Need a Grassroots Diagnosis: Won't Start

My Volvo 242. Mechanical Fuel Injection.

Problem: When I bought it, it had a miss during idle/under load. It has now turned into it not starting.

What I have touched: While it was idling, you can pull the plug wire off the #4 cylinder without if effecting it. I did a compression test, all cylinders had good pressure, 140-150psi across the range. Changed the #4 Fuel Injector and Injector O-Ring

Parts added: New distributor cap, rotor, plugs, wires, coil wire, cylinder #4 injector, injector o-ring seal.

Hypothesis: Fuel pump? I can hear it priming and running. Injector Relay? Seems to be typical failure. Fuel Distributor is bad? I've got no idea. Cold Start Valve? Gonna try and unplug it tonight and give it a go.

Symptoms: While turning it over, there will be a little backfire pop, making me think maybe the wires arn't on correctly or the firing order is off. I have double and triple checked and everything is correct. When it does start, you need to have it open at partial throttle to keep it running. It sputters for about 5 seconds, then runs all the way up thru the rev range. I try to compensate for the rev by backing out of the throttle, but then it will sputter and die.

Suggestions? Comments? Concerns? Quips? Queries?

Oh, here is the good:

Firing order is in the correct order.
Timing Belt is on and correctly timed.

Where is the timing at? (Distributor hold down bolt loose = distributor body spun into nowhere land)

Coil?

Fill a spray bottle with gas and spray the intake while a friend cranks. That will eliminate fuel issues.

Checked fuel pressure?

sorry in a rush... but ask/search over at turbobricks.com and brickboard.com

check fuel pressure as you start it, then running.

if it starts with starter fluid it your fuel system

possible weak spark, it may look OK, but thats not always the case. swap a coil in

sounds like too far advanced or idle set to low

Thanks guys.

It's got spark. Not sure of fuel pressure yet. That was one suggestion Serio brought up (my Italian senior Ferrari mechanic from the 60's). I am wondering if it's the front fuel pump that has gone bad.

idk that it sounds like fuel pressure as much as timing being wonky, but the easiest way to eliminate most of the fuel system would be to have a pressure gauge on it and let it run, note the pressure, then shut it off and see if it still holds pressure.
if it sounded like it was falling apart at idle (when it used to idle) and then seems to run a little better with more gas I'd think it could also be the vacuum advance, you've got a cap and rotor on there so it's not likely the dis is the culprit..
Easiest thing by far would be to turn the idle up a bit and see if it runs fine there, maybe it's set to idle at something ludicrous like 400, and that's why it runs with more revs?

Ls1?

K jet needs lots of fuel pressure, so if it does turn out to be the pump, buy the proper Bosch pump. Otherwise, you will buy a cheap pump and the car won't start. If the pump is running, its probably ok. They seldom fail halfway.

Ok, now that that is out of the way: Check for air leaks, specifically hoses popped off the air slide. Pull the cold start injector and give the starter a crank- it should spray fuel for anywhere up to 15 seconds of cranking, depending on the engine temp. No spray, look at the wires on the starter- Blue, I think is the trigger wire, and the thermal timer is the ground side of the circuit, which is under the back runner of the intake manifold. The wires may be unplugged or broken.

If it fires and dies, the control pressure regulator (VW people call it a warmup regulator) may be bad- that is the enrichment device, and has a bimetal strip that lowers the control pressure (hence the name). Usually if you have a can of carb cleaner or something, you can get them to start and keep them running till its warm enough to accept the lean mixture.

Take the air intake hose from the air box to the airflow meter off. Pop all 4 injectors out of the head, hotwire the pump relay so it runs constantly- power to the heavy yellow wire. Find some sort of container to stick the injectors in to catch fuel. Put out your cigarette. Poke a reasonably long screwdriver up the air intake hole to raise the sensor plate, and watch for fuel flow from the injectors. Don't worry if the pattern is a bit ugly at low flow, as you lift the plate, it will straighten out. Really bad flow from one injector, switch it with another and see if the trouble goes with the injector or stays with the distributor. Buzzing the injectors at full flow for a while is about the best injector cleaning you can do. No flow at all, either the pump is not generating its 75psi, or the fuel distributor is plugged with poo.

Clean fuel and good filters are absolutely critical on Kjet stuff. Fine orifices, everything works on pressure. The only electricity involved is fuel pump power, the cold start injector wiring, and two heating circuits in the control pressure regulator and the air slide.

I might have worked on one or two of these cars...

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

You're a gentleman and a scholar.

I was totally going to say exactly what Streetwiseguy just said, but he beat me to it.

I absolutely give up on this big piece of Swedish berkeleying E36 M3. What a waste of time and effort. Someone come and get this piece of E36 M3 out of my driveway

I can be there in 3 hours...

The fuel distributors are full of tiny passages that gum up horribly if a K-Jet car sits for any length of time.

Use the proper CIS test gauge set to verify fuel pressure. Without it you're just guessing.

The fuel distributor is fairly easy to rebuild/clean if you are comfy doing so with an Automatic valve body or a carburetor.

I don't have the appropriate tools, time and money now. The fuel distributor is buried under the intake manifold and I don't want to make a mess of my girlfriend's parent's driveway

So push it in the street and fix the berkeleyer. #QuityerbitchinandgetyerGRMon :)

alright, im in Atlanta. whats your location?