My Volvo 940 is dying when idling and when driving.
When driving and I press the gas down too much it dies, like loss of fuel. Also feels like a power drain, because its going slow.
thought it was fuel filter, and changed that but the problem persists.
Also when the car is idling in the driveway/parkinglot it dies after a few minutes.

Any tips?

 

Change fuel relay. Maybe thats your problem.

 

Temperature is in normal range?
Last Maintenance done?
Milky substance in oil fill cap? or Oil Leaks?
How old is your battery?

It could be a number of things but if you answer a few questions your problem can be narrowed down.

I am Leaning towards:
Fuel pressure regulator or related
Battery old Alternator brushes old.

 

Year, turbo, Bosch or Regina ignition? How fast can you get it to go?
Off the top:
Sounds like it's in "limp mode", due to bad Mass Airflow Meter. Unplug it and see if it makes any difference in the way it idles.

 

Dont plug/unplug maf while engine is on! Turn off engine, disconnect, then test

 

1993 Volvo 940 non turbo. Regina ignition
I dont know how fast i can get it to go before it dies but quick acceleration kills it.

Unplugged the Mass Airflow Meter, it idled a bit rougher than with it plugged in.

I checked the codes too and got this:
1-3-2 Battery voltage too high/low
2-2-3 Signal missing to/from idle valve

 

Temperature is normal.
The oil was changed early last year.
No milky substance, but yes ive had oil leaking for a while now.
Battery is like 4 years old.

~Shawn

 

The cheapest and easy check off... now that you have codes

1) Battery voltage, if good while engine off, move to your alternator..engine on try as hard to keep it idle and check battery voltage then....it should read 13+ volts... if everything checks out...move to second step.
2) MAF clean it: disconnet batt, disconnect MAFS and use MAF cleaner,

3) check fuses

If your battery & alternator check out, and you are left with the 2-2-3 code your IDDLE CONTROL VALVE is your point of interest...see pictures, don't know how it looks like but one or the other.

 

Holy cow Batman!!!!

Your Idle Air control valve is freaking pricey...$300 bucks or so....find you a junk yard man...it might cost around 20 bucks there...and they might offer an exchange if it does not work...
Also, did not realize the coil is way different...

 

Im waiting for my dad to help me check the battery voltage, but in the meantime the MAF was cleaned and it idles the best it ever has for the four years ive owned the car. And i checked the fuses and they are all good.

I drove it around today and it feels like the power is back, but now the car dies randomly.
Complete loss of fuel and didnt really want to start, do you think this is another fuel pump relay? Changed it last July for the first time.

 

did you use a volvo or stribel relay, or something noname and generic ? the noname ones are pretty spotty. stribel's logo looks like a circle with an S in it and )( across the S almost like a $ dollar sign. those are the good ones. pry the cover off the relay, plug it back in, and if you press down on the relay contactor plate, you should hear the pumps come on.

 

Thanks, i have a duralast one which didnt seem to last. har har

 

my no name brand lasted a WEEK...one week...

It had these words on it..: MADE 4 A WEEK & MADE IN A HURRY

 

Have you found the issue yet? Here's something from left field...have your catalytic converter checked out...it could be nearly totally clogged if original

 

I bought the relay, but havent changed it yet. I have been waiting for my car to die for two days but it hasn't.

And i think that was changed two years ago to pass inspection. Id have to look.

 

Got it to die so i switched the relay out.

Catalytic converter must've been the only thing that was not changed, it's old and rusty.

Another problem, is I have this high fuel consumption last two months or so. im getting around 12-15 miles per gallon while usually i get ~20. Thought it was defrosting the car in cold weather at first, but now that its getting warmer, its not the problem.

*edit* Upon closer inspection of what a catalytic converter is/does. I need to change it.

 

ok,. thats WAY bad fuel economy. a non-turbo should be getting like 25mpg under most any conditions short of 90+ MPH.

 

Of course, if you have no record of the O2 sensor having been changed I'd replace it without even testing the old one. O2 sensors are critical to the fuel system working properly. The car running rich (poor mileage) will kill both the O2 and the cat in no time. Also, I have been told (never tried it) that an LH2.4 IAC will work with Regina systems. Much cheaper new and much more common at the jy.