Picked up my 87 240 DL about a month ago. Love the brick. Runs great, purrs like a kitten, ... EXCEPT, when the weather is damp. Runs fine in the heat, runs fine in the cold, ... snow, rain, no problem. But once 2 weeks ago and again this morning, it's misty/foggy/damp outside and she won't catch. Turns over fine, ... can hear the pump, ... lots of battery power, ... looks like no spark. I'll be pushing it into the garage this evening.

I'm guessing a "fire" problem, ... coil, or distributor area getting wet with the damp air. Any suggestions as to:
1. is this an accurate conclusion?
2. how to test/check the spark components

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

A similar thin was happening with my 90 240. If the problem isn't solved (although it probably will be) I had a faulty rpm sensor (behind the block on the firewall) that caused no starts in damp weather for years. I replaced the sensor and the car starts like a clock. It is more reliable than it was in its earlier days. The fact that it happened in damp environments caught my attention, the same happened. Good luck, MAte

I believe i've resolved the issue, but thank you for your advice. If it happens again and I can't readily identify the problem then I now have a definite starting point for investigation. Thank you.

87-240DL

Well,... a lot of us do something called 'zero-miling' our new bricks. Depending on the age of the car this can include a zillion things like brakes, shocks, radiaotr, timing belt, trans fluid, cap, rotor, plugs, wires......the list goes on. Basically it gets the car to a point where you know when and at what mileage all wear parts / regular maint items were addressed. So with that said, it wouldnt hurt to throw new spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor on the beast. You could have a cracked cap allowing moisture to accumulate in there. First things first though, check and re-solder as necesary the fuel pump relay, but you said the pumps run, but do it anyway, trust me. and also check and clean the 25A fuse on the main + line to the battery. You can isolate the distributor by check for spark directly out of the coil. Good luck and post back with results.

Matt

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'82 DL - 153k, '93 945 - 101k

Hey thanks, for the advice. Zero-milling, ... new term for me, ... but I've always done that with all my new used cars. Excellent practice. Now...

After all the backyard work I've done on cars, i haven't seen this. The ignition cables and distributor cap are new, you can tell on inspection. The guy i bought it from changed them a month befor i got it. But the wierd thing is this, ... the cable leading from the coil, the end connecting to the cap looked loose, ... i grabbed it and it came off easy. The post inside the cable was corroded in half and stuck in the cap, covered with green guck. LOL, ... at least it's pretty obvious what the problem is now, ... didn't have to spend hours testing.

Thanks again for the help.

87-240DL

THe Bougicord sets dont come with a coil wire, so he probably changed the 4 leads and left the coil wire. happy bricking!

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'82 DL - 152k, '93 945 - 100k