Hello I have a 1995 volvo 960 with just 70,000 Miles on it. It runs fine when you start it up and take off in the mornings. After the engine warms up it also runs fine as long as you are going and normal driving speed. When you slow down in town the engine runs up to abour 2500 rpms and you really have to hold the brakes. It will Idle back down and then it does it again. If you turn the engine off when it is doing it, it will try to start back but putters out and you can smell gas fairly strong. If you let it sit for about 20 min it will start and run fine as long as you are running normal speed (55mph) or so until you slow back down again then it starts acting up again. I took it to my local Volvo dealer and they said it was my engine temp secor so I changed it out and still no fix, I also changed the mass airflow sencor out and it didnt fix it eaither. I have noticed to that sometimes my fan will try to kick on and it will run for about 2 seconds then shut back off, other times it will kick on and run fine. I did some research on the computer about the cooling fan and it said it was controled by the engine temp singal or directly by the pressure switches mounted in the A/C high pressure line. I did put some freon in the a/c before it started acting up but I didnt over fill it so I dont know it thats a possability or not. I am about to pull my hair out over it so please help if you have any info
Thank you
Ben

 

Hi Ben, you really need to put this in the Volvo 260, 760 & 960 section.

It sounds to me like your idle control valve is bad, if the car has one. I had a 740 that use to do that when the icv went out. Other than that, check for vacuum leaks and repost in the right section.

 

Hi there, possibly check the throttle position switch if this is worn out this could turn the fuel pump on at a higher speed at which it should be running thus pushing more fuel into the engine making it run faster would try this first ifyou can remove it. i can give you directions on how to test it! all the best Ben Watson

 

Something similar was happening to my 01 Volvo C70. I had a mechanic take a look at it and it turned out to be the idle control valve. Those things are expensive! I ended up buying a Genuine ICV at qeautoparts.com, cause they had a much lower price than the dealer. Now my car is running great. All i gotta do now is save up some money for some new tires. Anyways, try out that store guys, they have a huge selection of Volvo parts. Good luck guys. later