Hello fellow Volvo enthusiasts!

I live in Missouri and this past April purchased a 1982 244 DL sedan. It had 111,000 original miles at the time of purchase, and had been very well taken care of. It was a true little old lady car, living most of its life in Los Angeles, California. Before I purchased it, it was driven from LA to Pennsylvania, then over to mid-Missouri where I live.

All in all, I've been ecstatically happy with it. I had to put on tires, brakes, tie-rod ends, and just as a precaution I replaced all the belts (alternator, power steering, timing, etc.), since I don't know when the last time that was done.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if all that time in sunny and mild LA got the old 240 spoiled. We got hit here in the midwest with an extreme cold snap, with a good amount of snow, rain and sub-zero temperatures. Ever since that streak of weather has hit, my beloved Volvo is idling very rough.

It sputters then revs up, and often dies when I come to a stop. Normal driving at any speed is fine...no loss of power, no bucking, and it's not using any more gas than usual. The odd thing is it seems to idle fine after the first start in the morning, but starts doing the rough idle upon next start.

I thought there might be moisture in the gas tank, so I filled up last night and put in a can of Heet. That seemed to help as I was driving it last night; it was idling louder than normal, but steady.

Any ideas here? I have no idea the last time the spark plugs or air filter were changed, so I suppose I could start there. Googling around, I have seen a lot of possible explanations, but I thought I would hit up my fellow enthusiasts here to get all of your thoughts.

Thanks in advance!

 

check the plug gaps if you want: 0.7-0.8 mm (0.028-0.032")

wait for the experts...