Figured I should join a Volvo forum now that I have one. It's my first car, a 1986 240 wagon. It was listed for nearly $1k on Craigslist but it was pretty rusty and the hood was stuck shut, so I was able to score it for $200. Bought it two days ago, cleaned it all out, washed it, and got the hood open. The hood hinges are destroyed. One side has the second arm thing broken clean off and the other side has the big arm buckling in on itself. I managed to hammer them back into shape enough to close it and I'll try not to open it again until I get new hinges. Engine is worn, but still seems to work okay. Oil light comes on at idle after it's warmed up, temp gauge nonworking, speedo sometimes doesn't work under 15, and the odo hasn't worked in years. (Says 140k, could easily have 200+.) And so on. It was very dirty on the inside, but the interior seems to be cleaning up well so far. All the lights work, except for the third brake light because for some reason every wire going into the hatch is cut, so no rear wiper either. I got the third row seats up and locked in place, but I can't get the seatback to fold up or the third row to fold back into the floor.. It's a 4 speed with broken overdrive. I took the **** off and saw the connector pushed out of the way so later I'll plug it back into the button on the **** and see if that works. (Forgot to do it yesterday.)



Spent 2-3 hours at the DMV yesterday getting my registration, so now I can drive it. It's pretty fun. From my quick look on eBay hood hinges are $70+ with shipping so.. Anyone have any?

volvo 240 after buying - Album on Imgur
two fawty - Album on Imgur

EDIT: Oh yeah, the AC obviously hasn't worked in a long time. I dunno if there's anything in the lines, but the compressor clutch won't spin.

 

make a list and go to a salvage yard
used parts for these are super common and 200 is a great deal even with the issues
heck its worth more than that for the raw metal, so you have plenty of money you can put into it and still have a cheap car

 

Yup, going to a junkyard is my plan. Earlier I reconnected the overdrive button and the pressure sensor in the AC dryer thingy and neither did anything after reconnecting. Is there a shrader valve or something somewhere on the AC line, so I can poke it and see if it's got any pressure? The glue dried on my glovebox lid which fell off when I went to look inside it while still looking at the car. It's not aligned completely right, but good enough. Also went through a bit of rain coming home and the drivers side wiper made visibility worse.. The rubber wipey part is gone, so if it stops raining I'll go get new wipers.

I'm getting used to not having a tach, but I'd still much prefer to have one than a clock. If I can find a tachometer I can just swap it in place of the clock, right? And I need a damn cupholder. Shoving my cup between the ebrake and passenger seat isn't a great solution.

 

The good news is that you rant asking any new questions that every 240 owner hasn't asked before

the bad news is that those questions are still being asked lol

as for the Tach, they are rare but you can find them at junk yards, there is a large one and a small one. The large one can go in the place of the clock, there is a wire dedicated for it, I believe red and white behind the gauge cluster. you really won't ever need one in these cars because we rock about 115 hp on a good day lol

as for over drive, there is a cheap bypass kit (of you can make it a bypass solenoid) that way you alway have the 4th OD gear, the only down side is that you would be able to disable it anymore.

Check the pressure sensor on your AC dryer, jump the electrical connecter with the AC in the ON position, if your compressor clicks on (may take a few seconds) then your system if sine and just needs to be charged, the low pressure line is right next to that and it has a valve in it.

 

Isn't the bypass just for the autos? Mine's a 4 speed manual.

 

I managed to slightly pull out and solder the wires in the right side hinge for the hatch and now I've got a working rear wiper. Couldn't get good access to the drivers side wires so I still have no third brake or license plate light.


Also figured out how to get the third row seats up, but I still can't get them to fold back into the floor..

 

Today I got my third row back into the floor and used the locks. Power locks are fully working, even in the hatch.




Ignore the rust under the door, that's just from closing it..

 

Did some stuff today. Washed it and wiped all the dirt and crap off. Got a Rug Doctor and cleaned out the interior really well. I only got around to polishing the hood today, but it looks good. Really brings out the bubbling paint areas. I took off the right hinge for the hood and hammered it straight so now my hood lines up. Still refuses to open easily, but at least it doesn't look like garbage. My silicone fix for the leak seems to be working well. I tried to unbolt this plastic cap thing on the AC dryer can and ended up taking the whole thing off. Got a little pfft out of it and that was it. What should I do next, regarding the AC? If I can't get it working on my own I'll just forget about it. Also this morning when I went to work my temp gauge went up to the red right after I started the car, came back down, and worked normally the whole drive. First time I've seen it move. I assume the compensator board thingy is broken and I'll bypass it sometime.

 

I cannot get the hood open. I bought ATF for my steering and I just can't get the hood to open. At all. I'm going to kill myself.

 

The hood was open in the pic you show earlier. Did it just stop opening?

My daughter had this problem on her car. The hinges for the hood needed lubricating and they ended up bending causing the hood to shift and the latch not aligning. For her, this was obvious because the rear corners of the hood were sticking up a little. Having a friend stand on the rear corners of the hood temporarily corrected the alignment of the latch allowing her to open it.

From your photos this doesn't seem to be the case. Other times when the latch was stuck I use a long bar and a hammer and crawled under the front of the car and was able to tap the bottom part of the hood latch while someone held the hood release in the car. This was able to knock it loose.

If you get it open, make sure you correct the root cause of the misalignment before you close the hood again.

 

The right hood arm thingy was buckled in and the little arm on the other side is broken off. I took the right hinge off and hammered it straight so the hood would look right when it was shut, just until I get new hinges. I guess I also shifted the hood back a bit which made it extremely hard to open. I did get it open last night and did a few things. Sucked all the old powersteering fluid out of the reservoir, filled with new ATF, checked the oil, messed with the airbox which had acorn bits in it, etc. There was a line on the back of the fuel rail thing that was pretty loose, fuel return maybe? I put a band clamp on it. I have a picture from before I whacked the right hinge straight.

 

Modified the airbox and deleted the hot air intake today. The flappy thing didn't budge when I used a butane torch on the end for at least a minute, so it was probably getting all its air from the hot side. Also did an oil change with a fancy Bosch filter and 15w40 Rotella. Getting the old filter off required stabbing it with a screwdriver, but I got it off. Put the plug back in after cleaning it up and poured in the new oil after doing the filter. Then when I was pouring the old oil into the jug I saw the plug washer..

It doesn't seem to be leaking or anything, but I might still drain the new oil and put it on because it annoys and worries me. Took it for a drive anyway and the oil light at idle is gone. Might be because of thicker oil, the level wasn't too low before or anything. Seems a little bit more powerful, but I couldn't tell for sure or anything.

5/17 - Album on Imgur

 

You can pick up another hinge from a junkyard. Bent hinges are common on these but straightening will work as long as you lube up the hinges. What happens is the hinges get stiff if they aren't lubed and then bend. Once you get a new hinge and the old one sorted out, you can adjust the latch so it won't bind up.

You probably want to put that washer on the oil drain plug as it is what does the sealing on the plug.

 

if you are in Conn. you might want to try 10w30 oil, especially in the winter...

 

any suggestions on what to use to lube the hinges??
seems like this is an on going issue

 

Ordered a set of Monroe struts and shocks, mostly because of the rebate. (They were $90 before shipping, rebate is $75.) Also got a cheap air and fuel filter plus a single lug nut just because the extra long one looks off. My washerless drain bolt doesn't seem to be leaking, so I'll just be keeping an eye on that.

Today after work all the lights came on when I turned the key to on, but they didn't go off when the engine started.. All but the ebrake light (Because it was up) went off after I revved it a bit though. When all my parts arrive I plan on cleaning up and painting the wheels. Should I go for silver or black?

 

I just use an oil can and squirt around the hinge. Work the hood. Repeat.

My uncle would take an old rag and tie it around the hinge and soak the rag in oil. This is how he kept the door hinges of his old VW beetle lubed.

 

So last night I noticed a little bit of electrical weirdness. When I was going with very little throttle (Like, 10-15MPH) I noticed that holding the high beam (Which turned on both low and high filaments I guess) the car would slow down..

Anyway, this morning I had to move it. Barely cranked at all. I did leave the headlight switch on, but I saw them turn off after turning the car off, so I assumed all the lights were off. I guess I was wrong? I dunno. We rolled it down the street and bump started it. Idled kinda rough and the speedo needle was all over the place. I put it on a charger before I left.

 

I plugged the OD wires back into the **** and put a layer of wiring tape on the shaft. **** feels much more solid now and hopefully won't rattle anymore. I've noticed a squeaking sound when I go over bumps, but I just realized that it might be the third row since the lock doesn't work..

Anyway, I've got the OD relay on my desk and if it's not a wiring issue, this is why my OD doesn't work. What should I do to test it? Diagram?

 

I'm not an expert on wiring diagram for the OD relay. Usually the issues with the relays are the solder joints get cracked over time & vibration. What I typically do is use a solder sucker to remove the old solder on the little circuit board and reflow with new solder. Same applies to the fuel pump relay.

Regarding the weird wiring issue - be prepared for more of them. The '86 is right in the middle of he years when Volvo used wire with biodegradable insulation. The problem is that the insulation biodegrades right on the car - especially in the engine compartment where the heat accelerates the process. You probably need to work through the wiring to the headlights and the headlight relay and identify any wiring that is missing insulation and may be shorting out. The headlight relay is located on the inner side of the driver side fender - not far from the battery. When you switch between brights & dims you should hear it clicking.