Volvo 240 sputtering/wont accelerate
 

Hello guys, this is my first post here.
I have a 1987 Volvo 245 with a B230E engine, using the K-jetronic fuel injection system.
The car is displaying the following symptoms:

1. Accelerates fine through 1st gear, but seems to loose a slight bit of power in 2nd and 3rd gear.
2. Severe loss of power in 4th and 5th gear, along with engine shaking (as if putting it in too high gear), sputtering and the inability to maintain speed. Car will accelerate to 80 km/h in bad conditions (uphill for example) and 120 km/h in good conditions (wind from behind and going downhill).
3. When applying regular amounts of throttle, the symptoms are barely noticeable until going about 100 km/h.
4. Local mechanic says that the ignition timing is retarded, and that the engine seems to be knocking
5. Weird, rough idle when engine is cold

These are the things I have done so far:

1. Replaced spark plugs long before problem occured
2. Replaced fuel filter
3. Fuse for in-tank fuel pump was blown and the pump was barely drawing any amps, so i replaced every single fuse and the in-tank pump.
4. Problem didn't go away, so i swapped the main fuel pump and the fuel pressure accumulator for used units.

Does anyone know what the problem could be? My father is certain that the problem is not fuel related, but instead ignition related (he mentioned something about vaccum in the distributor).
Any help would be much appreciated!!

Had a similar problem many years ago on a 740 with B230E. Turned out to be a break in the sender lead from the Hall sensor in the distributor, so I would try that and the vacuum next.
I was thinking low fuel pressure but you seem to have that all checked out.
Good luck!

First would be to fit new injector seals

Reset the fuel mixture.

Ignition is also possible, the hall sensor in the distributor can sometimes play up. Is the timing set correctly. Is the cam belt on correctly?

Ignition timing is probably a bit off. Valve timing and belt are seemingly all right.
Will definitely check this hall sensor tomorrow. I will also try to get in touch local classic car workshop. The regular mechanics haven't touched a car this old in years, so their troubleshooting abilities are a bit rusty :confused-smiley-013

Sounds a bit like a vacuum leak in the intake.

I am not familiar with the K-Jet setup - is there a vacuum controlled ignition load sensor like there is on the carb setup? Perhaps this is faulty or has a leaking sensing pipe? It would affect the timing under load.

Okay, so I visited the mechanic today. He has all the equipment needed to test old cars. Here's what he said:

1. Ignition timing with car standing still is okay.
2. Cylinder 1 was 66% off on some value (didn't really catch what he was measuring, but he had wires hooked up to the ignition system)
3. Spark plug on cylinder 1 getting too little voltage
4. 4% CO2 in the exhaust gas, only supposed to be 1,5-2,0%, so the car is running quite a lot rich.
5. He was pretty sure that a seal in the fuel distributor was worn out.
6. There is a small chance it might be a vacuum leak somewhere instead.

I did some testing on the road, and this is what i found out:
- Car doesn't actually loose all its power
- Engine shaking goes away if I really push the engine to higher rpms (so for example, in 4th gear, it will shake violently from 80 km/h to 100 km/h, but then it will continue accelerating to approx 140 km/h with very low power, but almost no vibrations/sputtering)
- Lots of power in low rpms, huge flat spot in the middle, and very low power delivery in high rpms.

Any idead how/what to test, regarding the vacuum system? I don't really know much about this system, and holding a source of butane/propane close to and around the intake didn't really reveal anything.

Sounds like new cap, leads & rotor arm might be a big help?

I don't know of any way to fault find the vacuum system other than the butane method. When there are multiple ideas on what the culprit might be I generally start at the cheapest thing and work up.
The little rubber connectors on the hard pipe are prone to dozing, easy check.
Check your battery voltage and connections - if your battery is shot it can cause all sorts of havoc. Make sure all the connections are good to your coil as well and the alternator is putting out a good voltage.

Dia (Classicswede) knows what he's talking about, so try injector seals, but spark leads are a good second choice, then work back towards your coil via the dizzy.

Sounds like a good plan. Ill try rotor, cap and wires as a start. Sounds too simple for a solution for my problem, but it might be the answer :)
Battery is definitely okay. Just replaced it a few weeks ago, due to the old one running out of power overnight all the time.
Ill see if i can get a couple of the vacuum connectors and replace those as well.
About the injector seals.. Wouldn't it cause a lean condition if they were bad (sucking in false air)?

Air filter
 

Inspect yours or just change it anyway - the best fiver you will spend as it can make a massive difference :thumbs_up: