Volvo Repair: 84 Volvo 240 cold start/idle system, coolant temperature sensor, engine coolant temperature sensor

Question
Hi. I have a 1984 240 DL w/253,000 miles. It has a hard time idling when cold, does fine after warmed up, lots of power, etc. She starts right up when cold, runs a bit rough for about 20-30 seconds (need to give it some gas pedal to keep it going), and idles fine after about 5 minutes or so, depending on outside ambient temperature. The wiring harness was in bad shape, an auto electric place did some work on it and improved somewhat, but is there something else I can do? I don't want to put $700 into a new wiring harness...Thanks.

Answer
unless you are sure the harness is fixed properly then this will still be a possibility.it could also be a bad engine coolant temperature sensor.it could also be carbon build up in the engine.best thing without spending money is to just warm it up.it would really need to be looked at for a proper diagnosis and certain items check to rule them out.sorry I could not help more.