Looking to buy 1985 240 Wagon

The drivetrain is virtually identical between the two.

If the body is as nice as you describe, that sounds like a pretty good deal.

Yes, if the engine harness is original, rebuild or replace it. After being stranded once, I'd never trust a 200/700 series car of those years until that had been done.

Assuming US or Canada, it has the same B230F that your 740 has.

Despite the horror stories, it's not THAT bad to replace yourself.

Trailing arm bushings, engine/tranny mounts, floor pan rust, seals around the big rear side windows, and the infamous tailgate hinge wiring harnesses.

Very busy as usual, but generally good. Funny, until I got there I didn't realize who I was responding to.

I own a 1988 Volvo 740 GLE.

I think I haven't changed either my wiring harness nor my blower motor.

Why do I need to change them and why are you guys saying that you won't own a car and drive it while that wiring thing has been rebuilt?

P.S. I am not mechanically savvy and I normally try to do things with my dad on our own, so your hints would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a million in advance.

Hey James, Thanks for the input. Tomorrow I'll take some pictures to post. The lady is out of town, but she allowed me to stop by today and look at the car. I didn't have the keys, and couldn't start it, but I was very encouraged.

Under the hood it looks very close to my 1987 740. Engine looks the same, distributor is different, a couple things in different places. Being a 1985, I was impressed. The engine was dusty, but things looked very good.

The wiring harness was completely sheathed, no exposed wires to inspect. My car's was dry rotted and wires were hanging off. She says she is the 2nd owner with all the repair papers, so I will thumb through those.

She knows it leaks oil and had a mechanic inspect it, but I have no specific details as to where. When I run the car I'll know.

On top of the engine by the flame trap, things around it had oil on them - old oil. At first I couldn't make it out, then when I saw the flame trap - I am guessing that thing is releasing oil. That's the only explanation I could think of as to why certain parts were oily, when there was nothing apparently leaking on the engine itself.

James, I went over your list - seals are all good on the windows, both front wheels had some play and the passenger boot on what looked like a CV joint (I know it's not, but it was a small steering rod) was buckled.

That's about all I saw that I can report for now. I need to start and run it to know more.

I am sure that this car has MANY original things, or old OEM things that can make a big difference off the bat:

Just to start.

Thanks! Jamie

Sharshera,

I'll need to look up the years, but in a summary, there was a period of years, like 1987-1990 or something close, that Volvo released it's cars with a wiring harness made from faulty material. Specifically, the rubber or plastic used to coat the wires deteriorated after time because of engine heat. This was common across the board. What happens is that even the wires that still have the outer sheath, inside of that sheath the actual wire coating deteriorates and exposes bare wire.

The problem is that even though the outer wiring cover hides the wires, inside bare wire begins to contact each other and arc. Suddenly, without warning you're driving down the road and everything dies. You're stuck.

You can find replacements for under $200 on the web, and it takes about 3-4 hours to disconnect and replace the harness.

People do this because the harness is faulty, and it is only a matter of time as to when it will fail.

Jamie

'88 may be fine, but '80 or so through '87 they used a different insulation on the engine wiring and it hardens and crumbles off making the car unreliable.

Blower motors are notoriously difficult to replace on 240s, usually the bearings start to go by around 200,000 miles. 740 blower motor is easy to change.

Thanks James about the years for the harness - I think I was way off. LOL

The wiring problem carried over into at least some '88 cars. Our '88 240 had it. As for the blower motor, I think that it's more a function of age and how hard the fan was used; 10 years old seems to be the most common time for the bearings to start to make some noise.

My car has 161000 miles (1988 Volvo 740 GLE). Do I need to change the blower motor now or this should be changed sooner than later or what?

Since it won't be a huge unexpected expense when/if it does fail, wait until it at least gets very noisy. They rarely fail all at once.

Is it making squeeling noises or not running? If it works, why change it? If it starts making nasty sounds or blowing the fuse, then swap it out. Use a blower motor for a 1987 Chevy Citation, it's 1/10th Volvo's price and is identical.

The last time I dealt with that the Chevy motor fit better than the Volvo part! The Volvo part (must have been about 8 years ago) had changed to something that required metal cutting just to make it fit. $150 for the Volvo part that didn't fit or $30 for the GM part that did... decisions, decisions.

Mike

That's amusing.

When I bought one for mine, the Chevy part was only $18.95, it was truly an *identical* AC Delco motor to the one originally in the car.

I got my blower from Auto Zone. It was like $30 bucks and I think all I did was drill the drain hole.

Change it soon as you can no longer stand the awful noise the worn bearings make... or it stops working. As long as it's functioning and tolerably quiet, no service required.