Hi Folks,

After reading the archives and benefiting from insights on which snow tires to buy (and getting a great deal at TireRack), I've screwed up my courage to join you.

I bought a wonderful navy 740 GLE 1989 wagon with 101K miles several months ago (now has 107K), after test driving and learning about used volvos all summer. One owner and all the stamps in the maintenance book, including a few recent dealer repair records. My husband thinks I'm nuts because I am so excited about this 13 year old car. I haven't been this happy with a car since I bought my first new car on my 21st bday (Mazda 626 Turbo - very cool car too, but totalled 2 years later...maybe too cool). I never had a volvo before but hope to be in one from now one.

In the past month, I've noticed this scary and intermittent engine hesitation problem. What happens is sometimes when I depress the accelerator, absolutely NOTHING happens for 2,3, or 4 seconds and then, its as if the engines wakes up again and starts accelerating. This mostly happens after I slow down from hiway cruising to 5 or 10 mph (going thru EZPass) and then try to get back up to speed but sometimes happens after being at a red light. When I first noticed it, it happened maybe once a week, but now is happening most of the time I drive it. I have an appointment scheduled with dealer, but would love some advice before I go. Also, I'm not a motor head but I can read schematics and follow directions and take advice and I am motived to learn (and save $$) and get this car in top shape. I once tried to rebuild the carburator of a '72 impala but after seeing all the little pieces, my dad's buddy fixed it and I put it back in. So I think I know my limits too.

Hi Diane,

Here's a little food for thought. I had a similar problem with my 89 240, i would step on the accelator, and the engine would lull a couple seconds, and than "wake up." But my problem got worse very quickly. It ended up that my main fule pump was shot, my fuel filter was clogged with rock-sized deposits, and my line pressure regulator was shot. Unfortunately this is a fairly expensive repair (almost 700 at the dealer) So I did it all myself and saved quite a bit of dough. It might be worth having a shop take a look, but you should definately check the fault codes. Hopefully you have a different, less expensive problem. I'm pretty new to fixing up my baby myself, so I hope I'm not steering you down the wrong path. Anyway, enjoy your wagon, and I hope it makes it to a million!

Peace,

Mikey B

Welcome to the board and congrats on the buy of that "classy wagon".

A simple and inexpensive thing that you could do yourself: 1) clean and tighten the electrical connectors to all the sensors ie, AMM, O2, RPM, etc.

2) clean and tighten all ground connectors, specially the ones at the intake manifold. an last get yourself a used 740 Haynes manual on eBay to point you in the right direction.

This might solve your problem, if it doesn't anyway is good preventive maintenance.

Enjoy your brick.

Hi Diane, please look at the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu. There is a lot of info there from previous posts here and elsewhere.

Your problem may be caused by some electrical ground problems, ie dirty contacts, or a dirty throttle body. Pull off the intake hose, from the air cleaner to the throttle body, and loo at the inside of the TB. Open the flap and look inside with a light. There are various small vacuum hoses attached to the TB and the small ports may be blocked with oil crud.

You might also check the Air Mass Meter, connected to the air cleaner with an electrical connector attached. Make sure the connector is clean and properly seated.

Then there is the fuel pump relay. A quick resolder job on it may cure your problem. This relay supplies, on my year and probably yours too, power to the fuel pump and the AMM.

Check the 700/900 FAQ for more info on this. There si also a section on buying a high mileage Volvo, although 100K is 'broken in' around here.

You must make sure the timing belt was changed at 100K miles too.

Fortunately, there is probably nothing on your Volvo as complicated as that Impala's carburater.

A good place to begin might be to check for fault codes stored in the On-Board Diagnostics system. There is a section in the 700/900 FAQ's on this site that describes its use. It may point you towards the cause of your problem.