A well-intentioned but non-Volvo mechanic got our 1978 242GT to start and run while my son had the car far from home, but now things are really messed up. After returning from a weekend, my son found the car would crank but not start. The car was towed to a shop, and they replaced the fuel pump relay beneath the steering wheel (puke green 3 523 639) with a non-Volvo relay (white 898151). Apparently the car still didn't start, so after some trial/error experimenting, they also cut the red/white wire that comes out of the wiring harness near the wiper motor (isn't this the fuel pump cutoff wire, connects to a terminal on the coil??). I don't know if they did anything else, except now the seat belt buzzer doesn't make noise.

The car starts and runs perfectly now, except that the battery will go dead if the car is not run for a couple of days because fuse #6 (fuel pump) has 12 volts across it all the time, even with the ignition switch is off, so something is draining the battery, the fuel pump I guess. So we keep the fuel pump fuse out except when we want to drive the car. I want to sell this car, so the current condition presents a serious problem.

I thought the first thing to do would be to replace the fuel pump relay with the correct one, which I did (from FPC Groton). But with the correct relay, the car cranks but will not start. And I would try to re-connect that red/white wire to the coil, except I don't know which terminal it goes to (1 or 15).

SO I am stumped, and I hope I have provided a few clues for someone familiar with this part of the 1978 240 electrical system. Thank you.

Steve Lanich