Make sure you have a good ground on the a/c compressor. Without a good ground, the clutch will not engage.
Make sure you have a good ground on the a/c compressor. Without a good ground, the clutch will not engage.
You can. That wagon/black leather/stick combo was only about
5-10% of all Volvos sold, IIRC.
ie- wiring harness neds to be replaced with a 1990+ version (non-bio-degradeable from 1990-1993).
"PButler111" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m26.aol.com...
I had myself one and made nearly 380.000,-- Kilometers without any majors problems look carrefuly at the hidden places and give the guy 2.000,--
good luck Pierre
Well, I got it! Just got back a few hours ago. It hasn't been checked out by my mechanic yet, but I have driven it 1000 miles in the past 24 hours, and we got on like a house afire, as folks say. And the best part is that it turns out not to be blue, but a nice teal green. (Because color is the most important thing in these transactions, as you know.) Anyway, thanks everyone for your input. I'll let you know what my mechanic says.
Patricia,
How is your new 240? What has your local mechanic found?
Pat
I just took it in yesterday and got word back last night. It does need several things done, for a total of about $1250, and they also think I should get new tires before winter. However they said it's a good, solid car and once I take care of these things it should be good for years. Considering the Blue Book value of the car (about $4500 for private sale, $6000 retail) and how much I paid for it ($2250), I thought this seemed okay. I mean I'm not *thrilled* to be spending more money, but it seems reasonable to me. I don't have the list on me (it's at work, I'm at home), but I'm happy to list the recommended work if you're interested. Thanks for asking!
Patricia
Sure. Let's see the estimate.
Also, get some accessory gauges(fit in the square slots in the dash) and replace the plastic lenses with glass Euro-spec ones if you can.
But - $2250+1250 is only $3500 for a car that's basically in perfect condition with a bunch of new parts.
I thought you'd never ask -- literally, which is why I left the list at work again. Here are the things I remember, but I don't remember the estimates for each: needs a full tune-up, needs an oil change, transmission needs to be serviced, some other thing I can't remember, and the most expensive thing was that apparently someone put in a new timing belt recently, but they put in the wrong one and it has to be changed. That last one was something like $350. I can tell you better when I'm back at work next week, but that's what I remember. In addition, they recommend new tires by winter. But they said after those things are done the car will be good to go for years to come. They said overall it was a good, solid car and very well cared for.
Why would I want more gauges? And why would I want to replace the lenses?
Thanks, Patricia
There are external temperature, oil temp, tack, a small clock, and a couple of others. The smart choice if it is a manual is to swap the big clock next to the speedometer with a big tach. The clock is replaced with a small one in one of the slots.
The two remaining slots(assuming the radio is up top) fit an oil pressure and voltmeter gauge. All of those small square covers are now filled with shiny gauges :)
No thanks. I like the big clock next to the speedometer, very much. And the oil pressure and voltmeter gauges would mean nothing to me. I'm quite happy with the number of shiny gauges I currently possess. And what of the lenses?
Hmm maybe the guages are more of a guy thing, you can never have too much information about what's going on with the car, oil pressure is arguably the most critical thing to keep an eye on in the whole car because lack of it will completely destroy the engine in short order and prolonged low pressure will greatly reduce it's life. You can get a lot of early warnings from it's behavior as well, and the idiot light on the dash is just that, it tells you when the pressure is already gone and damage is being done.
As for the lenses, the plastic US spec stuff is junk, after driving around with european headlamps for couple years it's a bit of a shock every time I drive a car with the US lamps, it's like putting on sunglasses while driving at night. That and the glass lenses won't cloud and yellow after a few years.
I change the oil ever 2000 miles, earlier if I'm going on a long road trip. I think I'm pretty safe.
The car's 11 years old now and the lenses aren't cloudy or yellow. When's that supposed to kick in?
They are about 2 inches in diameter and round. Recessed and very attractive. On an older car, oil pressure and voltage are critical as if the voltage is dropping fast, your wiring harness or electrical system is shot - but you can likely drive to a shop.
The oil pressure, though, is a must. Even if you don't add any other gauges, this should be in the upper left slot. If your oil pressure sensor or half a dozen other systems go bad, your car will literally fall apart in a matter of a few miles. Most of the time, the car will be at half normal pressure for a few days before it actually drops to 0, so catching it is simple if you have the gauge.
2-3 years. Yours have likely been replaced at least once. The Euro lenses have a birghter, larger pattern as well as are glass, so they are virtually impossible to chip or crack compared to the cheap plastic ones.
There's a healthy market in plastic headlamp protectors in the UK, because the glass is very easy to crack or chip and replacement is very expensive. At our relatively high motorway speeds and pretty poor roads (generally initially surfaced with loose chippings) it's hard to get a motorway car to a few years old without some damage to the front lights.
Just thought I'd add my $0.02 I bought a 1981 240 DL wagon about a month ago on Vancouver Island. Drove it back to Southern Ontario in 3 1/2 days. Would have been faster but had charging system problems which meant only daylight driving (long story). Great vehicle.
I'm not familiar with difference in European and US lenses. I'm driving a US '91 240, original lenses are just fine with me. I'm not saying European is or isn't better, so please don't start a geopolitical flame war on this point.
On the dash instruments, you may want to add a tachometer. Next to watching your speedometer, the tach will inform you of hard driving habits (higher fuel costs and wear and tear costs). There are 2 styles: small and large. Your mechanic can easily add the small 2 inch type into either of the unused slots just left of your radio. Look on ebay or junkyards for an inexpensive source. The large type, more preferred by data junkies (just kidding), installs where your big clock currently sits, and typically you would then put a small 2 inch clock into the slot left of your radio. This arrangement actually makes the most sense, by placing frequently referenced speedo and tach conveniently in your line of vision, with large faces, while moving the less-referenced clock away and making it smaller (less obtrusive), but hardly inconvenient. Like the small tach, the large tach and small clock can probably be found cheaply on ebay or a junkyard.
Either way, this leaves you still with one more unused slot next to your radio. So many more gauges to choose from. You will have to confront this life-threatening dilemma on your own...;)
Backing up to your mechanic's review and maintenance/repair list, I recommend you flush your brake fluid, radiator fluid, and transmission fluid, unless your mechanic can determine that these were done recently, using top quality fluids. Replace the flame trap and have all of the orifices into the throttle body cleaned, and the throttle body hoses inspected/cleaned/replaced as needed. All of these items are pretty cheap, and can prevent very expensive serious repairs. All the talk about gauges is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, whereas these last few maintenance items are not.
Ask your mechanic to inspect your radiator to see if it is the original (with cheap, hard plastic tank and hose neck that often deteriorates and cracks around 10 years). If original, ask his opinion about preemptive replacement with an aftermarket metal hose neck radiator.
Oil pressure and oil changes are two completely different things, you could change your oil every 500 miles (every 4000 is plenty if you use good filters) and if you lose pressure due to a faulty pump, bad seal, leak, etc) the engine will still cook in short order. At the very least make sure the idiot light comes on when you first turn on the key.
Depends very much on the climate, I've seen them get grody after 5-6 years but usually they last 10-12, longer if the car has been garaged. Sunlight contains a lot of UV which degrades plastic.
Yes particularly in the US, european lenses are expensive to import (though cheaper than OEM plastic ones) so protection is a very good idea. I installed RockIt film over my 740's lights, it's nearly invisible and I haven't had a chip yet.
If you tried them you'd never go back, a lot of late model cars have similar beam patterns. The high beams are better too, whenever I have friends along I always get comments if I flip on the high beams.
She said she likes the big clock, fair enough, if it's an automatic you don't really need the tach anyway.
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