Hello all,

I just became a Volvo owner quite by chance, as I'm a dedicated diesel nut (my daily driver is an 83 diesel powered BJ60 Land Cruisier, hence my nickname). I just go this deal I could not pass up from a friend of mine (I could have got the car for free but thought it would be unfair to him) who was going nuts not being able to solve his intermittent starting problem on his 760 GLE. Knowing how much (too much!) he spent in the last few years on it, how nice its condition was and being a natural at trouble shooting I took it as a challenge and after some research located the culprit: the Fuel Pump Relay.

So I'd like first to thank all dedicated Volvo owners who have selflessly shared their findings here and elsewhere, as it appears even Volvo Dealer Mechanics were unable to diagnose the problem accurately for my friend, after spending thousands (yes!) in cables, spark plugs, a distributor and lastly the fuel pumps to be still stuck with the same problem: intermittent no start, overheat and loss of power at maximum load (full throttle and high RPMs).

So I just wanted to add to the body of knowledge, in case it hasn't been posted yet, that I did not even have to replace the relay! If the solder joints are OK, which was my situation, don't discount the relay as not being the culprit: relay contacts have a tendency to arc and burn! On this relay (there are actually two of them in the package), the contacts are very small so they can easily burn and you may not even notice it unless you use a loupe. Then you'll notice the blackened pits and arc build-up. I presume the contacts are silver and that would be silver oxide... Using a standard cosmetics ruby grit metal nail file I cleaned them in short order and solved the starting issue, the lack of power I was told it had when cold, the engine loss of power at high speed and the overheating issue as well, which can all be related to fuel starvation. Now that the engine is properly fed, it starts instantly, can be put in gear after just a few seconds, doesn't overheat and has plenty of power at high speed :)

And to think my friend though he had damaged his engine (he was used to drive at very high speeds and overheated the engine once) and it was only good for the junkyard...

Not bad for a weekend of research on the Internet, an hour to locate the relay and five minutes with a common cosmetic ruby grit metal nail file to clean off the contacts, especially when considering that the only other things that are wrong with the car are the driver side seat heater, the rear shocks (standard type) and the worn tires and the fact that I got it for 500 Cannuck Dollars, don't you think?

Now the trouble is, WHERE am I going to park it... :D

Best Regards,
83bj60
'83 Toyota Land Cruiser BJ60 (550,000 km - daily driver / work truck)
'87 Volvo 760 GLE (290,000 km - week end and family touring car)