Volvo 240, 242, 244 & 245 Forum

Feature my ride Mark forum as read and return

Hello,
Thoughts and opinions needed please. My brother (who loved working/messing with cars when he was a teen and still is into old cars, but pays someone to work on them now) bought his cleaning lady's 1982 240 (I think, not positive where to look) Volvo wagon to help her out. He has brought it out to my house to be a project car for my 15 year old son (will be 16 in Feb) as a "gift". Now never mind that my son has never expressed the slightest interest in working on cars and since my husband had a major stroke nearly 2 years ago we have no one with mechanical aptitude here anymore. It needs some work of course and badly needs a paint job, but that said, it was free and if it would be a reliable car my son says he would not have a problem driving it. It needs to hold up to a daily 45 mile round trip to school and I need him to be able to drive to school when he gets his license to help free up my schedule so I have more working time options. In between getting him to and from school, scouts and misc, along with my husbands many doctor appts I spend hours a week driving and am looking forward to shuffling off one driving chore. According to my brother if my son will keep his foot out of it, (are they are turbocharged w/intercoolers?) it should get gas mileage somewhere in the mid to upper twenties, which I confess surprises me as I assumed that since it's older and big it would get much worse. So this is what I know about it.
My brother says to replace all the belts, hoses, spark plugs, filters, generally a tune-up. Check for vacuum leaks. Needs tires, brakes and probably shocks. the lady that had it told him she thought it had an exhaust leak because she would get a headache driving it long distances, but he said he didn't smell/notice any exhaust getting into the car, but if there was a problem he would suspect the connection where the manifold connects needs to be tightened. Power windows don't work, but that's not a biggie.
So assuming we don't go with the do it ourself option, can a regular mechanic work on these, are brakes and shocks normal for these cars or do they have to be done a special way? So I have no real idea of what this would all run, but let's say I put 1500 into it, what can I expect in the terms of reliability? Is this a car that's going to break down often since it's that old. I have no idea on how it's been maintained, but I would guess average at best.
And what's the best resource book for this car, I looked at the auto zone in the next town over (we live near a very small town), they only had one, and it covered a bunch of years and models, I was looking for a more specific one, if there is one available.
And any tips on finding a decent mechanic for this car, without using the Volvo dealer, my daughter's boyfriend's family has a couple of older volvos which they take to Dallas for major service, and I don't want to do that, there is bound to be someone more local (rural East Texas, near Tyler). Money is very tight so I do have to consider that, but at the same time, he'll be on the round a lot and I need something safe and dependable for him. Any thoughts or experiences with this type of situation. Thanks in advance.

B230F-top dead centre No#1, dizzy at No#1 slightly advanced,, red dots on cam sprocket and cover lined up-cam at natural stop point. Motor won't fire. Seems to have compression and spark-I may have flooded it-I'll leave it til tomorrow, charge the battery, and see if it'll fire.

Have I timed it properly is all I want to know for now?

BTW, I have a new radiator, with the electric fan thermal switch hole. There is an O ring and a plug, and a long black plastic tie-how do I fit the bung, since the tie won't allow fitting the bung (no tie holes, just 2 rear notches, wrap around doesn't fit either.) from inside the radiator and pulling thru'? I doubt it'll hold other way round. I don't plan on using the switch, as I'm told it's only aval. OEM== $$. The original rad didn't have this stuff. It's been a weeks' work to get to here, working between the the rains, and pains in my body. Now I'm tired & broke, & it doesn't want to go.---yet.

My 1982 Wagon had the pulley fall apart recently. It made quite a dramatic show of it with lots of noise. I've got a nice new reinforced pulley and it will go together beautifully except the belts. Had 2 break on the alternator and can't get the new ones into position because there is another belt in front of them. My mechanic tells me that a pry bar over the AC and a socket on the crank shaft pulley turned clockwise will do the trick. He said this would ease the tension on the belts enough to slip on or off the pulleys. But when we tried using the pry bar the whole engine moves.

Has anyone done this? The alternative sounds too complicated. My mechanic has been doing this for a long time so I'm sure there is a trick to it that somehow I'm just not getting.

You know the plates that cover up the holes in the consoles where a switch would be if i had a more tricked out model. What the crap do you call those? I've been trying to find some replacements but can't figure out there official title. Also if you know what i'm talking about and have some laying around i'm interested in buying.

Jerome
89 244 DL "Magdalena"

Hi Everyone-



About how much money can I plan on spending to replace the timing belt on an '82 DL wagon? I am (fairly) handy with cars, but hesistant to try a timing belt. How difficult is the procedure? Any good how-tos out on the web?

Thanks!
Daniel

This is the world's most expensive and fastest production car ever made. Dedicated to the Bugatti Atlantique 57S from the 1930's, with a proven top speed of over 400 km/h, Sang Noir's most obvious features is an all-black
exterior featuring exposed carbon fibre sections. Sang Noir translates to 'Black Blood' a rather ominous and foreboding name for your new multi-million dollar
super car. Other features specific to the Sang Noir include new alloy wheels, aluminium side mirrors and grille surround, black-out headlights and a tan leather and Alcantara interior. The car boasts 1001hp and got a top speed of 407km/h.













More Photos of Bugatti Sang Noir!

http://hubpages.com/hub/MPG-Of-11-250-Cars...04---2005-Volvo Where did this guy get these MPG figures for Audis? Pick them out
of a hat? There's no way !!!!!

hey guys,

I have an 83' 240 DL and my front right reflector below the headlights is cracked and needs to be replaced. I have not found any site that offers them to buy and I was hoping you guys might know of some place that might have them.

Here is a link to the picture of what I am talking about you can see the reflector to the left of my mom and I.

http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=...74&id=697591229

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks everyone

1979 242, lambda sond, b21f engine. car was given to my gf and it is in great shape, it has been very reliable, when she got it I notices a vibration at low rpms. later I replaces the UV joint closest to the nose cone of the Automatic tranny to fix the problem. I have replaced the o2 sensor, fuel filter,plugs, wires, rotor,cap primary coil, alternator brushes, steering rack, in-tank pump,main in-line 12v pump,fuel filter, a couple vacuum lines, change the oil/filter on reg basis. It has a miss under load, a hesitation that is stumping me. I checked the timing for the first time yesterday and it was at 20deg btdc!! I retarded it back to 8btdc (what the sticker says under hood) when I check the timing the mark does not do anything when I pull off the vacuum line off the advance capsule, could it be frozen in the advance state? i'm almost out of adjustability on the throttle/idle adjustment screw, that is why I question that. I think the next thing for me to replace is the reluctor and pick-up coil in the dist. what about the ignition control module? could that be bad? I always thought those were working or not, no inbetween. I have the hanes service manual so I have schematics. I want to completely rule out ignition before I go into the realm of fuel injection. thanks in advance for your help!

Hello,

This is my first post and need a little help trying to fix my parents car. The car is a 1988 240 DL with about 160,000 miles on it. My parents went to the store and came back to their car couldn''t get the car to start in which it towed back to their house. I checked it out and finally got it to start after mutiple attempts with hold my foot on the gas, but it would die during idle unless I kept my foot on the gas to keep it revving.

A little history about the car, the fuel relay was changed not to long ago. The air mass relay was also changed. The car would not even start when the air mass relay went out, but when changed with another used one the car ran fine. Could it be the fuel pump? Can a fuel pump semi work not providing enough fuel? Or maybe distributor? I have basic diagnostic skills not sure what to check and how to check. I most likely can fix anything on the car if I know the problem. If anyone can help I would most appreciate it. All fuses seem to be ok.

The other day I needed to jump start my tractor, and I used my 1991 240 to do it. Worked fine, once the tractor was running I disconnected the jumper cables from the tractor, then realized that the jumper cable had popped off of the Volvo battery's ground terminal and the car was no longer running.

Now the car has no power whatsoever - no lights, no nothing.

Is there a main fuse or a fusible link in this car? Any other ideas what might cause this type of problem? Everything around the battery looked fine - no loose wires, blown fuses, etc. (I don't know what the 25A and 15A on the fender are, but they both appear fine)

Thanks for your help...

-Mike

I've just fitted new cam seal, tensioner, belt & w'pump to my B230F. NB timing was out by at least 2 teeth advanced on cam. No wonder it wouldn't go. The tensioner spring was quite a battle, but I got it. The after-market water pump cheapskated by not having new studs to mount the pulley/fan assy. It did have new bolts, washers and nuts, but was one nut short. New seal and gsk seemed ok.

What does the horizontal water pipe along the exhaust side of the motor go to? It came "totally" loose, & I can't see/reach under the manifold to know if I need to remount it back there somewhere, & I don't want to take the manifold off just to check?

Hello,

I will be adding new speakers to the rear deck. Currently I only have the original 4" speakers in the front door panels (which will be replaced a bit later). Any suggestions on what the maximum speaker size (5 1/4", 6 1/2" or 6" x 9") that others have installed on the rear deck?

Since the rear deck of a '89 240 is somewhat depressed do I need to add spacers to bring the face of the speaker up in height? Of do I just install the speakers flush to the rear deck?

Also, any suggestion on how to run the speaker wire back to the trunk area? I'm guessing under the carpet and along the door sills. If I have to remove the front seats and lift the carpet I will if needed.

All comments/suggestions are appreciated.

Hi everyone! I just inheirited my mother's old 1990 Volvo 240 DL which I love. I am having a slight issue though. When I attempt to start the motor from cold or hot it requires quite a lot of pumping of the gas. It always starts but not like it used to. Any ideas? It's a 5 speed. I am unsure as to the exact engine but I belieive it is the redblock 4 cylinder.

I'm new to this forum, but I hope this is in the right section.

I have a 87 240 dl wagon that I got from a friend for free, aesthetically it's in sub par condition, but that just gives it character. The engine runs perfectly, as it is a volvo, but it's really slow. I'm on a tight budget, but I'd love to work on the engine and learn about it more, so I was wondering what kinds of things I could do to make it faster.

I just got my second Volvo....my very first car back in 1971 was a 122S. This one is a beauty. I tried changing the fuel filter today, and undid the 3 bolts which hold the bracket that the filter and pump are mounted on. As soon as I pulled the last bolt the whole assembly was hanging by the gas line, so I put the bolts back in immediately. What is the proper procedure for changing this filter?

Thanks

I have a 81 240 dl 4 speed with electronic overdrive. When in 4th gear I hit the overdrive button, the O/D light comes on but the car does not shift. Just a few days ago the car would shift into overdrive and then would occasionally and briefly shift out and then back in, then for a while it seemed to not do it all. Well, Wednesday I was driving and it came out and hasn't worked since... any ideas? The wiring from the switch to the solenoid is in great condition considering it has just been replaced due to someone accidentally ripping the knob off going into second. Any advice would be great. Thanks

Just had the oil changed in the volvo after about 3 years. Car was in storage, and has only had about 300 miles between. Now, when I start the car, the oil light stays on for about 3 seconds before it goes out. This didn't happen before the oil change. Last time it was changed, it was at a Volvo dealership for about 50 bucks. This time at a service station for about 18 bucks. Could it be the type of oil?? Fortunately, I was too stupid to ask what type or grade of oil they put in, so now I'm wondering if I need to change it again, or is that light on for 3-4 seconds OK??

I've still got the above free to a good home, will only fit a 200 series estate.
I'm in the Dudley area (B69 postcode, U.K.).

Too good to leave out for the scrap man.

Someone must be able to get some use out of it.

Also have a spare coil, and full set of the bullet proof plastic floor mats up for grabs.

Stu.

What glue(or other options) would you suggest to keep this molding on?

any one have any idea i cant seem to find it anywhere else i wanna start looking for some new rims. so the honeys will wanna take a ride in my fly whip

i recently got a 1991 volvo 240 DL and theres only a few small problems like, the oil cap is leaking. i purchased a new one and its still leaks. i even removed the head and looked for cracks but i saw nothing. the only thing i can think of is the motor mounts they have gone quite bad and when the engine is revved it tilts a large amount. could this be my problem or am i looking at something a lot worse? if anyone has any idea please get back to me

So I decided to check my temp sensor, while changing air filters and spraying the MAF cleaner into the AMM sensor. Here's what I found. The nail was jammed in there to keep fresh air only going into the engine. Just so you know, this sensor was replaced when the AMM was replaced with a new one 5 years ago for a price of around 600 dollars. Also noticed a "Remanufactured" tag on the AMM. Wish I had the reciept for this!!!!!(not that I could do anything about it)

Question is, could this be why I have a 2-3-2 Fuel system compensating for extremely rich, or lean mixture at idle??

On my radiator, on the passenger side(us model), toward the rear, on the top, there is what appears to be a temp sensor. Mine has 2 prongs hanging out of it like there should be some sort of ellectrical connection attached to it, however it is not connected. Anyone know where this should be hooked up(if at all)?

Oh yea, 1992 Volvo 240 wagon automatic with 230,000 glorious miles.........

I bought my 86 240gl a good 2 months ago and i'm loving it so far...but when i first got it i noticed the gas gauge would work once in a great while and the temp didnt even work. It was weird, when the gas gauge used to work i would look at it --say when i got on the highway and once i got the car to speed, i would look again and the needle would say the tank was empty.

Now the gas gauge doesn't work at all, but the temp gauge will do what the gas was doing when i first got the car.

My self diagnosis on this is just some bad wiring back their due to the hack job someone did back there while bypassing the inner amp for the speakers.

Can anyone else that has had this happen to them help me out on this?

I just got my 240 back from the mechanic yesterday, he replaced the brakes, flame trap, oil pressure switch?, and I was going to have him put a used MAF in but it was bad and wouldn't start until we put the old one back in. The car starts right up and seems to run good however the check engine light is on, the service engine light is on, and it idles really high at start up. It is an automatic and the idle goes down some after I put it in gear but it definitely seems higher than it should. The previous owners records show a new fuel pump, cleaning of the throttle body, cleaning of the MAF, new timing belt about 23,000 miles ago. She also said that her mechanic thought that the cat. convertor needed to be replaced and that the O2 sensor was bad, however the rattle from the exhaust was just a heat shield that my mechanic tightened up. My problems are that after I picked my car up yesterday and drove it home it drove fine (except for the high idle), I stopped at a store and turned the car off, it started back up and then it died out while I was driving about a minute after I left the store, I pulled over to the side of the road and let it set for about a minute and it started up again, it wouldn't start immediately after I pulled over. This is a problem that the other owner said that she sometimes had also, which I think that her mechanic tried to fix by adjusting the idle higher. I also had my mechanic put a used fuel pump relay in the car. I have tried to give as many details as possible and I am wondering what I should do next? Should I try a new MAF? I am going to look at the vacuum lines today to see how they look. Could this be the idle control valve, I have an extra one of those but I don't want to replace things that don't need to be replaced? This car has 195,000 miles on it but is in great shape and I would like to keep it. Thanks for any advice. Jay

Hey, hoping you can help diagnose a problem we are having with our 1990 240 dl 5 speed wagon. The car has nearly 250000 miles on it, but seeing as we recently bought it used we don't have any of the service history. It has recently begun to make a strange noise as we drive it. It could be described as a howl, or near siren noise. The pitch does change as speed varies, but just slightly. Letting in or out the clutch, braking, turning, or accelerating seem to have no effect on the noise. It usually only lasts from 1-10 minutes, and sometimes won't make any noise at all. We have trouble recognizing where the noise comes from, most recently we decided it was probably from the front, middle of the car. The car displays no other symptoms, and has passed inspection since the noise started. I am lead to believe that our center support bearing has gone bad, my dad is confident that it is an oil level problem in the transmission. Any thoughts? Thanks
-Mike

I have a 1989 Volvo 240 DL with a 4 cylinder engine. Who ever had the car before me ran over something and it smashed the oil pan in. All though it doesn't really leak, the mechanic said I need to replace it. The shop wants to charge 390.00(with gasket) to do so. I would like to try and find a used part off of ebay and try to put it on myself at my step dads house because I'm poor. I already did a search on google, but I can't find exactly what pan model it is. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-darin

I've calculated that I need to increase my head gasket thickness by roughly 0.7mm to get down to 8.5:1 compression. Then I'll be able to run 91RON fuel, still have credible mileage, and a nice woolly running motor. A bit of extra heat will not be a worry, neither will abt 10% less BHP. I'll guess and say the OEM head gasket is abt 1mm thick, so 2 of them should more than do the job. Ayes/nays anyone???

Hi I am new here and this is my second post. I have a 1987 240 with an Automatic Transmission and I have always struggled to pass the state's emissions test. It often fails and the guy at the shop always says it needs a new catalytic converter. I checked my log book and found that in 8 years that I put a catalytic converter in every3-1/2 years.

I took it to a local garage for the inspection this year and it failed. The NoX was too high. The limit is 2 and the actual reading was 6, HC and CO were OK. Again the guy told me it needs a new Cat. I took the car home and replaced the Oxygen sensor. It failed again, this time scoring a 7 on NOX, and now CO was over the limit. Again the guy said that I need a new Catalytic converter.

When I took it back home I hooked up my Fuel - Air meter to the oxygen sensor. At idle it seems to be trying to adjust the mixture. I see the meter moving up and down. Once I put the car in drive and give it a little gas, it goes lean. It is lean at any speed and any load, except no load at all while coating.

I changed the fuel filter, checked to be sure the external pump is working, checked the timing. Timing was OK. The pump is operating, I don't have the fittings to check the fuel pressure. And I got the same result after changing the fuel filter.

It seems like the problem is that the engine is running too lean. I can confirm that when under loads going up hills and hard acceleration it will ping. So I belive that my meter is correct.

What else should I be looking at? Are there other things that I should change?

The car is now 2 month over do and I am getting desperate. I am at the point that I am ready to take it to the dealer.

Any help wil be appriciated.

Hi im having a problem with my 86 Volvo 240 it will not start. The Engine is turning over fine but just wont start. It seems to me like its not getting fuel i use to run it alot low on gas do you think ive caused some problem with the fuel intake. Like i said it just cranks and cranks but wont get fuel. Is there anyways i can pour gas in the carburetor to get it started or no? I know little to nothing about cars def. not a mechanic so any help would be great.
thanks
Sam

Hi,
When I drive 60 mph where should my RPM needle be?
Or what is the average?

Well i was fortunate enough to get the M46 that Volvo decided to put smaller o-rings on overdrive, so i decided to ditch it. I ditched it because the overdrive was on its way out and it would have cost me the same price to fix it as it would be to put a normal 5-speed into it.

I'm not too sure what type of tranny it is, if someone could tell me that would help a lot.
I drove it for the first time and it feels even more like a stick in jello now than it did with the M46. I don't really mind the play in it but does anyone know if it supposed to have a lot.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow

short throw shifter would be fun