1990 Volvo 740 GLT 16v 2.3l
4 speed + overdrive (ie stick shift) Estate
193k miles, well looked after, used more-or-less daily on a variety of short (10 min) and long (1 hour+) runs.
The Symptoms:
- On a cold start it is quite erratic when idling - will go between ~500rpm and ~900rpm.
- Initial accelleration from cold start is not smooth, but after a minute or so accelleration is normal and smooth, although idling is still erratic as above.
- Having been driven for about five minutes idle is less erratic, though still wobbles between ~800rpm and ~900rpm.
Someone pointed out that it could be an air leak somewhere. Do you think that this is feasible, and would it manifest itself anywhere else (eg at the air filter?)
Yeah it sounds like classic symptoms of a vacuum leak, look for any cracked or disconnected hoses, and carefully inspect the accordian hose between the AMM and the throttle body.
A typical cause of cold idle problems is a dirty throttle body. When cleaning it, pay particular attention to the passage at the bottom that goes to the idle adjust knurled screw. Be sure to start with a nearly full can of carb cleaner, because it takes most of a can to clean all the goo out.
JS, JT and MP have certainly hit the obvious suspects for your problem. We have a 1989 740 gl auto 2 ltr with 130,000 miles and believe it or not have been through the same as you more than once but with different solutions.
May I add to the list firstly, hardening of the fuel injector seals. These do harden over time and need replacing. To check get a can of WD40 and liberally spray around the base of the injectors where the injectors go into the manifold. If you tickover picks up and suddenly becomes more consistant then there you go. A couple of quids for replacement seals and it takes 5 mns per injector for an amateur to replace.
Secondly, over the years I also had a prob with the inlet manifold gasket leaking which caused the same symptoms. In my case the gasket was ok cos all I did was tighten the manifold nuts a smidgeon and all was well again.
Whilst posting, given the mileage of your 740 if you have not had the distributor cap, HT leads (incl the king lead which is known to short out) and rotor arm replaced - I am assuming here that your 1990 model is similar to my Sept 89 which has the distributor at the bulkhead end of the engine - then you might do well to invest in replacements. At 120,000 miles our tick over had slowly become annoyingly erratic even though the car still went and none of the other remedys seemed to work. When I rempved the Distributor cap the contact posts and the rotor arm were so warn I was amazed the car went at all. Replaced and all was well again. For some reason replacing these parts does not feature on Volvo's service schedules anywhere but clearly at some stage mechanical parts do wear out.
Hope you get it sorted. Our 740 still sounds and runs like it did on day one.
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