My 1993 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon starts and runs great in dry weather, but in wet weather, i.e., after/during rain, in very humid conditions, it has trouble starting and often won’t start. The engine turns over but doesn’t run. I got it started this morning after opening the hood and cranking it, thinking that the airflow might dry out whatever the issue was, but after driving for 3 minutes it stalled at a stop sign and I had to repeat the process.
A wire to the alternator was recently replaced, which I thought should have stopped the problem, but it didn’t. The alternator checks good, and the check engine light is not on.
I’d appreciate any insight into fixing this problem.
When a car runs ok in dry conditions and has running problems when it is wet, this is classic symptom of old ignition parts. Your car has a distributor cap, rotor, plug wires, and spark plugs. All of which are replacement items every 30K miles on that era Volvo. If you haven’t replaced all the above recently, your car is telling you it is time to do so now.
+1 on the previous comments.
Sometimes you may be able to see where the problem is, if you happen to have a starting problem when it is dark; you may very well see small sparks jump from the wires to the engine.
You should be fine after replacing the ignition parts with OEM replacements.