I am new to Volvos, though have some experience with older cars.

My 1980 245DL wagon (195,000 miles) has started dying on me. I will be driving along fine and it just dies (push to the side of the road, etc.) Only the engine dies; lights are fine. It is not the battery or alternator: battery is a brand-new Interstate and alternator was checked out. Also, lots of crank power always, even in these events. It is not the fuel delivery system: the fuel pump relay and fuse are fine (I carry replacements, thanks to the Brickboard). Another reason I know it is not the fuel delivery system is that after sitting for a while (five minutes to an hour) it fires right back up and everything is fine. I drive it along, everything fine, then it happens again. During the period when the car is unable to start I can crank the engine fine; the lights and radio work, etc. It just will not spark. However, I also get no dash lights (AMP, Parking Brake, etc.) I will sit there, occasionally trying to crank the car, engine turning over from the battery but with no firing and no dash lights. Then, for no reason, on one turn of the key the dash lights fire up and it starts fine and I drive away. This leads me to believe it is strictly an electrical problem, as opposed to a fuel-delivery or ignition problem.

I am going to do these things tomorrow:

1) Replace all of the fuses.

2) Clean and secure the contacts on the Ignition Control Unit

3) Check the connections on the wire harness on the grey relay on the firewall

4) Clean the coil connections

5) Replace the spade fuse on the fender wall near the battery (0.25 amp)

Thanks for reading this very lengthy message. Please give any advice you can think of.

John Davis

i re-read the post, sorry, i tend to skim. there is no fuse near the battery, those are for the 83 and later lh cars. and that fuse doesn't kill the idiot lights. 1 place to look would be the fuse box. the ignition sw powers fuses 11, 12 and 13, with a jumper from 12 to 4. the next time it cuts off, leave the car on and look for power on the blue/yellow wire where it comes into the fuse box at 12. power? the sw is ok and the fuse box connections are loose and dirty. no power-replace the sw. there are 2 blue/yellow wires. 1 is power in, the other is power out to the back up lights, ac, etc. the 1 with power has a white/red wire on the same terminal to power fuse 4. i love wiring diagrams. good luck, chuck.

Thanks for your advice. I took a look at the fuse box and found the wires you describe, wrote down your instructions, and will check the wires you suggest next time the car cuts out. One further thing I did (after reading about similar problems on the Brickboard) is to clean all of the connections on my coil. The one on top was very loose and very corroded. I cleaned it until it was all copper again and tightened it up. Drove the car around a lot today and had no further problems, but time will tell. Do you think the coil connection could have been the problem? Thanks. JD

the connection at the coil has no bearing on the problem with the idiot lights. if the car ONLY stalled with no other problems, then, yes, that might've been it. the coil doesn't send power to the fuse box, it takes power and uses that to make spark. good luck, chuck.

Thanks Chuck. I will carry your diagnostic instructions around with me, with a flashlight and meter, and see if it happens again. Hopefully it was a one-evening problem associated with a big snow melt we had that day. Thanks again. JD

I agree with the Ignition Switch suspicion, but want to ask about...

"5) Replace the spade fuse on the fender wall near the battery (0.25 amp)"

I had always thought that 25 amp fuse came only with the LH Fuel Injection, which was first used on late '82s (or so I thought), and that all '80s would be K-Jet FI.

A true '80 240 with LH 2.0 FI would surprise me (but that happens all the time).
--
Bruce Young,
'93 940-NA (current), '80 GLE V8 (Sold), '86 240dl, '85 244 ti, '83 245t
'76 244 (R.I.P at 255k), 73 142 (98K), '71 144 (ex circle track car)
Used '70 144 from '78 to '92, New 144 from '67 to '78, Used '62 122 from '63 to '67

the only common denominator in this is the ignition switch. it powers both the dash lights and the ignition system, along with the rest of the car of of other pins. next time it happens, wiggle the keys and see if the car starts. you might get lucky. and no heavy key chains, that'll wear out the sw and the lock cylinder. good luck, chuck.