Hello,
I own a Volvo 240 1991, I bought it second hand 2 years ago (160.000 KM)and I'm having some
issues with lack of power.
At power up the car tends to die off, have to accelerate a bit to keep it on, but only very smoothly, if I press thethrottle fast the engine tends to die off.
When the engine is warmed up (say 30 mins later....) the car runs much more smoothly,
but still the engine is not giving enough power, having hard time on mountain roads,
especially at low rpm.
When powering up the aircon the engine tends to die off, voltage indicated on the dashboard about 10V. (with the aircon off it shows about 13 to 14V)
I went to the shop few times, the mechanic keep on adjusting the timing by acting on the distributor, but I doubt he knows what he is doing.

Can anyone help me with some suggestions?
Really appreciate your help....It is such a lovely car to drive....

Thanks
Lore

 

I would first take care of the normal tune-up items. I don't know how it's been maintained but the first item is the fuel filter. Then the plugs, ignition wires, cap, and rotor.

Is the ECU giving any fault codes?

 

Hi,

thanks a lot for replying.

Not sure of what a ECU is.
I went to an authorized Volvo dealer/service and ask the experts to check the car.
After a couple of days they called me back telling that the distributor is from a different
cars manufacturer, which explains a lot about the car's performance....
Probably the previous owner or shop had the part replaced with a non Volvo part.
Now I'm on the quest of finding a distributor in good shape and replace it. The
Volvo dealer offered me one for about 1.000 USD.
(seems a bit excessive, isn't it??)

I will keep you posted on the outcomes.

Thanks again...
Lo

 

Sorry. The ECU is the engine control unit. It is the computer that senses the engine RPM and air mass data and controls the fuel injection. On newer 240s, including yours, fault codes are stored in the ECU. These fault codes can be read by the self-diagnostic unit in the engine compartment.

Ideally, a used distributor can be found at a junkyard or parts dealer. $1k is an awful lot of money.

 

In a wrecking yard you can get a distributor for around $20... depends on where you are but generally this is an easy part. Or try ebay... The quoted price is insane $ to put in that car.

 

Hi,

I went to the shop and had the job done for about 210 USD.
I was given a second hand distributor from a junked car, as you suggested.
Since I was there I made them replace the injectors' O rings.
After the fix was applied the engine shut down few times, after about one hour tries andmoments offear (picture attached)we found a short-circuited cable to the body.

Now the car works much better...

I'm currentlyrelocated Malaysia, purchased this car for about3000 USD two years ago.


Thanks a lot for you attention,
really appreciate the forum's style and methods...

Lore69

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