Hey guys, I searched for idle problems but am still trying to figure out why my car is dying. My 91 240 has been running fine for awhile, but about a week and a half ago the car's idle would dip very low to the point where the car would almost die. It got so bad yesterday that for me to drive it home I had to use both feet so I could brake and give the car gas to keep the engine alive. Basically, if I didn't hold down the gas just a tad, the car would die on it's own. I took it to my second volvo mechanic the other day, he drove it around and said everything is fine, so he obviously didn't check anything, lol. Funny part is, when I got home and parked the car facing up on my hill, I popped the hood and the idle was still erratic, but the engine wouldn't die. I don't know much about the parts and where they are, but the distributer looked fine, and the belts were not too loose. I am about to get the oil changed since it's almost been 3k miles, but other than that I don't know whats going on. I appreciate any input you guys can give me, thanks.

 

The throttle body might need cleaning.
You might have a big vaccum leak.
The Mass Flow sensor might be bad.

 

How long would it take to check those three things?

 

Not that long you doing yourself?

 

Probably not, I could try to do it myself but I just don't have the time with school and work right now. I'm probably going to take it to the mechanice, do you think I should ask him to check those 3 things? Last time he had the car he said it was fine...

 

Quick idea that might help. Take off the distributor cap and rotor (they are attached with just 2 screws) and clean them good with some carb/brake cleaner. It only takes about 10 min and it could make a world of difference. Another 10 min job is to replace the spark plugs which again could make a world of difference.