Good day all! Just picked up a pretty clean '92 240 wagon and have found a couple things that I'd like to address and thought I'd reach out to the folks who live and breathe these cars!

First, the horn doesn't work and when you hit the horn on the steering wheel in a particular spot, the rear wiper does one swipe then parks. Weird.

Second, Central lock system; four doors but not the tailgate unlock with the key on the driver's door, but will not lock.

Any suggestions for either?

Thanks!

 

very odd about the rear wiper and the horn. The horn on one of my 244s didn't work, I had to take the horn cover off (getting it back on right is a chore) and there was some wires back there than needed connecting. My 240 wagon's central lock will lock and unlock all four front doors, but the back wagon door does not work with the central lock. I don't know if that clears anything up for you, but thought I would throw it out there.

 

Most likely the issue with the tailgate lock is broken wires in the tailgate harness. This is a common problem in the wagons. Volvo ran the wires right through the hinges so when the tailgate is up, it puts a 90 degree bend on the wire. You might see other problems such as rear defrosters not working and/or the center brake light. Does the rear wiper work when turn it on from the wiper stalk?

Many times you can see the breaks in the wires. Raise the tailgate and look at the hinges. You can see a wire harness - I believe there is one on each side. I know when I had a wagon and this occured, I could actually see broken wires in there.

To fix this, you need to remove the tailgate and install a new harness. I got my harness from Volvo as the wires used are special and have very fine strands to hold up under the constant bending.

As far as the horn operating the rear wiper, that sounds more like some wires crossing in the steering column. For that, you might need to disassemble parts of the steering column and inspect the wires there. It's not something I have ever had to do and yours being a '92, you have an air bag that will need to be disconnected before you do any work in there. I would try to get a green book or Haynes manual that states how to do it.

Good luck

 

I just picked up a 93 240 and the horn is not working, I unplugged the wire tested the connection and the connection was good. Is it just a matter of replacing the horn with a new unit? I have never come a cross a horn that has become inoperable. Suggestions?

 

the horn once broke on my 240, i just bought a new set of high and low tones, plugged those in and it worked like a charm. So i guess it is possible for them to break after a while.

 

cliplead a 12V lamp where the horn should be connected, and see if it comes on when you press the horn button. if it does, then your horn is probably bad, if it doesn't, then the problem is likely somewhere else, like wiring, or the switch.