I’m a new owner of a 740 turbo station wagon. Well, brand new in the wonderful yet treacherous world of Volvo. I would say that I’m a good yet not an advanced home mechanic. I did timing system service, dropped engine oil pans, transmission pans and replaced automatic transmissions, very good with electronics. Before I bought this wagon, I read everything I can find on the net about Volvo cars, particularly 240, 740, 760 and 940. I waited 3 months before I finally found this one which is very close to what I’ve been looking for. It’s a 91 740 turbo wagon with 4 speed and electronic 5th speed (O/D), fairly low mileage (126K). The only thing missing is the 3rd seat which I’m going to find a used one and put on. The car is in very good shape both interior and exterior. The engine is quite clean of oil. There is a list of things not quite right which made it possible for me to get it for $1500. The handbrake not working – broken long cable at the lever. Broken light bulbs. Mismatched wheels – two 5-spoke alloy wheels and two stock steal ones. The sunroof is stuck at the closed position, yet not flush (passenger rear side lower than the roof). Since I can not get it to the vent position I have to drop the entire ceiling to get the sunroof out of the car to fix it. It turned to be a broken passenger side drive cable (worm). The other reason I decided to do this the hard way is the headliner (the cloth) came off the head board and just hanging over my head. I thought that I can fix these two problems (sunroof and headliner) just by going in there once. Now the sunroof is working flawlessly. The next thing to do when I get a chance is to glue the headliner back on and install the headboard. Those must be very common problems with those 740s. The last one I looked at (91 auto, 150K) has exactly the same issues.
Sorry be so wordy, this is my first post. The real reason for this post beside the excitement of finally owning a 740 manual is that the car has two other issues which I’m not very sure how to tackle. Hopefully some of you can help me out. The first is the dancing speedometer. It only dances when the car is not moving (quite wildly, 0 to 50 mph range). Once it start driving it goes to normal. Do you think my speedo is bad as I read in so many cases or something else cause it? The other thing is what I call it the “hot flashes”. It happens mostly when I try to pull a stop or slow down. All the engine lights suddenly come on and I have to restart the engine. Once a while it happens briefly while driving and I assume that the drive tran restart the engine by it self. Similar thing used to happen to our Chrysler minivan and I fixed it by replacing the idle air controlling motor (valve). I noticed that the 740 has a bypass valve. Could that be the root of problem? Also the engine does not start with the turn of key. It always (after I bought it) takes a few seconds of cranking. Well, that ‘s more that enough talking on my side. Anyway, glade to be on board with all of you Volvo lovers. Erwin

 

Welcome.

 

Thanks! Anyone willing to take a shot on my problems, namely the "dancing" speedo and IACV issues? Erwin

 

Well, it's awfully quiet here. Anyway, another day of dring my "new car" gives me some more insight. The service engine light flashed on once. After a few miles it came on very often when I start moving from a stop and it will always go off once over 20 mph. I think that everything is pointing to one direction: something to do with idling! I'm going to check and clean the IACV if I can lacate it tonight, also, the mass air flow meter. Maybe pull some codes out off the computer. Erwin

 

Hello Erwin,

Welcome to the forum, I wish you find it useful & enjoyable.

Please note, that this is "New Members' Area" and is designated for self-introduction only. When you wish to post technical questions, please post them in the 740 forum.

Good luck to you,


JPN

 

Thanks for point that out to me, JPN. I've been just wondering about that. I know that the members are very knowlegeble here. That might explain why I'm not getting much inputs. I'll repost it in the 740 forum. Thanks again.

 

Hi Erwin,

I hope I did not make you feel offended; I have absolutely no intentions to make anyone feel offended.

Yes, this part of the forum is very quiet and only new & regular members visit here. You would have much better chance of receiving vehicle-specific replies. In case, however, if you still did not receive replies in the 740 forum, try posting your questions in the "General Volvo Chat" section. I visit there quite often and so do other regular members & moderators.

Welcome again and best of luck to you & your Volvo.

Sincerely,


JPN

 

wow thats a big list. But yeah welcome, feel free to post more about yourself.