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READ THE 700/900 FAQ. (Yes, I am shouting! There is TONS of good advice there.)
Some Volvos made when yours was made had wiring insulation that was environmentally freindly but rotted in the engine compartment. Open up some of the looms near the engine to see if the wires are bare!
Stalling on hills - How full was the fuel tank? Many older 740s suffer from fuel pick-up trouble, the pick-up pipe gets porous. My '88 would run poorly is it got a bit under 1/4th of a tank, some are worse or eventually get worse. Keep the fuel level up until you know the car,
The electrical connections can corrode, especially grounds. Clean them all as much as you can, apply dielectric grease, and zip-tie together any that you can. Check engine and body grounds, there is at least two straps between the engine and the body, and some items, like the power stage and the ABS mount that must have a good connection to the body. I did one connector per week, that way if something acted up, I knew what it was! You may not have that luxury. Look inside each connector to make sure the pins have not been pushed back so that they do not work.
Letting the car sit REALLY causes connection issues.
The top suspects for stalling are the FI relay (you can fix it with a soldering iron) and the flywheel position sensor (If your car has one, I'm not sure about your year) It is attached to a whire that runs down to the very top of the bell housing - you really have to get in there and look. If you have a hall sensor on the distributor, look for bad insulation on the small wire running to the side of the dizy, wiggle it around a bit if necessary.
As for the turbo problem, some used cars are "doctored up" by some pretty good tinkerers. My '90 744 TI had a thermostat that was bent to hold it open because the Electric fan did not work, and the idle control was adjusted to compensate for a hole in a turbo hose - at idle the car thought it was running at 3000 RPM - and the car ran fine until the weather got cold.
Some times you have to bite the bullet and have a REAL Volvo mechanic take a look at your car. Having a dealer tech go through the car can be a good value, then fix the stuff yourself, or get safety items fixed first. Often a major service can address a lot of small issues in one, economical shot.
Once you get her straight, they can be sweet and reliable. Rear wheel drive is the way to go.
There is lots of good help available here, good luck
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'96 855R,'64 PV544 driver, '67 P1800 basket case, '95 855, '95 854, the first three are mine, heh, heh, 415,000 miles put on 9 bricks
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