Hi there,
I'm about to go to the junkyard tomorrow. I'm kind of debating what I can do to try to salvage my poor volvo. I rearended someone which caused a drivers side fender bender and i think the volvo took most of the damage. Everyone was OK, but after the accident it wouldn't start, as in it wouldn't even crank so I think something with the ignition connection is affected but haven't really looked too hard. Anyone have any insights in how to proceed to repair? I haven't really done autobody work before so it'd be the first time I replace the fender or hood, but I'm pretty handy at repairing things.
regards
jigen3

 

Considering that the battery has been moved and maybe damaged I would look there 1st. Make sure it is not broken or if the positive cable and post are damaged or shorted. Check all wiring near and around the battery . Take a voltage check on the battery and see what you have.

 

Looking at the picture, I suspect the negative battery terminal is disconnected. You can see the positive terminal is still connected in the photo. The battery itself may be damaged as jagtoes pointed out since that side of the engine compartment took the brunt of the hit.

Since the bumper is intact it all may be fixable as it looks like it didn't take the hit. I have a '90 240 that took a similar accident. I was a little more fortunate that it just took out the hood and front apron along with the grill, headlights and trim pieces. You will need a fender as well and perhaps some straightening of the panel to which the fender mounts. For me it was one trip to the junkyard for all my parts.

 

so after getting the fender and hood, would i just hammer the body it mounts to into place or something?

 

You will need a fender, hood and to repair the core support which is what goes between the two fenders plus other minor things. It doesn't look too hard to do; once the fender is off you will know more. I wouldn't worry about not being able to start...

 

As lev pointed out, you have to be the final judge of what needs to be done. We can't fully diagnose over the internet. My point was mainly that since the front bumper didn't take the brunt of the hit, the frame may be straight and the damage mainly cosmetic. Either you have to be the judge of that or you would have to take it into a shop where they check it out.

Remove the hood and fender, then assess what other damage occurred.

 

thx for the responses...so i pulled a hood from the JY from a 1990, but when i went to get the fender i noticed that the front of it has two rivets attaching it to the body...i've taken lot of parts from JY before but how would i pull it if there were rivets? thx

 

Those are just welding points, try to get them loose using a chisel--it should be enough as they are not that strong... Just try not to deform the metal too much. Or you can of course drill them out if they let you...

 

Earlier models (89 and earlier?) had welds at the location you mention while later models had rivets. When at the junkyard I believe I used a hack saw to cut through the area you mentioned. I wasn't pulling a fender though - I just needed the apron that holds the radiator.

If the junkyard part is riveted, just bring a cordless drill and drill the rivet out.

 

there's a lot of spot weldin g on the headlight brackets, the radiator support pieces, etc.

here's our 87 partially disassembled following a fender bender where a tow hitch made a mess of things... this is after removing all the trim and lights, and prior to the body work to straighten out everything and paint, when done it looked like new again.

 

so there's still no power to starter motor when i turn the ignition, also the parking lights don't turn on. the power windows, blower, dash lights work though. i checked for obvious disconnected wires at the site of crash but couldn't find anything out of place. anyone have any other insight before i consider taking to mechanic? i do have a keyless entry unit i installed that i thought was causing problems as there's a hood release switch that prevents starting if hood is open, but i secured it (green wire), the remote start on it doesn't work either.

 

there shoudl ALWAYS be power on the big red wire at the starter, thats a direct connection from the battery plus cable. the smaller wire at the starter (I think it might be blue-yellow?) is powered by the 'start' key to fire the solenoid that fires the starter.

if all the dashboard warning lights are coming on when you turn the key to 'run', then power is getting to the ignition switch..

in your last picture, on that relay bar on the bent fender, you see that flat black plastic thing? thats he 'positive terminal', and it provides +12 to almost everything else in the car, including the ignition switch, its connected to the medium thick red wire on the battery + terminal, the white fuse holder on the right edge of the picture powers the fuel injection system, thats connected to the thinner red wire at the battery +.

anyways, for the starter to turn over...

1. it must be well grounded
2. it must have a solid connection on the big red wire to battery +12V
3. the ignition switch must have a solid source of 12V (red wires from positive terminal) [you probably do since the dash lights come on]
4. the ignition switch '50' (start) output has a blue wire to a 2-pin connector "E"
5. connector E goes to the park-neutral switch in the shifter assembly, and back to E
6. connector "E" has a blue-yellow wire to the starter terminal 50

also, at the starter, jumpering pin 50 to the big red wire should cause the starter to immediately turn over as long as 1 and 2 are true.

 

So I towed it to mechanic and they found that some kind of bar was bent keeping it in neutral, damaged during the crash. They bent it back and it's able to start now. I next need to fix the body, will consult with auto body shop but been getting parts damaged. I pulled a hood and front panel from the junkyard. The front panel is from 1991 wagon and hood is from 87 I think. I just have two questions basically. 1) do I need to pull the quarter panel ( upon which the drivers strut rests), and is that even possible to separate from the body? and 2) generally what models would be compatible (fender, quarter panel, hood) at the junkyard. Any guidance appreciated thanks.

 

the rear fenders aka quarter panels are welded in place. the front ones are bolt on.

afaik, any 240 after they got rid of the dimples in the hood circa 1985 should be compatible in the front.

the strut towers are NOT part of the fenders or quarter panels, they are structural pieces inside. if its bent enough to damage those, I'd say find another rolling chassis and go from there.