Told you it was the coil.....muhahahaha.

chuck
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'88 244 172K, '87 BMW 325e 174K (used to feed a '84 245, '84 244, '85 744)

Darn, I hate that it sends it if you accidentally hit enter! Sorry.

I've been trying to diagnose my rich running '89 and having eliminated a lot of things, I thought I might have a weak coil. I had a spare used coil from an '88, but when I checked Groton, etc, they sell a different coil for '88 than for '89. But I decided to try it anyway because I thought it couldn't hurt. When I took the existing one out, I was very surprised to see that it had the same numbers on the top as the one from the '88! I don't really know the history of either coil, but maybe my '89 has had the wrong coil in it since I got it last October.

Does anyone know if Bosch 1 220 522 011 is right for an '89 ? If not, could the wrong (or even a weak) coil mimic rich mixture by causing misfires ? The engine does idle rather roughly besides the fouling of plugs and bad milage, etc.

Thanks for any help.
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Andy '91 745 184K, '89 244 134K, '87 245 lost the rust battle at 225K mi

the ezk coils in the 89 are different from the chrysler coils used up to 88. the wrong coil might not get enough signal from the ignition brain to fire the correct current. contrary to popular opinion, the modern coils are not lifetime or bulletproof. the high amperage required to operate properly, plus the added draws from worn plugs, wires, etc, mean the coil can and will die. pity you can't put an ignition scope on the car, you'd be able to really see if you need a coil or not. low spark from the coil can look like too much fuel. when the spark doesn't reach 20k volts or so under load, the coil is tired. good luck, chuck.

My books show a Coil change at '89 — probably coincident with ICU change from Volvo/Chrysler to EZK.

Volvo # is 1317810-8
Bosch # is 0-221-122-364

I couldn't find any Volvo coils with a 1-220 - 522 - nnn number.
They all begin with 0-221-nnn
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

Thanks for that info. It's certainly more than I had. But I'm looking at one of these coils (identical to the one now in the car) and the only number osre on the numbers on it are on the black, platic thing that is like a half of a cap on the top. It appears to be a separate piece from the "soda can" part, but isn't obviously removeable. The numbers I gave ore on that and their is a yellow Bosch label on the side of the "soda can", but no numbers on it.

Either of these cars, mine or the '88 at the pick-n-pull could have had the wrong coil in them, but I think mine has been running rich since I've had it, so I'm suspicious.

Anybody want to look at the top of thier '89-93 coil and see what numbers are on top ?

The coil number is stamped into the bottom of the metal coil case. The black plastic part apparently has its own number (in the 1-nnn series).

You will have to take the coil out and invert it, or play with a mirror. The coil from the '88 ('85-'88) should end with 345, as opposed to the '89 up 364.

In my experience, coils are practically bullet-proof. What else have you "eliminated"? O2 sensor checked for proper voltage and switching rate? Fuel pressure (gauge reading) and faulty Engine Coolant Temperature also come to mind.

Look some hints in the FAQ, since your B230 and Ignition CU is the same as most 700s of that vintage and later (but strangely, the coil on your '91 is different—a 351, even though the ICUs are the same.)
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

Yup, the one that I took off the '88 ends in 345 and is now out of the car. I'm sure I got the number correctly off the other one, now in the car, but from what you said, it doesn't sound like the It's the right one.

No fuel on the vacuum side of the FPR. Swapped in a used FPR with no obvious change. Wouldn't low fuel pressure result in a lean running condition rather than rich ?

I pinched off the line to to the cold start injector to eliminate that.

Thanks to all of you for your help. I will diagnose this eventually and it looks like if a new coil doesn't fix it I will have to get at the temp sensor.
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Andy '91 745 184K, '89 244 134K, '87 245 lost the rust battle at 225K mi

Hey, I was too dumb to look on the bottom, but I have the one that had been in my '89 in my hand and the number on the bottom ends in 334! The other one is in the car, which seems to be running the same (poorly) with it. I think I will go swap them again and get back to you with that number.

BTW, I think I have eliminated everyting except the temp sensor as being the problem. I even build my own fuel pressure gauge (steady 35 PSI).
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Andy '91 745 184K, '89 244 134K, '87 245 lost the rust battle at 225K mi

Another thing you might look at is the ezk flywheel sensor. I was driving my car for awhile with sensor that had frayed wires. I finally replaced it when it sometimes mixed the timing up so badly that it stopped the starter dead in its tracks. When I put a new sensor on (the white striped one) my fuel economy went way up.

No idea what the 334 coil app is. Are you sure it's not 364?

I see Chuck (PF) says that coils aren't as bulletproof as I suggested, so you might be onto something for your rich mix problem..

You can check ECT resistance from the ECU end (pin 13 to ground, per spec in Bentley , or FAQ I think). If it's really bad it should set a code. Have you checked the OBD I codes?

And FP for LH 2.4 with engine idling should be 43.5 psi, and rise about 9psi more when the vac hose is removed and plugged. Did you check to be sure it's not leaking thru the diaphragm to the vac hose? That would make things really rich (and probably make FP low?).


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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

can an MSD or other capacitive dicharge ignition sys. be used

can an MSD or other capacitive dicharge ignition sys. be used

Probably — but I don't see a need for it on a vanilla Volvo. The stock system is reliable. I've never had or known of a ignition problem, except for the normal wear items and some occasional bad wiring
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

Not sure about the coils, but did you check the fuel pressure regulator yet? If not, with the engine OFF, pull the vacuum line off it and look/sniff for the appearance or smell of raw gas. If you get either, replace the FPR.