ignition off, and restart the engine.

NOOOOOO! A no start moment. Mercy. I realize the fuel gauge is on d e a d empty. No fuel in the 5 gallon jug, either. So I go to the local gas station (10:30pm), get 5 gallons of 93 oct fuel, and try again.

Repeated attempts at starting the engine were unsuccessful. The engine occasionally catches, but does so with a terrible shaking, as if there were two or three people jostling the car. Hope fades as the battery loses its remaining reserve capacity....

Daaaawwwwwg gone it....

Pray tell me, please...it is not the timing belt, is it?

My thoughts are that maybe, just maybe, there was some water in the bottom of the tank that made its way through the intake fuel pump sock and into the fuel system as the fuel ran out, and this water was pulled into the fuel line/injectors/cylinders, and that this all coincided with those last moments of my successful test (before I shut her off to restart her, and before I dumbly realized the fuel gauge was on dead *ss empty).

Could water cause such violent shaking when cranking the engine, so shortly after a test where the engine ran smoothly?


Thanks for reading, and please help if you can...

Jackson
1985 244 GL, manuf. Jan, 1985, 225,000 miles, driven daily
1985 244 DL, manuf. Feb, 1985, 167,000 miles, too be driven soon
still looking for a March 85 one...

ps...I put polyurethane bushings all through the rear end suspension (yes, I did build that "special Volvo tool" for rear trailing arm bushings - anyone seeking a challenge, and who needs to borrow this tool, let me know!)