Here's my problem-I'm stumped. My '87 245 quit on my wife today. Luckily she was in a parking lot, so she was safe. The car starts fine, but almost immediately cuts out. It doesn't hesitate at all when starting, but I can't even apply the gas--it idles for maybe half a second, then cuts out. Occasionally, when I apply the gas when starting, it will rev in response to the gas, but then it cuts out. Other times, I depress the pedal and nothing happens, the car just dies. This isn't sudden--the car has been starting pretty rough lately--it usually needs 5 minutes or so to warm up and get going, and it usually stalled after the first start, but ran fine afterward. Is this my fuel injectors? Or a fuel pump issue? I can't figure it out--I've never had anything like this happen. Please offer any advice you can! Thanks!

You might check the hose that runs from the area just in front of the throttle intake to the right. It has a 90 degree bend in it. It runs down to the a junction. I had this happen to me once. I stopped the engine once and later it ran a little rough at start up. It then got a little rougher off and on. I found a split tn the hose only after taking it loose and bending it to make it open up more. I figured that the shutting down shaking motion made it change over time till it got real bad.

If all the hoses look good, then I would guess too, that it might be a fuel delivery problem. I like being watchful of the in tank fuel pump and the main fuel pump check valve. If the gas tank in below a fourth full it may get starved especially going up hill.

Since no one has mentioned it, have you checked the 25 amp blade fuse in the engine compartment. It's on the drivers side just in front of the shock tower on the fender.

A friend of mine had a very similar problem with his 83 245 Turbo wagon...after many days, evenings of chasing after probables..he accidentally disscovered ( in desperation he removed the plug in the exhaust downpipe..and the car ran as normal...loud but normal) he had a clogged catalitic converter...once replaced (cat.convert.) the 245 was back to normal....we all grasp at straws...Hope this helps....have a Merry !!

If you are in a cold place, the first thing I would recomend is fuel line anti-freeze. You may have been trying to burn water for a while, and now it has frozen and blocked your fuel line.

If you are in a wet place, start with the distributor cap and rotor and move on to the wires and plugs.

Always hope for the easy stuff. A bottle of good fuel system cleaner every few thousand miles is always a good investment.

With the ignition off, unplug the air mass meter harness and then restart. Report to us whether it idles fine or not. If it does you have diagnosed a bad AMM.

Forgive my ignorance, but where would I find the AMM harness? Thanks!

Looking from the front of the car, follow the black plastic tube (~3" diam) that runs from the airbox (black plastic box in front to the right of the grille) to the metal engine intake. About where this tube passes the front suspension there's a trapezoidal gadget on the side of that tube, with a rectangular electrical plug plugged into it. There's probably a wire bail that has to be removed so that you can unplug it.

With the engine/key OFF, remove the wire bail and unplug the plug. Then try to start it.

You'll notice that there's a joint in the plastic tube on each side of the trapezoidal gadget, and there are metal hose clamps holding it together. You do not need to remove the clamps, this is for direction only. That thing with the plug and the clamps on each end is known as the Air Mass Meter (AMM), and if it's bad, you'll begin to have stalling at idle, progressively worsening until it won't start at all.

This could be several other things:

-air filter

-fuel filter (under the car) or also the intake "sock" in the tank

-fuel pump or pumps

-ignition stuff, like coil, distributor cap

-ECU (highly unlikely, very low failure rate in your car)

Thanks for the pointer--found it with no problem. Unfortunately, that didn't solve the problem. So I guess it's not the AMM. I have changed the distributor cap and rotor, and as soon as the spark plug wires come in the mail, I'll change those. If those don't work, does this pretty much mean it's a fuel filter or fuel pump issue?

Thanks to everyone!

Did you try the air filter to see if it's clogged? It doesn't happen a lot, but it is possible, since it's easily overlooked.

How many miles on this car, and what's been done, maintenance-wise, in the last 20,000 miles or so? Do you take it to a mechanic for maintenance, or do you do it all yourself?

It could be any of the following in the fuel system alone......starting from the back; in-tank sock (if the car runs on a full tank, but quits when the tank gets down to half-full, it could be the in-tank pump), fuel filter, external fuel pump, fuel pump relay. The fuel pump relay is a story (with lots of scanned pictures!!) in itself.

There are also two fuses which determine whether the FP relay will work. You might look at the fuse panel and see if the fuses are corroded at the ends. Sometimes just turning them in place can make them reconnect, and your car might magically start and run. Just run your finger across them and spin them and see if the car will run. If you decide to clean the fuse panel, disconnect the negative cable of the battery first, so you don't spark anything, and then clean remove the fuses and clean the terminals with an abrasive. A scotchbrite pad will work, or steel wool, or light sandpaper, or a wire brush. Again, disconnect the battery first so you won't have to replace the ECU because you made a spark. And while you're there, make sure that your fuses are good. You might test them with a continuity tester or test light.

If you're determined to sort this out yourself, a Bentley manual (about $50) is a great place to start. Amazon.com or bn.com will have them. Or you might find a used one on e-bay. It doesn't have absolutely everything in it, but it comes close, and it has troubleshooting charts.

Otherwise, you might be well-off to take it to a mechanic who knows Volvos. You can always get a second opinion here.

Look in the right front(driver side)engine compartment. Its in the tube that runs from the air filer to the intake manifold. Theres a wiring harness plugged into the top of it.