I bought this car for my kids to use when they need to drive. Now my daughter is waitressing in the heart of DC and often has to go to the car at midnight. Recently she has told me about starting problems. You crank the car and it starts right up, but immediately dies. She has worked around this by pushing a bit on the accelerator when it starts and keeping the engine revved for a bit. Once the engine is running the car works perfectly--no hesitation, no rough idle, etc. Tonight she had to try several times and finally shifted it into gear (automatic) with one foot on the brake and one on the accelerator. I got home late and cranked the car while the engine was still warm. Without pushing the accelerator it started, almost died, then ran rough. I pushed on the pedal one time and it idled faster, and smooth.
New plugs and wires, air filter good. I checked the resistance on the AMM and it is in specs. Engine diagnostic gives a code of a rich mixture. Any ideas on how to make this car more reliable for my kids?

Also, remove the air intake snorkel from the AMM to the throttle body and check it for leaks. After a while the underside wears thru where it contacts stuff on the inner fender. Use vinyl tape for a quickie fix (if necessary) until you get a replacement.

After the AMM was replaced in my car with a brand new one, If was getting these very strange problems where the car would start then just die. It ended up being the connection to the AMM. try wiggling the connection around and if that doesn't do it, disconnect the cable and try to bend the pins together to get more tension in the connection.
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1980 244DL, 1982 245GL, 1987 744GLE, 1991 245SE, 1996 855GLT, 2001 V70

An air control valve that is dirty and not opening as much as it should will give the symptoms you describe. They usually just need a good cleaning.
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There are no stupid questions only those that are not asked.