I'm having trouble getting my 87 240 to accelerate and hold speed. I read several postings on the air mass meter. I replaced the air mass meter and the car ran fine...or so I thought. Today, the car began to sputter and crawl at 5 MPH and wouldn't catch acceleration. There was a clicking noise like a relay switch every few seconds. Any ideas?

Joe
Saginaw, MI

I'm having the exact same problem with my 240 except I'm not getting the clicking noise you hear. My mechanic told me to take it to a local muffler shop and have the catalytic converter looked at, since this is usually the cause of these problems. She said that the stuff inside the cat is probably breaking up and clogging up the exhaust.
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1990 244DL - K&N, airbox mod, 2 15' JLs, Brickstylz body kit, underbody neon (2.5' straight pipe exhaust system, performace cam to come!!!) all at 255K+ miles. 1998 S70 GLT - mom and dad's car. If only....

I have 2 240's so I exchanged the air mass meter...problem persists. I exchanged the fuel relay under the glove box...problem persists. I had the car in the shop for exhaust work and they said there was an issue with the catalytic converter which causes an "echo." The exhaust is louder than it should be. I'm beginning to believe the catalytic converter is the problem for the lapse in acceleration.

Joe
Saginaw, MI

Sounds like fuel delivery is a problem. Check the FP relay (passenger side, under the glove box); replace and/or resolder per numerous Don Foster posts. Check your fuses as well, especially the 25-amp blade-style fuse under the hood (driver's side inner fender, between battery & distributor).

Also - how full is your tank? If you're at 1/2 tank or less, you may have a leaking pickup line connected to the in-tank pump. If the problem goes away with a full tank, that's likely the culprit. Check the archives for how to fix.

It sounds as if there is a problem with the fuel pump relay, under the dash on the passenger side. White box. The clicking is either because the relay is receiving an intermittent signal (faulty or intermittent function/supply from control unit) or because the relay is bad.

The control unit on that model is very reliable. Very, very reliable. (Also dirt cheap to replace if it IS bad). The relay is usually as much as the control unit, but it is typically also the first thing to look at.
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Chris Herbst, in Wisconsin.