My 93 940 went through a period of time where it would randomly fail to start. On one occassion the engine even quit as I was making a right turn. Having just spent many hours and several dollars on work intended to improve reliability, I was quite frustrated.
Looking back over all of the "no starts" I discovered that all of the events occurred during rainy weather. Further investigation revealed that the weather stripping seal between the rear of the hood(engine lid) and the firewall had failed. This allowed rain water to reach the distributor and the connector for the rpm sensor. After placing tape over the gap between hood and the firewall there have been no more failures to start even during rainy weather.
After several trips to the local Volvo dealer, I discovered that Volvo apparently
no longer makes an exact replacement for the original weatherstripping seal. They finally came up with a replacement seal. However, the repalcement seal does not have the same geometry as the original. I have installed the new weather stripping seal but I am concerned that once I remove the tape, rain water will once again reach the distributor and the rpm sensor.
Has anyone else ever had this problem?
Thanks in advance for any insight on this problem.