I've never owned a Volvo before, I come from a mostly Toyota and VW family. Sadly the Tacoma I've had for the past 14 years and 285,000 miles was recently done in by an inattentive driver in a mini van.

I've had the "new" car 3 days so far and am quite happy with it.

This forum is great, and a few days of surfing the posts helped convince me to give the brick a chance. Already ordered a couple of items from IPD to deal with some minor issues (tired drivers seat, and broken washer fluid cap)



So I've got a load of questions... I do have a fair bit of mechanical ability, not a professional but have done a lot of my own repair work on cars over the years. Haynes and Bentley manuals already ordered. Saved a bunch of links on the computer.

To help with answers the car is a 1985 240GL sedan with the 4spd / OD manual. It has the 230F engine.


Odometer and trip odometer don't work. I've seen a site that shows how to fix the odometer, will this also get the trip odometer working or is that a separate issue. I'll be putting my wife on that job, she is good fixing stuff with lots of small pieces. I tend to shout and curse a lot on those jobs, so the kids and dog prefer that I not do them.


It has the small clock to the right of the instrument cluster. The clock doesn't work. Haven't had a chance to check the wires, or the fuse yet. I saw a lot of these cars with clocks that were only right twice a day so this seems like a common issue. Am I probably looking at something more complex than a loose wire / bad fuse? I don't really need a clock right now if it is a bigger job.


Sunroof leaked so the prior owner had a mechanic "fix" it and he just didn't open it after that. Unclear if this was carefully closed so it sealed well, or involved a caulking gun. Leaving it alone for now, but would like to get it working again. Usually as simple as installing new weather stripping or are these usually more involved?


Understand the top inside (closest to licence plate) tail light block can be a rear fog light. This car does not have that feature, but there is a wire and bulb there that doesn't light. The bulb is good, I swapped it with one of the turn signals to check. Should this be lit, ever? I thought I read somewhere that this was a brake light if the optional fog light wasn't selected. I get the dead bulb indicator on the dash when I step on the brake pedal, but all the other lights work. I understand the dead light indicator is often wrong.


The drivers door swings freely. The "big staple" that the two rollers engage with is cracked and worn. Luckily the free swinging door hasn't damaged the hinges or sheet metal. Looks like a fairly easy job. I don't know what these parts are called so I can replace them. Name or even better part number would be great.


General maintenance, oil, plugs, filters, coolant etc, any thing special to watch for? Will any quality parts do, or are these cars particular to specific brands? I plan on getting the cooling system flushed, and will change the oil in the near future just to get things started on the right foot.


Last, prices seem to be all over the place on these cars. I'm comfortable with the $1700 that I paid, but curious as to what someone who knows these cars better would have expected to pay for it.

Pretty clean 1985 240 GL sedan (non-turbo), 4 speed / OD manual with the usual minor blemishes inside and out you would expect from a 29 year old car that has been cared for. Some scratches, a few small dents, some faded fabric, few small tears etc, dash does have a few cracks, but still looks pretty good. Much nicer than several others I considered.

360,000+ miles (that is where the odometer gave up, seller figured another 20,000 since then). Odometer and clock don't work which seems to be an issue with a lot of these cars.

No rust anywhere (California spec car, and has always lived in California)

Seller thought the wiring was original (yes, I've read about the wiring), but it all looked good, intact and pliable. He hasn't had any electrical issues but the harness could have been replaced and he doesn't remember since he didn't do any work on the car himself.

Engine is appropriately dirty (doesn't looked steam cleaned for a quick sale), no obvious leaks. Belts, hoses, wiring all look good.

Engine and transmission sound good, shifts smooth, OD engages reliably. No unnatural sounds, rattles or clanks. Car handles as I would expect it to. Actually accelerates better than I thought it would. Everything is tight which I find hard to believe on a car of this age and miles.

Last visit to the mechanic for routine maintenance recommended the motor mount and rear suspension bushings be replaced soon. No other mechanical issues noted (had receipt from visit a few months ago).

Hood, trunk lid, doors open, close and latch well (except for drivers door issue mentioned above).

A/C needs to be converted from R12 and recharged (A/C works, it just doesn't get cold).

The drivers seat is weak (I ordered the bottom and back repair kits from IPD).

Sunroof leaked and was "fixed", I was told not to open it unless I was prepared to fix it. No water damage in the car.

Center caps missing on two of the stock alloy wheels.

New looking Michelin tires, year old battery, passed smog and registration good until 10/2015 (he paid it the day before I bought it).

Seller was the second owner, bought the car when it was 3 years old. All work during his ownership was done by a shop.




Well I know that is a lot, so I better leave it at that for now.

 

the sunroof has a water tray around it that has hoses at the four corners, the front two go down the A pillars on either side of the windshield and dump out little ports on the bottom of the car directly below said A pillars, while the rear ones go down the C pillars on a sedan, and go through the trunk, join the drain lines for the air vent under the back window, and dump out the wells on either side of the trunk. these hoses get plugged up, then the sunroof leaks.

 

Interesting, I'll check that out. Hopefully the mechanic that did the repair was aware of this and didn't just seal it up with silicone.

 

[i neglected to say, I'm not quite sure where these rear hoses are in a 240 wagon, but I suspect they are still in the C pillars, and dump out approximately the same place]

 

This sounds like a car that has been used and taken care of. Welcome to world of Volvo 240's. These tend to be solid cars that need a few things. You have some of the more common issues. The new odometer gear will fix both the odometer and the trip odometer. Your mechanic mentioned the rear bushings. There are special tools required. Most people will continue to drive with a bad bushing until it gets really bad were it starts clunking. The reason why is because the bushing needs a Volvo specific tool to replace it so the mechanics that have it charge a lot. This can be done on your own, if you make or buy a tool. But, it is not a fun job since you must be on your back under the car.


The most common cause for the sunroof leak is clogged tubes. Often times the repair is to stick something down there to try to clear it, however, you must be somewhat gentle because you don't want disconnect or puncture the tube. The sunroof seal is available if you need a need new one.

 

I've read that about the rear bushings. It doesn't clunk or handle sloppy right now sloppy so I should have some time to figure out how I'm going to do it. I've done some suspension work, and it isn't much fun, so a special tool gives me an excuse to get someone else to do it.


Any thoughts on the poly bushings vs rubber? It seems like a good upgrade, but I've never used them before.

 

avoid poly like the plague on anything other than a track day car. Poly will make the car ride harsh, and in a year, it will be squeaking. the factory rubber bushings lasted 20+ years.

 

Does what I'm reading about the sunroof in this car apply to my '91 940?

 

yeah, 740/940 sunroofs have the exact same 4 drains. the 'seal' around the sunroof is NOT meant to be water tight, its just to keep debris out and stop the wind noise.

 

Copy, stick with rubber bushings if I want to keep my dental work.


Are these sunroof drains tubing about 1" OD? I can't see the tubes in the A pillars, but there are two rubber lines that come down through the front of the trunk which I assume are the drain lines you mentioned. With winter approaching, I am a bit hesitant to mess around with the currently not leaking sunroof, but if it really isn't designed to be water tight, and it is just drains to worry about it sounds pretty safe to mess around with. What do you typically use to run through the lines to clean them out?




I have found a minor problem, there is a hose by the fuel injection system. Approximately 3/4" OD, that runs from the air intake down to a silver bit (Idle Air Control I believe). This hose is sort of a candy cane attached to an L in shape. Anyway it has a crack, 1-1 1/2" long, I can not find a replacement hose like this. IPD is the only one that even lists a possible hose, but the photo looks different and they are out of stock, nobody else even lists it. The Idle Air Control appears to have two hoses, IPD's looks more like the lower (good) hose.


Hoping that I'm just calling this by the wrong name, but at most parts places typing in IAC (or variant of) only comes up with the actual control valve, nothing for the hoses. I've tried several online Volvo specialty shops that Google brought up.


The car is running fine, so maybe it isn't a big deal, but I assume it could let unfiltered air into the system. Just to be safe until I can replace it I've taped over the crack with Gorilla tape. Ugly, but should be effective.

 

I tend to use a bicycle brake cable, putting the bead end in first. same thing with the drains under the hood on either side of the cowl just forward of the windshield.

 

I don't have any bicycle cable handy, but I've got a long piece of large gauge stranded wire. It should be stiff enough to push through crud, but pliable enough not to poke any holes in the tubing.


I've completed my first repair. I replaced the seat supports in the bottom and lumbar section. Those kits are pretty good, it is almost like a new seat now.


I don't know when the timing belt was last serviced, so that, radiator hoses and an oil change are next on the list.




I'm really liking how owner serviced friendly these cars seem to be.

 

I am not sure which hose it is that you are talking about. One quick and dirty fix that may work is to use Liquid Electrical Tape to fill in the crack, then cover with duct tape or electrical tape. If I use electrical tape I often use some Liquid Electrical tape over at least the end of the electrical tape to keep it from unraveling. This may also work over duct tape.


You may also be able to pick this tube up from the dealer. FCP Euro is now stating that they have more OEM parts. You may want to call them even though it is not listed.

 

I'll try to take a picture of the hose, it should be easy to replace being right on top and just sort of slip fit over the connectors. The only problem is the complex shape and my lack of being able to identify the part.


I'll have a look at FCP Euro, I don't think that is one of the ones I checked.


I took a chance and opened the sun roof, it doesn't look like any sealant was used so hopefully the mechanic that did the repair knew what he was doing and just cleaned the drains.

 

any air intake leak after the MAF/AMM messes with your mixture. most small air leaks will cause more problems at idle than under load and throttle due to the less total air flowing through the system and higher vacuum.

 

Hope you don't mind my stealing your photo from the other thread, but this is basically the hose I'm looking for, the one just to the left of the IAC label that runs between the throttle body and IAC.

Even before I taped it up the car seemed to be running fine, but I'm sure it is a good idea to replace it before it becomes a noticeable problem.

 

that isn't my photo, I snagged that from some random site via google image search

 

Glad you like your brick!
Let me know if you find something you need, I've got two beautiful examples in my local junkyard and can get you anything.

 

I am missing a couple of small trim pieces. Not sure how much the trim changed from year to year as far as pulling a piece from a different model year.

 

Depending on what it is, I'm sure it's very similar. What're you looking for?