I picked up the 1990 240 I sold to my friend awhile to do some stereo work, etc. they've been having some trouble with it, he thinks its the fuel pump... I've been working on it today, and I can barely get 20 yards before it dies. But I drove it around yesterday no problem. It starts fine, idles fine for a couple minutes, and then the idle drops down real rough ( I don't know how many RPMs- it doesn't have a tach) when I hit the gas- it doesn't do anything, even if I floor it. The same problem happens when I'm moving- it just sort of lurches forward. I checked all the places I know to look for trouble (which aren't many) - I checked the O2 sensor- it was working, put in new plugs, checked the fuel injectors, checked the distributor cap, checked the throttle body for build-up (it was dirty, but not too bad) and I took out the fuel pump relay and re-soldered the joints (I've heard they get old and crack) I also added a can of heat to the tank to make sure there was no water in the line. Here's what's interesting to me- I had an auto electric place put in a new alternator about a month ago- my friend said a couple weeks ago that one of the bolts had come out and gotten inside the alternator and maybe messed up the brushes. Its got an Optima red top in it- but when the car dies, I have to jump it- so there's definitely a problem there- its not charging. when I jump it, it starts fine, but when I take off the positive clamp, the engine starts dropping RPMs, in a minute, it will start bucking, but if I reconnect the positive, the RPMs will go up, and everything will even out again. anyone have any ideas?
thanks