I’ve about had it… My 95 volvo 940 turbo is intermittently hard to start, requiring several seconds of cranking. Once running, it runs fine. Sometimes it even starts fine. So far I have replaced: plugs; wires; distributor cap and rotor; fuel filter; air filter; fuel pump relay; injector relay; fuel pump; and cleaned the maf sensor. After replacing the fuel pump it seemed better for about a week but now is up to the same hard start condition wether hot, warm or cold. Any suggestions apprieciated.
It sounds like you’re throwing parts at the problem. That’s an expensive way to go about fixing things.
Try this: Turn the key to the ON position. Wait 5 seconds. Count slowly. Then turn the key to START.
Does that make any difference?
That seems to work. Not an immediate start but much better. I’ll have to try it several more times throughtout the week to see if it consistently works because the hard starting problem has been somewhat random. What do you suspect as the cause?
Thanks for your help.
There’s a one-way valve in the fuel line designed to maintain fuel pressure when the pump is not running. The 15-year-old valve may be leaking and the fuel system is losing pressure when the engine is off.
The short wait time allows the pump to pressurize the system so the engine starts the way it should.
That’s what I had suspected eariler and was told that the check valve was located inside the fuel pump which I subsequently replaced with a new OEM pump. (This car has only one fuel pump which is located in the tank) It seemed better for about a week but has reverted to the same hard start condition. I also replaced the fuel filter and inspected the gas tank interior, while the pump was out, which was spotless. Is there a check valve somewhere in the fuel line?