Hello:

The temperature was 18 yesterday and 20 today at dawn in Boston and my 1996 Volvo 850 (90,000 miles) does not like it. After starting up the engine seems to run rough until it warms up after about ten minutes of driving. It is sluggish in acceleration and the engine transfers a vibrating feeling to the rest of of the car. (I suspect the ipd hard plastic upper engine mount bushing I installed is not helping matters.) After initial morning warmup this symptom does not occur for the rest of the day. I changed the plugs, cap and rotor 18 months ago and have cleaned the throttle butterfly recently while inspecting the flame trap and changing the oil.

Is this symptom caused by an underlying problem (i.e. cold start sensor problem etc.) or should I ignore it as my wife advises? (She states that if I was parked on a cold driveway all night, I would be slow and cranky first thing in the morning.) Nevertheless, I travel to the White Mountains during the winter and do not want a "cranky car" to turn into a "dead (no start)car" in much colder weather.

Your input is appreciated.

Dan