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I've been in Europe for the past six weeks. Car was not started the entire time i was gone. stupid, i know. The car was running fine when I left, and in fact given a clean bill of health after a complete inspection when i bought it in february. Only problem was the brake booster was starting to hiss.
Return home today, the car has power, interior lights, radio, etc. Engine is turning over but not catching. I didn't hear the typical 'clicking' sound i've heard with dead batteries in other cars, however i figured it had to be a battery issue, especially after 10 minutes of leaving the door open/lights on, i got a 'low battery voltage' message in the message window.
take the battery out and take it to autozone. they said it had 12 volts but lets charge it anyway. an hour later, they say it should be fine. put the battery back in, power comes on, but the engine is moving even less. like not at all, really. no clicking.
now i see there is a procedure for removing/replacing batteries in these. stupid for not reading the manual, i know. anyway, i had an old 240 for years but i really don't know much about cars and i'm not a mechanic. i appreciate any advice you can give, but any references to esoteric parts and procedures might go over my head.
thanks in advance!
luke
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Your battery is fine. The lights work because they only need about 9 volts, but the starter needs 11V+. The slower the starter runs the less juice left in the battery.
If you have access to another car, try jumping it. The other running car will supply 14V which should be just fine.
It is possible that your fuel line drained dry while it sat, and that takes a while to replenish. It may take a good 20-30 seconds of cranking to get it started.
Forget about your disconnecting/connecting the battery for now. Nothing you can do about that spilled water.
Klaus
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Volvos should be saved from the junk yards, not donated.
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klaus
thanks for the response. i forgot to mention that the first thing i did (obviously) was to try to jump the car.
i tried turning the ignition for 30 seconds as you recommended. its just not catching. the gas meter says the tank is about 1/8th full.
should i try adding gas? could the gas have gone bad/stale?
i used to put nothing but 89 octane in my old 240, but since gas prices have skyrocketed, i tend to buy the cheapest 87 octane gas i can find, usually from cut-rate off brand gas stations.
i'm just hoping i don't have to replace a fuel pump or something.
thanks again.
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Adendum:
You have 200K on the engine. Make sure the serpentine belt is moving when you engage the starter, the battery cannot start the car without the alternator turning. Just put a chalk line on the belt and take a look after hitting the starter for a second.
It could be an electrical malfunction. If you have access to a code reader, plug it in and see if there are any pending codes.
You are due for a timing belt re-do in 5K miles, make sure it is not broken.
Klaus
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Volvos should be saved from the junk yards, not donated.
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Thanks for all the input, guys. Believe it or not, it was bad gas!
According to the gas meter, I had between 1/8-1/4 of a tank. I added 3 gallons today. Voila! Started almost immediately.
Its my lucky day, I guess. Car is running fine. As you mentioned Klaus, the car is due for the timing belt service. I was already planning on taking it to the shop for that service sometime next week. I will have them look around and see if anything might be going bad that could cause water or to get into the fuel line, or some other issue to cause the line to go dry or lose pressure. I'll also have them check to make sure i didn't do any damage holding down the ignition all those times.
thanks again
Luke
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I had an even more difficult time starting an 850 that was also low on gas and had sat for a very long time. It finally started after filling the gas tank 1/2 full and adding dry gas.
Moral of the story: If your car will be sitting for a long time fill it...:)
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All right!
There is nothing wrong with holding the starter for a while, no harm done.
If you live in a relatively humid climate and park the car where it will heat and cool during the day and night, then parking it with an almost empty tank will result in some water condensing and settling to the bottom of the tank. Another contributing factor is yur insistance of using very cheap gasoline. Those stations probably do not clean the water/sludge from the bottom of their storage tanks on a regular basis.
Believe it or not, your gas mileage will get worse if you run the car on 87 octane. The knock sensors will detect piston knock long before you can hear it, and the engine will then alter the timing and increase the fuel released by the injectors until the knock goes away.
The use of poor grade gasoline also makes the cylinders run hotter, which can contribute to over heating the head gaskets and premature failure.
When you go in for the timing belt change, expect to replace the water pump and antifreeze.
Klaus
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Volvos should be saved from the junk yards, not donated.
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When you turn the key to position II, you should hear the pump prime for about 1-2 seconds.
If you had left the car for 6 months or more, the gasoline tank could have collected some water, but not in 6 weeks. Adding a couple of gallons to your tank would not hurt. Gasoline takes a long time to 'go bad', I let my 122 sit for 6 months every winter and never do anything to the tankful.
After all of these attempted starts, it might be useful to remove the coils and spark plugs. The plugs should be wet, so let them dry off and if you have a bristle brush, clean them.
Check the air filter and make sure something did not build a nest in the intake.
Klaus
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Volvos should be saved from the junk yards, not donated.
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"...i'm just hoping i don't have to replace a fuel pump or something...."
There's likely a schraeder (sp?) valve on the fuel injector rail used to test for fuel pressure. Give it a quick squirt into a jar or a rag and see if fuel escapes with much force. If not, then you may have a pump issue, or blown pump fuse. If the pump is working OK, but the line has bled down as Klaus mentioned, you may be able to release a good portion of the air by turning the key on and off a couple times to apply fuel pressure and then poke the schraeder valve to let the air out.
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