Increasing idle and generally bad performance

dhestand · Post by **dhestand** » 10 Apr 2004, 10:27

I have 96 960 sedan with 133,000 miles on it. I'm assured that I could easily get 300K but now I'm having my doubts. Some time back we had seriously cold weather. During this time my throttle acted like it was stuck (particularly bad considering I have a long commute). When the weather warmed up, the throttle still acted up but then I got an indicator (flashing arrow) that forced it into the shop. They told me it was the throttle position sensor which I had them replace. Since then, the engine has been acting erratically. I got a check engine indicator that indicated a faulty air pump. $800 later, I have a new air pump but still crappy performane. Now most of the time when I start the car, the rpms race up from 1000 to 2500 and then slowly increase to just under 4000. If I turn it off and restart it sometimes clears up. But even then when driven it surges or bottoms out or alternates quickly between surging and bottoming out so that the automatic transmission is rapidly up and down shifting to accomodate the changes. Now I'm told that it may be the control module (throttle control module?) but again it's $800 to replace (they aren't going to charge labor). My question is, is this a likely culprit or is this just a symptom of something more serious? I really like(d) the car and would like to keep it a while longer, but if I have to keep shelling out $800 every time, I will get rid of it.

Thanks for any advice and apologies for the longish post.

Dan Hestand

ozzimark · Post by **ozzimark** » 10 Apr 2004, 18:27

just because i'm one of those paranoid types who thinks that whatever happens to me happens to other people too, pull out the idler motor and clean it with come carb spray. this may fix your problem, considering that it is an ilde-based problem... although i'm sure it wouldn't hurt to check the hoses and stuff, and clean the throttle body too.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 11 Apr 2004, 12:58

Thanks for the ideas. The dealer actually replaced the idle motor but didn't see any effect. The cleaning may be a useful route, as I haven't tried that.

Dan Hestand

arete123 · Post by **arete123** » 12 Apr 2004, 20:31

Don't know if this applies to you, but on my 81 240 the idle was= to 30mpr so I found the wire that controls the low idle, cut it and now the idle is back to normal. I did have to adjust the mechanical idle screw up a bit. It also takes a little longer in cold weather to idle smoothly, but no more hight idle. My wire was in the smog wire harness. I went in, cut it, and taped it back up to look OK to pass smog.

tsnell67 · Post by **tsnell67** » 06 Feb 2007, 12:56

I found this guy posted this article sometime back please see below: I am having this exact same problem with my 2001 2.3L T5 V70. However, it does not look like this fellow reposted or he never found a fix.

I need my fix!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks For the help as always!

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:27 am Increasing idle and generally bad performance

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I have 96 960 sedan with 133,000 miles on it. I'm assured that I could easily get 300K but now I'm having my doubts. Some time back we had seriously cold weather. During this time my throttle acted like it was stuck (particularly bad considering I have a long commute). When the weather warmed up, the throttle still acted up but then I got an indicator (flashing arrow) that forced it into the shop. They told me it was the throttle position sensor which I had them replace. Since then, the engine has been acting erratically. I got a check engine indicator that indicated a faulty air pump. $800 later, I have a new air pump but still crappy performane. Now most of the time when I start the car, the rpms race up from 1000 to 2500 and then slowly increase to just under 4000. If I turn it off and restart it sometimes clears up. But even then when driven it surges or bottoms out or alternates quickly between surging and bottoming out so that the automatic transmission is rapidly up and down shifting to accomodate the changes. Now I'm told that it may be the control module (throttle control module?) but again it's $800 to replace (they aren't going to charge labor). My question is, is this a likely culprit or is this just a symptom of something more serious? I really like(d) the car and would like to keep it a while longer, but if I have to keep shelling out $800 every time, I will get rid of it.

Thanks for any advice and apologies for the longish post.

Dan Hestand

wojeepster · Post by **wojeepster** » 06 Feb 2007, 18:08

Check the air hose that runs from the air mass sensor to the intake manifold. If this hose cracks or has a hole from rubbing against the fender then unmetered air will enter the system and the car will run as you describe. They are really good cars but are getting older now. Learn to work on it yourself and it will cost less and you will be one with your machine. You can hold accordian hose up to light to look for holes. I think a new hose is around $25