240
Thanks for the tip in regards to the rust, I'll have a look. I haven't been able to find any rust anywhere else on the car though, even small spots, so it should be right I think.
I'll look into prices for the respraying. Although to be honest it doesn't bother me as it is now, so I guess I could just hope that it doesn't get worse.
Apart from that spot in the photo, and one or two other spots where the paint has faded a bit, the paint is actually like new which is interesting, because judging by some of the interior plastics the car has been in the sun a bit. Most other 240s I've seen that have been in the sun have faded paint on the bonnet and roof. (I'm not complaining though!)
240Joe
Your paint is probably the best I've seen in this colour.
I currently have my 3rd maroon 240 and they have all had problems with paint on the roof, sills and front gaurds. My current one is good from far, but far from good.
familyman
A very common place for rust is around the rear lights too.
240
Thanks, I'll have a look around the lights.
What's the best way to remove the oil vent box? Is there enough room to get it out once I undo the two bolts holding it in? I don't want to remove the manifold.
Can cleaning it be achieved with some degreaser spray?
Also, can the throttle body be left on the manifold to clean it, or should it be removed?
BradC
You can clean the throttle body on the manifold. A childs toothbrush and shellite are the things to use. Much easier to do it off though.
I can't give you any advice on the breather. I always remove the manifold to get at it. Manifold off, new breather & o-ring, manifold on and don't think about it for another 20 years.
240
Is it difficult to remove the throttle body from the manifold?
BradC;60198 wroteY new breather & o-ring, manifold on and don't think about it for another 20 years.
I wouldn't have thought it'd last that long; from memory, it was cleaned/replaced a couple of years ago - and by the looks of the top of it (where the outlet is), from when I removed the flame trap, it looks like it needs doing again. If it really will last 20 years though then I might as well just spend the $70 or whatever it is to get a new breather.
Something else - I'm after a set of Virgos; what's a reasonable price to pay? I may have the opportunity to get a set of 5, in average condition (some marks, nicks, gutter rash, and one with a flat spot I think). What's a ballpark figure?
BradC
240;60199 wroteIs it difficult to remove the throttle body from the manifold?
Linkage, pipes & 3 nuts.
240;60199 wrote
I wouldn't have thought it'd last that long; from memory, it was cleaned/replaced a couple of years ago - and by the looks of the top of it (where the outlet is), from when I removed the flame trap, it looks like it needs doing again. If it really will last 20 years though then I might as well just spend the $70 or whatever it is to get a new breather.
Unless you're using the cheapest of the cheap oil and have horrific blowby I can't see how it'd block up quickly. The longest I've owned a single redblock for was 15 years, and I've never had the occasion to clean or replace the breather twice. The flame trap and hoses, yes but not the breather.
lasercowboy
i just did my oil breather box without removing anything else (apart from the flame trap obv). It can be done if you are relatively dexterous and patient. You'll need an extension bar and a knuckle joint for your socket to get the two bolts out, then edge it away from the engine and up and it'll (just) wiggle out if you gently flex some cables/hoses. Reinstall took <2 mins, and removal would be the same now I've done it once.
lasercowboy
Also, if you do replace the breather box, get the genuine volvo one. The aftermarket ones start leaking from the seam after about 12-18 months, whereas the volvo ones seem to last pseudo-infinitely.
240
Thanks for the tips Rico and Brad.
Now, a couple of days ago I replaced the plugs, changed the air filter, did an oil+filter change, and cleaned the flame trap. After that, the car started easily (better than previously actually) and ran really well, but I just went out and started it now (for the first time since then) and it was much harder to start than it ever had been. Once it was started, it took a minute before it ran well.
What might this be related to?
Also - here are some pics of the old plugs. Do they look OK? They had a bit of what I think is carbon build-up, and some oil on the threads. I also found that there was a bit of gunk in the threads on the block. Is this of concern, or is it to be expected on a 23 year old high km engine?
Vee_Que
Gunk could be anti seize previously used. Wow. So many walls of text....
Redblock heads are aluminium, so yes, use anti seize, copper or silver. doesn't matter much. repco sell handy little sachets of the stuff too.
Washing engines... I always do it running and aviod the electrical parts.
Tight throttle, check the kickdown cable has some slack, but the throttle spool can get tight, a bit of sticky spray grease can fix that.
Your flametrap will need to be cleaned/renewed as the motor gets older.
240
Thanks for that. Out of interest, why do you choose to do it running? And do you put degreaser on while it's running, or before?
I'll have a look at the throttle.
Also, when I open the back left door, the interior light doesn't come on. Assuming a bad switch, I found a spare one but when I removed the old one I found that the problem was just that one of the wires had come off (see following picture). But the thing is - how am I to fish the other wire out from inside the body of the car to reconnect it?
familyman
Be aware that's live. It will probably just blow the fuse, but if it hasn't already, go pull the interior light fuse, or the +ve terminal of the battery. Memory is a bit foggy on this, but I think I remember pulling on the wire that you still have access to - because they were joined together further in. So tugging on it a little brings the other wire back into view. Then catch it with something.
If not, use a bent coathanger to fish the dropped wire out. Then gently close the connectors up a little with pliers. They are probably loose, which is why one came off. Press them back on, refit the switch, reconnect fuse or battery.
If that doesn't help, try bending the last couple of cm of the coathanger. Shove it in, then put a larger Z-shaped bend at your end. Use that to twirl the hanger in circles and see if it catches and wraps the wire around the hanger, so you can pull it out. You could also make some kind of circle and stick a lump of bluetack on the end I guess. Push it up and down, see it it grabs it.
If all this fails you could always pull some trim off. ;-p i.e. Pull directly upwards on the long hard plastic covers at foot level, then peel the U shaped trim around the door frame. It's been a while since I pulled one apart, but if you take stuff off a bit at a time, you'll eventually see a way in. Pretty sure where the seat belt lies vertical against the pillar though - there's holes behind that plastic panel. But if you need to go that far, you may have to remove the seat belt retractor.
240
Thanks for that. I did try pulling a bit on the wire that is there but it didn't really seem to want to come out at all. So I may have to try your coat hanger ideas.
Also, does it particularly matter that the wire is live? Surely if it shorts, that's just the same as using the switch, so it'd just turn the interior light on/off? Or am I missing something?
Why would I have to remove the seat belt retractor if I took that much trim off? Just asking because I will need to replace that vertical piece of trim covering the seat belt, as mine is cracked/broken.
familyman
I haven't got a wiring diagram at hand. But ignoring the switch in the light itself, I assume one end of the interior light bulb connects to the car body (to earth/negative).
Then a wire would go from the other side of the bulb, down to one pin of the switch.
The second pin of the switch goes to another wire, which would be positive. So when the door opens, the two pins of the switch complete the 'live' side of the circuit.
i.e. The switch really opens/closes a single wire - which has voltage. So one of the wires to the switch is always live. It could be the one that's still connected to the switch. And in the photo, that terminal is resting on the edge of the hole. If there's a nick in the paint it can connect directly to earth. (Which I've had happen and blown the fuse.)
On the other hand, if the fallen wire is the live end, it too can touch the car body.
Since one of must be live, and both can touch the car body directly, power is not going through the resistance of the globe now. Positive can connect directly to negative.
But there's still a fuse. Even so, I have seen wires happily spark away without blowing fuses. Like where that switch is resting. Mine blew the fuse, but only after it crackled for some time because the connection was poor. (Sparks don't always play nice.)
---
About the seat belt retractor... I just went and checked - and I was remembering wrong - sorry.
I thought the retractor bolted through the bottom of the plastic, but it doesn't. So you should be able to remove the hard plastic kick guard, (at least some of) the rubber trim around (both) door frames, then you may be able to tilt the vertical plastic cover out enough to see/get inside.
familyman
BTW... When you get around to replacing that plastic, be really gentle with the small triangular cover over the top seatbelt bolt. If you even still have yours, LOL. You have to kind of tilt the bottom outwards only just enough - while pushing upwards at the same time. Even then I regularly break them. (Or the person before me had.) Three or four out of 5 that I've tried to remove as spares, either already were, or I - broke.
familyman
Let's see if I can get this to work...
Here's a picture showing what I think the circuit would be. The left side is black because it's disconnected when a wire falls off the switch. Everything red shows what's still live. Note how the battery still has a negative connection - earthed to the car body in various ways. So if the wire on pin 2 falls off and touches the body somewhere else on the car, then current 'shortcuts' back to the battery negative terminal, through the car body - via the red dotted line - thus bypassing the bulb.
In other words, it's like connecting a wire across the battery terminals, but with a fuse in it. If the connection is poor (the wire brushing against dirty or rusty metal for example), and the fuse doesn't blow, the battery can drain away at best. Or for the really unlucky, sparks from the wire moving could start a fire.
BradC
I think you'll find the switch simply completes the ground on the circuit by connecting the wire to the body.
Sometimes there are two terminals because there are two lamp circuits (like dome light and door marker).
(edit) In the late model 240 it appears the dual contact switch is to activate the light delay circuit. Never the less, it still switches to chassis (ground).
volvowiringdiagrams.com/volvo/240%20Wiring%20Diagrams/Volvo%20240%201993.pdf
familyman
Hm, ok... That'll teach me to find the manual next time. ;-p...
I had Vadis installed which may have diagrams. But after using it fine for a few years, computer now thinks it's a virus and quarantined it.
I can read a TV or power supply cct, but find it hard to read Volvo wiring diagrams for some reason. Different symbols to what I'm used to I guess. I can't even find the interior light circuit at that link. Which page was it on?
When one of the wires came off one of our door switches, all the sparking and blown fuse made me assume it was wired similar to above. Got me intrigued now. I've only dropped one roof lining. I wonder where the +ve path travels. (The physical location of the wire.)
That would explain something that's always bugged me actually. i.e. Why they didn't insulate the heads of the terminals.
BradC
familyman;60533 wrote
I can't even find the interior light circuit at that link. Which page was it on?
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