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'93 240. The starter cranks slowly and after 1-2" the car starts. I have been bringing this car back to life after 3 years of sitting. Runs great, I assume both fuel pumps are running well since it doesn't matter if the fuel tank is near empty or full.
Wonder if it is the fuel line check valve, however it does the slow crank even if I restart it immediately after turning off.
I have cleaned all the ground connections. The only other thing I noticed is that both the alternator and starter are not original. The alternator seems to have an extra red wire coming from it with a clip that is not attached to anything. The oil pressure sensor has one wire from the alternator attached and has a place for an extra clip - it is a larger silver-ish cylinder that is different than the one on my other 93 240.
I was going to attach the extra red wire to the extra clip on the oil pressure sensor, but thought I would check first. Anything else I should be looking for/testing regarding the slow cranking?
thanks,
John
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Hello John,
Just in case yours is a 93 and has the fuse bank attached to the battery, clean those fuses.
Marty
Once there were four, now two
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My guess is your alternator is not working and the battery is not fully charged or bad. The small red (exciter) wire attaches to the alternator B+ terminal. Black wire goes to the oil pressure sender.
Dan
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going by the voltmeter gauge in the car, everything looks normal. The only thing (and I know these gauges can't really be trusted) is that when it is cranking, the volt reading goes below 10. Otherwise when running and idling it is always in the 13-14 volt range. Also, the battery works fine in my other car, so I think it is charging and working correctly.
On my setup, there is a green wire going to the oil pressure sensor. The red wire is attached to the b+ terminal. There is also a black wire with a plastic separator/connector thing-ee that is not connected to anything. And the oil pressure sensor has another connection clip but nothing connected to it. can't figure it out.
will check starter solenoid wire.
thanks,
John
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10 volts tells me the battery has a dead cell and is shot and explains the slow start, you are lucky it starts at all. .
The black wire is for the oil pressure idiot light, I guess you have and oil pressure gauge?
Dan
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that makes total sense (both). I'll have my battery checked before going further. Thanks.
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Hi
You should have four wires down there by the alternator. Only one goes to the oil pressure sender.
The biggest wire is from the battery and hooks on the biggest terminal marked B+.
The is another smaller wire that hooks by a spade terminal to the D+.
It is a exciter wire that comes from your instrument panel.
It should light up a battery symbol light when the engine is off and the key in position two. Lots of lights should come on in this position.
It should go off while the engine is running. It an all or nothing "idiot" light. Oil light is the same. If they are on you are in serious trouble if the engine is running.
Voltmeters are the best charging system condition reader.
There is another alternator wire that is housing ground back onto the engine block. The alternator is rubber mounted so it needs this wire for the exciter wire to work properly.
These two wires above control the charging output at start up and of course the light signal if the bulb is good.
The last left over wire is the oil light switch. That wire, like the battery wire, if held to the engine block, will also light up a bulb. Just this one with an oil can showing.
Yes, if your voltmeter is working, in the dash, it should be pointing straight up or to the right at anytime, except while cranking the engine!
Otherwise, you are running down the battery.
If the battery is that low, get it charged up completely manually. The alternator dies take a very long time to get it up, to where it belongs at peak current capacity. The battery's life gets shorten a bunch everyday it stays that way!
Hope this gets you squared away!
Phil
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Yes, the extra wire is for the idiot light, no longer needed because of the volt gauge.
Had the starter, alternator, and battery checked out at Advance Auto with their gizmo. All was well - the only variation is it measured 707 CCA and is rated 750CCA. Is this enough of a difference to cause slow cranking?
Having a hard time accessing the starter solenoid lead - need to remove the air mass meter tube from the throttle body to get in there.
Any other ideas to try out, or should i just accept that it cranks slowly?
thanks,
John
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Was the battery actually load tested? If all they did was check running voltage then I would still suspect battery. Have you put a voltmeter on the battery then have someone crank it and see what the voltage drops to? You could have voltage drop to the starter as others have mentioned. How's it crank with a jump?
--
Post Back. That's whats makes this forum work.
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I just tried cranking it with a jump and it made no difference. I think the battery is fine. As I mentioned, when I use it on my other 240, it cranks at normal speed.
I am going to continue to clean connections and see if anything helps. And then, as machine man mentioned, get a digital meter and check out cable resistance. I would hate to pull the starter!
Very much appreciate everyone's help - hopefully a solution will magically appear!
John
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This may help.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/voltage_drop_testing.htm
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Post Back. That's whats makes this forum work.
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Sorry, but I read that you said the "extra wire" is for the idiot light and is no longer needed.
That is not so!
You need that light circuit connected to the alternator! It is that circuit that excites the alternator brushes when the alternator exciter diodes have not started their own output.
It has to have a working bulb, in that socket, on the backside of the cluster.
The bulb act as a dropping or limiting resistor to "trickle" some "tickling" current. It wakes things up! (:-)
The in dash or system voltmeter is auxiliary to that idiot light circuit.
The volt meter can be hooked up "just about anywhere" on the car electrical system.
I say just about anywhere because, you can put in an area of excessive voltage drop, like on a heavily loaded or resistive switched circuit. Example is a blower or fan input.
The dash meter that Volvo puts in these cars are only for reference like a flag on a route of a foot race track.
You need to put a digital or a wide band analog meter straight onto the battery posts and look for tenths of volt variations.
The idea is to have 13.2 under heavy loads ie. Fan or lights at idling speeds if possible and up to 14.2 charging range. Some even go to 14.5 under some conditions.
I remember the "two's" as in "to" keep a battery at full charge!
Digital meters work best to find bad cable resistances too! They can cause a slow starter but so can a starter be dragging for bad connections inside it.
That another story on how that works with 0.02 volts being a limit.
You have cleaned and checked those out already.
Pulling that starter, in its self, can be a drag! (:-)
Have you check for a current drain out of the battery when shut down? Hook an ampere meter "between" the neggative cable and battery negative battery post. Nothing greater 0.02 amps is best.
Keep looking with a meter, as it is truly the "eyes" that only can see electricity!
That is, besides, a bright sparkling short, that quickly fixes itself, if you let it! That can get smelly though!
(:)
Phil
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If all is well, try cleaning all connections to the battery, grounds, starter, and alternator. Look for corrosion at all connectors.
Dan
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Let's start with the basics. Have you tested your battery? I would also check the condition of the wire to the starter solenoid.
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