1981 volvo gl (240) i can turn it over and rev the gas to keep it running, but if the rpm meter goes below 2k, it stalls. sometimes, i get a loud pop coming from under the hood if i've given it enough gas before turning it over. based on what i know, i tend to think it's the infamous fuel pump relay. the fuses look good. messing with them has no effect. if it is the pump itself, how can you determine if it is the inner or outer one? i had a problem for months where the car would lurch and stutter from dead stops, especially if the tank was starting to get towards empty. so now i think even if changing the relay works for now, i will have to check out the inner fuel pump soon. please help if you can. my dad sent me a bunch of old manuals that got "lost in the mail" per the local newman, so i can't do the work myself now.

you have a vacuum leak. most likely the hose from the idle valve or adle motor. there is one on top of intake and almost directly under it on bottom of intake. the hoses are approx 1 inch in diameter. if they are ok,check the boot between fuel dist and intake to make sure it did not get blown off. if it were the pump what would it start on? also there is a hose inside the tank that goes bad and the car will run poorly from 1/2 tank to empty. keep well above 1/2 tank and see if this helps


bob from pittsburgh

Spark and timing ok?
Start and main injectors spray?
Frequency valve buzzing?
If it has backfired through the intake, it may have blown off a vacuum hose.

booya. thanks to all of you for the replies. FIXED. had to wait for some daylight to figure that one out. a hose was plumb disconnected. can't think of a catalyst for the event, but i noticed some damage to my front license plate and the rubber seal that covers covers the crack between front bumper and body. i can only think that the AMC Eagle (!) parked in front of me the night before had decided to voice their opinion on my parallel parking skills.

The in-tank pump hose might have been cracked for quite a while, which can cause the main pump to wear out prematurely. Lurching with a low tank, but not with a full tank, is usually caused by a bad little hose on the in-tank pump. This is really cheap to do yourself if you don't mind opening up the gas tank access hole. No smoking allowed. The hose will be fifty cents and a new o-ring where the assembly seals to the tank will be a few bucks. The pump itself, if bad, will probably be about $30. The main pump, if bad, is about $125. These are FCP Groton approximate prices. You can test the in-tank pump by disconnecting the line that runs from it to the main pump, where it connects to the main pump, and hooking up twelve volts to the wires in the trunk that run the in-tank pump. Be sure the hose under the car is in a clean bucket. The in-tank pump should pump a steady full flow of gas into the bucket with a nice quiet humming noise. No smoking, no sparks of any kind, no problem. I understand the car will run without the in-tank pump working, but not without the main pump. I don't know what to tell you about the relays. Someone else will probably answer that question for you. Good luck.
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Thanks to everyone for the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, stock, M46; 86 244, 140k , auto.