I call my car Riley which probably is of no use to you guys...but...the car in question is a 94 turbo 940 and it has a lot of trouble starting in the winter time or underneath extreme cold conditions.

It also stalls when I stop at a light or a sign but my brother in law is about to put a new IAC in it hopefully fixing that issue.

But with the cold months ahead of me in this (great) state of Indiana, I'm really worried about being able to drive the car so any suggestions would be so nice of anyone!! Thanks!

 

First make sure you have a good, strong battery. If so, then I'd look at the Coolant Temperature Sensor under the intake manifold. The IAC can be cleaned up so a brand new one is rarely needed (they are pricey). Make sure the "tune up" parts are in good shape, like plugs, wires, distributor, cap, rotor, etc.

 

before replacing the IAC, I'd just clean it, and the throttle body, and make sure the idle switch on the throttle is working properly. make sure the rubber hoses to the IAC are in good shape (eg, not cracked), ditto all the air path tubes between the throttle body and the MAF (mass airflow sensor, sometimes called AMM), which is over by the airbox on the right on a 940T... I had to replace the big silicone rubber tube between the MAF and turbo air intake on mine, as the back side of the bottom end of this tube was all mushy from old oil leakage.

also make sure the crankcase vent tube from that big rubber tube to the oil seperator box is intact and not leaking air.

 

A 94 940 turbo has one of the best versions of that engine (the red block). Stick with it and you will learn a lot about it and it will become less and less complicated. I learned all the basics I know on a 89 turbo Volvo. I think that your friend is on the right track and Lev and Pierce's advice are great places to start. IAC and check for large vacuum leaks are good places to look.

 

Would I be able to check all this myself and/or work on or would I need someone who's trained in working on cars?

I've been really wanting to learn how to do it myself because Tony has a hard enough time with his own cars to be fiddling around with mine...

 

everything I described is quite simple and requires just a few hand tools at most, using a multimeter to check the idle switch, etc. whether or not you can do this, thats something we can't assess as we don't know you.

 

You may get away with not using a "classically trained" mechanic but you'd still need someone with some mechanical aptitude. Volvos may be simple but still...