After 12 years of starting first turn of the key my 96 1.6i 440 has finally let me down.

She's been surplus to requirements for 6 months ( i ride a motorcycle in the summer ) I start her up every 2 weeks take it round the block a few times operate everything, get the engine to operating temp. I stick a charger on it for 24 hours every time i do this.

This morning I decided to fix the horn ( MOT Time), I took it off, cleaned the contacts connected it to the battery to check and refitted it. The gear change gets stiff when not used much so I lubed up the linkages. Then I tried to start it......turns over no probs, not even showing a sign of firing.

Started fault finding, plugs were as dry as a bone even after much cranking so began to suspect the fuel system. Fuel light has been on a while so I stuck a gallon in. Then I noticed the fuel pump does not whirr/buzz when the key is first turned so I......

1. Took fuel supply pipe off the fuel delivery rail, turned ignition on nothing squirts out.

2. Checked the pump relay, clicks when ignition is turned on. bench tested it with a multimeter, seems ok.

3. There is power to the switch side of the relay.

4. By passed the relay with a jumper cable, pump runs.

running out of ideas now!

One question...... Do the fuel pumps run continuously or do they switch in and out? looking at the wiring diagram it appears to be connected to the ECU. I'm wondering if I somhow damaged the ECU with the charger/horn test, is this possible?

any help would be great.

dirty relay contacts maybe, if the relay is clicking its operating, if you can jumper past it then it has to be the relay switch contacts, maybe try a new relay? is the fuel pump relay one that is similar or the same part number as another? maybe as a test you can find one to swap over?
Grendel

Sorry for the delay in replying, I've checked the fuel system through and all seems ok. Turned my attention to the ignition system, cranked it over with a plug out and hey presto no sparks!

I was dreading this, where do I start with an ECU based ignition system? I've checked the bits I understand eg leads and distributor and all seems well.

Any advice on where to start would be great.

tom.

well I guess if you can get the engine codes that would help, failing that start at the plugs, work back through the ignition system, distributor, coil, etc, if theres no supply to the coil, then it could be any of the sensors / relays in the ecu system, its working back checking each component until you find the one thats stopping everything.
Grendel

Will check fault codes, weather too grim today to be bothered!

If a key sensor is at fault eg. crank position will the ECU just not bother squirting fuel and not trigger spark plugs?

After lots of cranking the plugs are still dry and there is not a strong petrol smell.

Is this indicating a key sensor and/or ECU failure?

I suppose what I'm saying is both ignition and fuel systems appear to be totaly dead so if something like a TDC sensor has failed completely will this cause this problem?

Getting back to the start of the story could I have caused the problem by not disconnecting the battery when charging it?

Tom.

that could well cause the problem.

Cheers Grendal,

I think I'm getting somewhere, the crank sensor shows infinite resistance so fingers crossed looks like thats the problem.

Anyone know a good place to get a quality replacment without being fleeced?

Tom.

I think I have the same problem....

I have a Volvo 460 2.0 (non turbo) 95'.
I've only had it for 3 weeks, but it's been running fine ever since I bought it. When I try to switch the engine on, the starter is running, but the engine isn't starting..

What I've done: Laid some cables in the car, but not hooked them up yet. The most obvious reason was that I had pulled something out of it's socked when feeding them through the torpedo wall, but looks like everything is at it's place in there..
Also, the previous owner had an unfused wire running to the back of the car, directly from the battery. I took it out, but it might have touched the metal a bit in the process. But short circuiting a 1.5mm2 wire slightly shouldn't matter, should it?

I don't really know that much about this car yet.. Where's the fuel pump at? And as you said, it should make a whirring sound when I'm turning on the ignition?
There's no spark from the plugs, and I've even changed them all.. Then I checked if there were any voltage on any of the wires into the coil, but they all show 0v.

And.. I'm not completely sure, but a mate of mine checked the plugs for me right after i cranked it, and he said the plugs were dry. They're supposed to get soaked if I crank it alot right? Even with all this direct injection jiggery pokery.

So.. The ECU controls both of these things.. I tried running the diagnostic thing on it, but it would only let me use slot #7, the rest had no response, except for #4, which had a continous weak lighting. The led lighted up in all the slots, but only #7 gave me a diagnostic code (1-1-1-1, which means it's fine).

Please give me a hint as to how I'm supposed to proceed with this.

have you touched the radio, I am pretty certain I have heard somewhere that one of the wires to the radio can disable the ignition.maybe that wire you took out was forming a circuit?
Grendel

Check the Crank sensor 1st, your symptoms are exactly the same as mine.

Make sure the ignition is off, look at the engine from the front, on the right side of the block where the engine meets the clutch housing fixed to the top by two 10mm bolts is the sensor, it's bracket is banana shaped, follow the wires back to the connector and unplug it.

Use a multimeter on the SENSOR side to chech it's resistance, the other side goes directly to the ECU so don't go near that. The sensor is simply a coil it's resistance should be around 200ohms I belive, mine was open circuit ie infinite ie knackered!

This coil sends pulses to the ECU enabling it to calculate engine RPM if this is knackered the ECU simply thinks the engine is not turning over and therefore does not inject fuel and trigger the spark plugs.

My sensor failed straight after some simple electrical work, probably a coincidence, who knows the mysteries of the 440's electrical system??

hope this helps,

Ooh, a lot of tasty information!!
I think the radio is actually unplugged right now, so I'm gonna run home and try to plug it back on to see what happens! Maybe that's the issue right there! Since it's been really reliable in the past..

Then after that, I'm gonna go check that crank sensor. Both replies are very awesome and most definately sounds very logical. It's a new car for me, so I don't know that much about it yet!

Tried to reconnect original CD player. No change.
I *think* I might have found the sensor you were talking about, 440 bloke. Between the two nuts, a bit down there.. Followed the lead, plugged it out, ohmed 220. Sounds normal, doesn't it?

220 ohms on the sensor is fine, doesn't look like thats the problem.

Can you put everything back how it was? see if that makes a difference.

The fuel pump is in the fuel tank and is fairly easy too access but I wouldn't suspect it as you have a fuel AND ignition problem. Double check in all the areas you have been working to make sure nothing is disturbed then I would systematically check all the sensors.

I don't have the Haynes manual yet, but I'm waiting for it to be shipped from the UK..
Which sensors should I check, where are they, which results should I be expecting and how do they look like? (I know, that's a tough one!)

I'm gonna make a new topic with this, and I have some new results also.

It was the crank sensor! popped a new one on, started first crank.....phew.

cheers for your help people.

Hello everybody,
I own a volvo 440 and I have a cold-start problem, too. When you turn the ignition on, you hear all the noises you should hear, but the engine just doesn't start. I 've thought of checking the crank sensor. But I don't know if I'm checking the correct thing, so here is a picture of the machine.

 volvo440_crank_sensor.JPG ( 321.62K ) Number of downloads: 6


Is that the crank sensor? Thanks a lot!!..



PS: I'm not lazy, it's just that English is not my native language and I 'm not sure I'm following "440_bloke" 's instructions right.