Me again...

I have encountered a few more problems. First, when I turn the key on the dash lights no longer come on. The oil light *usually* comes on but the other ones do not. I have encountered this problem ever since I had a new fuel pump installed.

The fuel pump works intermittently as well. The normal "buzzing" noise is not always there when I turn the key.

Could these two things be connected? Is something NOT connected? Everything worked fine before I had the new fuel pump installed and now it seems a little haywire. Any suggestions?

Thanks
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1975 Volvo 164E - 86,000 original miles!

Thanks for the info. I have actually discovered the culprit. It was the ignition switch (not the key cylinder, rather the part of the ignition that you plug the connector into).

The fuel pump is brand new and so the contacts and the connectors were clean. The battery is also new with new cables. No blown fuses, etc. I replaced the ignition switch and voila...it works fine now. These Volvo's can be pretty quirky! Thanks everyone
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1975 Volvo 164E - 86,000 original miles!

First, go to the suspected fuel pump and pull the electrical connection. Clean the contacts and use dielectric grease on them before you reconnect.

Then play with the key. If the ignition switch is dirty or bent, it may not be fully "on" and you may have to back up the key.

Klaus
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98 V70Rawd(108Kmi), 95 854T(88K mi), 75 164E(173K mi)

I agree with sberry and I'll give you an example.
My 164 was in awful shape electrically when I got her and I could tell because of the things you described. My dash lights were blinky and so was my ignition, some times it would crank and just stop. I started at the fuse box, found some glass fuses instead of the normal "German" fuses and all the contacts were coroded. I replaced every fuse, "good" or not and used a copper brush on the contacts.
I then moved to the ground block (drivers side engine bay top) and replaced all conection screws and brushed all of the plates and screw holes (remember every metal inch of the car is a ground) and moved onto every conector within the engine bay and cleaned those as well.
I noticed that my battery holder had considerable corrosion as well as brittle cables so I cleaned the crap out of the holder and replaced the cables as well.
It's kind of a blanket concept, but even if the car has low miles (mine is 93,000), it's still 30 years old.

Now everything works as it should even the windows, minus the clock (have to replace the internal fuse) and it saved me from buying parts I didn't need. Now I just need to work on the fuel system.

Whenever I have any sort of inconsistent electrical problem I start with the main engine ground. A good way to diagnose a bad engine ground is to use a set of jumper cables. Attach one black clamp to the negative battery post (double check!) and one black to a sturdy part of the engine - intake manifold is a good candidate. Leave the red clamps hanging free You are creating a temporary extra-strength engine ground. Make sure you have a good bite. Check to see if the problem goes away. If it does you can concentrate on cleaning up the ground connections -if not you can rule it out and trace the problem elsewhere.

Check your fuses. Pull each one out and brush the contacts. Replace the fuse and twist it a bit to get a good connection.

Examine battery connections at the post. Just pull them off, wire brush the terminals and reinstall the cable.

Some of the most useful tools in my toolbox are a $30 multimeter and a $1 dummy light electrical tester.

steve