Hey looking to hear what others have encountered when there Distributer has gone out, i think mines going but it could also be the computer, though it doesnt do it all the time, i could explain it like a huge miss on the engine, going to inspect everything this evening and see what i come up with.

Sounds very much like a distributor on its way out. Had a similar problem last year that took months to diagnose. Replaced relays, etc., etc. Car would run fine and then just die. Would happen at idle or at 75 m.p.h. VERY frustrating! Finally replaced the distibutor and my problem went away. My car is an '88 740. Don't know if your '89 has the same distibutor system (i.e. Hall effect vs. whatever sensor), but at least it sounds like you are in the vacinity of finding the problem. Did you already replace the fuel pump relay and noise suppression relay? That would be worth doing as a cheap first attempt, before getting into the more expensive distributor.

Distribtor cap and rotor should be replaced as a Preventive measure from time to time. Symptoms would be misfiring on 1 or more cylinders, worse when cold or wet. On your model there is nothing else in the distributor, the timing pulses come from the crank position sensor.
What do you mean by a "huge miss". Does it cut out completely? Have you observed the tach when this happens? Does it stall?
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David Hunter

David, tach follows engine Miss which is very noticeable, its almost like someone got in there for however long it does it and retraded the timeing, and then the Miss, ill explain huge as lets say someones doing 5mph behind you and they hit you thats what this miss feels like, i noticed yesterday it tends to do it right after i have to send her into "passing gear" right after that it does it for awhile and then goes away again. im kinda at a loss thus why i was thinking dist and cap, but at the cost of a dist thats something i want to either rule out or run in completly first. and No it doesnt stall out, it feels like it will and you think it will but it always keeps running it could idle at 300 and stay running while its acting like this, you could be doing 80mph and feel this bump to speed doesnt seem to affect it.

I had one go out on a 1988 740 back in November - very intermittant. Car would just quit and then run fine. I suspected the FI relay and replaced it first. No dice. The distrib. actually fell apart from wear at 155K! I was quite surprised.

Bob Weber
48 Volvos since 1979

If your 89 is not a turbo, you have nothing in your distributor except a rotor. The ignition is triggered from the crank sensor (speed sensor) mounted under the distributor on the top of the bell housing.
Those go bad often, with symptoms like you describe.
You could also be having trouble with the fuel pump relay, the ignition suppression relay (if equipped) or a fuel pump itself.

Also inspect the large air hose from the AMM to the intake for holes. If it is a turbo, inspect ALL the induction hoses to the intercooler for holes. Good luck!
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total

What exactly does the ignition relay do? Recently my starter syl wire from the ignition shorted out, at least thats what i think and i have had to by pass the ignition with a button to turn the starter over, it does crank over and typicly runs okay, other then the high fuel consumption and the occasional serious bumps that come and go, though now i am getting worried as i think its going to die every time it does it. any idea? tomorrow i am working on the car anyways, im going to be replacing the Harmonic Balancer, Fuel Filter, T-Belt and if time permitts the Gear Shift Assembly and the Rear extension housing on the Tranny. so i already have a busy day ahead of me and if i can either get an idea of what i should look for or fix i can do it while im at it, ive heard of everyone Soddering there Fuel pump relay, ive never even opened mine is this easy to do( im not the best at soddering ) and is there any possible problems down the road doing that?. thanks
Oh and it is a 1989 Non Turbo B230F with an AW70L tranny. Recently Replaced items and or cleaned are the following, All Parts are Bosch or Equiv which means all connections were not spliced or modified in any way when replacing

Air Hose from air box to intake manifold
ECT
Knock Sensor
AC Compressor
Full Tune Up, May need to redo this though, Going to replace the Dist Cap first.
Brake Rotors and Pads Front and Rear
IAC Valve
Flame Trap and Main Hose From Trap to Air Intake Hose
Most of the Vac Hoses
Rear Main Engine Seal
Cleaned Throttle Body
Complete Suspension Replacement Front and Rear
Inspected Main Engine Harness, All Insuation Still intact on wires
Has Injectors Inspected Were in perfectly good shape, was told they did not need to be cleaned
Had cold sodder joints on ECU resoddered, Think i may replace that still, anyone got a 556 on hand they want to get rid of,
New o2 Sensor.

With all that im getting low on options now, everything works on the car except for the recent starter issue, which i have bypassed by hooking a switch to the battery and then to the starter so i could start the car.

Thanks

If you have more than 100k on your car, I would replace the intake manifold gasket. My 89T had a rough idle that was cured by replacing it. Just a thought.