Hey Guys & Gals,
New around here and to Volvos.

Needing some help in resurrecting my dads old daily driver.
It's a 1983 240 DL Wagon w/ 4cyl N/A engine and Auto Trans w/ Overdrive.

It was being used for many years as a daily driver by my father, But began to have transmission and idle qwuirks.
Shortly after it was involved in a very minor fender bender which caused major cosmetic damage to the front, And was parked in our backyard where it has been sitting for almost 2 years.

I've collected replacement body parts, But I'm having trouble diagnosing some running issues...
And that's where I'm hoping someone out there can guide me.

Problem 1: SOLVED!
Right off the bat i was having issues getting it started even though the battery was taking and holding a charge, I tried a battery from another running vehicle and it jolted to life~Steady 14v.

Problem 2:
However the engine is doing what i describe as "Pulsing" as it idles...
It's steady-Then drops low-Then goes steady-Then drops low etc and its all random.
Possibly just needing an adjustment?
When I rev the engine it sometimes drops very low and hesitates to come back up to regular idle speed~This caused it to die while running before the accident as i recall.
TPS Maybe?

Problem 3 SOLVED!:
The other problem is that it hesitates to shift into First Gear or Reverse.
I'm having to rev the engine very high to get it to kick into First Or Reverse.
Any ideas here?

Any ideas, suggestions help much appreciated. Thanks!

 

Problem 3 sure sounds like the tranny fluid is low..

 

Align your timing marks on:
Cam shaft
crank shaft
distributor gears?
you can see an image of the marks with arrows when you google: "Volvo 240 timing" images. or get yourself a haynes book.
you have a carb right?

 

Update:
Found that a couple transmission lines had been leaking out all the Tranny fluid. *Smack Forehead*
The 2 metal trans cooling lines going from the passenger side of the trans up to the radiator had been cut or damaged at some point right in the middle, And some rubber (now rotting) hose was sleeved over to fix it.

Quick JY run and and + fluid and we are shiftin' right.

Now I'm just stuck trying to single out Problem 2...
It died on me a couple times today right after i low revved it (positioning onto some ramps).

@redbottle
will do.
And it has electronic fuel injection.

 

problem 2..sounds like you have a vacuum leak or a bad MAF sensor. Get a can of starting fluid and whilecar is running spray around vacuum hoses, intake manifold,injectors and bellows(black corrugated hose connecting the MAF to the air box and throttle body) obviously spray one area at a time. You are looking for car to idle up if it does you found a vacuum leak if not probably no vacuum leak annd potentially a bad MAF sensor. Unplug your MAF while car is running run worse or better? Plug back in worse better or same? If worse or same you have a bad MAF sensor you can try cleaning it but most likely the platinum has gone bad and not taking accurate reading to give the computer...if that doesn't help check all of your tune parts(wires,cap,rotor,plugs,air filter) your plugs will tell you a lot just by looking at them...are they black, wet, too big of a gap, look good) all that looks good..time to hook a fuel pressure gauge up see if you have proper pressure. Go buy yourself a Bentley manual,fuel pressure gauge,test light,multimeter and a IR temp laser gun...best thing you could ever do for yourself. Keep us posted

 

Got side-tracked, And have not had time to follow through with what you guys have suggested... I'll get to it soon.

However!
I did make a video, Maybe it will help diagnose something:


Narration:
Nothing for the first 13 seconds, forgot to turn off the radio.
Engine starts at about 14sec
Just Idling in Park until 14-34sec
Various Hand Revs 34-1.05 (Note the really hard recovery
Me getting into car,taking off hand brake and what not 1.05-1.17
Me going down through the gears 1 by one, Then back up one by one 1.17-1.46
Couple Revs followed by violent recoveries, These are sometimes followed by it dying (Did not in the video) 1.46-1.58
Me shutting er' down and getting out 1.58-2.03

You cant so much hear it through my crappy camera speaker, but you can surely see the movement as the camera was laying in the engine bay.
Also, Some of that noise appears to be the water pump.

 

1. Make sure your base idle is set correctly
2. Test your MAF Sensor
3. Check for Vacuum leaks-especially on your bellows(big black plastic corrugated hose)

What I saw in the video looks like one of the 3 above....good luck and keep us posted...please

 

Great! Thanks~I'll add those to the todo list.
Still havent got back to the Volvo, Working on several different projects at once.

I did a quick check today though to make sure i wasn't leaking anywhere after changing the tranny lines and topping up the fluid, BUT, It is...

I left a large piece of cardboard under the tranny/engine area to catch and help locate where the drip is dropping from~Looks to be the very tail end drivers side of the tranny, Nowhere near where ive been doing anything.

 

hopefully you are running fresh gas ...

 

Very true but bad gas won't make the car run like it's running...it's hunting for an idle like it has a vacuum leak...no base id;e or a bad maf

 

Thinking its the MAF.

Adjusted the base idle and got it as best i could, It's much better but not still not perfect.
Runs better with the MAF, And Much worse without it plugged in.

There does not appear to be any vacuum leaks, Did the starter spray test with no rev ups or changes at all for that matter.

 

Still might be a bad MAF...not totally gone but bad...giving incorrect readings to ECU...Also, you cannot set base idle without proper tools i.e. timing light, multimeter, wire...not just adjusting the big black ****...actually setting base idle...clean your throttle body next and heck your bellows for holes...you night have a bad ECU after all said and done...but without having the car at my shop and testing fuel pressure/for good clean spark etc...this is all guess work..