1984 Turbo, intercooled.

Recently, I replaced the frequency valve and this problem came up gradually as I tried to adjust the mixture. The car has gone from running rough and having difficulty maintaining idle (as the engine heats up) to now not starting at all with only the very occasional hint of combustion on cranking. Fuel pumps are fine--relay is fine.

I wouldn't want to go into every detail here. More and more, I'm beginning to suspect the air flow sensor. It seems possible that I damaged it when I tried to adjust the mixture: After replacing the frequency valve, I had a friend hold the throttle at a constant idle around 2000 while I tried to adjust the mixture using a dwell meter--this was the only way to keep the car from stalling as I made the adjustments. I later read that it was a bad idea to mess with the throttle while turning the mixture adjustment screw: it could damage the air flow sensor. After this failed attempt to adjust the mixture (it just remained too high) the engine started running increasingly rough. Mixture continued to resist adjustment although the screw was extremely sensitive and the engine would change its behavior at the slightest adjustment. This had degraded into a no-start.

Even before this problem came up, I had planned to sell the car and was just trying to get it running decently both for the sake of the sale and out of respect for the car. I am reluctant to just go replacing parts on a car that I don't plan on driving on the off chance that they might be the problem and the tests for most CIS and ECS parts and systems generally need the car to be running. This leads to my two questions:

1) Is there any way to test the Air Flow Sensor or any other likely suspects on a car that's not running?

2)Is there anything I can clean or adjust without an unreasonable amount of effort (beyond the plugs and distributor) that may have gotten fouled after the car has been running way to rich for a while?

If I can just get the car running long enough to get across town, there are local people who seem interested in taking on the project.


Thanks for any advice and I thank everybody who has offered me some advice in the past with this car.

I'll post more later.. but I doubt your air flow sensor is stuffed up. Possible, but unlikely. If that is the problem just replace the whole unit with one from a 240T.

That said, pull up on the nut on the sensor plate with a pair of pliers. If the plate moves smoothly with some resistance.. it's probably okay.

That said it is possible to adjust the base mixture close enough so that the car should run with the engine off.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo
'84 245 Turbo