This week, temperatures have fallen below 0 F. In this time, something has happened to the 240's ability to idle smoothly. It is occasionally surging on cold startup, to the point that I have to shift to neutral (AT), then goose the accelerator to get it to settle down. Even more troubling is when it begins to surge after having to quickly brake/stop at a traffic light. It sometimes dies before there is time to get it into neutral to clear the surging. I'm not sure if this problem is connected to the cold weather, or if it is just coincidental. Anybody ever experienced this and know what's causing the problem??

Daryl,
Don't have any tips for you but I am watching this thread as I also have a 93 with the exact same symptoms but only when it's extremely cold - say below 25 on startup. I agree loping is definitely a better description than surging because top speed of the "lope" is normal idle. My difference is that it completely disappears on warmup. Any more ideas out there?
Robb

Robb,

Thanks for your response on this. This morning it is -22. I started the 240, left it idling for 20 minutes, then drove 25 miles to work. Once in the parking lot, I stopped the car and went inside for 5 minutes. Came back outside, started the car again (it really hadn't cooled off from the trip in to work). I put it into drive, and it immediately started to lope again. Goosed the accelerator pedal once, and it cleared. I'm with you on this being due to extreme cold conditions. Something is probably stiff, sticky, or frozen, but I don't know the fuel system on this car yet, so I can't guess what it could be.

Daryl,

Just a hunch, but every FI car I have had that has had a surging problem has also had a vacuum leak that caused it. Look for vacuum leaks in your hoses and make sure the flame trap is clean.

Dennis

I don't know if the word "surging" is exactly correct........but maybe the word "loping" is a better description. Each "surge" or "lope" has a duration of approximately 1-2 seconds. Maybe this clarification will help in diagnosing what's going on with this car.

What year 240? The early cars have K-jet fuel injection w/o idle speed motor, early 80s cars have K jet with idle speed motor, later ones have electronic FI - the idle controls (and problems) vary among these sytems.

Sorry I forgot to mention that it is a 93.

Does this condition go away once the engine is up to operating temperature?

Justin B.
83 244 Turbo

Not always. It seems to be an unpredictable problem.