'86 240 wagon

In dry hot weather it starts and runs like a dream. In cold wet weather I have to pump gas and hold down the gas pedal to keep the choke open. After it's at operating temp it's fine. I can hear a clicking that I'm sure is a valve that needs adjusting and last winter I didn't have the air tube from the exhaust manifold to the air filter - which I have now installed. But the absence of the air hose - and the valve un-adjustment shouldn't effect starting should it? Need advice please.

A Volvo guy told to check the 'flame trap' ? That it could need replacing?

Thanks, Dagaan

 

Flame trap has nothing to do with your problem. Make sure your tune up items are OK: wires, plugs, etc. BTW, there is no choke, the computer determines amount of fuel/air mix. May be your Coolant Temp. Sensor is bad...

 

Also, the tube from the exhaust manifold to the air filter is intended to provide warm air to the intake when it is cold out. People remove these tubes a lot of times cause there is a valve within the air box that is supposed to shut off this hot air from the exhaust when it is warm out. When this valve fails it tends to provide hot air to the intake when it is hot out and ends up shortening the life of the air mass meter. If you want to restore the functioning of this tube, make sure the flapper valve in the air box is functioning properly.

For the hard starts when wet, use a spray bottle in the engine compartment to simulate wet conditions. I had a similar issue with my car and on a dry day when the engine was cold I sprayed a fine mist around certain components in the engine compartment until I was able to reproduce the hard start. In my case it ended up being a worn distributor cap.

 

my daughter's old 240 got very hard to start in wet weather, it was due to water leaking around the windshield and shorting out under-the-dash electrics.. dry it out, it starts on the first crank.

 

I'll check that. thanks!

 

Thanks for that info.

 

Thanks Pierce. That's pretty esoteric a problem yr daughter had. I'll see if it applies to mine. Sorry to see you're now a 'former' moderator. You're the top brain surgeon at this site and we'll all miss you if you go.