Hello guys i have a 1989 Volvo 740 GLE and today i was driving and the engine stopped so i checked and the battery was dead, so i went and bought a new battery the problem still there so now i just got a new alternator and still having problems, the car runs for about 20 minutes and battery is done. i ran a positive cable from battery to B+ in alternator and ran a ground from the engine to one of the screws in the alternator and problem still there i think the guy who sold it to me knew about it and didnt tell me cuz he charged the battery before selling me this car. can someone please tell me the cables that i need to connect to the alternator and the way its supposed to be.

 

first, fully charge the battery with a automobile battery charger. then, turn the ignition on, and verify that the alternator light on the dashboard lights up with all the other warning lights, then start the car, and the alternator light should go out. if that light is blown, so it doesn't come on before the car is started, the alternator wont work as its part of the regulator circuit.

when that battery is fully charged, and then has rested off the charger for a few hours, a DC voltmeter across the battery terminals should read about 12.7V or something (upper end of 12V). when the car is running, the alternator should be raising that voltage to about 13.9V. if it is, the battery should be charging.

 

i did that today and the car still having the problem every time i turn it on and take the negative cable from battery off it turns off the car.

 

you should NEVER disconnect the battery from a running car, the battery acts as a voltage regulator, and current sink, it stabilizes the system.

did you check the voltages?

anyways, the charging circuit is pretty simple. the alternator has 3 terminals. The D- terminal goes to a black wire to ground. The B+ terminal has the big fat wire that goes to the starter and on to the battery +. the D+ terminal has a red wire that goes to the battery light on the dashboard, the other side of the light goes to the ignition switch pin 15R and on back to the battery + on one of the skinnier red wires. if that light is not properly connected or is burned out, the alternator will NOT charge the battery.

the light should come ON when you turn on the ignition and go OUT when the engine is running and the alternator is working.

 

Ok i uploaded a photo so you could see what the alternator that came with the car looks like its an acdelco alternator, the person who owned the car before i told me the alternator came from a chevy lumina and that it worked but my friend took it out so i could bring it with me to have it looked at and the guys at the autopart told me it is working 100% they tested it. now the problem is that i dont know how to put it because the colors are in the alternator..

Red,Brown & White,Brown & Red,Brown.

and the volvo has a big cable from battery going into the starter and a medium size red cable going from starter to alternator. also theres a cable on the manifold idk what its called wich is a ground and a small red one that i think its the dash light u were talking about. so yea the alternator image i uploaded it so u can see.

 

ugh, I know nothing about AC Delco or Chevy wiring color codes. I would be looking for a proper Bosch alternator. FCP has it new for $130 but odds are you can find a used one for a fraction of that. according to what I'm looking at, your 89 non-turbo uses a 80A, while turbo models use a 100A. usually all that needs replacing on a broken OEM one is the regulator/brush assembly, these are $30.

 

Woohooo its working i got it! its working thanks for your help! now im thinking if i should get rid of the car or not i really like it!

 

740/940's are awesome cars. I bought my 740 turbo wagon for $1200 last year and have spent about $3500 fixing it up the way I want it, and plan on driving it many years.




they are also really simple and easy to work on. the 4 cyl 'redblock' engines will last for a half million or more miles with reasonable care and maintenance. tons of parts availability.

 

i wish i could fix mine the interior is messed up it doest have ac working the heater they eliminated it and since i dont have a book or video showing me how to fix different things i cant fix most of it. it would be nice if u could post youtube videos of how you fix yours.

 

my AC was in good working order when I bought the car, but the front seats were pretty trashed, I just replaced them with a pair of seats out of a S90 or V90 or 960 (not sure which, they all were pretty much the same).

shooting videos while fixing something is a real pain, unless you have a helper to do the video... your hands (or gloves) are all greasy so you don't want to touch the camera, getting the right angles on everything is a pain.

a lot of the work on mine I had done by a shop. things like the seats, stereo, I installed myself. this wagon needed a head gasket (coolage leak on exhaust header side by #3/#4 due to the previous owner overheating it, I knew this when I bought the car, and it was factored into the price), so when the gasket finally blew, I had it towed to the shop to be fixed, that cost about $1000 (my mechanic pretty much automatically does all the seals, timing belts, alternator/ac belts, water pump, seals, etc when he does a head gasket, as half that has to come apart anyways).

this particular car was quite well maintained by the previous owner, she had her mechanic fix things as they wore out, so it had a new radiator, the AC was maintained, the hoses were all in good shape, the transmission had been serviced, etc etc. The PO's mother was the original owner of the car.

In addition to the head gasket, seats, and stereo, I've done a fairly major suspension overhaul/upgrade, with bilstein shocks and all new bushings, upgraded to IPD sway bars. When I bought this car for $1200, I told my wife, this isn't a $1200 car, its a $5000 car, we're just spending the rest piece-meal.... she understood, long term, its still WAY cheaper than a new car, which probably wouldn't last 20 years anyways.

 

i want to really fix mine is there any other volvo model that parts fit my 740 gle 1989? like i cant find any 1989 740 gle parts is there any other models that fit mine like the seats now i know i can look for those.

 

seats from any 700/900/s90/v90 will bolt right in. outside trim pieces will interchange, seatbelt attachments will bolt right on. the only complication is that power seats used a few different connectors, but you can probably work around that (my car didn't even HAVE power seats and my new drivers seat is powered, so I spliced it to power wires).

as an alternative to complete seat replacement, you can swap the skins and cushions of most any seat that fits those models. a good trick is to find two nice passenger side cushions/skins from another 700, and swap them onto your seats, you'll need to cut a hole in the back skin for the lumbar adjustment. while you ahve the skins off your seats, you can repair any broken springs.

the engine and transmissions are interchangable accross 240/740/940 cars of similar vintages. details about the fuel injection changed over the years but the stuff is mostly swappable across different engine blocks.

the automatic transmissions are mostly AW70 or AW71, these are a Aisin-Warner transmission made by Toyota's transmission division, and in fact were used in mid 80s higher end luxury toyotas, but the details of the configurations change enough that I'm not sure I'd want to try and swap a toyota supra tranny into a volvo even if the core is essentially the same. the AW71 is a heavy duty version that volvo used on the turbocharged cars. there's also a AW72 used on 16V engines, thats got different gear ratios.

the rear differential is a Volvo manufactured version of a Dana 30, quite similar to the differential and front axle of a Jeep Wrangler. not directly interchangeable, however.