Maggie, our 1989 240 non turbo/250,000km starts up then immediatly stalls about three times before she'll run on her own. She starts better if she's still warm, & worse when she's cold.
I've read from previous posts that there is a valve that stops fuel from running back to the tank but there seems to be some confusion if cars made in 1989 & on have this. Does anyone know for sure?
Also,.. My daughter ran the car til it was just running on fumes just before this "start & stall" thing started to happen. Does a dirty fuel filter make a car do this? I can't see why it would be worse in the morning if it were a plugged filter.
The car has new plugs, new O-2 sensor, old wires.
Any bets on what the trouble is?

thanks,
Mike T.

What about the simple fuel pressure regulator problem? That would cause gas to settle out of the Injector Bar..no? Pull off the rear hose and see if there is gas in there . If yes, replace it.
--
'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwr and two motorcycles: it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

My '81 has the exact problem, except it runs beautiful when warm. Upon startup in the am though, count on the 3rd try before she goes. I changed the cold start injector along with the connector last week, which improved the situation (it was starting on about the 15th try...) vastly. So it went in for a checkup, it's determined to have a bad regulator valve like you were talking about. The advice was either live with it for the life of the vehicle, or get a new one from the dealer for about 300-400 cdn.... OUCH!! But before replaceing it, it was recommended I run a couple tanks with fuel system cleaner through the car. Apparently a white powdery buildup helps gum up the insides of the valve, then if it doesn't clear up, replace it. Unfortunately, there's no way test these at the boneyard without having the vehicle run. I may just pick up a couple and experiment anyways...

Hope that helps!

Scott
'84 244Ti
'81 245 GLT
Vancouver

My 1st thought is a failing Cold Start Injector (pretty sure the '89 has one).
It should shoot extra gas into the intake when the starter is cranking. But I think the temp has to be really cold for it to become active.

Maybe ECT? (Engine Coolant Temperature) Sensor sending bad signal to Fuel Injection control unit, resulting in fuel mixture too lean for cool starts?

Anybody?
--
Bruce Young, 940-NA, many 240s (one V8), '73 142, '71 144 (ex circle track car in CT), '67 144 (new), used 122 from '63 to '67

Mike,

The first thing I would do is pop out the Idle Air Controller that sits under the throttle body. Most IAC's have never been cleaned, and once you have it out, spray it with carb cleaner to get rid of the sludge build up in there. If that does nothing, then I would suspect the Air Mass Meter is slowly going the way of many an AMM before it. I don't think running the tank low has anything to do with what's going on, but if your fuel filter is any more than 2 years old, I would replace it promptly. Your wires are probably not to blame, they would only show signs of deterioration if the car was misbehaving in wet weather.

Happy Bricking!!!

Richard

87 245 DL 360,000 km
82 242 GLT 121,000 km