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what to do about hellacious running only when cold or damp 200

hi sages- this may be a job for superman or if he is out of town sage art ben. have been wrestling with this for a year now. 92 volvo 240 in south florida where it is warm most of the time and most of the time this problem doesnt exist. simply put, on cold or damp morning startup and for 10 min of initialdrive time, engine misses badly and bucks on acceleration. it acts just like it has a bad sparkplug or two , a burned up rotor or cap or bad plug wires. otherwise when warmed up or if its a warm day engine runs smooth and powerfully. regularly gets 25mpg around town. have thoroughly checked plugs, cap, rotor and plug wires. on dark cold night i see no sparks jumping around wires. have had this same problem on slant six dodges and other carberated cars. only vehicle i have had which doesnt do this is my 4 cyl. saturn L100. my theory now is that this volvo has an engine temp sensor which runs the temp gage on the dash(gage reaches 1/2 on the needle after 15 min. of driving) and a coolant temp sensor. i think both or one of these go to the engine computer and signals the fuel system to deliver a rich or lean mixture. my question is if one or both of these sensors went stinko wouldnt the computer mistakenly tell the fuel system to deliver a lean mixture to a cold engine thus producing this symptom. uncle moe says dont worry about it as it is a common problem with older cars especially with 4 cyl engines, even after a dealer soaks you for a repair that doesnt work. what say you good folks. about ready to give up and shut up. thanks tons oldduke








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    what to do about hellacious running only when cold or damp 200

    You are correct about the temp sensors except the one that gives you a dash readout is not connected to the ECU, there is a separate sensor for that.

    It's easy to check the function of the sensor either at the ECU or at the sensor itself. You check the resistance across it and then check that against a curve of values for temperature. I don't have that info with me, it is in my Bentley manual. According to the manual you remove the sensor and then measure the resistance while submerging the sensor in hot or cold water of a known temperature. Hopefully I'll remember to post the values when I get home.








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    what to do about hellacious running only when cold or damp 200

    I had a similar problem.When it was damp the car would be hard to start, and run rough.Like you, I checked the cap,rotor plugs and wires.After a while, the car would barely start, and would die intermittantly.After months of frustration, I replaced the plug wires, and that solved the problem.I examined the old plug wires,and found that one wire had a short on the rotor end.
    Good luck and best wishes








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      what to do about hellacious running only when cold or damp 200

      hi sages- will substitute a known good coil and check. if coil was bad thought it would be bad through the temp range. already went over the wires. they look good on ends and run well when not cold or damp. so only the coolant temp sensor not the gage sensor communicates with the ecu. will check this sensor if the coil checks out ok. let me know any other item to check. thanks tons oldduke







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