I have a 1980 Volvo with approx 90K miles. It used to belong to my grandma and I inherited it about 8 years ago when she lost her license. It came from California where it lived in a garage except for weekly grocery trips and the occasional joy ride.
For the past several years, every time the weather is cold and damp it has trouble starting/warming up. It will start, then die several times. After I get moving it will stay running if I put it in park or neutral when I am stopped, although it still sputters a bit unless I keep the gas on. Once it gets going it is pretty much OK for the rest of the day.
During dry or warm weather it starts up fine. Every time.
I have an excellent mechanic (he meticulously cleaned out the gas tank/fuel system by hand when it had disintegrated in the gas tank - or something- just to see if he could do it, and he did). He has addressed this several times by adjusting the fuel mixture, but it just keeps happening. When I take it back after it starts happening he tells me the fuel mixture is all screwed up and I wonder if it is readjusting itself or what?
Does anyone have any idea of what could be happening? Is it because the car grew up in California?