deNs' 1993 940 GL Wagon - "Odin"

There was a couple of things left I really wanted to fix before going on the trip, so I decided to tackle them before we left. 

These are normally a warning light on the dash, however it requires your cluster to have the diode installed at the position that the lamp is going to be wired into. Not really wanting to pull the dash cluster out right now, I decided I'd grab a couple of LEDs, design print myself a basic housing for them and at the same time, cover up a hole in the dash from the previous owner.

I made it to accomodate 2 LEDs in case I found another use for the other one. It's got a couple of 510 ohm resistors in-line to drop it down to the correct forward voltage from 12v in, then switched by the float switch in the coolant tank then to ground from there.

I tested it out when I was swapping out the coolant as part of the pre-roadtrip maintenance (though the coolant looked perfect, and really probably wasn't necessary..). At least I got to test the light worked, so that gives me some confidence. It's absolutely a feature worth having so you don't pop a headgasket over something that could easily be fixed.

It's a silly modern convenience but one that definitely comes in handy. I believe I saw someone on instagram fit one of these to a 940 in the same location literally a month or two after buying the car in 2018 so I cannot take the credit here. It's screwed to the panel and I have spares in case I want to remove it and have no holes, but I feel like it's a small sacrifice to have a cup holder.

That said, it's not the best at actually *being* a cupholder except for perhaps takeaway coffee cups, which I suppose what we'll mainly use it for. It holds pringles cans well though!

eyy.

This was done because after a hot day (37C+), I got home, parked the car, then a few mins later opened the garage to put it inside and tried cranking but got nothing. Turns out a few people on tbricks had similar issues in hot weather with the solenoid on the starter getting heat soaked and that's where the idea to put a starter relay in came from. Essentially it's using the old starter wire as a trigger, and then using the battery lead to the starter as the source for current, so there should be no more issues with a lack of current. I'm keeping spare relays in case it doesn't like being in the engine bay there.

Jumping ahead, but I believe this saved my butt when I accidentally stalled at a set of lights on a hot day in heavy traffic and needed to quickly restart.

Major Ledfoot

Starter heat soak - whoa boy; been there done that.

The low coolant level warning light is a great idea. It's standard on the 960s, but not usually hooked up on 940s. Did you use the factory type sensor in the coolant expansion tank? My 945T appears to have the float already in the expansion tank, but the sensor isn't fitted - however I did buy the sensor which is supposed to somehow attach to the underside of the plastic tank. Was this your experience?

Also IIRC the NA and +t 940s used different expansion tanks from factory.

Yup, I purchased an OEM tank from skandix which had the float already in it, and also bought the switch to clip into the underside as well.. From there I grabbed a plug from my pile of spare wiring loom parts to plug into the sensor's (male?) plug and then wired up the rest from there. I remember having to trim the plug because it had a bit of an odd shape, as if it were keyed for the expansion tank plug to differentiate from the other 2-pin plugs all around.

I vaguely remember that not all square-style expansion tanks had the provision for fitting a float switch, but it sounds like yours does have the place for it. It might've been one of those 92+ changes that they made with the switchover from the 740 to 940 era.

Perhaps down the line I'll pull out the cluster, wire in a diode and use the factory position for the coolant level light, but I also like having a really bright LED for 'you should stop the car now' kind of problems.

With all of these changes, I decided to test out the car a few times over November/December to make sure it wasn't going to fail in an embarrassing way. I took it to the Cars and Coffee even in Blackwood and parked it up next to a few different kinds of cars, which is always entertaining

Only a couple of doors down from a Stagea - a WC34 was on my shortlist when I was considering what wagon to get as a project car before I bought the 940. Maybe down the line I'll go whiteblock 5 or 6cyl and make a swedish version ;)

With all of this work to get various bits of the car fixed or improved, it was finally time to go on a bit of a roadtrip! Just in time for the Jacarandas to be in bloom too:

Then it was time to hit the road!

Overall the car cruises well, is comfortable to drive and was mostly trouble-free on the journey. There's a coolant leak, my own fault entirely - because when I was changing the oil, the oil cooler sandwich plate moved a little, which moved the soft line for the block coolant feed to it, which twisted the fitting on the block which is now weeping. That fitting is a bastard to get to while the engine was in, so I just kept an eye on the levels, knowing I'd get a bright LED in my face if the coolant went too low.

I wasn't keeping a close eye on fuel consumption at this stage, but by my rough calculation it was around 10-11 litres per 100km.

We drove via the Great Ocean Road on the way over, enjoyed the scenery and the regular roadworks and the inexplicably terribly rough roads. Did the trip over 3 or so days and took our time, which was nice.

On the way back we went slightly more inland, and visited the Naracoorte caves, and also went via the Grampians, and went to the Halls Gap Zoo too, which was unexpected!

All in all the whole trip covered 2245km, which tips the odometer over 10,000km since getting the car on the road back in late 2020. There's been hiccups and a single breakdown which I still haven't posted about, but overall it's been pretty smooth sailing *knocks on wood*

There was a very large package I'd ordered which I was hoping would arrive before we left but arrived the day we departed, so it had to wait patiently on the doorstep for our return.

Then it was time for a well deserved wash.

Been over a year since an update, so guess it's probably time.

Anyhow, not much happened this past year; drove it, enjoyed it, improved it, ditched club plates and went to full reg to drive it more.

So anyway, things:

Feb 2023 - Under Tray

That big box that was in one of the last pictures was an under-tray I bought off amazon because briefly I had prime, and turns out purchasing that under-tray was by far the cheapest way of getting an aftermarket under-tray. It was something like $65 shipped to my door from the US, which was crazy for something so huge.

Installed it in part to protect from debris from underneath, but I also desperately need to improve the efficiency through the radiator/intercooler/condenser combination as there's no shroud and the fan cycles too much for my liking (on at 90C on top hose, off at 85C).

Mar 2023 - Speedo Issue

I realised I had some intermittent issues briefly before losing my speedo entirely. I shuddered to think about having to pull the cluster, even going as far as starting the process, but then thought I should check the wiring near the diff in case there was some issues, even though I did a repair back when I got the car.

Yeah that'll do it. So I have entire spare looms, with connectors I can pilfer from, so that's what I did:

Spliced in the healthier connectors, and back in business. Worked mostly since, but I think the occasional issue I see now is in fact the speedo having issues, that also needs repair. Another time, perhaps.

Got a few more minor updates to come.

Jan 2023 - Cars and Coffee

I don't have the plates anymore so not gonna worry about editing them, also they're not my photos to edit, etc.

Took the family to the inaugural C&C event in Tonsley, SA and a kind photographer took pity by taking a photo of my fridge-on-wheels holding up an Amarok.

Photo courtesy of DW Photography

Sept 2023 - Passenger seat rail redesign

I wasn't happy with how the passenger seat rail was, so I took another crack at it, redesigning it so that it sat ~40mm lower than it did previously. Thanks to the lack of height adjustment in the passenger seat, I'm able to get it lower than the drivers seat by maybe 10-20mm. The spacers were machine mild steel, from memory around 16mm OD and 8mm ID to take high-tensile countersunk M8 bolts that bolt from the inner part of the rail because of clearances. The spacers were welded on inside and outside of the 50x50x5mm right-angle steel.

20mm RHS was used to tie both sides together.

There's improvements that could be made over it again. I'm no pro, so I hesitate to post up stuff involving safety lest someone try to copy this, but.. it is what it is. Because of the thickness of the materials used it probably weight half of what the whole seat does. Oh well.

Sept 2023 - Plates change

As mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to drive the car more, without needing to worry too much about running out of days on my club permit. I changed over to full reg and it's been quite liberating being able to drive it as much as we want. Was previously on a 90-day permit and got pretty close to filling up the book in 2022-2023, with weekend trips and a couple of bigger driving holidays.

This was also when I found out that it's registered as a 7-seater, so I should probably relocate the amp and find a set of dicky seats so we can make the most of it!

ramrod

You are a terrible enabler I'll have a think about it - there's certainly more important things on the car (and elsewhere) that require money to be spent, but I'll keep it in mind. Thanks mate!

Just had the thought.. how hilarious would it be if a skidpan day allowed all 7 seats to be full for a session.

November 2023 - Steering Wheel

I do love the original in the car, but overall it feels like a plasticky 30-year-old steering wheel and I've had my eyes on a Montecarlo since I got the car. It was between this and a Personal Grinta, but with black friday sales, I could not say no. Had picked up a Momo 9011 boss kit a while back as well. The original wheel is a non-airbag model.

Diameter is 350mm, which feels a lot smaller than the ~365mm original diameter, and even despite having 350mm wheels previously in other cars. Can't see the indicator bulbs but it feels great and that's the main thing

nugget_940

I had not seen that wooden one - but I don't think it's really my style. it would definitely match the trim but to me I associate wooden wheels with vintage racecars and older cars.. It could look good in a 240, particularly styles like that or the prototipo if that comes in a wood version. This feels like a good match for the era of car..

I promise I'm not trying to copy your 940 If you get a eggcrate grill tho

Did you end up changing to the faster position on the BNE QSRCs?

December 2023 - Carpet Clips

I had a set of carpets that I'd used for the front, but had never used the drivers one as there was no way of retaining the mat in place. The item from volvo (p/n 3529482) is no longer available for purchase from dealers here, though you can definitely buy it from other places. After a while I found an option that I went with, which was a bit of punt, on this item on Aliexpress.

Afterwards I did find what appears to be the same as the Aliexpress item, but from a local seller here, but I haven't tested this. It's interesting if Audi/VW/other VAG cars might use a similar eyelet, so that could be another route if people have easy access to that.

They came, I installed them and it was a perfect fit. Like factory! I probably could've chosen option 'A' as the other clips it comes with to go top/bottom aren't necessary that come with option 'C'. I might need them for my all-weather mats as they also have eyelets and no where to clip to.

I think this post might tie with my dashmat post for being the most boring of the entire thread (maybe even the whole forum?) but I was chuffed I could find a solution, and now I won't keep wearing down the carpet, and best of all it doesn't interfere with the clutch pedal!

Nov 2023 - Double DIN Upgrade

After a few years with the old Pioneer single DIN bluetooth headunit, I decided for and upcoming road trip it might be a nice thing to upgrade this 30 year old fridge with something a bit better. Inspired by this excellent design, I took the design and modified it to better support the Sony XAV-AX5500 headunit as it's different to the original shallow one it's designed for.

Once modified using Fusion 360, I uploaded my remix here, linking the original, should someone wish to do the same.

So, with measurements taken and design modified, it was time to print!

About 10 hours total, from memory. PETG, printed pretty slowly as this is an old (albeit heavily modified) Ender 3 I've had for almost 6 years now, but it does the job.

Printed on the textured side of my PEI plate, it gives a very nice finish, without a need to sand/paint/refinish it. The pocket had supports in it which never came off cleanly, but it doesn't bother me since you can't see it once installed.

Purchased a cigarette lighter socket and a new, better USB charger with USB PD. You can see the tabs that go behind each of them that you turn once installed, to wedge it against the dash to stop it sliding forward. They're then locked in place once you screw down each of the lock rings for the sockets. Hard to explain, but it works well and doesn't move once it's in there.

Final test fit. I modified the design to accept two rare earth magnets in order to integrate a hood into the design, to stop excessive glare, since the dash is angled forward.

Once installed, the hood looks like this:

I ran the USB cables to an extension with a panel mount, but this ultimately added too much length and had some android auto issues that gave me a bunch of headaches as a result. I ditched this setup and ran a single high-quality cable from the headunit to plug phones into.

I also integrated some universal steering wheel control buttons and hooked them up to the 3.5mm line so I could get more physical buttons - I printed out a cigarette lighter plug so I could have it sit in there when not in use, and stuck one of the steering wheel controls onto that. The headunit itself was chosen partly because I hate capacitive buttons and this had physical buttons, which I do miss.

Pretty happy with the result.