Hi everyone,

I just purchased a beautiful 92 740 non turbo wagon. It has 113k miles and has been maintained beautifully.

I have real bad car luck though. Of course as soon I buy it I am noticing a sputter at idle when the car has been thoroughly warmed up. It feels like the fan is turning on and off constantly. If I shift it into neutral it is no longer very noticeable.

I dont know if it is related but yesterday the car stalled suddenly at low speeds (going down hill while braking).It took about 2 minutes before re starting.

No check engine lights are on. I have read through tons of posts and am overwhelmed by all the possibilities and it seems like I read people throw lots of parts at similar issues until they are fixed. . I cant get it to a mechanic till next Friday. I also have a broken arm so I am kind of limited.

Any easy cheap things I should/ can check ?

thanks so much

Jake

Update.

Took car to mechanic. He was unable to reproduce the idle sputtering. He let it idle for a real long time and drove it around. He did suggest I replace my fuel pump relay though as he noted it was original and said they can sometimes create weird symptoms. I ordered one and will put it in asap.
Again I have only noticed this sputtering issue at idle only when I gave drove more than like 20 consecutive miles.

Someone else mentioned radio suppression relay. They noted in some car it controls cooling fan and sends a signal to fuel pump. Thoughts? I have noticed fan seems to turn on an awful lot too.

Thanks

Just re-read your original post and noted you said car suddenly stalled. This is typically either the main fuel pump relay (behind ashtray) or the crank position sender. The relay can be removed and resoldered, pop the cover off and look for cracked solder joints (may need magnified help). The CPS can be replaced, but my money's on the relay. Mike

One more piece of info.
Just drove to the store.
At stop light car was idling perfect but I noticed the rpm gauge was acting erratic and going from 0-600 and back. May be bad gauge and coincidence but thought I would share in case it's related.

See:

https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/ElectricalInstruments.htm

Not an unusual problem with a 23 year old flexible circuit board on the 700 and 900 series dashboard. Low temp solder and soldering pencil (I'm unsure the temp) may allow you to find fault, if indeed you need to remove the dash head.

Like I replied earlier, you may want to take a wholesale approach with electrical problems. A 23 year owld RWD Volvo needs a little more in depth care

A visual / touch inspection of the TPS cable can suggest impeding failure if the outer sheath has split, allowing you to see the silver foil inner liner. Replace it.

Why I suggest you check for fault codes using the OBD as aforementioned as you also describe other issues.

Listen to the other Regina folks with their replies. They'll clue you in to the specifics.

Hope that helps.

Packin' Up MacDuff. MO'-state or MO'-state. Go Chicago Bears tomorrow!
--
Volvo 164: The Mightiest, most Powerful, most Beautiful Volvo Automobile Forever

It is the Regina system.

I ran my hand along the crank position sensor and cable. I didn't feel any cracks or splits.

The IAC did look a bit dirty.
I didn't take it off. I noticed there was a lot of old oil/ dirt around the far side where something is plugged into it.
I may try to remove and clean it one handed tomorrow.

Regina car or Bosch. Regina is identified by a large looking coil on the DS near the strut wall. Erratic idle could be the idle air control valve sticking, I usually take it out and clean it with some throttle cleaner approved for electronic devices. This usually helps.

I just purchased this volvo 3 days ago. It didnt sputter on the test drive, of course.
When I say sputter I guess that could mean a lot of different things to different folks. I mean drop rpms like 200-300 then stabilizes then does it again.

I just went out for a drive. Got it up to temp where fan kicks on. No sputtering. slight drop in rpms when fan kicks but that was it. Yesterday when it was sputtering bad I noticed it only started after I had been driving a long time and the car was super hot ( normal operating temp) if that means anything.

I did just contact previous owner and he said he had this issue last fall. They changed fuel filter and it drove great since.
He also mentioned it had been sitting since June. It had a 1/r tank of gas. I filled up with premium right away.

Any chance old gas could have this effect or made it stall?

thanks so much everyone. Even with the small issues I am having off the bat I love this car and am an old volvo fan for life.

1 EASY THING TO TRY IS TO CHECK THE CPS WIRING BEHIND THE CYL.HEAD.IT MAY BE A CRACK IN THE INSULATION.i HAVE USED ALUMINUM HVC TAPE TO FIX IT BY WRAPPING THAT SPOT.

Hi Jake,

Welcome to the bricboard.com! How long have you owned you 1992 Volvo 740, the final year of the Volvo 700-series.

Try:

https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/EnginePerformanceSymptoms.htm

A greater probably if the engine oil you use is mineral oil, even if the care history demonstrates the oil and filter changes at 3000 to 5000 miles.

Though check the OBD before hand:

https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/EngineOBDCodes.htm

Check sockets 2 (fuel control, emissions), sockets 6 (ignition, EGR if fitted, and emissions). Follow the procedure. Repeat at each socket until no new three-digit codes display.

Though the immediate fault may be the idle air control valve, if the engine uses mineral engine oil, condensating combustion products can restrict the valve movement to control idle. So, we clean these, and have one or two working spares to swap in.

At 23 years, and when your arm heals, you may have wire harness corrosion. At the dash center console, behind the ashtray, is a plastic plate the carries most of the engine control and other relays. If you see distorted plastic from heat around the mounted relays, you may want to give the relay box an inspect and clean.

Also, at 23 years, in spite of miles, you may have air intake leaks at the throttle body (TB) or air intake port gaskets. Unless these were already replaced.

Other shall chime in with a much suggestions than I provide here.

Hope that helps you. Sorry about your arm. Hope it's soon to being healed up!

Questions,

Duffed.
--
Volvo 164: The Mightiest, most Powerful, most Beautiful Volvo Automobile Forever