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well guys, here we go again!! this is startin to bum me out, as well as be a mundane exercise in futility..... all was well with the old girl, however, after a a failed start last night, and again today, i'm back to square once again! this thing just ain't gettin any fire, that's all there is to it. thanks to you guys, i've managed to keep this thing running, and running well.i have tweaked, cleaned, replaced, renewed and prayed over this car so much i've got brain-burn @ the moment! it's like, the coil just isn't there! i re-checked everything from past problem areas, and unless i come across whatever is keepin this thing from firing accidentally again, it ain't goin nowhere for now! has to be some intermittent electrical snafu, i've chased down and fixed everything i have been able to up until now, and don't know what to do from here. i'm gettin power to everything that should be gettin power, i think, but no run! i mean, usually, this thing starts right up, and runs like a new car, but, i'm at a standstill @ present. anybody else experience this same problem, and, if so, what was the outcome?? PAGIN GEORGE DILL, LUCID, and SCOTT!! help! thanks, louis
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Rotten wiring insulation is probably your issue. On my 83 240 with B23F engine (non-turbo), the five wires that come out of a grey plug near the center of the firewall are usually the problem. You can cut them of two inches below the plug and run new 14 gauge stranded copper wires with oil and heat resistant insulation. Solder the new wires onto the 2" stubs left at the plug and cover the joint with heat shrink tubing. Route the new wires around the inner fenders to their final destinations. Leave the old wires alone; don't try to remove them from the main harness. Here's where the five wires on an 83 go (an 85 could be differnet): black (lower right corner of plug) to oil pressure sender; yellow (above black wire on plug) to temp sensor for gauge (not for fuel injection); red (above yellow) to alternator; yellow/blue (lower left wire on plug) to starter solenoid; fat brown (upper left corner of plug) to coil terminal 15. It helps access if you remove the intake manifold but it's not imperative. Use appropriate type and size of crimp-on connectors on the wire ends that connect to the devices. jp
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jp, i knew that damned plug was part of the problem! one of the first things i did when we bought the car was to uncover them far enough down to make sure they weren't burnt together! hardly any insulation is left on them anyway, so i'm goin w/ this as i have no other recourse other than to keep tryin..... i have helped replace a harness on a 67 chevelle i had, but it was a frame-off resto, and the whole front cap was off, so it was easy! it's gonna be a bitch if i end up havin to do a harness replacement, so, i'm stickin to patchin up what i can for now. i've got plenty of different gauge wire, and butt-splices at the ready, i'll just have to go wire by wire. what's confusing is, and maybe some of you have found this out already, most of these problems i've had on the other"german" cars we've owned over the years( i know the swedes see things a little differently)have been attributed to bad, or poor grounding, either by ground straps to the block, and to the body, etc.and i'm wondering if this could simply be a poor, or no-ground situation, as this is to-date, an intermittent problem,seems like it'll run for a week or so, then i'll have to go and pull her home for some TLC. please keep your knowledge, and thoughts comin, it's much appreciated on this end. again, i just knew that gray connector box w/ all the bad wiring had something to do with this,or at least is part of this, i'll get back to you w/ my findings, gonna try to put in a couple of hrs. on the car tomorrow. gonna change the battery in my digital multi-meter, looks like it's gonna be puttin in some overtime before this is over, unless i get lucky and stumble across the wire(s) that are plaguing the runnin of this car! thanks again, louis
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I'm not familiar with the 240's, so this may be way off base, but is the distrubution of spark dependent on the timing belt being intact? ie: if the belt is broken, willl the distributor turn?
Just a thought.
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I had a problem like that and it turned out to be the in-tank fuel pump one time and the next time it was dirty contact connector at the air mass meter.
If you haven't checked those maybe they're worth a try. I know you said you're not getting any spark, but maybe those could be part ofthe problem anyway---you know how weird those gremlins can be.
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The best method to verify spark/no spark is with an in-line spark tester. This $3 tester goes between the spark plug and the end of the plug wire and has a clear tube section where the spark can be observed jumping a gap. Verify the 25 amp blade fuse is not burned or CRACKED. A crack is hard to see and causes intermitent problems. Remove and clean the ends of all fuses with fine steel wool or sand paper. Especially in the damp spring weather, corrison on a fuse end can develop and cause a poor connection. Run a jumper wire from the positive battery post to the positive post on the coil (terminal 15 I think) and crank it over. Remove the oil fill cap and verify the timing belt isn't broken by watching the cam shaft while someone cranks it over. Disconnect the fuel supply hose at the fuel rail and crank it over with the open end in a jar to verify good pressure and flow. Listen for the click of the injectors with a screwdrive to the ear. Analysis the results of all this and figure out what to do next. jp
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have just completed the tests you suggested....... timing belt intact, found a few other smaller problems, and it started and ran for about 5 mins, then, no spark again! what are the chances it could be the igniton control module(bosch),black distributor cap? or, is there a mileage limit to the control module, as in, i'd hate to buy one only to find out that's not my problem...gonna start checkin on the price, tho, i even took the alternator off and had it tested, just to make sure. the car left my daughter stranded again the other night, i'm just tryin to make it as reliable as i can, for safety's sake, and otherwise. every time i start foolin around w/ the wiring, i find somethin else is crumblin apart, so i'm startin again tomorrow by strippin off the casing from around the harnesses close to the distributor, and goin back to the coil, i've already found one bad wire, and the two leads to the starter were touchin one of the other terminals on the solenoid, so i took them off, cleaned them up, moved them and re-tightened, so they weren't touchin, and that's when it fired right up. thought i had it licked, until 5 mins. later, when it ceased to run, again! so, i'll just keep @ it, maybe i'll find the problem yet! thanks to all for your time, and ideas/responses, louis
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"what are the chances it could be the igniton control module(bosch),black distributor cap?"
Ignition module on '85 will be Volvo/Chrysler (over by the washer tank, and practically bullet-proof). I would replace the black no-name dist cap with a Bosch though.
And I would respectfully suggest you use the Caps and Return keys to make your posts more readable. I know that takes some extra time and thought—but isn't that what you expect from your readers?
That's just my opinion. But I try to offer help when I can on many threads, and frankly don't have time to dig thru all this densely-packed rambling.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.
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Dear Bruce, i'm sorry for the poor typing conduct! I will
try to do a better job when replying to/ postin new threads.
Thanks once again for the advice, i'm gonna replace the cap and rotor,
as well as the plugs and wires, can't hurt at this point.
I'm hopin to get in a couple of hours work on the car today, as i've
been busy w/ other stuff, sometimes life gets in the way!
I pretty much figured the control unit was of the either/ or variety,
it either works or it won't. I'm gonna start chasin down the wires
going to the coil, and going back to the control unit, as i keep gettin
lucky w/ the wiring, by that i mean, every time i try and fix
something, i find another problem that needs to be fixed, which
buys me a little more time on the road. thanks again for your time
and advice, louis
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Thanks Luis, Those Capital letters help me a lot. But I wasn't clear about the Return key. You don't need to use it at the end of every sentence—just when you want to put some "white space" between thoughts. Then hit it twice, like right here(RR)
Now I'm off again, with white space to show that I've changed my mental gears. It's like using the clutch between gears (sorta). Now for technical content: (RR)
I think you said (someplace) that you could hear a relay click when you put Battery +12 to coil 15 (the blue wire). That's because the +12 from the jumper follows the Blue coil wire "upstream" to all the places it usually goes when you turn the key on. So you probably heard the OD relay if it's an auto-tranny car. Or something similar. Make sense? (no RR here, because I'm done for now.)
OK — so I did it again. White Space is good.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.
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Ok, plenty of "white space", and yep, you're right, it is the OD solenoid
i'm hearing. pls. check out my last post to jp213, as he seems to think
it may be the alternator wiring, which will be my next project.
Real quick, this is where i'm at: i've repaired/replaced as best i could
all bad wiring at the big gray plug on the firewall, i've fixed the starter
wiring, i've cleaned all the fuse holders, changed all the fuses, and since the #10 fuse is for cars w/ power windows, and not connected to anything,
i wonder if moving the connections from the #11 fuse would be something i should try.
Im goin out tomorrow ,and i'm goin to get a replacement cap and rotor, and if that's been my problem this whole time, well, i'm gonna quit!
After that , i'm gonna pull her over to one of her ROTC buddie's dad's
shop, as he says he'll try and run a diagnostic on it. Don't think they will
have software for a car this old, but you never know. His wife drives a
90 somethin Volvo wagon, so maybe i'll get lucky,have a good holiday,
and thanks again. louis
later!!
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Thanks Louis, You probably don't believe what a difference that white space makes, but I really, REALLY appreciate it.
Regarding, "i wonder if moving the connections from the #11 fuse would be something i should try."
I think (from recalling earlier post) that you may misunderstand Rule308's comment on the Blue wire from fuse 11 to the coil. The voltage doesn't come through the fuse. It is tapped off from the hot side, which is common to 11, 12, and 13.
Power comes in (at fuse 12) on a blue/yellow wire from the ignition switch. Then it takes off from fuse 11 hot side to the coil 15. Along the way to the coil, there is a junction somewhere, and a side leg of that Blue +12V goes to the Volvo/Chrysler ICU.
So don't worry about fuse 11 outputs (OD relay and rear window defrost). Fuse 11 has no direct bearing on Ignition.
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.
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K, great! keep 'um comin, as i'm gonna figure this out yet! I was just grabbin
at straws when i mentioned tryin that, i already had one fire underneath the dash of my 924, so i'm VERY gun shy to fool w/ any electrical w/o some guidance.
Still have a feeling it's something i can conquer, and something i have probably overlooked many times, as i keep stumbling across solutions that
have kept it running until now.
But seriously, i had major troubles w/ the last "drivable project" i bought,
and i found most of the problems i could attribute to poor , and in some
cases, no ground at all.
I think i misunderstood someone , who said that the brown wire on the control unit is the one that puts out the signal to the distributor so it will fire.
I know i'm probably wrong, so, i'm gonna ask, is there a way to bypass the control module just long enough to see if it will run? I've exhausted all the
"old school" tricks i know, and have used many times.
Well, thanks, once again, type at you soon, louis
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" I think i misunderstood someone , who said that the brown wire on the control unit is the one that puts out the signal to the distributor so it will fire."
• No, the brown wire is from the Knock Sensor to the ICU. The Spark is controlled by the Gray wire from ICU #1 to Coil negative (#1).
Coil #15 always has +12 on it, so when ICU grounds #1 the current flows in the coil, building up the magnetic field in the Primary winding. Then, when it's time for a spark, the ICU opens the ground at Coil #1 (like points opening in the old days), the Primary magnetic field collapses, and cuts thru the Secondary winding to generate the spark.
"I know i'm probably wrong, so, i'm gonna ask, is there a way to bypass the control module just long enough to see if it will run? I've exhausted all the
"old school" tricks i know, and have used many times."
• Sorry, no way to bypass the ICU that I know of. I would look elsewhere for the problem. Sure, it's possible, but I've never seen or heard of a bad V/C ICU. More likely to be wiring or distributor problems, IMO.
I'll be away for a few days. Check you later, Bruce
--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.
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Sounds like you've found your problem -- the classic rotting insulation. Don't plan on opening up the casing unless you're willing to go all the way. Sounds like you are, but you'll probably need to either replace the whole wiring harness in the engine compartment or replace the wires one by one. The worst ones are usually the little red wire to the alternator and the little wires to the starter. But do check the fat cable that goes under the front of the engine: it's always hot and can start a fire if the brackets cut into the insulation or it is otherwise compromised.
--
'81 GLT 245 @ 259K; '83 DL 175K
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k, if i'm on the right track, let me ask, the two connectors on the starter, besides the two large red power lines, there is one connector that actuates the starter when u turn the key,(this i had to replace/repair, as it had no insulation on it at all....) and the other has(or had) nothin on it. does it mean i'm probably missin a ground wire, or, does anything go on that side of the starter(the male spade connector), that's missing at present, and could that be why it won't run?? i just looked @ fuse #11, and the wiring behind the fuse appears to be blue, and not white, as someone suggested. as far as the red wire that goes from the alternator, which one are you referring to, as there are two reds on the back of the alternator, one of which, when i peeled back the casing, was turned on a 90 degree bend inside the casing, which looks like it needs to be cut out and fixed, the part that's been looped around for so long, i'm afraid it could be broken inside the red casing. that wire goes across, underneath the timing belt cover, to the alternator, is that the one you mean?? i had to remove the brace for the intake, and the bracket that holds it close to the block to cut away the casing, and that's what i've found so far, all the others look good. very frustrating! thanks for your time, and help! louis
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In the olden days, the small wire connections at the starter (actually on the solenoid) went to the starter switch and another through the ballast resistor to the coil. Now ('85) there's just the wire from the switch. All those other spade connectors, if present, are just extra.
At the alternator there should be three wires: a fat red wire that goes directly to the + battery post by way of the starter, a small red wire that carries "actuator" current to the alternator to start the charging process when the engine is started (this wire goes to the "battery" light on the dash -- once the alternator starts putting out current, the current flow reverses and the battery light goes out), and the third alternator wire is a short ground wire going to the block. All three are need for the alternator to work.
Since you're not replacing the whole harness, you might want to reroute the small red wire along the passenger side fender wall. I'm not sure exactly where that runs, but I'm sure Bruce can help you on that one. Another problem wire is the oil pressure sender -- not sure where that is on your car, but it could probably be rerouted along the fender, as well. On my '81 and '83, the sender is by the alternator, and is a wire prone to failure.
Even if you do this rerouting, do inspect the fat red wire where it goes under the front of the engine -- always hot since it's a direct path to the battery, and if the support brackets cut into it, can start a fire.
That's my Memorial Day weekend project, too, happy holidays!
--
'81 GLT 245 @ 259K; '83 DL 175K
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Yea boy! What a wonderful way to spend your holiday weekend
k, let me tell u how this 85's alternator wiring is laid out,
it's close to how yours is, tho. There are two red wires as you
mentioned, and ours has a green "field" i believe, but no ground wire.
I don't supppose it makes ground by attaching to the block? I'm
pretty disgusted at present, all the cars i've worked on, owned,
kept runnin, and, i'm at a stalemate w/ a hunk of steel......
And my daughter is lookin to me for answers, and i don't have any
at present. I'm not giving up, tho, oh no, even if i have to get a new
ignition control module, this car WILL run, just not today! I still
am wondering what i will uncover when i check out that wire underneath the timing belt cover that goes to alternator, very well could be cut into,
which may prevent it from gettin fire. Anyway, thanks for everything,
and have a good holiday, also. louis BTW, if i'm wrong about that green
wire, if that's a ground, let me know if you can!
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I don't know the color of the ground wire, but it should go from the frame of the alternator to the block, down below the alternator. You probably won't have a good view of it without removing the alternator. That ground is fairly essential for the alternator to generate power. The alternator is mounted in plastic bushings, so there is no reliable ground through the mount. Until your battery runs down, though, that wouldn't be the source of your problem.
--
'81 GLT 245 @ 259K; '83 DL 175K
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So you say that the coil is not there, do you have injection? Do you have any flash on the ground side of the coil? What shape is you engine speed sensor in, the hall effect in the base of the dist?
Mark
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hey mark, yea, got good fuel supply, and spark when u jump #15(+ side of coil),and as far as i can tell, the hall effect looks to be in pretty good shape. i say this because, years back, when i bought my first 924, the distributor was way gone, and the guts were fried pretty good. first thing i bought was a replacement, and it cured a lot of the little car's ills(that, and a lot of fixin poor grounds, etc.)not unlike what i'm suffering thru, now. as far as i can tell, the three wires in bottom of the distributor(bosch), are all good, and not making contact w/ each other, and there is power goin to the wiring to the distributor.someone else mentioned the red wire goin from the alternator across the front of the engine, underneath the timing belt cover, which i discovered after peeling back the plastic loom, has been tucked away since the car was built in such a fashion that it is almost broken, by that i mean, when i straightened it out, you could tell it has been in that position for so long, that it could possibly be broken enough inside the insulation that i'm not gettin enuff power thru there,so that when it heats up, it just stops puttin out, guess i'll find out, as i plan on cutting into it, and cutting out the bad part(as i've had to do on so many other wires on this car so far),butt-splicing or soldering it back together, just so i know i've knocked out another possible problem. don't know if you read my previous post concerning my earlier findings involving the starter wiring, but, after cleaning up the two wires, and the small one that actuates the solenoid(another one that was all but gone),i thought i had it fixed, as the two main power lines were touchin the terminal that actuates the starter when u turn the key, figured it was a dead short, and the way they were all touchin, that had to be it, not so. started right up after i did that, ran for 5 mins., then nothin, again. that's when i started peelin away the plastic looms, to see if anything else was shorted together, what with all the frayed, and crumbling wires here and there. damn, i had one of these cars way back in the early 80's, and it was in moderately bad shape when i got it, but i spent the money and time on it, and it gave me years of good service, even had the floorboards replaced, as they had rotted thru, you pull up a mat, and you're lookin at asphalt! cost me 200, but the guy riveted in, and hammered out two nice pieces of flooring, even re-carpeted the thing.......anyway, back to my current troubles. somethin tells me it's electrical,as this has proven to be an intermittent problem, i'm just gonna keep tryin to run down the wiring between the coil, and the distributor, seems to be the only thing holdin it back, as i've got good fuel pressure, even changed the fuel pump relay when we first got the car 3 mos. ago,had rec'ts. where the pumps were changed, and i guess at the time the realy was good, you could tell whoever worked on it had pried the cover off to check it, so, i'm thinkin the problem is in the wiring somewhere. when u jump 12volts straight to the coil i hear a clicking, somewhere in the wiring, possibly down by the starter, but when you jack it up and look under there, there's nothin hanging, or loose. i don't know, i'm open to any other thoughts, suggestions, ideas. like i said, i really can't afford a new control module right now, as i feel it's somethin else, because if this is like some of the other cars we've had, if that's bad, it is not gonna run at all, but i don't know! i was warned about the "electrical gremlins" some of the volvos are plagued with, but the kid that owned the car before us had spent a few bucks on it, and i believe him when he says this didn't happen to him, as his girlfriend drove it daily, until she got a new car. judging by some of the rec'ts. that were tucked away in the glove box, all the normal things you would change on your vehicle to keep it goin were done, so, maybe i'll figure this out, and worse case, i'll have to try and have a diagnostic run on it, if i can find someone to do it on a car this old.... thanks for the advice, louis, PS, where is the speed sensor, and, will that keep it from gettin fire??(85 244DL, 4 cyl. auto trans)
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Why is it that you have to jump power to the coil? It gets it power from fuse #11. It goes from fuse eleven to the coil and then piggy backs from there to the chrysler control unit. Sounds like you have a typical 240 wire harness for sure. You can try patching it back together but I recommend just replacing the darn thing. If you are patching it back together you might want this number, 3523813. It is what we always referred to as the washer pump wire. It is a white wire, about 30" long and it has the correct molded female end on it to go into the the harness connector right there at the firewall behind the valve cover/intake manifold. With these you can plug into that harness and then add whatever length you need to it and connect it to the other end. One place I always use them is for the oil pressure and D+ alternator wire and then I run them down the firewall and under the right strut tower. It makes for a good clean install.
The engine speed sensor is the hall switch.
You mentioned you have a black cap in it, sounds like a wildcat aftermarket cap, good Bosch iginition parts aren't that expensive and are a whole lot better than your run of the mill after market crap. I would put in a good cap and rotor while you are working on it.
According to the schematic the only other things on that fuse are the heated seats and the overdrive. Then click noise you hear, could it be coming from the overdrive solenoid?
Although it could be a control unit I have to agree with you that they tend to work or not. I have seen a few that would cut out though and not restart for some time.
Good luck,
Mark
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the #11 fuse holder has what appears to be blue wires goin to it, and i think you're right about the clicking being the overdrive solenoid, the #10 fuse has nothing goin on, it's for power windows, which we don't have. just for fun, i jumped the #11 with a wire setup i have w/ a fuse holder in the middle, still no start, then i changed the fuse, also, just in case, as i've already cleaned all the contacts in the fuse box, and changed every fuse, as i wanted to make sure every thing was working. so, do you think i should put power to the coil from another power source, which essentially was what i was doin by jumpin power straight from the battery..... and are you talkin about the gray connector block on the firewall just above the intake/valve cover? it has an empty space on it, but nothin's connected, is that where i might draw some power from for the coil? thanks for your time, louis
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I just went through a similar diagnostic. Very long. Frustrating. Family looking at me like I am some sort of failed mechanic. "Why doesn't the car work, DAD?" Why are you spending so much time fooling with those wires?
I had a start, few seconds running then dead. No spark. As you say, it was like the coil was not even there. The number one plug on the ignition control module on the right inside fender (Chrysler/volvo) fires out through a thick dull white wire that winds itself around under the engine and around the oil pan and winds up connecting to the #1 or negative terminal of the coil. This is the wire that tells the coil to fire. Possibly in your previous haste to clean the coil terminals you may have triggered this problem. This wire is shielded on the coil end. There are two wires, one inside the other. The outer wire at the coil is shielded to protect this signal from interference. If you did know this, you could crimp the shielding in with the main signal wire of the center. This will kill the signal from the ignition computer to the coil so there will be no spark. Take the male spade off and peel back the shielding and keep it away from the new bare wire and the new spade connector. Then try to fire up. Hope this helps. (The number one plug on the Chrysler/Volvo ignition unit is the top wire, left side--it is not shielded at the module end.)
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great googley moogley! i'm gonna try that first thing tomorrow! i wondered why it(THAT WIRE)was so much thicker than all the rest.........actually wondered if it was like a coaxial/shielded type, and how did you figure this out???
This bloody thing has been drivin me batty! I, like i'm sure most of us have, more than a little workin time under the hood, but, this has been baffling! God, i hope this works, my daughter has been heart broken w/o her baby('85 244DL). you would think it's a new 900 series turbo the way she treats it!
Thanks so much for the info, i can't wait to try this,as it's rainin in old New Orleans right now, and, i have no garage within to work at present. Appreciate your time, and knowledge, louis
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One more thing I discovered. That #1 wire from the #1 plug on the Ignition computer going to the #1 terminal on the coil, is in fact shielded all the way through. Now this is a sort of good news/bad news scenario. Some optimistic technicians actually splice the shield into the #10 plug wire at the computer. This gives the shield a ground, which in theory is a good thing. You can cut this splice, and check the sheilding as I mentioned before at the coil for contamination. The bad news, is that if this operation works, what this confirms for sure is that the wire harness is bad, that the hot stiff harness going around the oil pan is compromised. Down there, the shielding is touching the center wire, so when the computer tries to shut off ground to cause the coil's magnetic field to collapse, nothing happens, if the shield wire is grounded---so there is no spark and there is no engine start. My car would start, warm up, die, no spark. I hope this gets you going. I would not trust any connections at the coil living in such a moist place as New Orleans. Just be patient and be thorough. John
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k, now i'm a little confused! what you're sayin is, i should try and connect
the shielded part of the cable at the #1 terminal, or should it NOT make contact at all to the #1 terminal? Ive already pulled the loops away from the block down there under the timing belt, and cut into the casing at one point, the solid red wire goin to the alternator does not appear compromised, now,
i'll cut into the casing on the wiring goin to the module, and see if it's groundin out! thanks for the info,as i said, i'm a little confused, as that shielded copper ground is looped back into the harness already, at the igniton
module, i guess from the factory, i found that, when i peeled back the casing there, also.
In your previous post, you said it was touching at the terminal, and it wouldn't run? Or am i incorrect? I found that it wasn't even close to the spade connector, but since i was that deep into it, i went ahead and changed the connector,
tryin to eliminate all possibilities of bad connections, etc. I also changed the cap and rotor, as well as the coil(all Bosch), and that i know works(the parts)and still nothin. Please understand, i'm just tryin to make sure of what i'm doin, as i don't want to do more damage!Thanks for the advice, louis
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Louis, Sorry for any confusion. If, and I do stress if, you have no spark on that bird---one reason could be the center of the number one ignition lead is touching the grounded sheathing. If, and I do stress, if, you just want to start the car, and do not want to mess with the wire harness right now at the oil pan, cut the sheathing at the ignition module and do not let it be grounded at the number 10 wire. This should allow the ignition module to shut off ground to the #1 terminal at the coil and for spark to proceed.
Fixing these birds is easy--finding out what is wrong is the tough part. This procedure that I recommend to you is a way of discovering what the root condition is without going to the parts man and spending several hundreds of dollars on parts only to find out the bird still does not fly.
Part of the problem is that the repair manuals do not take into account what kinds of changes take place when a car has 250-300,000 miles. The suggestions for curing a no start (for example: pick up coil, ignition module, coil,sensors) are good but they are not everything.
If you are already into cutting open the ignition harness around the oil pan I would be interested in seeing if you find any smoking guns. Are you going to replace all the wire sections around the oil pan? What are you using for thickness of wires, and what are you going to use for connectors?
I have been holding off doing this. I can get a new ignition module wire harness for 210 from Volvo. I took the car out for a 200 mile trip yesterday and it ran just fine.
Before I cut the sheathing at the ignition module #10 ground line, the car would start cold, run 20 seconds, die, no spark. 15 seconds later, when the engine cooled a bit, and the wires contracted a bit, with the key on, the car would spark on its own and the engine would fire for one to two seconds. Your never going to find that in a Haynes Manual. John
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Well, I would just jump the two fuses together and then go out under the hood and see if you have 12v to the coil. If not you have another problem somewhere in the wiring and in that case, yes I would just jumper 12v onto the + side of the coil. The battery and the coil should be close enougn that you can run a simple test lead with aligator clips on it from one to the other.
The reason I mentioned the wires, the part number and that grey connector is because when you have a harness melt down on you often times it is right at that connector that it is really bad. If you disturb it too much trying to repair it you will do more harm than good, going in very carefully with those wires that I mentioned is the best way that I have found to repair that harness. Don't get me wrong, wire harness repairs of this type will work but I do not advocate them. I strongly recommend a new harness but I also understand the financial outlay involved too. That grey connector houses, among other things, wires for the: oil pressure switch, temp guage, D+ for the alt, and a couple others.
Mark
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