Still having problems after Hall Effect Sensor replacement

Hi,

I've written in this group before regarding my '86 244 GLE with B230A engine. I have now replaced distributor cap, rotor, wires, coil, sparkplugs, ignition module and now the Hall Effect Sensor (located inside the distributor connected to vacuum-'clock'), also known as impulse sender her in Norway. The engine has now stop dying on me while driving, but still runs very irregular on idle, especially when then to temperature is dropping below 5 Celsius degrees, which is very often a cold fact her in Norway, from October to March.

When I use a tool (that blinks every time the first sparkplug sparks) the ignition point is standing on the same place, but in the same rhythm that the engine jumps or struggles, the ignition point jumps back en forth, and stabilizes for a couple of blinks and, jumps back and forth again.

I have some questions:

  1. Is a cheep third-party ignition module more likely to fail, than a genuine Volvo module?
  2. If all the parts I've replaced are working properly, what else could cause the engine to act like this?

I would really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance!

Best regards Leiv Magne Faane, Norway '86 244 GLE, B230A, 260000 km

Reply to
Leiv Magne Faane
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Reply to
Richard Bouchard
Reply to
Richard Bouchard

From a point at sea, to the circles of your mind, this is Leiv Magne Faane:

I have recently gone through a painful (expensive, time consuming, frustrating) experience trying to diagnose an erratic idle. Some of the symptoms sound very similar, and I, too, was convinced it was an ignition fault.

It turned out to be a failed gasket where the inlet manifold joins the cylinder head. Some of the injector seals may have been leaking a little, too.

With the engine running, trickle water over the manifold joint and injectors and see if this makes a difference.

Reply to
Stewart Hargrav

I have actually replaced the vacuum hoses. Forgot to mention that. But I haven't checked the ECU. Do I have one? Thought I didn't, since the '86 B230A engine is a non-injection engine. But a new ECU sure sounds expensive.

Thanks for the input!

Best regards Leiv Magne Faane, Norway '86 244 GLE, B230A, 260000 km

"Richard Bouchard" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@aei.ca... I corrected a problem similar to this over a year ago on my 1988 240 wagon. We too have cold and very humid winters here in eastern Canada, as you may know. I discovered almost inadvertenly that two of the vacuum hoses of the intake manifold had cracks in them, more specificaly where they bend. The cracks were close enough to the end of the hoses so I only had to chop off the end and reconnect them. I never experienced this problem again. But before I found this, I too had tried everything : Wires, plugs, distributor, coil, oxygen sensor. One other thing I can think of might cause your problem: the ECU itself. I had to replace mine this spring, at 330 000 km.

Good luck,

Richard Bouchard

Leiv Magne Faane a écrit :

Reply to
Leiv Magne Faane

An impulse sender and hall effect sensor are two different things that serve similar puropses. If you put them on an oscilliscope you'll see that they produce different signals. :>

Indeed what you have sounds an awful lot like an impulse sender. If that's what it is, you may want to verify that it's adjusted properly.

But, I agree with everyone else that you should check for vacuum leaks. Make sure your timing is correct, and make sure your fuel mixture is spot-on.

None of the North American Volvos with carbs got electronic ignitions.. so I don't know how yours is setup, but it is possible indeed that the ignition computer could have failed. But I'd bet on a vacuum leak somewhere first.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo

Reply to
Alex Zepeda

I'll try that. Thanks for the input.

Best regards Leiv Magne Faane, Norway '86 244 GLE, B230A, 260000 km

Reply to
Leiv Magne Faane
Reply to
Richard Bouchard

Richard Bouchard

B230A is a carburetted engine, there's nothing for the ECU to control, we never got any of those in the US though.

Reply to
James Sweet

Ok.

Well, I can't be 100 % sure, but I think it's adjusted as it should be.

It sounds very logical, but I've allready checked this. Replaced vacuum hoses, adjusted the timing, and opened the carb and adjusted the floater, and I've also replace air filter.

I'll check the vacuum hoses again, maybe I haven't noticed all of them last time.

Best regards Leiv Magne Faane, Norway '86 244 GLE, B230A, 260000 km

Reply to
Leiv Magne Faane

It didn't make any difference. Maybe I need to have a bigger operation under the hood.

Thanks for the input.

- Leiv Magne Faane, Norway '86 244 GLE, B230A, 260000 km

Reply to
Leiv Magne Faane

Have you replaced the fuel filter?

I don't think those mechanical fuel pumps wear out quite like the electric ones do.. but an unsteady fuel supply will often have a negative impact on idle.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo

Reply to
Alex Zepeda

No, the B230A carb engines doesn't have any, I tried to find it, but read some place that only 240s with injector had that. But after I found out about that, I have been wanting to mount one.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'll need some mechanics to take a look on the car. This car is a mystery! I don't think I have the right tools to check a fuel pump either.

Thanks for the input anyway.

- Leiv Magne Faane, Norway '86 244 GLE, B230A, 260000 km

Reply to
Leiv Magne Faane

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