I have a '90 240DL wagon, automatic transmission. Over the last several months it has developed a problem with stalling out at stops and occationally when idling. The problem seems to be time- related, meaning that the longer the car has been running the more prone it is to stall when I come to a stop. Generally it restarts again with no problems. I determined it was time related when the car stalled after it had been idling for warm up during an exceptionally cold night (-20F), ran for 10 min drive, and then was idling again before my final trip and stalled. This was the first instance it would not restart immediatly, but finally did again the next day. The other instance where it would not restart immediately was also after it died during a lond idle while waiting in construction traffic. It also gave me a close call in some rush hour freeway traffic, and I was able to keep her going when restarting with reving it to high rpms.
With some conversing with others, I decided to change the fuel filter. It was very dirty, and thought that if the problem persisted that the ol girl might need a fuel tank cleaning. The problem seemed to be fixed with the new fuel filter, but returned after a few weeks. (At the time, the car was really only running on very short trips or highway, so it's hard to say if it was truely fixed for a few weeks, though it seemed that way). So the tank was recently pulled and cleaned. Lots of city driving now, and the problem is not resolved.
On short trips, there does not seem to be any problems. The longer it runs with city driving, the more apt it is to stall when coming to a stop. It seems as though I can control the problem slightly with rolling to a stop gently, as well as down shifting for the stop.
With a little research and talk with my mechanic, we have thought about the mass air flow sensor. I'm also curious about the fuel injection relay, which was replaced in summer 2008, at which time the relay was just simply dead and the car had no fuel delivery.
I am hesitant to just start throwing money at parts willy nilly. I love the old 240 models (this is my second, been driving them for over 10 years) but I am ready for an upgrade to a Volvo built in the century (though I am wary of the Ford built models). However I need the ol girl to be reliable and get me through for 4-6 more months before I hand her down to my 17 yr old neice for her first car!
Please share any experiences or suggestions you might have for me!