Alrighty, well I bought a 1984 240 DL as my first car about2 months ago. I bought it for $450 and it was mostly cosmetci problems. (Smells like crap) But now I am trying to fix it up a little, or just get it to be a safe car. So this post is not only helping me out with my car, but in a way a test of knowlege to however can answer all of the many questios I am about to ask....

On a cold start it will not turn over right away. I will turn the key for about 6 seconds and it will just rev and rev until I turn the key back into the off position to try again. After about 3 times it will go on with no problem... Except it sounds like it is dying when I amd ideling it on a cold start. I can hear the RMPs getting slower and slower to the point where I think the car is going to die, but rightr before, it kicks itself up again and sounds like it's stepping on the throttle on it's own. It will do this until completly warmed up, but sometimes it just dies. Is this because my fuel is running too rich? Because My car has about 5 pony power, and that's with the wind blowing me down hill. I know it can be the O2 censor, but I can't get the damn thing off! It's at a really strange angle so I just unplugged it from my car and turned my car on and it ran the same as before. My sparkplugs are dry, black AND have spots of white on them. I know it means I am running too rich as well as burning coolant, but what do I do about that? I would rather not buy anything new considering I am broke, so if I can clean something with minimal cost, I would appreciate it.
When I first got the car I took it to a mechanic for a free inspection and they said the ball joints were a real problem, in fact they said the car needed $3,486.19 worth of work on it... Well I have a friend that says he can help me out with them, but only if it is a certain type of ball joint, whether or not I need to mess with the shocks or not. Do I need to take a whole buch of stuff off my front end only to change my ball joints, or can I just un-screw and screw back on?

Well my finger are sore already and I think im going to save other questions for another post. So if someone can answer me these question, I would be very happy, and don't you wanna spread joy throughout the world? Then helping me out would be a good start.

 

Check the O2 sensor with a Multi-Meter and see if it is working.
Put one side on ground and the other on the Single wire for the O2 sensor. Leave it plugged in.
Watch it and make sure the sensor is sweeping.

Also check the throttle body and see how dirty it is.

The Balljoints are easy. Unscrew them and then you will need to remove the balljoint from the bracket. Then install the new ball joint into the old bracket and reinstall.

 

Whoa... Okay, um, I don't know what you ment by "Check the O2 sensor with a Multi-Meter and see if it is working.
Put one side on ground and the other on the Single wire for the O2 sensor. Leave it plugged in.
Watch it and make sure the sensor is sweeping. Also check the throttle body and see how dirty it is. "
Can you break that down a little, I don't know that much about cars...

So the ball joints is just a in and out job? Then how come the auto place was gonna change me like $90 for labor?

 

Labor is standard in time for a Job. If the tech gets it done faster than the Book the tech makes more money.

If you follow the O2 sensor wire up to the engine comp. You should see a single wire that has like a rubber boot on it. Fold the boot back and put the positive wire from the meter on that wire. Put the Black lead on a ground. Then start the car up and let it warm up for a minute or Five.

Then see what the meter does. It should sweep from like .001 to .099 or something like that.
My meter is set and I watch it. On mine it looks like from 0 to 1 Volt.
It is best to use a digital multi-meter.

 

If it turns out the be my o2 censor, would changing it pretty much fix the problem? Plus do you know a good cheap online place to get a o2 censor?

 

It might fix most of it. It could be many other things as well.
Try to find a Bosch one.

 

How in the hell do I get the sensor off? I when to the local junk yard to get some other parts and I was looking at volvos with the sensor in the same spot, and I couldn't get it off. I could get a good angle on it the wrench bcause of the manifold. The I just tried to get it off by any means at all and I too vise grips and it still wouldn't come off. So we took off the whole maifold and tried it and still couldn't manage to get it off. How the hell and I gonna get mine off if I can't get that one off?

 

It must be rusted in there good.
It just unscrews.

Hopefully you can get it out.
If you mess it up to much try getting another Junk yard one.

 

Would I be able to do it by hand? What do I do if I can't get it off period?

 

You will need a 7/8 wrench to get the sensor loose.
If you can't get ot off your car period change the manifold.

 

O2 sensor aside...I had my 240 in storage for a couple years and had the same "starting" issue you had...check your battery. It sounds really stupid i know. Here's what else i know: ONE, When I took my car out of storage it wouldn't start until i either jumped it or came close to burning up the ignition. TWO, when i was able to start, i had to keep restarting becasue it would die without giving it a little gas (even when it was hooked up to another battery). THREE, when i was finaly able to keep it running, putting it in drive or revearse would kill it. FOUR, when i got it warm enough to stay running in drive the engine wouldn't rev above 900 RPM. And by not reving above 900 RPM i mean...when it got to around 900 the engine would choke, sputter and keep going. I replaced the battery and all my woes were solved....leaving more unrelated woes to deal with, lol. This winter is Geeve's restoration season (I named my car Geeves).

I have all kinds of ideas as to why a dead battery would cause these seamingly unrelated problems but becasue i'm not a technician i'll keep them to myself...a wise man often keeps his mouth shut

 

My car won't start.... I have a dead battery... you are a wise one. It makes sense that it could be the battery also considering the mechanic said that it wasn't the rigfht size. So if I am going to buy a new battery, which kid should I get? what size? Would a used one be okay? they sell those at the junkyard for $15.

 

Well....IF it is in fact the battery (again, i'm no mechanic) I would advise getting a new one. Something about getting a used battery screams BAD IDEA!!! to me. The big/good ones aren't cheap (~$90 if i remember correctly) but they do last longer and provide better starting in cold climates....which i guess is the only thing i'd be concerned with being up here in Minnesota. If you're strapped for cash though, you'd probably be fine with the smaller battery option. (there are two different sizes that i'm aware of...mine came with the smaler Volvo battery which i replaced with the bigger Sears brand one)

 

I got one from Walmart for my Vam Big V-8 600 Cold cranking Amps. 5 Year warranty for Like $40.00

 

auto zone will sell you the tool for removing the o2 sensor then give you the money back when you return the tool. I kept my tool but I like tools.... $15