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sudden death - brain dead? Ignition control unit? 200 85

posted by  someone claiming to be Bob on  Wed Nov 29 19:03 CST 2000 [RELATED]

Hi guys,

Gotta love it, the blue brick died taking my wife to work. In the rain. On a curve. On a hill. Facing uphill. Dang.

Ok, enough whining. Try the key. Starter turns, 25A fuse OK, clean batt. terminals, chk cables and accessory wires, grounds all ok. inside fuses all ok. Disconnect AMM just for grins & try again - nope. Hmmmmm. No spark, nuttin from coil, no fuel pump noise. Tow it home. Jumper to fuel pump-more grins - ok. Main relay ok on both sides. Dang. Woulda been cheap. OK, pull main connector from ECU and run tests. NOW, here's the rub. I have an 84 shop manual(Volvo) & an 85 car. I don't know how closely the two systems coincide. We ran all the tests for an unstarted engine, skipping the ACV, throttle valve switch, injectors, oil & temp sensors. Minor deviation on the AMM, but diff AMM from book & doesn't figure for absence of spark anyway. To me it points to the ECU, but I have no previous experience with either ECU or Ignition CU failures. Any ideas,

or does anyone have the 85 manual on adobe or know where it is?

Thanks in advance,

Bob.







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    Re: sudden death - brain dead? Ignition control unit? 200 85

    posted by  someone claiming to be Walter on  Sat Dec 2 19:50 CST 2000 [RELATED]

    Bob, I had the same problems with my '88 LH 2.2 like yours. I went out and found a used ECU for $150 and same problem. I went through and checked the ECU terminals point by point. I found a high reading ground and checked the ground wires on the bolts holding the fuel rail to the intake manifold. Bingo!!! got rid of my problems, was I humbled. Ground should read ZERO, any higher readings you are introducing bugs to the computer.







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    Re: sudden death - brain dead? Ignition control unit? 200 85

    posted by  someone claiming to be Art Benstein on  Thu Nov 30 12:14 CST 2000 [RELATED]

    I have the '85 set, but not on adobe- just plain green parchment. Be glad to quote from it or answer, but sorry no scanner here.







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    Re: sudden death - brain dead? Ignition control unit? 200 85

    posted by  someone claiming to be r haire on  Thu Nov 30 02:41 CST 2000 [RELATED]

    I would not rely on the 84 B23 manual for the 85 B230. Furthermore, ECU failures (511 or 544?) in the B230 are almost unheard of.







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    Re: sudden death - brain dead? Ignition control unit? 200 85

    posted by  someone claiming to be Rob Kuhlman on  Thu Nov 30 00:42 CST 2000 [RELATED]

    Morning, Bob!

    The "no spark/no fuel" diagnosis suggests dead Hall Effect sensor in the distributor. You need an impulse from it to activate the fuel pump relay. Go through the Bentley procedure for checking the integrity of the Hall sensor -- you'll need to probe some wires with a multimeter.

    My '83 stranded me in a motel parking lot on vacation in Maine this summer. I didn't have a multimeter, but I had my Bentley. The symptoms suggested a dead Hall sensor. I had the car towed to the nearest Bosch mechanic (garage full of BMWs, Jags, Rolls -- gees, I knew this was going to cost me...) and I looked over his shoulder while he probed using the Bentley manual. Diagnosis -- dead Hall sensor. He ordered one out from Boston, installed it the next day, car fired up, and we drove back to Penna.

    Good luck.

    Rob







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      Re: sudden death - brain dead? Ignition control unit? 200 85

      posted by  someone claiming to be josh lasserre on  Fri Dec 1 10:27 CST 2000 [RELATED]

      Wherer is the hall effect sensor? How do you get to it. What is the life span of this sensor?







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        Re: sudden death - brain dead? Ignition control unit? 200 85

        posted by  someone claiming to be Rob Kuhlman on  Sat Dec 2 13:13 CST 2000 [RELATED]

        Hi, Josh!

        Sorry to be late getting back to you. The Hall sensor lives under the dust cap under the rotor inside the distributor. I'm not sure what the lifespan is, but after this died on me this summer, I posted a 'life expentency' question to the 'Board -- I was thinking, is this something I should carry around in my spares box? I was advised that it isn't worth the trouble, they're hard to predict.

        I gather that the design has changed over the years. My Hall sensor in my my '83 LH2.0 B23 was an easy out/easy in replacement. At some point, Volvo changed the distributor -- with the B230 LH2.2? -- and I gather with these base metal distributor bodies, the Hall sensor isn't as easy to replace; furthermore, I've heard horror stories of trying to get these distributors off the block -- apparently dielectric metal corrosion between the base metal distributor and the iron crankcase makes them nearly impossible to remove once they 'weld' themselves into place. This may be 'urban legend', however. I have no experience myself with this.

        Sorry I couldn't be more specific.

        Rob







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      Re: sudden death - brain dead? Ignition control unit? 200 85

      posted by  someone claiming to be Ben, formerly Ben Mathes on  Fri Dec 1 06:45 CST 2000 [RELATED]

      I'd check the timing belt too. I bought a car this fall that didn't run ($150) that everyone told

      the woman selling it had a fuel problem (pump was hot wired). I noticed, while cranking it with

      the distributor cap off, that the rotor wasn't turning! So I checked the belt....looked fine....but the

      valves wouldn't turn either when engine cranked. Took the belt off and saw the 4 or 5 missing

      teeth! Put a new belt on and it started right up!






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