My 1995 volvo 850 dies while driving
normally not too fast, 10-40mph

Right before the engine dies, the tach blips about 200 rpm (it feels a bit like when cruise control starts to accelerate) then the needle goes down to 0 smoothly down to 0 as the engine dies.

When I try and give it more gas, nothing happens

The lights stay, but the power steering dies

The car can not be restarted with out at least a few minutes passing

If try to restart it immediately, the engine turns over and sounds strong, but nothing happens

after a few minutes wait, its starts normally and drives fine (Until it stalls again)

My local mechanic checked the battery & alternator and said they were both fine

my 96 850 did the same thing were it would stall when i came to a stop and for me it was the mass air flow sensor on the air box. you might want to check that because it can damage the Catalytic converter if it goes bad

Any verdict? My 95 850 died like this as I turned down my street with just enough momentum in neutral to make a powerless turn into my driveway. I'm no expert, so I'm starting with fuel or distributor fault.

KG

My 850 did something like this when the Cam Position Sensor was going bad...If you look to the right of your distributor cap.....it's right there on the back camshaft side. It is held in place by a couple torx screws and connects to the electrical system via one plug. I would check to make sure no oil is leaking into it and make sure the connection is good. Have someone read the fault codes to be sure......New bosh units are 187.00 bucks at Speedycarparts.com....they are under engine electrical and are called a "hall sender"

Have the codes checked...there should be something there...is the check engine light on?

Check your fuel pump relay, #103 in the fuse tray.

http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volvo/1265592/850/way_isolate_falid_betwen_gas_pump_relay.html

Klaus
--
Volvoless. Sold the R. There is now a void...

After going down a few wrong roads (I replaced my fuel pump relay, no luck), my mechanic replaced my cam position sensor and the car has not died in almost 2 months.
He would only say he was 95% sure that the cam position sensor was the problem, because the car was producing no code say this. But he replaced it for well under 200$ (parts and labor) and the car has been great since then, so I feel very confident that this was the source of the problem.

Mines been doing the same thing. I was approaching an S curve this morning and it did it...of course not power steering...had another car been there an accident may have happened. It started again after a few tries...drove it home as if nothing happened.
--
'95 854T 150,000