i have been experiencing an intermittent problem lately, on occasion i'll go to start my 1988 240 (cold or hot ) and every thing is dead except head lights/lights,

the other day went to pick up a prescription got back in to start it up and nothing, i did the usual chinese fire drill, fuses, went under hood and did the wiggle stuff , got back in exasperated, as i sat there pondering a towing company, with the key in the on position something clicked all the normal dash lights came to life the door beeper started sounding as it should. the car started fine.

i'm puzzled and fearfull this condition will get worse. is this possibly the ingnition switch?

I think rhaire is on the right track with the neutral safety switch. Fixed mine with an appropriate sized washer as a spacer

oh crap just started the car and turned it off again ,, nothing dead no lights nuttin at all. any suggestions

And clean those battery terminals/connectors.
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1986 Volvo 240DL wagon

would the fuel pump relay kill all the power, including dome light?
going back to battery terminals now

The first thing I would check is the 25 amp fuse holder on the left fender. They sometimes get cruddy and make for a bad connection.

If that checks out, next stop is the main relay (fuel pump relay) clipped to the firewall above the passenger's right foot.
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1986 Volvo 240DL wagon

could it be the ignition switch contacts?

It is not the 25 amp fuse or the fuel relay. Bad ignition switch often starts with mysterious heater fan and radio intermittent failure. A faulty neutral safety switch (at the shift lever) might be a possibility, but battery terminals are definitely priority one.

terminals at battery ok, however i found the crimp connection of cable at fault. thanks