I walked out to the car this afternoon after a few hours of rain and the car turns over, but won't start. Any ideas? The battery appears to be OK. I did see water on the battery and on the relays (which I wiped off). But it kinda reminds me of the last time the ECU died, I wanted to get your thoughts before I bother putting in my spare.

A little more data, please.

Any spark?

Ever changed the cap, rotors, wires, plugs?

Ever had any trouble with the 25-amp fuse (near the hi-lo relay)?

Have you ever played with the fuel pump relay?

Excessive smell of gas?

Don,

Don't know about spark (how can I tell?)

I've had the car since March of '99 and haven't changed the cap, rotors, wires, or plugs. It's due for it's 180,000 mile service now.

No trouble with any fuses before.

Never done anything with the fuel pump relay.

No smell of gas.

It keeps trying to start, but won't catch.

Most likely the dampness from the rain has created a low resistance path, shorting the spark to ground. Have a helper crank the engine while you watch the engine. Do this in ABSOLUTE dark, lights out, eyes dark-adapted for 10 minutes. This way your eyes are super sensitive to very weak light.

Watch for any obvious sparks or arcing around the distributor cap, at the coil, or along the plug or coil wire. If you see any, you can try drying everything off (remove the offending wires first) or spray with WD40 or another water displacer.

Check the 25-amp fuse that's clipped to the same metal strut as the hi-low relay. Pull the fuse out, inspect 'n clean the lugs, and reinsert. Confirm that the fuse is OK before inserting.

Fuel pump relays are world famous for causing an intermittent no start and stalling. Get a new relay, or better yet, resolder your original ($0, 15 minutes, no risk, better than new, can do anytime).

When you say, "It keeps trying to start..." do you mean it cranks over, or do you mean it pops, farts, 'n sputters?

I mean it cranks, but just doens't catch. I'm going to go try it some more. Wish me luck!

OK, well look at the things I suggested before you run the battery down.

Don,

Thanks for the help! I was able to start it in the morning and limped into my local Volvo shop. Replaced the distributor and spark plug wires and I'm as good as new...