1982 240GL Hard Starting when cold

I have a 1982 Volvo 242GL. I bought it new, off the showroom floor, the
first week they were out in 1981. It has the B23E engine, fuel injected.
The engine has about 300,000 km's on it (this is approximate, as the
speedometer/odometer stopped working in the spring).

When the engine is cold, or has sat for several hours, it turns over fine,
catches, and immediately stops. When I restart it it runs a little longer (1
or 2 seconds), then stops again. In the winter, it takes 10 or 12 of these
cycles before it starts, and continues running (but the engine misses, and
idles very slowly) If I play around with the accelerator, I can make the
engine continue to run more easily, but........... there seems to be
backfiring in the manifold when I do this. If I hold the accelerator at a
position where the engine can run at 3,000 rpm, say, it runs
fine...........if I hold it here, the engine loses rpm's, until it stalls
again. I restarts easily, but continues this behaviour until the engine
warms up. Warm, the engine runs fine.

I have had the fuel injectors replaced, the throttle linkeage cleaned, and
three garages try to fix the problem, but no luck.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Mike
m(nospam) remove (nospam) for the correct email address

 

First check for vacuum leaks, especially around the injectors. Failure
of a part called the control pressure (aka warmup) regulator that makes
the mixture richer when the engine is cold can also cause this. It is
mounted to the side of the block under the intake manifold.

 

thanks, MikeF, I will check this out and let you know what happens.

Mike