hunting idle - Attn Filthy John

[pettaw]

Hmm best thing to do is find another solenoid from somewhere if that happens. The coils very rarely burn out in these, but they can get gunked up, so you can unscrew them and carefully pull the idle jet off the end of it and clean it in some neat petrol. Polish the needle up and check again. You should hear a definite click when you disconnect and connect the 12V supply with the ignition on.

Cutting it off might work OK, but you risk running on, and also you lose the fuel consumption benefit of it shutting when the throttle is shut on overrun.

[nomead]

Yeah I, too, recommend just cleaning the idle solenoid, not cutting the idle jet off.

A local (well, Finnish) newspaper Helsingin Sanomat also has a list of common faults on the web for many car makes and models. To my surprise, the Volvo 300 series is still listed there. They say (translated),

"Hunting idle in the carburettor model is caused by burned out valves or worn out cam shaft." -- I wonder, which carb model are they referring to, 1.4, 1.7, 1.9, 2.0? But on a 1.4, adjusting the valve clearances would never hurt, as it is an operation that is most probably overlooked when doing other maintenance chores. (I don't think it has anything to do with the hunting idle though)

[Vart]

hunting idle was solved with a mixture alteration - leaned it back and it went away.

idle solenoid is new - clicks when it should and correct or at least nearish 12v across it when there should be (or shouldn't - i can't remember which way around).

FJ - only asked as you said your choke bogging down went away after new plugs - i may have adjusted mine to 0.65mm rather than ngk spec - if this helped solved your problem then it hopefuly has solved mine.

will test tomorrow as i've been driving the works passat over the weekend and today.

thanks for all input

toby

[filthyjohn]

Sounds good man, I used the halfords NGKs because I get rude amounts of trade discount on consumables like that.

[srtames]

I had intermittent idling also and the only way I cured it was to take out the emulsion jet and blow air through the passage way. Just blowing through without dismantling the jet only partially helped. Guess there was muck/water in the passageway. Put it down to very cold weather causing condensation overnight in the carb. Disconnecting the linkages is a fiddle .
Regerds, Steve