Had a nice rumble, not too loud, coming out of the wagon. Found a leak at the clamp going into the second muffler and also found the catalytic converter connection to the header pipe was shot (almost completely gone as a matter of fact, was held on by two bolts that were about to snap a good inch, inch and half gap).

The cat itself is fine, no rattles, but, the 3 bolt flange connecting it to the header pipe is shot. It's rusted beyond use and has disconnected from the flange lip the pipe sort of makes itself, the header pipe is fine. I am guessing I'm kind of screwed on the cat, even though it's still good, it doesn't look like that flange is replaceable. It won't slip over the pipe section and I don't think trying to bolt it back up will seal it all the way. Ideas?

Second issue, more of a nuisance, temp gauge on dash works but sometimes goes almost to the redline but stays about in the middle usually. But then kind of wanders up to the top again for awhile. Test the sending connection?

 

a good muffler man can probably weld that flange (or a new flange) on.

re; the temp gauge, might just be the stabilizer circuit, which is in the instrument panel behind the temp gauge. on earlier 240's, it was a seperate little board plugged in, but I think on the last couple years, they integrated it into the main board.

that stupid stabilizer circuit's purpose is to keep the needle dead center if the engine is anywhere near acceptible temperature. it turns the needle into an idiot light. they did this to prevent excess service calls from neurotic owners. with the 240s that have the seperate little board, IPDusa sells a kit that replaces the stabilizer board with a jumper so the needle actually reflects real running conditions.

there IS another possibility... your thermostat might be sticking sometimes, so the engine is getting really hot, then it pops open and cools back to normal. OR, maybe it IS the sender unit, which is the rear-most of the 3 senders under the intake manifold on the side of the head. it has a single yellow (I think) wire. the one in the middle with two wires is used by the ECU and ICU for engine control. the sensor closer to the front is the anti-knock sensor.

 

Looks like it's a new cat. I called around and most places weren't very helpful (it is the northeast, so much for city of brotherly love). Had quotes from $70 all the way to $300???WTF

So, I can get a new Bosal from RockAuto, $138 shipped 2 day and I can get $95 cash trade from a place that recycles cats (got $130 for the cat off my Honda). So new cat will only cost less than $50. Everything else is usable off the exhaust, will just replace all the clamps and hangers and seal up the one leak I found.

Will keep you posted on the temp gauge, kind of hard to start her up in the neighborhood with no exhaust, neighbors get all touchy.

 

I've always had better luck with small town old school non-chain independent muffler shops. ideally the kind of place where the owner himself does most of the work.

anyways, apparently theres a couple different cat for these cars. ones for EGR vs no EGR and California cars require a different cat, too, to meet the cleaner emission standards. the two volvo specific vendors I looked at online both said they dont have ANY cats suitable for california cars.

 

Fortunately I am not in California, thankfully. Nice weather but that emissions thing is nuts sometimes, although I'm sure it's needed out there.

Bosal's 099-937 is a direct fit with the oxygen sensor, I should be able to get the first muffler detached from the original cat (the cat pipe is seriously rusted, the muffler is clean), so it should be a pretty easy fix, I tore down the whole exhaust and figured I would just go ahead and replace all the clamps and everything since I'm down there. Still have to inspect the header pipe but the only thing I can see there would be to replace the gasket.

It will be nice to not sound like a drag racer in a wagon.

I do have one other issue, is a fuel leak at the second pump. The line that comes out of the pump to the engine has a very slow leak/drip. When I put the new pump in I replaced the washers and it seems tight, any ideas on that?

 

eeek/ fuel leaks are scary. thats under like 44PSI when the engine is running.

are you sure you used a fuel proof washer? lots of rubbers do NOT like alcohol-(un)enhanced gasoline.

could be the fuel lines are corroded, I suppose. hard to say without seeing it.

 

I had a problem with a pinhole leak on the banjo bolt coming out of the fuel filter. Basically it had rusted through. Fortunately I had a spare laying around. If you live in the rust belt, you may have a similar problem.

Like Pierce said, fuel leaks are scary and need to be addressed immediately.

 

I'm waiting on parts and had a chance to pop off the banjo bolt. Everything looked fine, the fuel line itself was clean and dry, the only fuel was on the bolt head itself and where the washers are. I'm almost positive they were new washers (the brass/metal ones) when I replaced the filter.

The only thing I could think of would be the bolt or the washers.

Can you get a spare bolt/washers pretty much anywhere? The only other place would be from the filter itself, but that is brand new and didn't notice anything wrong (could the bolt be overtightened causing a leak?).

Parts for exhaust are here tomorrow, yeah for me. Time to get dirty, again.

 

In mine, it wasn't the bolt or the washer. It was the banjo fitting (the loop thingy) that had a pinhole leak from rust. Inspect it thoroughly. I used a wire brush to clean up the rust flakes on it and only then was I able to see the pinhole leak.

Are the washers copper? I know when I bought replacement filters they came with some other washer - either rubber or plastic. I reused the copper ones - which is what came on these originally.

 

The washers were copper, for the life of me I can't remember if they were replaced or not with the new filter. Once I get the exhaust and gas tank done and repressurize the fuel system I'll see if I notice anything more. I cleaned it up and it's dry now but no pressure at the moment.

 

If your 93 has the temp compensation board, my knowledge is limited to 1990 240 series, here is a link about the temp compensation board defeat.

http://cleanflametrap.com/tempFaker.html

Good Luck,
Fred

 

indeed, the later 240's apparently did away with the separate board and integrated the circuit onto the main instrument panel board, same as they did on 740/940's.

 

Hey guys, I will keep you posted on my temp gauge solution, only had time to get the exhaust in and redo the brakes this weekend before preparations for the "frankenstorm" (yes they are actually calling it that), aka Hurricane something or other, comes into town.

 

hay-
I know the thread is 1 yr old, but ........ here's to hoping.
i hit an ice clod the other day (we are still getting snow in the Black Hills of SD), and the triangular junction between the cat & ex pipe cracked. You mentioned a recycler of cats that after core the cost is about $50. How can I contact them?

 

Their website is We buy scrap catalytic converters Nation Wide! Prices Updated Monthly on our Catalog., they're located in Lancaster, PA.

They have a text-a-quote thing, just take a picture, text it to that number and they'll send you a quote on the spot. Then just fill out the paperwork, request a UPS Label (they'll email it to you), slap it on the box and I got paid in less than 48 hours (they'll do paypal or check).

I've used them a couple times, a couple buddies have used them and even my uncle in FL who is a mechanic uses them.

 

thank you so very much!