Hi all!

​​​​I've been the owner of a 1991 240 wagon (5 speed manual) for a year and a half now. It's been a fun car to work on restoring to like new condition, but I've had one issue that I can't seem to get sorted and am banging my head over - fuse 8 keeps popping. This controls the central locking, dome lights, and clock. It started when a mechanic with too high of a rating in the system. ( I don't want to reach back to him to fix it, he defrauded me on later work and I ended the relation) Since then I have asked two mechanics to look into it, each one saying they will but conveniently forgetting to do it though I emphasize how much I want it fixed. I guess I don't understand why no one will touch it, hence I'm now at a point I'm just going to do it myself if possible.

Basically, the system works fine when I put the fuse in - lights work and clock turns. However, as soon as I use the power lock, the fuse blows. Or at least within 3 uses. Does anyone have an idea of what could be going on? Thank you so much in advance, I hope to get this sorted soon.

 

Do you have access to a wiring diagram? (see if there's one on volvotips.com). Seems you have it pretty much figured out - something in the power locking circuit is shorting. A wiring diagram can give you some idea of the junction points to test and isolate (ie switches, solenoids, relays etc).

 

To solve your problem: The wiring to the central locking switch is damaged, probably the part the wraps around the key tumbler. The wiring is missing it's insulation after 30 years, grounds out and blows the fuse. The switches are in the drivers door. Remove the door panel. The lock stick is half of the switch, wires could be broken/damaged there. The other part wraps around the tumbler and makes contact to lock or unlock. There's a picture of one in this listing. https://www.ebay.com/itm/25516557977...xoCrBkQAvD_BwE

OK - Reality check. You have a 30 year old Volvo. And you don't understand why no one will touch it.

A variety of reasons.

A . They have never seen one before and have no clue what to do - for service information can be hard to come by, or the techs are younger than your car.
B. There's another car (they know about) that billed hours can be charged for. Everything is on commission, choose a clutch on a jeep, a major service on a honda or a weird wiring problem on a 30 year old Volvo?
C. Most garages refuse to work on cars after a certain age. I had the same problem with my 35 year old Sea Ray boat. Beautiful boat, inside and out. Vinyl/fiberglass/teak was gorgeous - but some Marinas would not even look at it. It was too old.
D. Sorry, I was a Volvo garage owner for 40 years - in the 1980s I had to stop working on 544s, then 122s, then 140s. Eventually no more 240s either unless they were an existing customer. 850s/svc70s died out on their own! The cars at that point would require 2 to 3 times the time to get something fixed and during that process a few other things broke. Customers did not understand that and did not want to pay for the extra time involved. Like I said, Techs work on commission for billed hours, and most of them want to get paid for the time they spend on a car.
Sucks but many other professions do also (have you ever been to a lawyer?)

It's a simple job to take the door apart and fix the central locking switch -

 

1991 240 is not that ancient! And I should think that any decent mechanic would be able to fix most things on it without much trouble providing he had some basic automotive education. Yes, it takes some model specific knowledge but that's easily available if one bothers to look.

Shops today care little for anything besides the bottom line which is more and more the sad world of today in all fields. Much easier to scan the computerized systems, call the dealer and order all related components and charge $150hr. for swapping parts, why fix anything?

That's one of the reasons why we keep our Red Block Volvos. Depending on where one lives there are shops specializing in older cars but not everywhere. Another consideration is that an old Volvo is worth a couple of grand so it's not easy to justify a thousand dollars to do a minor repair unless there is some sentimental reasons to keep it alive. Best way to own an older Volvo is to be a mechanically inclined hands-on motivated owner willing to do maintenance and some basic repairs, otherwise it's not economically feasible. I work on my cars, I'm down to two 940s, and greatly enjoy working on them. For better or worse they need nothing except regular maintenance.

 

here is something you can look at (from the FAQ's post here at the top of the forum)

https://app.box.com/v/volvowiring/file/1695136794