Hi folks-
I have a stock '81 Volvo 245 that I love to death, it runs great and I keep it well maintained. I was lucky to buy it from someone who owned it for 17 years and kept it well maintained too.


Just today I went to run some errands and noticed the engine was idling higher than normal. Its not racing, very smooth, but noticeably a higher idle than normal. The car runs fine otherwise. I did a quick perusal of the engine bay to see if a vacuum hose may have come off but everything seemed fine.



Any leads on what might cause a sudden high idle? Haven't noticed anything different recently, the car always runs good. Not sure where to start checking here.



thanks!


DD


PS this is off topic but my shifter **** has been popping off...is this always a friction fit or did it originally get glued? I'm worried that I'm gonna yank the think off hard enough that I'll mess up the OD wiring.

 

I'm sure someone is gonna ask about my throttle body. I haven't cleaned it since owning this car so it may be dirty. Just ordered a gasket so I'll take car of that next week.

I also read about someone with a sudden idle increase with K Jet having a corroded temp sensor connection. Is the temp sensor in the same place on these as it is in later 240's, in the side of the engine block passenger side?

thanks for any other tips,



Mark
PS I also ordered an injector seal kit too, that won't hurt to do

 

Tomorrow I'll be cleaning the throttle body on this '81 with K-jet. I've done throttle bodies on LH equipped cars, is the procedure pretty much the same? I've read in another post that unless I have a Ca. car I won't have an idle control valve.

thanks,
Mark

 

I think the non-california K-Jets still have some sort of air bypass solenoid, but its just on/off, and is used to boost the idle when cold, and when the a/c is on.

but I don't really know, as I've never touched one.

 

Well I just had a quick look at the engine compartment and I gotta say, the throttle body looks really buried under there! Any input on getting the throttle body out on an '81 with K Jet? Not looking forward to this. On the LH engines I've worked on it was really a piece of cake.

 

I'm guessing there must not be many K Jet folks around! Well I'll keep adding to this hoping for some feedback.
Had a chance to look at the engine today, not enough time to get the throttle body out but I did check vacuum hoses, everything seemed present and didn't see any obvious leaks.

I saw some instructions for idle adjustment on K Jet somewhere online:
"""""

a) adjust cable tension (#1) so there's no slack but it's not pulling the throttle body open either.

b) put a piece of tape on the microswitch lever (#3) so that it's always closed (i.e. it is always clicked shut at rest as though nothing was pressing on the throttle.)

c) start up the car and use the metal throttle body stop screw (#2) to set the base idle.

d) remove the tape and use the two screws to set the microswitch (#3) to just open when you press the gas and just close when you let off - it should click loudly each time.

e) repeat steps b - d several times (after driving, after a cold start, etc) until I've fine-tuned it the way I want it.


"""""


My cable had a tich of slack and I got that out.

I noticed that the little black "micro switch" with two screws does NOT click when I move the throttle, also that the other little screw mentioned above is not touching the stop on the throttle...which seems to mean the throttle isn't closing all the way?

All signs point to getting the throttle body out 1st and cleaning in....but geez it looks like a horrible job!
Also, it surprises me that since the car was running totally fine for so long, why would the throttle body just all of a sudden show symptoms?



Any thoughts would be great.
DD

 

So a few pics to show what kind of setup is going on here.

I can't figure out why I can't locate this black plastic knobbed "idle adjustment screw" that I've heard mention of and the Haynes manual shows. I can't locate it.

Also can't figure out why it seems the throttle isn't stopping at the end of the little adjuster screw on the throttle body, or why the black throttle position switch is out of adjustment. It seems if all these things are out, why did the car run perfectly for the last year or more?

Very strange, not sure what's going on.

 

You may consider posting over on brickboard (www.brickboard.com). It gets more traffic and there are a few people there that are familiar with the k-jet setup. Like Pierce, I am more familiar with the newer LH fuel injection system.

 

a bit of googling suggests it may be easier to remove the whole intake manifold with the throttle body attached to clean it.