Hello all,

I wanted to thank all of you for the help you have already provided. I just recently bought my first Volvo its an 87 740 sedan with 111,000 for scooting around in. My wife and I looked into getting a new Volvo back in 2004 we were looking at the xc90 because of the overseas purchase program. Due to what I perceived as a reliability issue at the time we passed and went with the Honda pilot. Anyway I say this because when I started researching the older Volvos I was impressed at their ability to just keep trucking. So I needed a run around car and settled on this. It looks and runs great. The items you don’t know that you already helped me with (aka thing I fixed already with info from these forums) are
• Replaced front brakes
• Fixed not working or clogged windshield wiper sprayer
• Replaced trunk struts
• Replaced misc rear bulbs
• Replaced High beam lights
• Put on seat covers
• New floor mats
She looks great and 95 percent of the features work. The problems that I am still dealing with are the following.
1. Bad bulb indicator is still on after replacing all bulbs. I have narrowed it down to the two 1157 bulbs in the rear. One stays lit like the brake petal is pressed the other stays lit but gets brighter when the petal is pressed. It looks like all the connections are good.
2. The thermostat on the Right hand side of the dash cluster will occasionally work and occasionally it will have a seizure. Nothing specific causes this just randomly does it.
3. It purrs like a kitten and drives well although it wants to stutter occasionally when initially started and a little bit when placed in gear or coming to a stop. It does not stall it just feels like it’s going to. Once warmed up it tends to idle at 900rpm. See video here to check out what I am talking about.
Here is a link to a youtube video where I show you the care and point out the problems.


Hey I truly thank you all for your help you have saved me serious cash.

 

Bright light in rear--make sure your rear FOG Light is OFF! Switch is on the left side of panel.
Tighten and clean and DEOX all connections in the rear lights, make sure grounds are good and tight. Make sure bulbs are the same left to right.
Temp. gauge-make sure the connection is good at the sensor--the first sensor on the front of the head under the intake manifold #1 runner.
"Stutter": clean the throttle body and the Air Idle Valve. Give it a good tune up CHECK: plugs, wires, cap, rotor. Check meaning not necessarily change them but make sure they are up to par.

'87 with 111k, looks nice!

 

The best car I have ever owned.

Make sure you clean the throttle body, clean or replace the flame trap, and make sure the intake tube has no holes or tears.

I had more than 400,000 on mine before I let it go.

 

Just a thought - if replacing the bulbs doesnt get the bulb failure light off, you might want to just by-pass the bulb failure sensor. Over time they just become junk and are pretty much useless.

 

the sensors don't become junk, its the wiring in the car, oxidized connectors, and so forth.

you can't just unplug the bulb failure sensor module, you'd need to replace it with a jumper block, as the sensor is in series with the lamps. its easier to remove the bulb failure bulb :-p

 

When I got my 03 someone put in the new style led lights and the resistance is different from the stock base bulbs and even though the light works it throws a signal to the bulb failure warning. had to toss that in just in case.

 

whoops haha. By by-passing, I meant re-doing the circuit so that everything is in place except for that sensor!

 

So the light situation is a bad socket I tried cleaning it and clearing all the contacts. Still a no go. I swapped them out in the rear and the good one worked so it is for sure the socket so easy fix I will order a new one. Good news is when I had the socket out checking them the bulb light was off so that system is still working.


The thermostat on the other hand not such good news. Where it plugs into the engine block it basically fell out. the covering on the wire was disintegrated and the exposed wire was green and rotten. Can I just replace this section, or do I have to replace the whole harness?

Thanks for your replies.

 

thats not a thermostat, its the temperature sending unit. the sending unit isn't plugged into the block, its threaded in, then the wire plugs into it.

if you can find good wire farther up in the harness, then sure, splice in some fresh wire to replace the bad part, but if that wire's insulation is rotten, I'd expect to find a bunch more....

1987 was the last year of the 'biodegradable harnesses', this started circa 1981 or 83. don't be surprised to find a lot more bad wire under the hood, the deeper you dig. I have no idea if the harness for your car is even available anymore, but the main motor harness is PN 1398765. on my 1987 240, the harness is now unobtanium, but its compatible with 1988's which had the improved insulation.