340 auto Intermittant no start
 

As a section secretary I occasionally get a call about Volvo problems. I have just had a call from a lady with a 340 auto 1.4l on an E plate who is finding that it will sometimes start and sometimes not and then if no start, maybe it will the next day. It is off the road and has no MOT but she has been starting it regularly with no problems until recently. It could be anything. The battery turns the engine quickly and easily she says. She has not kept trying until the battery is flat. She says that the battery is not an old one but I have said that lack of road use may mean it is still in a low state of charge. She will put the charger on it. As it's an auto there might be problems with inhibiter switches but that is far beyond her capabilities. She has sprayed around the electrics with WD-40 which I would have recommended as we have had it a bit wet lately. Car is garaged but currently due to the no start situation is outside and she can't manage to push it back in. She is a bit concerned about the neighbours but I won't go into that here. She lives near Folkestone and if there is a knowledgeable 300 series person locally perhaps they can help, by arrangement with her of course. Currently a bit too far for me to go and I don't have much knowledge of these cars. I do have a Haynes that covers this year and model. Suggestions and potential things to look at welcomed. Thanks in advance.

as you say it could be a sticky or intermittent gearbox inhibitor switch,

The switch prevents you from starting the engine in gear I think its on the base of the selector lever

it prevents the engine from cranking over if in gear if I remember correctly, so if it does crank over it probably is not that, but I'm not sure if it cuts the out ignition circuit out too, if it does it could still be faulty by cutting the ignition out and not the starter motor or the other way around,
either way Id look at that first but also those Renault engines did suffer from condensation build up inside the distributor cap a lot of the time preventing starting.

Thanks for the reply Andrew. I asked if she knew how to take the dizzy cap off and she said no. I was going to ask her to wipe out the inside with WD. She also didn't seem to know what the air filter housing was. I mentioned the possibility that the carb or the top of the carb was loose. I believe that this carb (Solex?) is prone to having the screws come loose. This doesn't usually give starting problems, just bad running. I have both the early and late Haynes for these models. I'll have to look them out and have a read. No substitute for the experiences of a 300 owner though. More comments welcome.

It cant be the inhibitor switch if the engine is spinning over with the starter motor .

Best guess Is no spark due to faulty RENIX ... These cars just don't break down ! :-)

I suppose she is pulling the choke out ????