Posted by Bork III

PROBLEM
A problem started, as I ran low of gas one evening. I stopped at a station, put some fuel in, and while on the freeway the engine completely shut off. I coasted to a stop, and it wouldn't turn over, as if it was out of fuel.
Long story short, I got it home and checked the fuel pump amperage, spark ignition and finally the fuel pump relay. I switched a "good" relay I had with the old one, and suddenly it worked! So, I thought, "well it's just the relay," and replaced it. Strangely enough the cruise control that was mysteriously broken, worked again.
Anyways, I thought it was fixed, when the exact same thing happened again. The engine shut off, and it wouldn't start again. After waiting and trying, it somehow turned over, and I drove it home.
Now the strange thing is that recently while on the way to a parts store, (yes, I was still driving it)I noticed the rear defroster turned on,(even though I didn't turn it on) and the right directional was also "stuck" on, not even pulsating. The rear brake light bulb-warning light on the dash panel, also started showing. I pulled over to re-set the system, by turning the ignition off and on again. The dash panel, directional and rear defroster stayed on, even with the key off.
Well, I drove home and shut it off, and after a few seconds, everything finally shut down like it should.
So, what is it now? The ignition, or a wiring harness? After all the electrical malfunctions, I kind of ruled out the fuel pump as a problem, but what might it be? Any help would be appreciated.

89' 245 DL B230 5spd normal aspiration
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RESOLUTION
Turns out there was a melted mass of wires under the driver's side floor board. A shorted wire going to the license plate light, was burning everything up and fusing itself to the sheet metal up by the left rear tire well.
Those mysterious conditions were brought on by surges and shorts. No ECU, no ignition, but a pain in the neck. So, I think I got lucky depending on how you look at it.
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Symptoms changed with everything that was tried. It might be instructional to read the entire thread:
http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1272843/220/240/260/280/fuel_deliveryignitionelectrical_woes.html

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Mr. Shannon DeWolfe -- I've taken to using mister because my name misleads folks on the WWW. I am a 52 year old fat man.