1991 240 estate fuel filter

[james lomas]

the reason I am looking to replace the fuel filter is that I have an intermittent problem when driving my 240.

This problem first manifested itself before the car's 6 year lay-off.

What would ( and still does ) happen is that the car will be driving perfectly normally, not being thrashed in any sense, not going fast, not going up mountain roads - I use it mainly in Norfolk !

For no apparent reason the engine will start to hesitate and lose power - this goes on for several minutes and over maybe 4 or 5 miles - during this time I can continue to change my manual gears up and down as usual, and the loss of power is not enough for me to put my hazard light on.

It's not threatening to cut out but it gets you worrying !

Then all is well, it's like I've imagined it all, and the car picks up where it was a few minutes earlier ie driving absolutely fine.

I have no record of the fuel filter having been changed in the car's 206000 mile history, so thought it might be a good place to start.

I've always kept plenty of fuel in the tank.

So the basic situation is ......

drive 100 miles or so, no problems,
stuttering for a few minutes,
drive 100 miles or so with no problems etc etc .

I thought that the filter itself may have a lot of deposits in it which on these occasions restrict the flow of fuel.

[Jungle_Jim]

James

There could be a few likely culprits which aren't the filter:

Possibly a failing MAF sensor could give that behaviour?
Or a fuel pump relay. I'd think £15 for new fuel pump relay (white not green for your car) would be money well spent anyway - and keep the other as a spare if it's in fact ok.
Or another sensor? Are there error codes coming from the unit near the nearside/left bonnet-hinge?

John

[james lomas]

and advice !

Thanks John, much appreciated.

I have recently bought a new fuel pump relay from Charltons, but have yet to fit it. The current relay switch seems to be working fine, with a healthy click when I turn the ignition on and off.

So in your experience is it common for relays to go intermittent in old age ?
The current relay has not be changed in the last 10 years for sure.

You mention the MAF sensor - well I actually bought a replacement one 6 years ago but was too chicken to attempt to fit it.

I remember now that at that time I was torn between being determined to get the 240 sorted out and just keeping it in the garage and pretending it wasn't there !

But the forum has given me hope, and I will prevail !!

[james lomas]

No, I haven't tried to check the error codes but I will in the next few days, I think that info is in my Haynes manual.

James

[ksmi]

Evening Gentlemen,just wondering (I know nothing about 240's) is there a water trap or separator in the fuel feed? If the answer is no, maybe there could be some condensation in the tank or maybe some water contaminated fuel has been picked up at some time? If there is a possibility of water,maybe a pint or two of methanol in the tank would get the water out of the equation? It can be purchased from a good commercial vehicle factor.

Regards,Keith.

[james lomas]

As the original poster I am out of my depth here,

but I sense light at the end of the tunnel.

There has never been a dodgy refuelling situation whilst I have had the car, and I know the one previous owner did only very standard stuff ie regular servicing from the original Volvo dealer in Bury St Edmunds.

He did 195000 miles in it before I bought it in 2008.

I'm looking forward to reading any further opinions.

James

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by ksmi

Evening Gentlemen,just wondering (I know nothing about 240's) is there a water trap or separator in the fuel feed? If the answer is no, maybe there could be some condensation in the tank or maybe some water contaminated fuel has been picked up at some time? If there is a possibility of water,maybe a pint or two of methanol in the tank would get the water out of the equation? It can be purchased from a good commercial vehicle factor.

Regards,Keith.

Originally Posted by james lomas

As the original poster I am out of my depth here,

but I sense light at the end of the tunnel.

There has never been a dodgy refuelling situation whilst I have had the car, and I know the one previous owner did only very standard stuff ie regular servicing from the original Volvo dealer in Bury St Edmunds.

He did 195000 miles in it before I bought it in 2008.

I'm looking forward to reading any further opinions.

James

That's an interesting point Keith. The car has had six years out of use. There might be condensation in the fuel tank.

James if you look in the 700/900 section of this forum you will find many posts by David (aka Laird Scooby) advising the use of a specified quantity of meths with a quarter tank of fuel, to deal with any water condensed in fuel tanks. EDIT. 2L meths to a quarter tank of fuel if I remember correctly.

I suspect some meths might be worth a try to benefit your car.


.

.

[Clifford Pope]

I've never heard that, but it sounds plausible. Meths is a sort of half-way chemical - organic yet freely soluble in water, so I suppose it might grab any water and then let the petrol carry it away down the pipe.
A bit like washing grease off with soap and water.

I still can't recall whether thoroughly cleaning up the fuses has actually been done?

[Nicholas Lewin]

James - picking up Clifford's last sentence, this is a truly easy job and one which may help - and/or may be good preventative maintenance in itself...

Your fuseboard behind the panel in the passenger side footwell is not the best design ever - it is, however, easily accessible and easy to clean (cloth&meths/brass fine wire brush/wet&dry - whatever you have), easy to re-tension (squeeze the brass contacts) and easy to protect against future electrolytic corrosion (a smear of Vaseline will do nicely)

My 240 randomly died (thankfully pushing distance from home) one evening - it turned out to be the fuel pump fuse making intermittent contact in the fuseboard - hence the above!

Worth a try and doesn't take long. Keep us posted! Good luck, Nick

[james lomas]

and also look at the info elsewhere in the forum regarding getting rid of condensation in the fuel supply - as suggested.

Like I said this problem was present before the 6 years spent in the garage, but water in the fuel system sounds very possible.

My current thinking re homing in on the problem is

1/ replace fuel filter (already organised before I posted original question, being done by a professional on Tuesday 4th Dec)
2/ check/clean/replace relevant fuses
3/ get rid of any water in the fuel supply line
4/ replace fuel pump relay
5/ replace MAF sensor

Once again many thanks for all the help, any more suggestions very welcome.

James