i'm a little out of practice on volvos; just picked up a only mildly rusty 81 245 that runs (ran!) like a champ. did plugs, wires cap and rotor yesterday and still ran like a champ but won't start today.

i don't hear the fuel pump kick on when i turn the key to second so i pop in my brand new fuel relay but still no luck. tried all three relays that i have, nothing. i feel no click on the relay when i turn the key either. i find it hard to believe i have three bad fuel relays, including the brand new one i bought monday.

test light says i'm getting power at the main pump fuse (7) and the relay fuse (13) but not at the prepump fuse no. 5 (?) i got positive readings at the #15 on the ignition coil, too.

so i do the relay jump trick; i can make the pump run by removing the relay and running a jumper wire from power straight to pump, but the car still won't start. not sure what's going on... for some reason the car won't tell itself to get to work... i'm wondering if maybe my ignition coil is defective or if the cable from it to the distributor is faulty?? is there anything in a simple tuneup i did that could cause this? or is it just coincidence and somethng unrelated... any thoughts?

-tim

she runs! thanks for all your help. here's what i THINK went wrong.

i had nothing at the #1 terminal on the coil

i replaced all the wires as one of them was found to be bunk (end pulled apart as i tried to reseat it) but still no go, so i jiggled and poked just about everything. disconnected the leads to the ign control unit to put an ohmeter on them and found the contact clip was full of washer fluid from my leaking reservoir above it... dried it out, put the cap and stuff back together and it started right up? either that was it or my elbow made a lucky bump on something else.

thanks again for all the help.
tim

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I was having fuel pump problems on my 82 245 and let me tell you that just putting a test light to the number 5 fuse will give you nothing. Put the test light on it and turn the key to the on turn it off and then on again fast if the fuse spot is good the test light will light up. You can also try cranking it will you have the test light on the number 5 fuse. Trust me I ran into this same problem and it confused the hell out of me. When you changed your cap and rotor maybe you damaged the wires on the inside of the distributor, I think your car has the bosch ignition(mine has the chrysler ignition) so I don't know about the wires but I would poke around there first. If the car was running great then you changed things I would focus on what you changed, if your getting fuel and its not starting then its a spark issue. Try putting your old cap and rotor on and see what happens also try that with the old coil wire, remember just because something is new doesn't mean it will work the way its supposed to.

"i don't hear the fuel pump kick on when i turn the key to second so i pop in my brand new fuel relay but still no luck. tried all three relays that i have, nothing. i feel no click on the relay when i turn the key either"

That's normal for K-jet. That fuel relay is not supposed to energize until it gets (cranking) ignition pulses from the coil -side terminal +1 AND voltage via fuse #13. That means no ignition = no fI operation.
Did you check both the input (left terminal) and Output (right terminal) on fuse #13? Because crappy contact there is a known problem (not common, but known).

No power at fuse #5 is because the Fuel relay isn't "picking". Normally the relay puts power to the Fuse 5 input where it goes two ways:
1) thru fuse 5 to the tank pump
2) directly to the fuel pump.
TIP: With fuse 5 removed, you can jump power to either fuse terminal and test/hear either pump.

As for jumpering from 30 to 87 at the relay socket, that should run the pumps, so you should ger "some kind of" running if the ignition is OK. I say "some kind of" running because that jumper does NOT power the Lambda ECU, which controls the injector fuel flow. And I'm not sure if that's a show stopper or not.

A "y" jumper (30 to 87 AND 87b) would duplicate all relay functions. the relay

PS: "i got positive readings at the #15 on the ignition coil, too."
• Put your test light on coil 1 when cranking, It should go dim if the coil is geting pulsed by the controller, as Charlie says. If the light on #1 stays bright (voltage on 15 reading thru coil primary), then it's an ignition problem. Reseating the coil, distributor, and controller connecters may fix it, as it did for me on an '80 that sat for 10 years.

--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

Hi Tim are you getting pulsing onto the coil from the ignition module? If you are not then the relay will not pull in and hold in but it should pull in for a second or so and then drop out when it does not see a train of ignition pulses. If your pumps are running when jumpered and the ignition module is not then you will not be able to run the engine as there will be no spark from the coil. Check you have the lead from the distributor to the electronic ignition connected as no connection no spark. Check when you did the wires you did not mix up the firing order.
Cheers,
Charlie