Volvo Repair: 85 Volvo 740 GLE, volvo 740 gle, side fender

Question
Hello Chris:
I came across this page by chance or maybe divine guidance, one or the other. My wife has an 85 740 GLE that suddenly died Sunday. She started it up and 10 seconds later it died. She tried again a couple of more times same results before it would no longer start. I am not sure of the troubleshooting procedure. I have to learn since I cannot afford the shop at this time. I have two books on order to help. I pulled the coil cable from the distributor and found there was no spark with cable about 1/8" from ground. I tried another coil and cable I had sitting around. No start. Cranks fine. I set the ignition to the run position and tested for voltage on the distributor. I don't remember what side had what voltage. However, one side had just over 11v and the other had around 3v.I gently attempted to remove the clip from the connector (Hall Sensor?) on the bottom of the distributor and it just broke right off. 3 wires just dangling there. I went to the wrecking yard and bought a used distributor. Is it very difficult to replace? It looks like it should be fairly easy. Either right on the money or 180 off. Any tips or cautions would be helpful. Once I get the distributor on I will start from scratch with troubleshooting. Could you possibly share the proper steps for diagnosing this issue? I am careful and good at following instructions. Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

Steve


Answer
well your wrong, its not 180 off its like 160 off. look closely at the distributor, the alignment tabs do NOT run right through the middle, but rather are off set. this is to prevent putting it in 180 out. you will still need to fine tune the timing afterwards.  The main thing you will need before you get too deep in trouble shooting is spark. without spark nothing happens.  if the new distributor does not solve your issues, then you might try the power stage located on the drivers side fender, its a flat aluminum looking piece with a 7 (??) pole connector. those are the most common failures with the ignition systems.