I've got a 93 Volvo 240 and for the past month and a half I've owned it it has run great despite its 240k miles. But I had my first issue as far as engine performance today. I started it up and it ran a little rougher than usual but I thought nothing of it. I backed out of the driveway and started rolling through the neighborhood and it was still running rough. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, it felt like I was firing on maybe only 2 cylinders, lots of vibration and almost no power. I kind of feathered the gas a little and it picked up again only to run a little rough at the next stop sign. Then it fell back into the really rough state and the engine stopped about 10 feet after another stop sign. Pushed it into a parking lot and had someone take me where I was going. 4 hours later I return to the parking lot, crank on it and it starts right up purring as per usual. Drove it home. I'm under the assumption that this is a fuel delivery problem but I haven't tested anything yet, hoping someone can give me advice or maybe has had the same issue.

 

For a miss-fire you need to start by examining the basics - the ignition system. Cap, rotor, plug wires, plugs. (only replacing what's really bad.)

I would suspect something simple like moisture in/on the distributor cap causing arcing and a miss-fire. Cool damp morning it runs bad, drier in the afternoon it's ok. Evidence of arcing inside a cap could be a black fuzzy line - from the copper poles down to the distributor base.

If you replace any of those components try to get the OEM parts - Bosch cap and rotor.

 

Thanks hoonk, it has been pretty wet these last couple of weeks I'll do some diagnosing before playing parts darts

 

There was a bit of moisture on the inside of the distributor cap, not much at all but it was there. The car ran pretty well after it got home that night but I wiped out the water and threw the cap back on. Still purrs like a kitten and has adequate power. We'll see if the issue happens again but I think it's worth getting a new cap and rotor and all that jazz anyways. Anything I can do to prevent water from getting in there?

 

Read this discussion. Maybe, this can help you https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-240-740-940-12/240-engine-stall-rough-49s results-running-112528/. If yes, Then please mentioned me here.