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Car Forum / Volvo Cars / December 2006Sudden Death
88 240 wagon, 160k Normally I drive 55 and I am very strict about it, but it was Christmas Eve morning and I wanted to get home so I was driving at 65-70 mph on my 1 hour commute. Engine dies without warning. No suttle or dramatic noise or feeling, just complete and abrupt shut down. Put it in nuetral, coast to a stop, engine cranks slugishly but will not start or even sound like it will catch. Upon towing car home, noticed an oil stain about 7in around and one next to it about 5in around, and wet enough to see it was oil if you wiped it hard with your finger. Checked oil level while stranded and it looked good. Did this while in panic on shoulder of main highway with my world crashing and visions of me being killed in some freak Christmas Eve accident. Have not checked sinc I got it home or been under to see if theres a hole in my engine. Known and suspected problems: In tank pump is dead, and I have been running on main fuel pump.(no power, poor to no acceleration) Rear main seal leaking a quart every tank and a half of fuel.( oil all over bottom of car from tranny back). I stay on top of oil level. Three weeks prior, I lost heat and drove for at least 1 hour each way on two commutes (total of 4 seperate hours), thinking I had a faulty heater control valve (Hose going into valve was hot, hose coming out was cold). When I replaced valve noticed I did not get much if any coolant upon disconnecting hoses inside car. Finished install got no heat, saw no coolant in overflow, added 1 and a 1/2 gallons coolant, got heat back. (check the easy things first, I could have checked coolant level when problem arose, but looked for something more complicated and costly) Noticed then that O-ring on water pump was seeping, not dripping, but seepage was there. Started to maintain water level in overflow. Leak did not seem dramatic, and ordered new gasket set for replacement. I have never heard or read of a low oil press. shut down feature , is this wishfull thinking. Have I neglected my car to death. Ray > 88 240 wagon, 160k > Normally I drive 55 and I am very strict about it, but it was [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > I have never heard or read of a low oil press. shut down feature , is > this wishfull thinking. Have I neglected my car to death. Did your timing belt break. With all these oil leaks etc, I would not be surprised if your timing belt broke. Usually when the timing belt breaks the engine is very quiet when you crank the engine because there is no valve noise and no compression. One word of warning. Coolant and oil are the life blood of an engine. Much more important than cabin heat. Check you levels regularly. Your car is obviously on its last legs unless you get it fixed.  SignatureCheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA, USA Owned '67,'68,'71,'74,'79,'81,'87,'93,'95 & '01 Volvos. The '67,'74,'79,'87,'95 and '01 through European Delivery. http://home.earthlink.net/~rotarians/volvo.html With no noise I'd guess it was NOT the timing belt. I've only had one break, ( '76 Civic.non-intereferrence engine), and it was noisy flopping around as the engine spun down. I can't imagine how noisy an interference B-21 is. My guess is fuel pump relay >> 88 240 wagon, 160k >> Normally I drive 55 and I am very strict about it, but it was >> Christmas Eve morning and I wanted to get home so I was driving at >> 65-70 mph on my 1 hour commute. Engine dies without warning. >> No suttle or dramatic noise or feeling, just complete and abrupt shut >> down. <SNIP> >Did your timing belt break. With all these oil leaks etc, I would not >be surprised if your timing belt broke. Usually when the timing belt [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >Much more important than cabin heat. Check you levels regularly. Your >car is obviously on its last legs unless you get it fixed. Ron/Champ 6 1963 8E5 Champ (Champ 6) 1995 VW Passat (Vanilla..yuk) 1994 Volvo 850 (Tilley) 1973 Volvo 1800 ES (Hyacinth Bucket) > With no noise I'd guess it was NOT the timing belt. I've only had one > break, ( '76 Civic.non-intereferrence engine), and it was noisy > flopping around as the engine spun down. I can't imagine how noisy an > interference B-21 is. My guess is fuel pump relay Agreed. I also think it is the FPR - whose failure is fairly notorious for that model year. Also, the engine would most likely be a non-interference B230 in a '88 240. AC SignatureEmail: echo 142322093203359315271794620168064975321554275890186P | dc > With no noise I'd guess it was NOT the timing belt. I've only had one > break, ( '76 Civic.non-intereferrence engine), and it was noisy [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >>>No suttle or dramatic noise or feeling, just complete and abrupt shut >>>down. None of the redblock 8 valve engines were interference, at least not those used in the US market. Still, if the timing belt broke the engine will not sound right when you crank it. Verify fuel flow, when my main pump failed the motor in it was still running, it was just not pumping. If your tank pump was bad you may well have killed the main pump, that puts a lot of strain on it. Also replace the engine wiring harness if you have not already, in that year car it will be bad. How's the cosmetic shape? 240s are fantastic cars, they're easy to work on and will run pretty much forever very cheaply so long as you take care of the well documented issues that pop up at certain ages. I've driven other cars but whenever I hop back in my 240 I know why I've kept it all this time. Check the fuel filter. My old car (95 850) was sold to the local butcher and randomly died with no warning or any change except for the motor no longer running. Wait ten minutes or so, it would catch when turned over and run as if nothing had happened. If you're getting lots of fluids coming out, check to make sure that there is no mixing (main gaskets are gone and block is probably cracked.) Does sound as if it is time to start reading the local buy-and-sell newspapers and finind out who handles Volvo lease returns in your area. Get a more recent one for about 5-8 thousand less than the dealers charge. I got my 2001 V40 that way and saved 3 thousand right from the get-go (figure in the dealer prep and taxes and you're pushing 5 thou). >With no noise I'd guess it was NOT the timing belt. I've only had one >break, ( '76 Civic.non-intereferrence engine), and it was noisy >flopping around as the engine spun down. I can't imagine how noisy an >interference B-21 is. My guess is fuel pump relay Some education please. What does the term "interference engine" mean? SignatureMike Lindsay >>With no noise I'd guess it was NOT the timing belt. I've only had one >>break, ( '76 Civic.non-intereferrence engine), and it was noisy >>flopping around as the engine spun down. I can't imagine how noisy an >>interference B-21 is. My guess is fuel pump relay >Some education please. What does the term "interference engine" mean? Means that in normal operation, the valves extend into the cylinder below the highest point in the pistons' travel--so if the timing belt breaks, some of the pistons will hit extended valves, damaging both the piston and valve, requiring engine replacement. Gary SignatureGary Heston gheston@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ Astronomers have developed a definition of "planet" which excludes Pluto. I'm developing a definition of "scientist" which excludes astronomers. >>>With no noise I'd guess it was NOT the timing belt. I've only had one >>>break, ( '76 Civic.non-intereferrence engine), and it was noisy [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >breaks, some of the pistons will hit extended valves, damaging both >the piston and valve, requiring engine replacement. I see. Thanks, that makes it completely clear. Presumably, then if you had a high compression engine, say a diesel, it would likely be an interference type? SignatureMike Lindsay > I see. Thanks, that makes it completely clear. Presumably, then if you > had a high compression engine, say a diesel, it would likely be an > interference type? Yes, I'm not aware of any non-interference Diesel engines, the compression is *so* much higher than a gasoline engine that you really can't have much empty space at the top of the cylinder. >>With no noise I'd guess it was NOT the timing belt. I've only had one >>break, ( '76 Civic.non-intereferrence engine), and it was noisy >>flopping around as the engine spun down. I can't imagine how noisy an >>interference B-21 is. My guess is fuel pump relay > > Some education please. What does the term "interference engine" mean? Moving components inside an interference engine, namely the pistons and the valves occupy the same space, just not at the same time. Broken timing belt causes the valves to stop moving while the pistons continue and things crash resulting in anything from a few bent valves to a pretty well destroyed engine. Virtually all engines with more than 2 valves per cylinder are of the interference design, as are some with only 2. > 88 240 wagon, 160k > Normally I drive 55 and I am very strict about it, but it was [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > this wishfull thinking. Have I neglected my car to death. > Ray Sounds like Santa wants you to have a new car! As one who drove 240s for about 20 yrs or so (musta been a masochist) I know it's necessary to have a catastrophic failure to finally realize it's time for something better. I know, I know - even though the main seal and water pump are drooling, and the car barely was running, you still want to have someone tell you everything's gonna be OK - so go to the Brickboard and you'll find plenty of folks who'll commiserate with you and tell you the ol' gal is worth saving: http://brickboard.com/ But they're wrong (trust me) - just find yourself a nice 940 Turbo or 960 wagon and discover there's something better.
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