More newbie questions for my '93 240 Wagon

hoo, boy, that's a mouthful. Lemme see what I can do fer ya...

Tha following is based on what I have experienced in the 5 years I've had my '91 245 and what I've learend from the group here. I am not a mechanic, I just like to tinker and avoid hefty repair/service bills. Follow at your own discretion.

First, get the 240 repair/service manual from Bentley. Everything you'll want to do is in there. Anything beyond what's covered in the manual, you'll probably want a shop to do. Forget Chilton and Haynes manuals, use them to catch oil spills.

Exhaust you can get from a local parts store, I have one close by that specializes in Euro parts, so that's easy. There are plenty of online sites, too, try

, or any of the other parts sources people in the group mention. IPD is not the cheapest but I like the quality of their service. Anyone who can put together pipes and clamp them together can do a 240 exhaust, country of origin doesn't matter. The only cars I ever worked on were my '86 Mercury Capri 5.0, a '72 Mercury Montego and my dad's '65 Mustang. Same basic principles apply. All sticks together the same way. Put pipes together, clamp them down. Maybe weld it if you can. Full cat-back system from IPD will run about $150 plus ship. If you want to keep the car for a long time and don't relish the thought of doing all this again, get a custom stainless exhaust from a local installer, but be prepared to pay $300 or more.

For the seat heaters, try looking under the seat and making sure the wires are connected first. To check the switches, pull up the parking brake handle and reach inside to pop them out. As a last resort, you may have to replace the elements, you have to take the seat apart for that. It's a pain in the butt, but doable. Try checking continuity along the circuits with an ohmmeter.

Tach installs are easy. Basically plugs right into the instrument pod, all the wiring is there. Search the group for install instructions, or e-mail me, I saved them from when I put mine in. You have a big clock in the dash now, right? Take it out, put tach in, hook up an additional existing wire, done. Resist the temptation to put a small Volvo clock in next to the radio; they are notoriously spotty in performance. Check e-bay or the ipd classifieds, you can usually scare a tach up there. Expect to pay $30 or more. Older tachs will fit (back to '82 I think) but have a glossy as opposed to matte ('86-up) finish. You could do a small tach in one of the extra gauge spots next to the radio, or put one on top of the dash, but that would involve more wiring work.

All dash lights are filament bulbs of one type or another, not LEDs. Some you can get at a well-stocked auto parts store, others you'll have to get from a dealer. IPD has most of them I think. Not sure if you'd be able to substitute LEDs. I suppose if you matched voltages and loads it could be done, but probably lots of hassle (for me at least).

Never heard my car knock, so I can't help there. Idle problems could be from a dirty air or fuel filter, dirty throttle body, worn plugs, etc. Use the underhood diagnostic pod (driver's side, between shock tower and firewall on inner fender well). Follow instructions in the Bentley manual and pull out any stored codes. That'll help narrow down any problems. I use 89 or higher octane, regular tune-ups and clean the throttle body and lines connecting to it thoroughly at least once a year. That in itself can make a big difference in smoothness and performance.

hope this helps, MKL '91 245 5-spd

130,000 mi

Thank you for the help :) I'll let you know how things turn out :)

-briankeys

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 12:17:49 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@hi.com suggested: : : Thanks to you all, I figured out the heat :) I've never seen a car with : heating like this! But then also, I noticed, that my heated seats are not : working, while the passenger side seats are indeed working. The first thing : that I thought of, was to switch switches near the parking break, and see if : that's the problem, as mine does not light up. How do you pop these buggers : out? They arent coming out like the switches in the center console did...

It's probably not the switches themselves. Check to see if the wires are connected under the seat, but in my experiences it's rare to find a car that age with original working heated seats. The elements become brittle over time and break from the repeated flexing. This can be fixed, but would probably require the seat to be removed and the upholstery to be taken off and put back on.

... all of which, in my eyes, is too much work for a simple luxury item that's not really worth it. THanks, though.

-bk

The break is usually just at the thermostat, it only takes about an hour to fix, including removing the seat, the heated seats are really nice, well worth the effort IMO, at least in this climate. If you live in Florida or Texas or something then there's probably not much point though.