1984 240 Problems

"pdxchristy" wrote: > I've had my 1984 240 automatic for 18 months now with > relatively few major problems other than replacing the main > fuel pump a few months back. It's been driving kind of > sluggish lately, though, as well as having issues with staying > in gear. Both of these problems are much more noticeable when > the engine is cold. > > The staying in gear issue has been going on longer...it takes > a few seconds when I put it into reverse for it to kick in, > and then again when I shift into drive; then when I stop at a > light or sign, it'll drop out of drive and will take a few > more seconds and me gently gassing it to kick back in again. > Once the engine gets warmed up, though, it almost never does > this. > > Same for the sluggishness...mostly in the morning, but > otherwise pretty inconsistent. Step on the gas and it's like > there's an obstruction...eventually it goes and will get up to > speed, but it's a struggle. After a few minutes of 30+MPH > driving, though, it isn't a problem at all. > > I'm not sure if I'm looking at two different problems or if > they're connected, and what really the deal is...I had the > transmission fluid checked at my last oil change, but it was > fine. I'm not up to fixing most of the stuff that goes wrong > with this car and have a pretty good shop I use, but I am on > an extremely tight budget and need to know if this is going to > be another $300+ repair job. I also would like to have some > idea of what it is that's going on under the hood and this is > my first Volvo, so I'm pretty much a novice...any advice/help > would be appreciated.

Oh, and I?ve got a good 200K miles on the car.

Is that staying in low gears too long when accelerating? Mine was doing that, and a bit of a bang decelerating as it tried to change back down too soon. It was the kickdown cable too tight (even though it was already looser than the spec.). It might still have some prob or throttle linkages might just be very worn but the gearbox does run smoothly now. Maybe all old auto's have that lag/lurch into gear, my last BW in a Ford did that too (and lost drive altogether if you went round a corner too fast cold).

No, it just drops into neutral...the RPMS will rev up when I hit the gas, but there?s a several second delay before it kicks into drive. It?s always when coming out of a full stop, slowing down, or going at very low speeds...and only until the engine gets fully warmed up.

Hopefully it -is- just the transmission fluid.