All,

A few weeks ago I had mentioned that I had purchased an immaculate, one-owner 1989 740 GL for not a lot of money. I thought (and still do) that it is a great car.

However, there has been something going on that for the life of me, I cannot seem to solve. Last Wednesday, I went to the 740 to leave the house in order to go to an appointment. It wouldn't start - all I got was a constant crank-crank-crank, but no engine firing. After 20 minutes of unsuccessfully trying to get it started, I finally had it towed to my Volvo specialist's shop 8 miles away. He did some diagnostics with the OBD-1 port but couldn't see any codes. He checked the distributor cap, rotor, and plugs, and they were okay. Next he tried plugging in a new MAF sensor, which caused the car to start when we tried it. I took the new MAF with me and thought that was the end of my troubles.

It wasn't to be. The following day, it wouldn't start at all, even after unplugging and plugging the new MAF. So I thought, I'll wait a day. The following morning it started without a hitch, and I decided to drive over to another Volvo specialist friend of mine who is closer to my house (just 4 miles). The car died a mile from his shop and I was forced to call AAA once again and have it towed the mile to the shop. Weirdly, it started and ran fine once we got it there - he checked the fuel pump relay and hall effect sensor, and said they were okay. But it had starting issues the rest of the day - it would keep cranking for like 5 seconds before the engine fired.

It did the same thing on Saturday - wouldn't start in morning, but started okay in the afternoon. Yesterday, while driving to church, the car died in front of the parking lot and I had it towed once more. Just today - an hour ago - actually, at lunch time I decided to drive it to a local park, put the car in a parking space and leave it idling to see what it would do - mind you, this was after the car had been sitting overnight. The car idled for a full minute before it shut itself off yet again. I cannot get it restarted. I think it's the crank position sensor or the ignition amplifier, or both. Help! What do you think?

You need to find out if you have spark and fuel at the plugs.

My first guess is the fuel system relay, a dirty fuse, or maybe the crank position sensor. First things first and find out what you are missing when it won't start.

Dan

It may be a bad a ground. On the fenderwell on the drivers side just behind the headlight you will see a small terminal block with terminals and wires. clean the terminals and the connections and also where the terminal block is bolted to the fenderwell.

Jimo

Could be a fuel pump. If the car has 150,000 miles or so it is time for one anyway. The fuel pump does not quit all at once, it can be a very gradual process. I had no start problems for quite a while. When I finally changed the fuel pump I cut the old one open. One of the springs that exerts pressure on the brushes had corroded so one brush was intermittent. Turbo, regina, and non regina each have a different pump. So be sure you know what you have. As I say, this may not be your problem but if the car is in the mileage range that I mentioned and its never been changed, it's due.

First, you have either a hall sensor or CPS, not both:(from FAQs)

"Does My Car Have a Hall or RPM Sensor? You can quit worrying about the Hall sensor if you have a 89 or later non-turbo or 90 or later turbo: the last years for the Hall sensor were 1988 and 1989, respectively. The Hall sensor is gone in favor of the RPM sensor on top of bell housing. In these cars, there is no plastic wiring connector on the side of the distributor plate and no wires into the distributor other than the high-tension spark leads to the cap. The illustration shows the Hall Sensor distributor and the arrow depicts the sensor."

When it won't start, you need to narrow it down:
1. Check for spark, if no spark, ignition system
2. If you have spark. Check your plugs, wet or dry. Dry, fuel delivery issue.
3. Radio suppression relay issues will not allow the fuel injectors to open, thus no fuel.
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