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An update on my expedition into uncharted (for me)territory.
You, my fellow Volvisti, have been truly great at keeping my confidence and spirits up. When you're out there in the driveway, it's getting dark and your car (that you need for work) is looking like a disemboweled zebra out on the savanna, life gets a little lonely! You all are the cavalry!
Here's what is going on; I'm working on a really sweet, low mile (90,000) stationwagon, true little old lady, always been garaged type of car. There is not a speck of rust on this vehicle. OK, a spot the size of a dime near the windshield. The underside and the sill plates look as if the car was 2 years
old. It's a California spec vehicle, if that makes a big difference in how it is equipped.
The complaint was the car was running real rough, and had been losing power, oh, and had lousy fuel mileage. I started with the assumption that it had a fuel blockage. See my last few postings; my old '72 ES had this problem. I have come
to realize that the real problem is delayed maintainance, a series of small problems. Anyway, got the intank fuel filter "sock" sorted out (from the dealer, the last one they had;$12.00), plus, I replaced the outside filter can, located up under the rear axle. So far, so good.
Another issue was to look for various leaks, vacuum and otherwise. I had to replace the exhaust manifold gasket, so off came the F.I. intake, or plenum. It was FILTHY inside! A coat of grunge all over it. So I had it hot tanked, while I cleaned the injectors, and replaced all the seals, put in new plugs (old ones totally sooted up). I carefully removed the throttle position sensor and the "butterfly" valve, and used a pencil eraser to clean the contacts. I cleaned out the intake ports on the head w/ carb cleaner, (also caked up w/ grunge) and buttoned it all back up. It took a LOT longer that it takes to write this, I can tell you. Then I started it up, or tried to. Part of the problem of poor performance is that lots of people who really didn't understand the D Jetronic system (not that I do) had been fiddling with all the screws and linkages over the years to make it run better, so there was no "base setting". It eventually started up, but HOWLED with a way too high idle speed. The manuals, both the official green Volvo workshop ones, and the HAYNES, say that the fuel pressure at the intake to the fuel rack is critical. I found an old Stewart-Warner oil gauge with small scale calibration and plumbed it into the fuel supply line. It read around 60PSI. No good. It's supposed to be at 28PSI. With the engine running, I managed to dial it back down with the pressure regulator on the fuel rack/rail. Car ran MUCH better, but not great. Then I reset the timing (car has aftermarket electronic/Pertronix ignition) to the required 10 degrees BTDC. I removed the plastic air tube into the intake, and adjusted the idle back down to about 900RPM. Did it by ear, didn't have a tach installed (yet). Car sounds and starts a lot better than it did, but to my mind it's not 100%.
Here's where I am now (I know; short story made long-but I figure my story might be a help to someone else, out there in some lonely driveway).
1.) Car runs basically OK, but has a "lopey" idle, not very smooth.
2.) Where does the small brass "nipple" UNDER the F.I. plenum lead to? The upper one leads to the distributor advance diaphram, the one in question is about the same size, but has a "barb" at the end, and a hose about 3 feet long. I now have it blocked with a golf tee. I came so close to the finish line, but this has me stumped. I suspect it MIGHT have something to do with the gas tank fume recirculation, but so far, it's a tube to nowhere.
3.) Wanted to swap out the coolant sensor, the one up by the thermostat. I had a brand new one in my "mystery" box. But, the threads were too small, even though every thing else loooked right. What gives? Different year? Different car?
4.) I found a OEM accessory tachometer, the small 3" kind that fits into the gauge cluster. 2 of the connections are obvious, because they are pins that stick out of the cluster. But, where does the one marked "1" go to. I'm going to assume it mates up to the same pole marked "1" on the coil. Will this fry my tach?
Thanks for your collective patience up 'til now, and I hope that I can sometimes give as good as I get. I'm better at the older stuff (PV444/544 and 120 series).
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