I have a 1990 240 with a 5sp manual. I've been having some starting troubles over the past two weeks. About 60% of the time, the car cranks and cranks, and finally starts after about 5 seconds, but it's a rough start. I've also noticed a cloud of smoke when the car starts. After a minute, the car runs without problems.

The rest of the time, the car starts right away, but has a "flooding" sound and not a clean, crisp start.

I re-charged the battery, and cleaned the terminals.

Any suggestions?

Like 4volvos said it would help to know the color of the smoke.

If it's black it would be worthwhile hooking up a gauge to check for running fuel pressure to verify fuel pressure regulator, and also residual pressure to detect leaking injectors.

You could also try disconnecting the cold start injector to see if there is any improvement. A bad temp sensor might be fooling the ECU into letting the CSI squirt when it's not really needed.

If it's blue or white, get out the wrenches, it's gonna be a long night...

You might check the operation of the fuel pressure regulator. Make sure the vacuum line to it is in good shape and that the diaphragm is not leaking.

You might have leaky fuel injectors that leak gas into the cylinders and also depressurize the fuel line.

Lastly if the smoke is blue and goes away, suspect leaky valve stem seals.

What color is the smoke? White usually indicates a bad head gasket or some type of coolant leak into the cumbustion chamber.Black smoke means that there is too much gas(flooded)and blue means that oil is present in the combustion chamber.

I would bet it is the coolant temp sensor....i had issues with mine. it is easy to diagnose if you have a multimeter. If you would like the procedure i can send it to you, but you will need a multimeter capable of reading ohms and have time to remove the passengers side kickpanel to access the ports on the ecu. this is a smart non-invasive way to check for probs. lemme know if u are interested.

Thanks for all of your help.

My starting problems persisted, and I didn't have the time look into the 4-5 possibilities. I took it into Borton Volvo in Minneapolis...It was a leaking Fuel Pressure Regulator...$200 parts and labor.