My '93 940 with 135K has been giving me trouble since November (or ever since it got cold) immediately after start up. When warm, I have no trouble at all with starting and going. When cold, it turns over fine, idles only slightly rough at first when in P or N, but within about 10 seconds it coughs and sputters hideously. This happens when I'm in P or N, and especially when I press the accelerator while in R or D. The coughing and sputtering prevents me from moving more than a few feet per second even with my foot off the accelerator while in D or R. The coughing/sputtering lasts about 2 or 3 minutes, or apparently until the engine warms up enough. Then, it's like a switch has been turned on, because I can accelerate just fine and all's well...until the next morning.

In the last 3 months, I've had the air temp sensor replaced, the throttle postion switch replaced, the coolant temp sensor replaced (the one that's hard to get to in the back of the engine), the sparks replaced, the entire throttle body area thoroughly cleaned...and the problem persists. The fuel pressure has checked out as good by 2 of the 3 mechanics (the 3rd one believed me that it was fine), as I read that the fuel pressure regulator is sometimes the culprit here.

This is a problem that has continued for 3 months now. I am very reluctant to take it to a dealer, as two of the mechanics that have looked at it were import specialists who've had extensive experience with Volvos, Mercedes, and BMWs, and they still couldn't figure it out. I'm afraid the dealer may just throw a bunch of parts at it and I'll be paying more for this fix than I did for the car itself.

Any ideas?

Thanks. Rick

'94 940 wagon 120K
'93 940 wagon 135K