I have everything on my wife's '85 240DL done but it won't start because the fuel isn't getting up to the engine. I've tried spraying starting fluid into the throttle body and it fires up long enough to burn the fluid but then dies. Do I have to bleed the system? The tank dried up (and I mean dried up) over the summer from sitting and I just put 4 gallons of gas in to get it to the gas station. Any help would be great. Thanks.
-Josh

If the intank pump is not working you may be wasting your time (and burning up your mainpump). If the system is dry the mainpump will not run long before ceasing to operate. They can not pump air. If there is fuel in the tank you can run the intank pump to get the fuel to the main pump. In order to do this you will have to open the line somewhere before the fuel pressure regulator to allow the air to escape- I think you will find that the fuel pressure regulator restricts flow until pressure is built up and trying to pump air will not build pressure. The easiest place to open the line is at the back of the fuel rail.

You can feed 12v directly to the intank pump by the leads in the trunk- sorry off hand I do not know the wire colors to tell you to feed the 12v. Once the intank pump has pushed fuel to the main pump (and air out of the lines ahead of the fuel) you can then use the jumper from fuse 4 to fuse 6 to run the pumps together to purge the air from the lines. Once you have fuel at the rail fitting you can tighten it and proceed in your starting efforts.

Please be careful of the raw fuel that will (hopefully) be exiting the loose fuelrail fitting after running the pumps to purge the air. Have all the raw fuel cleaned up before continuing your efforts. Good luck.

Randy

Nice post, Randy. You covered several points I overlooked. But I have a small tip related to this part:

"You can feed 12v directly to the intank pump by the leads in the trunk"

It's easier to run (or test) either pump right from the fuse panel, with the Tank Pump fuse removed. A +12v jumper to the fuse output (Right contact) will power the Tank Pump. +12v to the other contact will power the Main pump.

A good In Tank pump (and feed hose) will also push a decent stream of fuel through the main Pump and up to the filter—maybe even through the filter. Not sure as I haven't done this in a long time.
--
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

"A +12v jumper to the fuse output (Right contact) will power the Tank Pump. +12v to the other contact will power the Main pump."

Just to make sure, when you guys say +12v you're talking about just taking power straight from the battery correct? I just hate ruining electric parts on cars by not knowing for certain what someone means. Thanks.
-Josh

Sorry Josh, I didn't mean +12v straight from the battery. I had mentioned using Fuse 6 in an earlier post and assumed too much, forgetting how it was in the beginning for all of us.

Jumpering fuse 6 to fuse 4 is a handy, and fairly common, way to run the pumps. Fuses 6 thru 10 are always "hot" (+12v present) on what I call the "Input" side. That's the contact being fed from the Battery, some fed all the time (i.e. 6 — 10), others only when the Key is ON (1 — 3), or when a switch or relay is active (15 & 16).

The "Output" (Right side) fuse contact leads to the "fused" (protected) device(s). For fuse 4, that's the Tank Pump. Voltage at Fuse 4's Input (Left side) contact comes from the (energized) Fuel Injection (aka Fuel Pump) relay.

So when we put +12v to the Input of fuse 4, its just like it came from the FI relay Output—and goes to the same places, like the Main Pump.

And by removing fuse 4, we can choose which pump to run—
Left/Input contact = Main Pump
Right/Output contact = Tank Pump

Let me know if you have any questions,

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

No worries. I'm glad I asked, I know my BMWs pretty good but this is really the first thing I've done on Volvos so thanks to everyone for the info. This is one of the best car forums I've visited. I've never had a post that didn't get a very helpful response. I'll let you know how it goes with the pumps.
-Josh

>It's easier to run (or test) either pump right from the fuse panel, with the Tank Pump fuse removed (snip)

Thanks, Bruce, I was not aware of that. As I have stated numerous times in my posts- auto electrics is a weak point of mine. I'm learning and appreciate the tip.

Randy

Disconnect the fuel *Return* line (hose) where it fastens to the hard line heading down the firewall and back to the tank. Improvise an extension if necessary to reach from hose to a safe container.

Get a helper/observer watching the hose & container.

At the fuse panel, jumper wire +12v from Fuse 6 (always hot) input contact (the Left one) to the Fuse 4 input contact. Both pumps should now run.

Remove jumper when observer goes nuts.

Reconnect the return hose. Run pumps again & check for leaks.

Fire it up, hopefully.

Post back if problems arise
--
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

Thanks, I'm going to try that in a couple of hours and I'll let you know. Is that what they call vapor lock? When the air in the lines keeps the fuel from getting to the engine?
-Josh

If you're having problems with the pumps on a cold start, technically that's not vapor lock, but the end result is the same: no fuel to the injectors. The "vapor" in vapor lock refers to the vapor caused by the boiling fuel. With modern cars and fuels, true vapor lock is pretty rare.

VAPOR LOCK
Definition: When gasoline overheats and boils inside the carburetor bowl or fuel pump of a hot engine, it ceases to flow. This can cause stalling or hard starting. This is called vapor lock, and it usually happens during hot weather. If a hot engine won't start, all you can do is let it sit and cool off. You should check the cooling system to see if anything is causing the engine to run unusually hot (a bad thermostat or cooling fan, for example). Switching brands of gasoline may also help.

Taken from this website: http://autorepair.about.com/library/glossary/bldef-856.htm