1972 145 D-jet very rough cold idle

[Gary Heston]

Greetings;

I had some work done on my 145 back around February when the fuel
system went berzerk and was spraying _way_ too much fuel.

$495 plus a few parts I provided later, I had a driveable car again;
however, they were not able to eliminate a very rough idle when cold.
She starts promptly, but chugs like a steam engine for the first few
minutes; if I step on the accellerator, it chugs worse and frequently
dies. If I go really slow on the accellerator, it won't act up, but
will start firing normally and run smoothly as long as I keep it off
idle.

When I was under the hood this summer, I noticed that the idle stop
screw was down against the stop, holding the butterfly open quite a
bit more than I think is normal.

Once warmed up, she runs normally (although at about 13.5MPG). If
it's only been an hour or so since shutdown, there's no problem.

With the cooling weather, the problem is more pronounced, and it's
getting annoying. The original work involved replacing the MPS (selected
from four used ones that I obtained; they aren't made any more), the
pressure regulator, and a temperature sensor.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what might be causing it to act
like this? With the idle stop screw all the way down, it's clearly
running rich at cold idle. I'm open to suggestions...

Thanks,


Gary

 

[Support Your Community Band]

Gary,

The catch with driving a 25 year old and older car is you need to find a
mechanic that has been mechanicing longer than that!! ;o) It is better if
you do your own maintenance,

OK. The best thing I can recommend is you buy a book or two about bosch
fuel injection and basic automotive wiring. The D Jet really isn't that
complicated, but the under the hood parts have been abused due to the
environment they are in. (A fuel hose split on me recently) The CPU is
essentially bullet proof.

You need to do several things, since somebody has obviously screwed up the
system. The timing should bve set first, so you know that variable is not
affected things. If you are thinking about passing up this step, then
forget the rest. Don't be scared off by needing the special "tool" for the
air intake. You can make your own from a peanut butter jar lid or anything
else similar.

Check the wires/connectors going to the temperature sensor. (One
disintigrated in my hand last year) Look at the wores carefully all the way
to the fire wall.

Check the wires going to the cold start valve.

Check the resistance on the temperature sensor. Hot and cold. can't
remember the spec off hand. You can probably get it from the brickboard or
ask at the 1800 list.

The butterfly should be closed when the gas pedal is released. There could
be an issue with the cable.

The throttle position sensor needs occasional cleaning. A pencil eraser
does the trick. Just be cautious.

I hope the last mechanic did not jack up the fuel pressure. Checking the
pressure at the fuel rail is a little more detatiled than most folks are
prepared for, but is an outside chance.

good luck

chuck petterson
73ES
ex 142E, 1973-1982 121xxx miles

 

[Mike F]

Greetings;

I had some work done on my 145 back around February when the fuel
system went berzerk and was spraying _way_ too much fuel.

$495 plus a few parts I provided later, I had a driveable car again;
however, they were not able to eliminate a very rough idle when cold.
She starts promptly, but chugs like a steam engine for the first few
minutes; if I step on the accellerator, it chugs worse and frequently
dies. If I go really slow on the accellerator, it won't act up, but
will start firing normally and run smoothly as long as I keep it off
idle.

When I was under the hood this summer, I noticed that the idle stop
screw was down against the stop, holding the butterfly open quite a
bit more than I think is normal.

Once warmed up, she runs normally (although at about 13.5MPG). If
it's only been an hour or so since shutdown, there's no problem.

With the cooling weather, the problem is more pronounced, and it's
getting annoying. The original work involved replacing the MPS (selected
from four used ones that I obtained; they aren't made any more), the
pressure regulator, and a temperature sensor.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what might be causing it to act
like this? With the idle stop screw all the way down, it's clearly
running rich at cold idle. I'm open to suggestions...

Thanks,

Gary

--
Gary Heston [email protected]

"Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but
it says 'Chicken by the Sea'." Jessica Simpson, on MTV _Newlyweds_

I found on my old D-Jet cars, many years ago the best thing to do is
eliminate the idle circuit. Among other problems it gets rid of that
lurch that occurs when the computer switches from the idle to the
running circuitry. If you unplug the throttle switch, you can see what
happens. This eliminates the acceleration enrichment as well though, so
the "real" fix involves disconnecting one of the wires for the idle part
of the switch.

P.S. I sold my last D-Jet Volvo in 1985!

 

[Pat Quadlander]

Gary,

Don't be too overwhelmed by mysteries of D-Jet. Many problems are
mechanical and/or loose wiring/poor grounding.

The hints you give relate to temp change. If you have not replaced the
injector seals in last 3 years, it's time. Each injector has 3 seals, which
may be hard, brittle, cracked. When cold, these don't seal. When warmed,
these may expand and cause a little tighter (but not great) seal.

Another temp related part is the aux. air regulator. You may have mentioned
this already among the $495 in parts. Don't overlook the hoses to this
part. If old, dry, cracked, or if you don't know how old, it's time to
replace these, as these also can behave differently with temp change.

The short sections of rubber fuel line hose along the fuel rail to each
injector may be another source of problem. If old, dry, cracked, of if you
don't know how old, you know the rest.

The hose between the intake and the air pressure sensor - is it old - you
know the rest.

Check the joined ground wires between the injectors and the ground terminal
on the intake manifold. Be sure this is a good, solid, clean connection.

Double check all the connections from the injectors wiring harness to the
each injector.

After you've completed the above, it's time to check your ignition timing,
and set it correct. Peanut butter jar lid has become the D-Jet Expert's
correct tool of choice for controlling the idle RPM.

That's most of the very simple, very cheap, and correct sequence of
troubleshooting that I can think of. I'm no expert, so I must concentrate
on mastering the simple things. Usually, D-Jet is well maintained by just
focusing on the simple things: seals, hoses, and ground connections.

Pat Q

 

[Gary Heston]

Gary Heston wrote:

Greetings;
I had some work done on my 145 back around February when the fuel
system went berzerk and was spraying _way_ too much fuel.

[ ... ]
I found on my old D-Jet cars, many years ago the best thing to do is
eliminate the idle circuit. Among other problems it gets rid of that
lurch that occurs when the computer switches from the idle to the
running circuitry. If you unplug the throttle switch, you can see what
happens. This eliminates the acceleration enrichment as well though, so
the "real" fix involves disconnecting one of the wires for the idle part
of the switch.

I'll dig out the owners manual and see if I can track down that wire. I
do have a replacement TPS--new old stock; still in the original box.

I'm not sure I'm worried about acceleration enrichment; it's already
running too rich.

P.S. I sold my last D-Jet Volvo in 1985!

I probably should have sold this one last year instead of putting tires
on it; since I didn't want to waste the $550 in new tires, I decided to
go ahead and have the front end redone ($2100 at the shop plus about
$600 in parts I provided), then the fuel system... I'd have been better
off in may ways to just buy a newer Volvo.

However, nobody pulls out in front of me...

Thanks,


Gary

 

[Gary Heston]

Gary,

The catch with driving a 25 year old and older car is you need to find a
mechanic that has been mechanicing longer than that!! ;o) It is better if
you do your own maintenance,

The shop I took it to was owned by a guy who had worked on 140 series
in the past, and still had the factory manuals for them.

OK. The best thing I can recommend is you buy a book or two about bosch
fuel injection and basic automotive wiring. The D Jet really isn't that
complicated, but the under the hood parts have been abused due to the
environment they are in. (A fuel hose split on me recently) The CPU is
essentially bullet proof.

Which books?

You need to do several things, since somebody has obviously screwed up the
system. The timing should bve set first, so you know that variable is not
affected things. If you are thinking about passing up this step, then
forget the rest. Don't be scared off by needing the special "tool" for the
air intake. You can make your own from a peanut butter jar lid or anything
else similar.

I'll see if I can get under the hood this weekend and take a look at it;
wasn't aware of any special tool being needed.

Check the wires/connectors going to the temperature sensor. (One
disintigrated in my hand last year) Look at the wores carefully all the way
to the fire wall.
Ok.

Check the wires going to the cold start valve.

I'd have thought if that wasn't working, it'd run lean. Will look at
it as well.

Check the resistance on the temperature sensor. Hot and cold. can't
remember the spec off hand. You can probably get it from the brickboard or
ask at the 1800 list.

Probably in my Haynes book; I think I have a spare one.

The butterfly should be closed when the gas pedal is released. There could
be an issue with the cable.

There's slack in the cable. The idle stop is definantly cranked all the
way down.

The throttle position sensor needs occasional cleaning. A pencil eraser
does the trick. Just be cautious.

I have a NOS TPS, I may just go ahead and swap it. I think I have a
link to a web site that includes TPS adjustment instructions.

I hope the last mechanic did not jack up the fuel pressure. Checking the
pressure at the fuel rail is a little more detatiled than most folks are
prepared for, but is an outside chance.

I don't have a gauge suitable for that; the regulator was replaced,
though.

good luck

Thanks


Gary