Hello everyone, I'm Jon, and I'm turning twenty in a few months. This is my first time post to this forum and I am excited to see what advice I can get!

So this is my Brick:

I own a Blue 1990 Volvo 740Gl with a b230f red block engine with just under 95k miles on it now. It was priced well for my first car ($1200 Us) and had low miles (85k) and I figured it to last quite a while seeing as my friend owned a '89 with over 300k miles on the original engine.

I was told that I bought the car from the second owner, who bought it from an elderly couple that took "very good care" of the car. However, as time passes it seems to be quite riddled with problems.

I seriously doubt the car has ever had its PCV/flame trap cleaned and when I bought the car, it was very low on coolant.

I have had the car for close to 2 years and it has taken me to school and back quite effortlessly and has never had any serious problems until recently. I had done some research on these symptoms and I am now seeking serious advice on what to do service-wise with the car, if anything at all.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I have done some repairs myself, and I would be willing to do repairs myself if I have the right tools and know how.

Here is what has been done to the car:

• I have replaced the thermostat due to it being broken upon purchase.
• Spark plugs and wires replaced recently
• Distributor and cap replaced recently
• Oil change - March 2013
• Oil pressure switch replaced
• Replaced overdrive relay due to old one being faulty and causing overdrive to turn off randomly
• Cleaned the throttle body to try and fix rough idle.

Technical problems:

• Flickering oil light

After a 45 mile long drive, I pulled off the freeway to find a slight knock/pop sound coming from the engine bay at idling rpm and a flickering oil light. I turned the engine off immediately and let it sit. I assume this is sound was dry lifters because the sound had disappeared once I had restarted the engine.

I had the oil changed to a high mileage, heavier oil and had the oil pressure switch replaced. My father and I towed the car back to my garage where it has sat for serveral months.

Just drove the car around again today - oil light flickering at idling rpm that disappears with increased revs (<1000). The popping/knocking sound is still present right before the car shifts into the next gear. Additionally, after a short drive, a small puddle of oil was discovered on the garage floor underneath the engine and NO oil on the dipstick what-so-ever. The leak appears to be coming from the front cam seal(?)

I am also considering this to be a product of worn bearings - perhaps a spun rod?

• Front cam seal pushed out of place / Clogged pcv system

Am I right to believe this leak may be coming from the front cam seal that has been pushed out of place? I believe the oil leak is coming from behind the radiator fan pulley, near where the radiator hose goes into the bottom of engine block. I am very certain that this cam seal has been pushed out of place due to crankcase pressure problems resulting from a clogged flame trap. I doubt the "elderly couple" or the college student that I bought the car from knew anything about PCV systems and Im fairly certain their mechanics didn't either!
Would appreciate some feedback to know if its worth cleaning it out at this point.

• Possible Transmission Slip

Sometimes when the car shifts down into first gear, it seems to lose the gear momentarily, like it goes into neutral. It happens often in my Condo complex where I break to an appropriate speed to go over a speed bump. Often I get back on the gas after breaking and the rpms skyrocket but the car travels no distance. After a second or two, the transmission "clunks" into gear and the car lurches forward a little. Rather unpleasant. The fluid seems to be pretty dirty - almost a redish-clay color.

• Rough idle

The tachometer has never really shown idle to be steady. I cleaned the throttle body to see if this would help, however it has not done much to steady idling. It is not a severe problem, but not ideal either. Is this normal? I have read it may need an Air Mass Meter. Is this also correct?
Price estimates would be great!

• Rattle from front right side of car when going over bumps

Whenever I go over a bump in the road and I am not pressing on the brake, there seems to be a rattle coming from near the front right tire. I read on a forum post earlier that suggested this might have something to do with a loose bolt or screw in the shock. I took the wheel off and shook the brake caliper and disc and it feels very solid with no wobble.
Any clues on what this is?

• Blower motor

On a cold day in winter, I turned up my fan speed to 4 to get some heat going in the car and I was greeted with an extremely unpleasant high pitched whirring screech coming from somewhere behind the right side of the dashboard. I read that this may be a dry bearing in the blower motor. I hear replacement is tricky - any estimated quotes on repair price/time?

It's a good thing I live in California or I would have been REALLY cold!

• Disappearing water/coolant

Not sure how to describe this one - it just disappears! I carry a 2 gallon water bottle with me always to help top up the car. We have run radiator leak solvent through the car and it has appeared to fix the problem slightly.

• Dark coolant overflow tank

I think this may be a result of the oil leak near where the radiator tube goes into the bottom of the block, but the overflow tank has gotten VERY dark compared to what it used to look like.
Any confirmation would be great.


I apologize for such a long post, it feels as if I am driving quite a money pit which is a shame since I know these cars have GREAT potential for reliability.

My options as I see it are:

1. Fix it piece-by-piece

2. Buy either a used Volvo engine or another used Volvo and swap the engine. Any Good websites links/ mechanic locations around Los Anelges?

3. Complete engine rebuild - If anyone knows the price of a rebuild or any good locations/mechanics around Los Angeles, I would be forever thankful!

4. Sell the car in parts

5. Scrap the heap

And lastly,

6. Sob in the corner for a while, leave it parked in the garage and continue to flip it the bird whenever I catch a glimpse of it.

I would really hate to get rid of this car, it seems a shame to have to get rid of a Classic Volvo 740 with only freaking 95k miles on the original engine. However, money is tight due to my college student budget and I'm not sure how much I can shake out of my parents unless I know that I can definitely fix these issues.

What do you think? Keep it? Ditch it? Fix it? Let me know!

Thank you,
Jon

 

extremely skeptical on the odometer readings as a redblock with only that amount of miles is pretty ridiculous...with so many problems....you can swap out the odometers out very easy....just find one at a junk yard and there you go....

with no picture of the body and interior or engine bay it is hard to figure out if it is worth repairing or junk it....

the parts such as seals and gaskets are cheap and can order the entire engine set for 120 dollars...
or cylinder gasket set for 48 bucks or block seals gaskets for 60....all you need.....

The repairs are not complicated if you got manuals and tools and a place were you can leave the car for about a week, minimum, all gutted and to take your time....I have done this and you run into OTHER problems/repairs that are easy to do when the engine is gutted....and this adds to your time working on it....it's fun for me and the cheapest therapy I could afford. best wishes

if you do decide to repair, go by torque specs, tightening by feel has not worked for me...for others it has but I would rather make a mistake following what has been written already and not by my assumption.

 

I read your story, sounds like someone either scammed you or tried to ruin a Volvo on purpose. I can't see a 740 with such low miles being so bad... I'd run a Carfax or Autocheck just out of curiosity to verify the miles.

As far as fixing it, it can be done, sure, but hard to give advice without seeing it. Most likely not worth it. Rebuilding the motor is not an option; if the motor has no oil pressure and the tranny is slipping, may be it's time to bite the bullet.

 

Concur with analogies.

Seals are the easiest place to start for leaks; if it sat for 2 years, was there oil under the car while it sat?

I have a 1993 240, which I think has a slightly different engine layout, but the oil light can very well be a wiring issue with the flicker. I just went through a similar situation (I had accidentally ripped out the wiring). Also, check the oil pressure itself. You said you changed the oil pressure switch but check the pressure to make sure you even have pressure to start. If you have pressure and light is on, it's the switch, if you don't have pressure and the light is on, could still be the switch but you don't have oil pressure.

With the flame trap, check the oil box underneath it, if that is clogged could be an issue as well. As said, I would be suspect of the odometer, a 23 year old car @ 85,000 miles = 3695 miles/year. Even for an old lady that's pretty low. Odometer issues are common. I was lucky and bought mine at auction, odometer said 15,000 but they were kind enough to leave the old one in the back that said 185,000.

The beauty of these things is they're simple to work on, I just finished putting a new head gasket, replaced cylinder head with a B23 head, new oil pump (why my light was on after I fixed the switch), etc... And I'm a novice, well call it intermediate now.

Like analogies, it's good therapy and if you can take the time to have it in the garage (sounds like you do if it sat for two years), everything on the list is easily fixable. Even though the old lady took car of it, it is still a 23 year old car, lots of stuff deteriorates and breaks down even when it sits.

and, pictures are a world of help and if you get a manual, Bentley is by far the best, it's a bit more than Haynes; but the first repair you do will more than pay for the labor you would have paid someone else.

 

many plastic radiator bottles brown when they get old. they get brittle too, I replace them when they are so dark you can't see whats in them.

a 20+ year old car likely needs a lot of TLC irregardless of its actual mileage. the hoses are probably all old. belts too. brakes should be flushed if they haven't been annually, radiator drained and flushed and filled with fresh coolant, flush the transmission fluid, etc.

 

Hello everyone,
Thanks a bunch for the quick replies!

Quick note: The car hasn't sit for 2 years, only a couple months most recently and max 3-4 months.
Also, I have new belts on the car and hoses are okay.

I haven't noticed much oil leaking onto the floor when it sat, maybe a few tiny dribbles but I am fairly certain thats to be expected with a cam seal slightly out of place.

Interested in the skepticism but I tend to agree, it does seem strange to see so many issues on a (allegedly) low mileage car.
Guess I will run a carfax in the morning to see what I can come up with as far as mileage goes...

Will take some pictures and upload those as well to help further opinons..

Also, just wanted to make clear this is my first and only car so my knowledge is very limited as far as tech repairs, not sure if that's critical to anything but I thought I would throw it out there.

Thanks again!
Jon

 

Considering your situation, a 19 year old with no mechanical experience, I am skeptical to encourage you to dig into this. As simple as Volvos are, they are still complicated enough to challenge someone to dig into bad oil pressure and slipping trannies as a first project. This is a forum for DIYselfers so they will chime in in favor of venturing in but these cars, especially when they are super neglected as yours seems to be, can be giant money pits, especially for a novice. You can buy a perfectly decent 740/940 for a grand and live happily. Cut your losses!

 

Hello all -

Thought I would throw an update up here considering it's been quite a while since I have done so.

Still haven't solved the oil light issue - I have pretty much narrowed it down to:

A. a bad relief spring in the oil pump
or
B. A bad oil pump delivery seal such as seen after a few "next picture" clicks at this url:
oilpan

As for the leaky front cam seal - it still has not been replaced either. I am considering cleaning/replacing the flame trap and oil separator box. Not sure if that would affect the oil light coming on or not.. But should alleviate the crankcase pressure that caused the seal to be blown out in the first place, correct?

At this point, I am simply fixing what I can that is cheap and hoping to sell the car to someone who has the tools and know-how to be able to lift the motor and take a crack at the oil pump/delivery seal as I do not have the right equipment nor experience. Maybe i'll find one of you Volvo fans nearby where I live! (I can only hope) Tis a shame, hate to say goodbye to my first car. The interior is in such great shape too.. Oh well.

Will throw some pictures up in a little bit - maybe I can get help with pricing

*PICS
for those who are interested in seeing the car for its value - Here is a link to my Photobucket album where I uploaded a few.

Volvo 740 Gl Photos by Jonodude0 | Photobucket

Specifically, I believe this is the leaking cam seal:

Leaking Front Cam Seal Photo by Jonodude0 | Photobucket

 

after you clean the oil box and flame trap, try gently pushing the cam seal back in. it might stop it from puking oil short term. you'll need to take the cover off the timing belt housing to even get close to it, but I think you can get to it with a wooden poker without having to remove the timing belt and camshaft pulley. maybe I'm wrong, been too long since I looked that close at one. the correct way to fix it involves taking the timing belt off, so you might as well do it at the same time as the timing belt, and check the crankshaft seal too, and fix it if it needs it, ditto the intermediate shaft. volvo's service sheet on the 60k mile timing belt service involved inspecting the seals and fixing what needed it. I think I saw a service recommendation to replace the water pump every other timing belt (eg, 120k mile)

same basic engine is in our 240, which my wife bought new in 1987, now has about 400k miles on it. in that time, the alternator has been replaced twice, the radiator once, the water pump 3-4 times, the timing belt every 60k on schedule, more or less. we had to replace the main fuel pump recently. the AC hasn't worked since the 90s, the odometer stopped at 250k. the original camshaft seal gave out last year, and dribbled oil on the front of the eingine. the valve cover has never been off that engine. it needs some front suspension bushings, and new shocks all the way around but still drives pretty well. the steering rack is a bit klunky. the hand crank sunroof is broken and needs to be taken apart (the cable/rail mechanism is worn out) or sealed with RTV.

after a number of years as my wife's daily combat commuter, it was driven by teenage babysitters when our kids were young, including european au pairs (as their daily driver while here), I drove it as my daily driver for a couple years 10 years ago and fixed up a bunch of stuff (new lights all the way around, I put in the new radiator, new windshield, yada yada), then both my kids learned to drive in it, my son took it to college his 2nd year, and its my 18 year old daughters car now, she's moving to Portland OR with it next month.

 

I would 1st do 2 things. Replace the oil pressure switch with a mechanical gage and check oil pressure. 2nd I would do a compression check and see what you have. Make decisions based on the results.

 

Pierce - Thanks for the suggestion, I will go at it with a piece of wood to see what I can do in a little while. Enjoyed hearing about your 240, sounds like that car has got a lot of sentimental value to it now! Thanks for sharing.

Isn't there a port somewhere near the bottom end of the block for a mechanical oil pressure gauge? I believe I have seen that somewhere else on the web before..

Waiting on new Oil separator box, flame trap, hoses for the PCV system, and a new intake manifold gasket. Will update when I have more news.