I have a question that may have a simple answer. If so, please let me know what it might be.
The Volvo is a 1989 240 wagon. One day the car started then quit and never started again.

Car cranks and this is what I have:

No injector pulse,
No spark,
Fuel pump doesn't run either cranking or in #2 position of ignition key

Things I have checked or swapped out with known good parts:

Both computers,
Fuel pump relay,
Checked all fuses and continuity on either side of the terminals,
12 volt fuse on fender near battery,
Coil has 12V on both sides,
All ground contacts cleaned and checked for continuity,
Coninuity checked between battery grnd and block, block and body and battery and body, all little to no resistance,
Flywheel sensor changed,
Power stage,
Coil changed,
Cap and rotor.

I am at the point where I think I need to open the wiring harness up and look for a melted wire.
When the car wouldn't start the first time, it sat for a week or two, then the battery died, odd because it is a good battery. The fuse holder on the drivers side fender near the battery was melted and when the plastic deformed, two terminals touched. This leads me to believe there was a short of some sort. We fixed the fuse holder, but the car wouldn't start. I think there may be a melted wire somewhere in the harness. Is it worth tracing that red wire all the way to the fuel pump relay (I think that's where it goes) or just pull out the whole harness and replace it with a junkyard one?
Or is there something obvious that I am missing?

Any info would be great, as I am at a standstill right now.

Thank You,
Neil

Hi Neil,

No injector pulse,
No spark, <------------ This is what's killing you
Fuel pump doesn't run either cranking or in #2 position of ignition key

Hope it was the Timing belt. If not, you need to find the ignition problem. Because the LH ECU *requires* a signal from the ICU before it will provide a ground to energize the Fuel Relay. No spark = no fuel.

The signal comes from ICU #8 to ECU #1. I've never checked it myself but that's how it's shown in the Bentley diagram.

I was going to suggest that you really clean the coil primary terminals, but maybe in swapping coils they got cleaned enough. (A pointed meter probe will give a voltage indication, but oxidized terminal surfaces won't carry the required current.)

But there is another possibility in the coil area, as shown in AyeRoll's post yesterday at:
http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=716372
Guess it bears checking out.

Looks like you've changed about everything it could be.
Concentrate on that spark. It's a Bosch FI safety function, not to pump any fuel to a "dead" engine.


--
Bruce Young,
'93 940-NA (current)
'80 GLE V8 (Sold 5/03)
'83 Turbo 245
'76 244 (lasted only 255,000 miles)
73 142 (98K)
'71 144 (track modified--crusher bound)
New 144 from '67 to '78
Used '62 122 from '63 to '67

neil, take dist cap off and have someone crank the engine. check to see that the rotor is spinning, if not the timing belt is broken. a melted wire is very unlikely. there is the possibility that you now have two problems,one created by you changing all those parts. if the rotor is turning and it does not start,put a test light into the large red wire in the fuel pump relay and then turn the key on and check for current. leave testlight in the red wire and check all connections until it lights. mosy likely a bad connection in fuse box. i have seen fuses corroded and causing problems that have been checked repeatedly. if you have too take something and jump across the fuses in the fusebox and see if you get current.

bob from pittsburgh

Bob,
The timing belt is not broken, the rotor does turn. I checked and cleaned all of the fuses. I also checked with a test light on both sides of the fuse terminals to make sure there was 12V on each side.
Yes, the Big red wire has 12V at the pump relay. I just installed a new fuse holder and fuse last night.
This problem has me and my father puzzled.
I can't even get the fuel pump to run when the key is in the #2 position.
It's driving me nuts.

Any other ideas?
Thanks for your response.
Neil

I can't even get the fuel pump to run when the key is in the #2 position.
Neil,

The pump is NOT supposed to run in KP #2. Even though some 240s do, for a second or two, it isn't a reliable diagnostic indicator. If it was, it would be in all the fault tracing procedures.

That LH Main Relay is a 2 in 1. The one that clicks with Key ON is not the Fuel Relay. You are not getting the 2nd one (the real "fuel relay"). It requires a ground from the ECU, as I noted in an earlier post.

Put a Jumper from the Blue/Green wire in the harness plug (relay connected) to a good ground and see if it starts.

If no start, put your test light on that terminal (86-2) while cranking, the light should blink*. If it does blink, but no pumps, probe output 87-2 (Y/R). No light = bad relay, light = wire problem to pumps.

====>(*If light doesn't blink on 86-2 when cranking , it's an Ignition/ECU issue for another thread)

The Y/R wire goes from the relay to the input of fuse 4. Follow it out and look for a 4-pin plug (gray, I think) maybe under glove box with the Y/R wire going thru it. Thats all there is between the relay and the pumps, except for fuse 4 feeding the tank pump.

Another thing to try is to hotwire +12v to the FEED (left) side of fuse 4. (Fuses 6—10 are always hot) The 12v will go THRU F4 to the Tank Pump, and FROM the feed terminal directly to the Main Pump.

The pumps should run immediately. Hit the starter and let us know what happens,
Bruce
--
Bruce Young,
'93 940-NA (current)
'80 GLE V8 (Sold 5/03)
'83 Turbo 245
'76 244 (lasted only 255,000 miles)
73 142 (98K)
'71 144 (track modified--crusher bound)
New 144 from '67 to '78
Used '62 122 from '63 to '67

check for broken timing belt?