Yeah, our 'handbrake' was quite weak. If you read what I typed again, you can tell I'm tongue-in-cheek joking about that. And in the gradual stop I mentioned too. I've seen the same thing I'm about to say, mentioned on other Volvo forums - that it's really only a parking brake on 240s - to provide enough friction to keep it stopped once the car is already no longer moving - not a handbrake as most of us would know one.
e.g. My first car was an XB Falcon. I could pull the handbrake on that and the rear wheels locked instantly. It was so hard in fact, that it was hard to release it before the car had slid to a stop. I think it used the same shoes for both foot and hand braking. But even so...
The Volvo parking brake shoes are quite small too. i.e. Less ability to 'handbrake' like some other cars.
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Two things about the cluster... Nearly all my experience is with early models. With those, I've read many times the regulator on the back causes weird stuff in the cluster. On early types the regulator is rectangular, bronze-coloured, with spade terminals. See it here:
However, on those cars, the tacho also takes it's feed directly from the coil, via it's own wire. By '88, surely they're using some electronic feed by then(?). If so, it's signal (pulse) is being affected somehow.
I did a quick search. Try using CTRL F on your keyboard to find the words "a tach" on this page - never know your luck:
http://www.davebarton.com/240-odometer-repair.html
