Hey all, just wanted to drop a line to thank those who contributed suggestions regarding my stalling problem. Turns out everyone (myself included) missed the simplest thing and that turned out to be a dirty air filter and oil in the airbox. Once cleaned it worked fine, even with the same dirty filter (I'll be going to KNN soon). Nevertheless, all your suggestions helped me stay calm in their uniformity with respect to cost. I don't have much $ so I was relieved that all of the suggestions pointed to low cost solutions and all were perfectly valid. In fact, I'll be looking into some of these anyway just to do a bit of preventative maintenance.

I have included a list of suggestions I got over the last couple of days. Again, thanks to all. You folks are one of the reasons I love my Volvo!

Boris

Suggestions:

Check and replace the vacuum hoses. --Randy

The idle air control valve probably needs cleaning. Once the cleanings are done, the idle adjustment can be set. If it still misbehaves, look for the vacuum leak. Once all these items are checked, your problem should be cured. Expect between one and two hours of labor for the bunch. --Mike F

The big PVC hose crossing the engine just tucks into a hole in the air pipe from airflow sensor to turbo. When it falls out (or gets pulled out) this is exactly what happens. --Mike P

Probably the base idle adjustment, if the base idle is too low the the idle motor will try to compensate for it but when the throttle is closed abruptly it does not react fast enough allowing the car to die. Haynes gives a fair explanation of how to set base idle on 4A-37/38. --Dave S

The big PVC hose crossing the engine just tucks in to a hole in the air pipe from airflow sensor [mass airflow sensor?] to turbo. When it falls out (or get pulled out) this is exactly what happens. --Mike F

Check the wiring harness on the passenger side of the car under the hood. It can give a false reading and cause it not to idle properly. --AllExperts guy

If you dont find any air leaks, it might help to check the operation of the Throttle Position sensor. The sensor needs to click when the throttle is closed, otherwise that sensor does not tell the Idle Speed Motor to open and allow air to bypass the throttle to let the engine idle at the speed specified by the CIS (Constant Idle Speed) computer.

The Idle Speed Motor might also be gummed up, taking this apart and cleaning it helps idle response. --Luke

Check your air intake and turbo hoses for any holes --Haroon

One other quick check. Have you checked your oil recently? If the dipstick is not all the way in your car may not idle. I went through about six months of stalling at idle before I realized it was related to when I checked the oil. That was on a Saab but I am pretty sure it is the same with most cars. --Jessie

"frequency valve for the k-jet fuel distributor, mine buzzes and causes idle hunt" --Luke's web page