Hi, I'm new to the foumrs and thought I'd sign up to get some advice and in exchange offer up any in return.

A friend of mine is looking ar replacing his old citroen with a volvo 240 and he's asked me to come with him to look at a car. Not knowing that much about 240s I was wondering what sort of things go wrong with them specifically and what sort of things should be looked out for when looking at them.

Personally I've always loved volvos and although i currently drive a Mitsubishi carisma the car shares the same platform with the original Volvo S40 and also has the same 1.8GDI engine used in the Volvo S40 SE estate. So i've got no problems recomending them.

Any words of wisdome are greatly recieved, thank you.

Solouko

On the whole they are excellent cars. I would do a compression check on all the cylinders just to make sure its doing well. The biggest problems these cars seem to have is electrical. Make sure the OD (if equipped), and wipers work well. The engines and transmissions are seriously bombproof so if it seems to run and shift well then there probably isn't much more that needs looked into on those.

Thanks, that's some good sound advice, I hadn't thought of doing a compresison check but it makes sence.

I'll make sure i take the compression tester with me when I look at the car.

:00000732:
240s are robust but there are a few things that can be expensive to repair. It would help if you tell us which year model your friend is looking at. Is it a sedan or a wagon? Since you live in Britain and the 240 has to pass the MOT test obviously beware of rust. Check under the carpet and under the spare tyre. Also a lot of the suspension parts are old so check for failure of rubber bushes, especially the rear "dog-bone" suspension arms. These can be replaced by polyurethane bushes which will last longer than the Volvo rubber parts. Shocks and struts may be on their last legs in high mileage examples. Brakes are very easy to work on but in the non-ABS models check for leaks at the brake-failure sender. This is under the passenger's side (RHD) chassis and can be see behind the front wheel. It's in a junction box with 8 brake lines going into it. This is a pain to fix but can be done by an experienced DIYer.
If the flame trap has not been serviced properly the rear main oil-seal can fail. Look for an oil-leak between the engine and the bell-housing. This is expensive to fix as you have to drop the transmission- the seal itself is cheap. Also the rear-cam seal can blow out - it's messy but easy to replace. In manual transmission models make sure the clutch is fairly new.
Also check the A/C if it has one, again expensive to repair.
Based on US models (U.K. models may have been different), The 1981-1987 models had problems with bad insulation on the wiring harness. This was fixed in the 1988 year model. The 1990-1993 models had airbags and stronger engines the 1991-1993 had ABS brakes . For a daily drive, the newer the better but the 1981-1985 models also have a lot going for them.

Thank you for the help, i went with my friend to see the car and for the money they were asking i could not fault it. there were some rust spots but nothing structural and none of it had penertrated. after spending an hour scrutanising it he handed over £370 for it and drove it home.

it's a 1991 tourslanda estate 2.0 and it seems in great shape, there are a few problems with the rear lights, and an interior light that doesnt work, but other then that and a leaky back door which is letting in some water it's perfect. oh and a small hole in the back seat.

it's done 188,000 miles but it feels amazing to drive and sounds great.

I was so impressed with the car i found myself wanting one as well! it has alot of very little things letting it down but i'm confident i can help my friend fix most if not all of them.

I will however do a much closer inspection of the brakes and suspension in my guarage just to make sure she lasts.

One question though, how can you tell if the clutch is fairly new? the clutch bite on the pedal seems somewhat high but not having driven a volvo before i have nothing to compare it too.

Great! This sounds promising. Since it's a 1991, it should have ABS brakes so the leaking brake sensor should not be a problem.
In the later 240s, the clutch friction plates tend to last longer than the clutch diaphragm pressure plate and the release bearing. The later Volvo 240s (at least the US ones) had a funky clutch cable arrangement. There is a spring on the clutch pedal that forces it down so the cable is constantly under tension. :blink: At the clutch fork, there is a big metal block on the end of the cable and no spring to pull the clutch arm back. The result is that the release bearing is constantly riding on the pressure plate fingers leading to excess heat and wear. The solution is to replace this arrangement with the earlier cable system where the clutch arm is held open by a spring and the clutch pedal spring is detached. If this 240 has a hydraulic clutch then you don't have to worry about this issue. I was hoping that the previous owner had a record of when the clutch was changed.
On the rear lights, you should check to see if the units are cracked or have overheated and melted. In that case, they will need to be replaced. If the units are intact, but the lights are not coming on correctly, corrosion in the bulb holders and the terminals are the usual suspects. The bulb-holders are cheap and it's better to replace them - it will save you a lot of grief later. You can polish the terminals with Brasso or a similar mild abrasive cleaner.

G'Day Solouko
I am a volvo fanatic, and my advise to you would be similar to the other guys...but I also buy with gut feeling and I check for two major things.
A) Books and service history.
B) If the car has not been running on coolant I walk away.
C) In your country there may have been SALT used for icy conditions this can also be a very big problem,unless you know Volvo Peolple that can assist you in some of the mechanical repairs, or maybe you are handy in doing all this stuff that is needed yourself.
I service my Volvos every 5,000 kls regardless.

I have just bougt another 240 Gl that belonged to an old Lady who lost her husband, I bought it from the Wreckers for $2,000 AUD with 303,600 kls it has a service history and also all the reciepts of all the services and repairs...This car is impeccable, I have driven it and the performance is unbelievable.

Take it for a run, just before you drive it let it run for about 15 minutes and see what the temp gauge reads.Check all components and use the Force. :clap:
good luck and enjoy.
Vdriver :thumbsup: