Hi folks.

I have a question. I have a 1980 Volvo 242 DL. I recently changed the oil and filter in my car. I used Mobile1 10W40 fully synthetic oil and a Volvo oil filter, the expensive white ones (i picked up 12 of them on eBay on the cheap).

Ever since I changed my oil, my OIL light has been flickering erratically. I remember before the oil change that it was lighting up every now and then but now, it is on almost all the time. My engine temp isn't going past norm, any thoughts? I searched for OIL LIGHT problems in the threads but didn't see anything that might help.

I am guessing it could be a bad oil pump, how do I check that out without having to take it to a garage. I have some Haynes and Chilton manuals on the car, and I can follow those.

The car has about 380k miles on it, still in great shape.


Since I am new, here is some history.

It's a 1980 240 DL, made the year I was born. It's a 4 speed manual. I got the car back in Dec of 2002. I bought it off the original owner for $100. When I went to look at the car, it was more ofan interview on if I could take care of the car more than anything else. When she handed me the keys, she handed me a folder about 3 inches think with receipts of every service she had ever had done on the car. It passed DC, MD, and CA inspections (including smog) with no repairs needed. I have been driving it as my day car ever since. The odometer stopped working at about 317k miles. I think i have put about 70k miles on it since I bought it but my odometer has only incremented by about 900 miles. It's a 2 door sedan, lots of room, no rust, doesn't burn oil, leaks a little because I need some new crush washers for the fuel plug.

Other problems I am having with the car is the horn doesn't work, the fan doesn't work anymore, the relay for the headlights gets stuck in one position every now and then and I have to take it apart to reset it. It has a rough idle and is extremely hard to start on cold days. I think it needs a tune up but there aren't any good mechanics around here. The closest one (where the original owner had work done) is about 2 hours away. Sometimes I think about driving up there for the weekend and just giving it to him to tune up and get running good again.

Anyway, the original owner asked me to send her pictures of the car from time to time so she knew it was in good hands. I have obliged and happy to own it.

 

Congrats on being such a conscientious owner! It's good to see...
You have an oil pressure problem most likely due to, well, 380k miles. The oil change probably made it more obvious, and as a temporarysolution you may consider some oil additive to thicken things up a bit. Normally I don't like them but in this case it may be a cure.
As far as all the rest, a junkyard would have all those parts you need and cheap: horn, switch, etc. The fan is more work and is trickier.
As far as a tune up, if you are willing to tackle oil problems, then a tune up would be no problem. Start with plugs, wires, cap and rotor, air filter, etc. I often just clean and adjust rather than change all that, but you should check them anyway. The best part about Volvos, they are usually not as sick as you think...

 

I have seen the oil pump seals go out and cause this issue.