Recently we purchased a clean 1989 Volvo 740 Turbo and have been trying to restore it to full mechanical functioning. We have fixed a number of small (washer pump, brake pads) and large problems (we had to have our mechanic replace the original motor with a recently rebuilt used motor). In spite of some unexpected surprises (the motor), the car has been a great addition for our family and has been a blast to drive.

One problem that we haven't been able to track down is an intermittent performance problem that pops up every so often. From time to time, when we start the car it will feel much weaker than usual, particularly when you push it into the turbocharger during acceleration. The strange thing is that when this problem occurs we can generally "solve" it by stopping the car and restarting the engine. Once the engine is restarted the car usually returns to its normally aggressive level of performance.

We originally thought it was a pre-pump problem, but that didn't solve this intermittent power loss. Has anyone experienced a similar type of problem and what might be some ways of getting rid of these gremlins in the motor. I am suspecting that it has something to do with the distributor or computer or something else electrical that resets itself when the engine is restarted.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.