Throttle Linkage Clips?
 

As part of troubleshooting my stalling problem, I plan to pull the throttle-body, clean it, and adjust everything on it according to my Bentley manual, as well as test and clean out my idle air valve. However, I am a bit concerned about the plastic ends on the throttle linkage. I have read that they can be brittle and could break when removed. I have also read about little metal clips on the ends of the things but I have seen no tips on how to get them off without breaking anything. My Bentley manual just says to remove them without saying how. I have to admit that my vision is not as sharp as it used to be and I may be missing something that is obvious to others.

Could someone please give me some tips on how to get these metal clips off without breaking the plastic ends?
Thanks

Old plastic breaks, one just have to be careful... if it breaks, source new used ones. Hot is better than cold as far as brittleness.

Sources for replacements?
 

Everyone seems to assume that everyone has a second car to drive to work in, if they break something while repairing their Volvo. I don't. So I have to be prepared ahead of time.

Can anyone recommend a good, trustworthy, source for these plastic ends. I would like to have some spares before I try to pull the old ones off.

Probably the Volvo dealer has them, "to order"... A junkyard would be your best alternative...

What I was afraid of
 

That is just what I was afraid of. The nearest Volvo dealer is another town and a guaranteed five stalls away. The only junkyard I know of is in the most dangerous part of Oakland. So, I was hoping there would be a good source on-line where I could order the parts.

I know I can easily find them and order them. My concern is in getting accurate information from the vendor's web site. So, I was hoping that someone would know of some on-line vendors that they trust to provide accurate information.

those sorts of parts are mostly dealer-only, and the online dealers no longer havae 240 parts catalogs as part of their websites, so you need to know the part numbers first.

if you can find a bootleg copy of "VADIS", this was the dealer parts counter DVD from circa 2003, and covers 240's all the way back. it takes awhile to figure out how to use it.

the two places I get OEM parts from are...
Volvo Parts - Authentic OEM Volvo Parts direct from Volvo Parts Webstore | VolvoPartsWebstore.com
TascaParts.com

these are both dealers that sell stuff mail order at a discount. catch-22, figure on a week or more to receive an order.

do you mean the ball sockets on the little short vertical shaft that connects from the throttle spool to the throttle body itself? there's two separate part numbers... 946703 is the one on top, and 946704 is the left hand thread one on the bottom (and uses a left hand thread locknut). you can use those PN's on either of the web links above and see about availability.

Yes, sir. Those are exactly the parts I mean. Thank you so much, Pierce.

I just ordered one of each from the Volvo Parts Webstore. I'll let you know how things turn out.

Follow Up
 

Just to let everyone know, when I got those ends I saw that there are no metal clips on the ends of the sockets. Just a molded-in clip that folds over and snaps in place at the end of the piece. This squeezes the socket together a bit to keep it from accidentally popping off of the ball it snaps over.

However, it is a good thing I ordered the spares because one of my ends did in fact break, about the fourth time I had to remove it. The clip on the end didn't break, the part that the clip snaps over broke. Either way, I am glad I had the spares.

Thanks for the ordering information, Pierce.