Idle problems on my 1981 244 GL

Hello everyone, I recently purchased a mint condition Canadian built 1981 244 GL with the B23E engine and the Bosch CIS fuel injection, I've been wanting one of these cars for almost ten years and finally I got one up to my standards.

There are few things that had been driving me crazy since I got the car tho, which are the idle, warm starts and excessive fuel consumption. When at idle you can notice that the engine shows a considerable amount of vibrations,which you can feel while you are waiting on the lights, it disappears as soon as you step on the gas. It starts right up when cold, but if you let it sit for more than an our and attempt to get it started, It gives you a hard time and when It finally fires up, it feels like a carbureted car with a flooded engine.

Yesterday I had replaced the fuel injectors, since all my problems seemed to be related to plugged/dripping injectors, but for my frustration it didn't changed the old problems, even that the original injectors were nasty dirty. Now I can only considerate a leaky injector mount,since I only replaced the four injectors and their respective O'rings.

Since I got the car, I had replaced the respective items:

Spark Plugs
Distributor Cap
All the wiring to the spark plugs
Fuel Injectors

I also noticed that my vacuum booster hoses are not connected to the engine, but I had taken the car to a mechanic and he said it has nothing to do with the idle, he said as long as there is no emission regulations I don't have to worry about this vacuum booster(there's a illustration attached).

Thank you all for your patience.

Cheers

 

I've got the same engine, same issues! (Except I've got the rusty wagon version)

Any updates? I replaced the intake gasket, and it almost feels like the idle is worse now. Next up are the vacuum hoses.

 

I have taken the car to a vintage Volvo specialist and he said this irregular idle is perfectly normal on this engine, since it has the high revving "K" cam. He said that the CIS makes them even rougher while at idle.

Still struggling with warm starts, got my warm up regulator rebuilt and nothing changed.

 

Thanks for the update. I replaced my #1 spark plug wire since it had 0 continuity, thinking that had to be it, and still exactly the same.

Perhaps I'll just have to up the idle a bit, but I'm going to still replace those hoses and clear out the throttle body first. I've also seen suggested the coolant temp sensor, which I believe is one of the screw-in sensors under the intake, but I forget the procedure for testing with a multimeter.

I noticed mine is without the hoses on the thermostat valve (1 on your diagram) did yours have them on?

 

Mine is unplugged as well, my mechanic told me this only operates the EGR valve.

 

Replaced vacuum hoses (only those attached to throttle body and charcoal cannister were left) and cleaned the throttle body, now runs like new. I think it still uses way too much fuel, which according to the green books is from dirty/leaking injectors, or a leak in the fuel injection system. I've also got a new vacuum leak whistle from somewhere around the throttle body, as well.

ozvolvo.org/archive has a load of the Green Books in PDF if you're looking, but I've seen advice that opening up the fuel system is at your peril due to the parts never going back together properly.

 

Have you checked the cold start fuel injector? This injector sprays fuel into the intake when starting a cold engine. It is controlled by a thermostat and will only spray fuel for a fuel seconds before the thermostat turns it off. The engine has to cool before the injector will work again.
If this injector is leaking (when not energized} it will flood the engine and cause rough idle and very rich fuel mixture.

Also.....any vacuum leak on the intake of these engines can cause many different problems. Rough idle, excessive fuel consumption, hard starting , to name a few. Your "expert" is wrong about a leaking vacuum line not causing a running problem on Bosch CIS K-jet fuel injection systems.

By the way.......the cold start injector is mounted on top of the engine near the #2 and #3 intake ports. It looks sorta like a spark plug and will have a electrical connection. It should only open when activated by the thermostat switch, and should not leak or drip fuel unless energized.

Hope this helps
Steve

 

I checked mine, it had the correct internal resistance, and the wires to it didn't have any breaks in them.

After checking just about everything, I'm guessing it was the air bowl flap not being quite right or possibly the injectors but they looked okay when I took them out (but, I sold the car, so the checking is over). It seems you could take it to get the CO adjusted at a shop who has the correct exhaust machine, but I think that's pretty close to the end of the list.