I have the ugliest looking, finest running 5-speed 240 a fellow could want.
It did not have very good previous owner maintenance, but did make the 200 mile long trip home from where I bought it. New tires and bilstein struts made it already a pleasure to drive.
The current top item on my lengthy to do list is a very long cold crank time.
Once it starts, it idles and runs fine. Never had a 240 that didn't start right away.

How long is the cranking?

We had a 90 745 that took a long tome to start.

After two complaints to my dealer, they told me that it would never start as quickly as our 88 745 because of its Regina system.

I was told that the engine had to turn one full revolution before this system knew where the timing was.

Despite my fears, the car never failed to start after its one reveloution for 50k. miles.

After 50 k, we sold it because this poorly maintained car was a pig!

90 240’s have LH 2.4’s. My 90 240 always fired right up. Assuming the battery and other parts were up to snuff...:) There certainly can be many reasons for cold/hard starting! For years my 95 850 demanded a lot of cranking but always started. Then one day it simply wouldn’t start...

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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

Fuel pump check valve ...... Check distributor rotor for 1k ohms. I installed a new distributor in my 740 and a week later the rotor went bad. New isn't always good.

Perhaps after sitting for a period of time the residual fuel pressure leaks off (not a fuel leak, but rather a loss of pressure in the system).

I don't know how your era car maintains that pressure after shut down, but earlier cars had a check valve in line back by the fuelpump that maintained decent system pressure for good length of time.

To test this possibility I would try giving the intake a decent shot of starting fluid before a cold start that you have come to expect a lengthy cranking time. If it starts right up you have a clue to work with.

Randy
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Any twenty minute job is just a broken bolt away from a three day ordeal

Hmmm.... Starter and battery are fine.
Loss of fuel pressure seems likely.
Dont know how I will test pressure loss due to no access port. I guess its time to make that tool I have needed for a long time.

Thanks guys.

I'm skeptical of the residual pressure theory. If anything, it may be a symptom of leaky injectors causing flooding after some time sitting.

Skepticism aside, you can test this residual pressure theory fairly easily by turning your key to KP-II several times, engaging the one-second fuel pump burst, to restore the working pressure before cranking. If this fixes things, then consider the FPR or the check valve as the culprit.

Or, if flooded, you can try standing on the accelerator pedal before cranking, to see if opening the throttle wide lessens the crank time for a flooded engine. If this helps, pull the plugs before starting, to sniff out the leaky injector, air it out, then see if it starts immediately.

Finally, if you think you need the cold start valve to assist you in March in Dallas, try disconnecting the valve in one of the cars you're happy with to see if the cold start valve (5th injector) is seriously needed in the morning.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.

I tried the 3 times key on test, no improvement.
Depressing the accelerator when cranking does not improve start time.
I will try the "remove plugs and let possible leaked fuel dry " test.

Worth noting, I think the key switch is bad; The "left the key in ign". dings after the key is removed and the driver door is opened. The windows sometimes dont work unless you wiggle the key, and there is no snap when changing key positions.
I suppose I need to address the things I know are bad and then review the slow start issue. When I say it is slow, that is only compared to my other 240s.

I had what could be similar symptoms/solutions on my 1990 2.4 automatic and the culprit was both a worn ignition lock cylinder combined with a worn ignition control module. I bought a used ignition lock cylinder on EBay - with its accompanying specific key - and a new ICM and the problem was solved.

As for the engine symptoms, the vehicle was running fine in the sun and dry days, but occasionally conking out on wet, rainy days - if I remember correctly. The new ICM solved that.

As for the worn lock cylinder, I suddenly was getting these bizarre electrical gremlins in the rear tail lights and driver's side window. The reverse lights suddenly wouldn't work unless the shifter was moved back and forth and thus finally resided in a picture perfect placement position, and the master key switch suddenly wouldn't work but the other individual switches would. My mechanic traced it all back to the ignition lock cylinder and the ICM. If I remember correctly, he would turn the key backwards slightly in the cylinder, and, if he was able to move the windows up and down, then that determined that the lock cylinder was worn internally. The windows should not have operated in this position, if I remember correctly. Supposedly there are copper contact points inside the cylinder and as these get worn down over time they suddenly can start to cause gremlins.

Hope this helps.

It helps. The car has big time electrical gremlins, and I have decided to change out the ign. switch first, then re assess.

I tried the 3 times to position 2 procedure, with no improvement.
I will try the remove plugs and smell.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge and writing skills.

I am not that familiar with when changes were made to the FI system but recently I had a request for a cold start valve feed line for a 1990 240. I have a 1989 245 parts car and it has a fuel line leading under the intake manifold where it is dark and greasy and I'm assuming it goes to a CSV. Since no one has mentioned the possibility of a CSV issue I thought maybe I had it all wrong. If it does have one but no one has mentioned it - a definite cause of long crank time starts. - Dave

Yes, I'm curious about Art's mention of a cold start valve, too, and as well whether Regina does a pump spin-up when the ignition is switched to KP-II. Art is familiar with the later 240s, so presumably he knows for the OPs 1990 240.

Regina (plus K-Jet with CIS) used a cold start valve. LH 2.4 did not (and to the best of my recollection neither did LH 2.2, in which case likely not LH 2.0 either). I had always assumed the 1990 240s and 740s stayed with LH 2.4 to the end of production in North America as first appeared here in the 1989 240s (B230F) and 740s (B230F and B234F, but B230FT stayed with LH 2.2 in 1989, only switching to LH 2.4 a couple of years later). Did the 240s and 740s switch to Regina in North America? I know some did in Europe. The 940 series started with Regina in the B230F in North America (but stayed with LH 2.4 in the 940 B234F and B230FT), later switching back to LH 2.4 with the B230FD by 1995.

For those curious, the LH 2.4 ECU double pulses the injectors during a cold start to achieve the same effect as a cold start injector. If Regina didn't go that route, I have no idea why as it seems like such a simple idea. Note that for both LH and Regina, if the block temp sensor isn't correct then it can affect both running and starting. The ECU knows when the ECT signal is completely missing and defaults to a cold start (with a DTC set and Check Engine lit), but isn't able to detect a faulty temp sensor so depending on the fault this could result in a delayed or rough start.

As an aside, with the just introduced B20F in my new '74 144, it was a bit of a treat not having to climb all the way into a freezing car and stomp on the pedal just the right number of times to prime the carbs for cold starting before being able to get back inside to finish your coffee. Leastwise that what was supposed to happen if the injection and ignition were in perfect running order. It took many of us decades to break the pedal pumping habit (I'll bet some here still find themselves impulsively doing it when your car won't start). Spinning up the pump also means there is less draining of a weak battery from excessive cranking, even worse for carbed engines that could more easily get flooded.

Now I've never been sure if Regina does a spin-up like LH 2.4, not having owned a Regina car. I had always assumed not as it was a seeming innovation when LH came in. Now that I think of it, there is no reason not to pre-pressurize the Regina system.

Residual fuel pressure remaining after shutdown won't last forever, and with a sticky check valve at the fuel pump or a faulty FPR (fuel pressure regulator) it won't last long at all. With LH 2.4, the fuel pump is always spun up for a second or so when the key is switched into KP-II to ensure there is adequate fuel pressure for a nice clean start. It does that for both a cold and warm start. With the under body main fuel pumps, you can usually hear the pump spin up, especially if you lean out and listen under the car. If there's good residual pressure then the pump won't make much noise and you may not notice it, such as when you repeatedly switch into KP-II. With the in-tank main pumps, such as found in the later 940s with LH 2.4, it's more difficult to hear. In those cars especially, you need a quieter area or even have to listen down the filler neck with a tube, just like you often have to do when checking for in-tank pre-pump operation in earlier cars.

I may stand to be corrected on some of this as I haven't taken the time to verify my recollections here.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Hi Burco,

You should be able to check your starter and battery by ear.

A consistent long crank after sitting may be a failing check valve at the main fuel pump. I guess the better test would be to watch a pressure gauge while cranking, but you might get by with pulling a plug and cranking for 5 seconds or so. You should smell gas, methinks.

Peter

When my starter went there was no noise.
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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

Electrical test your battery and starter. Also, check all related wiring and clean grounds. Pull your plugs and check condition. Test ignition switch. It could be almost, but not quite, worn out.

Had same problem with my 95 850. Hard cold starts. It was the starter.
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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....