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Volvo 940 wet start issue resolved!.... I hope 900

posted by  lrisius on  Sun May 24 15:32 CST 2020
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last visit: Sun Aug 17 05:59 CST 2014
[RELATED]

Thought I would post this in the event it might help someone else if they mess up like I did.

Executive summary: Make sure the grounding strap from the head to the firewall isn't touching the bottom of the distributor.


The long story:
I have a 93 940 wagon. About two years ago, it started having some issues with not starting and stalling when it was rainy out. It ran perfectly when dry. This model has the distributor at the rear of the engine, right under the hood joint. I replaced distributor cap and rotor with new Bosch parts. Didn't really fix it so I replaced the plug wires and it ran without issues till recently.

This car is my daily 8 mile round trip driver but gets very few other miles so it has pretty much been sitting during the shutdown. We got a good rain a month ago and it wouldn't restart again. I eventually got it started and it was running ok. A day or two later, we had a very foggy morning with heavy dew- wouldn't start again. We had a pretty rainy week or two and I never got it running. I tried pulling distributor cap and manually drying a couple of times but no luck. The last week of so, I have been hitting it pretty hard checking things. I replaced the crank position sensor, the distributor cap and rotor looked good, etc. I cleaned up the coil contacts, tried swapping in my back up coil and ignition computers, etc. Nothing worked.

Yesterday, it finally dried off and the car started and ran perfectly. I hit the bottom of the distributor cap with some water and it died and wouldn't restart. Today, it started again and I did the same thing. After it dried, it restarted and I decided to feel around under the distributor to see what else might be there before I hit it with water. I discovered one of the grounding straps from the head to the fire wall was pulled tight across the bottom of the distributor. (there are straps from each side of the head to the firewall.) I worked to push it off and actually got a small shock from the spark. I put it back out of the way and it ran well. I can hit the distributor with a lot of water and either not kill it, or it falters and then catches itself, or it dies but it restarts in 2-3 tries.

I assume that I caused this problem. I have no idea when I did it. I've had the distributor cap off a few times 2 years ago and probably 2 times during this round. I could have done it at any point but this round of problems makes me think it has been a while.

I really appreciate the brickboard and all the info I was able to glean for troubleshooting this problem. Thought I should add this story to the knowledge base.








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    Thanks guys!Volvo 940 wet start issue resolved!.... I hope 900

    posted by  lrisius on  Mon May 25 06:23 CST 2020
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    last visit: Sun Aug 17 05:59 CST 2014
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    Thanks to Dave and Nat for the additional ideas.

    I will go through and add the dielectric grease. I have some and think that makes sense. If I had done the grease (especially on the bottom fitting for the coil wire), maybe I wouldn't have had the jumping to the ground strap. I also plan to hit the entire area with some Gunk M1306 wire dryer and sealer. Hopefully these two things will reduce the smaller issues if it ever gets wet- like through the hood joint or from condensation.

    Funny addition to the story that is in the vein of Dave's coil wire story, I hit my peak of frustration at one point where I felt like I had regressed in testing. Was getting no spark or other signs of life at all. Turns out I had forgotten to reconnect the crank position sensor after disconnecting it so I could test the resistance. I was starting to look for a new car but I have been driving 240s and 940s for over 25 years so I hate to give up.

    Thanks all!








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    Volvo 940 wet start issue resolved!.... I hope 900

    posted by  Dave Stevens on  Sun May 24 22:28 CST 2020
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    last visit: Sun Jan 1 02:36 CST 2012
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    A good idea to seal all ignition wire boots with a good light coating of dielectric grease. Keeps the moisture out and helps keep the rubber boots from sticking to the spark plugs. Sold in small tubes as spark plug ignition grease (Permatex is a common brand).

    Periodically do all other removable electrical connectors in the compartment as well, except O2 sensor connector, as per Volvo recommendations. Done properly, you should be able to give your engine compartment a good shower of water and start back up with barely a hiccup, the fundamental idea being you can drive through the largest puddle imaginable In a rain storm and not stall out.

    When lubing the distributor wire to the lower nipple under the rear cam mounted distributors, be sure the metal contact is fully seated and clicks onto the knurled post -ask me why I know this as it resulted in a roadside service call and a tow for my wife’s car that took an entire 10 secs to fix once I spotted the distributor wire hanging down loose.
    --
    Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now







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