Delilah the surf Wagon - 1980 245 GL

alexjellie · 2016-12-07T07:08:58+00:00

iirc my '78 245 got surprisingly poor fuel economy too. maybe giving it the berries all the time for fun caused it... they do rev highly, I was forever goin...

alexjellie

Making slow progress but have cleaned up parts including sparks, wires and distributor cap - down to 10.1 L/100 which I'm pretty happy with.

On the downside on the way back from Adaminaby to Sydney I noticed she was running a bit warm (though not unusual on a 37 day I thought) and pulled in to grab a drink at the servo in Goulburn. Come out 10 minutes later and she's pissing green... Had a look at the radiator and I'd managed to spring a leak in the radiator tube from what I can see. A bottle of coolant and stop-leak later and she got home from Goulburn to Sydney ok but need to find out the cause.

While driving to Goulburn I could feel what felt like the clutch slipping but now I'm wary it is something to do with the engine/cooling - need to investigate prior this coming weekend away - any advice?

Slowbrick

Cooling system on these is simple as they come. If you have a leak it will make itself known and be quite easy to spot. If you are running hot then a few things come to mind.

-Stuck thermostat: If this hasnt ever been replaced then replace it now. In fact go down to Repco right now and replace it. If this component gets stuck shut then you will be overheating even in minus 99 degree weather. Its a simple part to change yet so many people dont change them.

-Obstruction in radiator: With the car running and up to running temperature, grab hold of the top hose. It will be hot and should be hot. Now grab the bottom hose and it should be just warm but not hot. If it is hot then your radiator is not working. Another way to test this is to get out on the freeway and get up to speed. Start off at 100km/h and see what the temp does. If no overheat then start going faster. If your radiator is blocked then it should start overheating the faster you go. If it does this then check for crud in the radiator. If thats all good then keep reading.

-Slipping clutch fan: This one is pretty simple and can be tested in one of two ways. Start the car and bring it up to temperature. This test is best done in hot weather but can be done in cooler conditions. With the car in neutral bring the revs up until you hear the fan make a roaring noise. If the temp gauge is up and you can feel that its hot under the bonnet but there is no roar then your fan is toast. The second part of this test is to let the revs drop back down to idle, grab an old shirt or thick rag. Then bundle it up into a ball and carefully apply it to the fan. Do this lightly and the fan should feel solid and not stop or slip. If you apply the rag/shirt and the fan slips straight away then its no good.

-Loose belts: If you fan belts are loose then when you are at speed or high load then they will slip on the waterpump pulley and cause the pump to slow down as well as slow down the fan and cause an overheat situation.

alexjellie

Replaced the thermostat and flushed out the radiator and refilled, drove down to Thirroul and back no dramas (though not that hot a day coming back Sunday) - the stop gap seems to be holding the leak all good so hopefully it does what the bottle says and seals for 10,000k's.

jamesinc

Generally with 240s if the temp needle rises from its usual spot (regardless of how hot the weather is), something is wrong.

alexjellie

Yea I noticed that, it was getting really hot but never actually got anywhere near the red. it usually sits about 1/4 of the way up with the needle never crossing over the N on the dial.

alexjellie

Currently resolving dash electronics, have no dash lights, fan or console lights. Replaced fuses but no luck, dreading going through the wiring...

Does anyone have a pro tip for finding electrical faults in this circuit?

timbo

my suggestion would be to try bypassing the rheostat (dimmer control) as that's quite possibly the source of the light issues

Major Ledfoot

alex.jellie;101150 wroteCurrently resolving dash electronics, have no dash lights, fan or console lights. Replaced fuses but no luck, dreading going through the wiring...

Does anyone have a pro tip for finding electrical faults in this circuit?

Bit like that proverbial piece of string - nobody else knows how long it is, until you do some measurements.

http://www.volvowiringdiagrams.com is your friend.

Wanna hear a WAG (wild arsed guess)? Well, lucky you; you'll get one anyway : One or more earth wires may have been disconnected when you've replaced the sound system. Often times, they're attached to one of the screws that hold the centre console in place.

alexjellie

timbo;101153 wrotemy suggestion would be to try bypassing the rheostat (dimmer control) as that's quite possibly the source of the light issues

Winner winner chicken dinner, have by passed and happy days. Thanks, going to replace the bulbs with some nicer LEDs

Also @Major Ledfoot thanks for the link, great info source. Makes wiring much less of a looming task (pun intended).

Heater fan is still a no go, so I guess that will be the blower motor. Are there any tricks for determining which component is gone or is it basically always the motor?

Slowbrick

Three main parts to the heater. The switch, resistor and finally the blower motor. You can test the switch easily enough with a multimeter. The resistor and the blower motor...yeah grab a case and book out 8 hours if its your first time. Some say its easier to do without pulling the dash but I'm a big an unwieldy kind of person so I rip out the dash and then can just sit in comfort to work on the box.

Ive done 3 now and have it down to about 5 hours working quickly. It isnt thaaaat bad and just requires a bit of patience.

jamesinc

I second pulling the dash, otherwise messing around with stuck coolant hoses and all the other fiddly bits around the heater box is a pain in the arse, literally, because you'll be upside down in the foot well.

alexjellie

Photo update, plus new styling recommended by mates (professional photoshop)

alexjellie

Slowbrick;93682 wroteThe early ones have a circlip in the wiper arm that breaks and you lose the whole arm (ask me how I know lol). These arms are hard to find as they were only used for a few years. Later they went to the threaded spindle that has a nut to hold down the arm. This is the one you want.

@Slowbrick
Looking into this at the moment, does this require the whole spindle unit swap (i.e unbolting the pulleys and all) or just the tip?

goodenough

I love the colour. Nice one mate.

Slowbrick

alexjellie;116433 wrote
Slowbrick;93682 wroteThe early ones have a circlip in the wiper arm that breaks and you lose the whole arm (ask me how I know lol). These arms are hard to find as they were only used for a few years. Later they went to the threaded spindle that has a nut to hold down the arm. This is the one you want.
@Slowbrick
Looking into this at the moment, does this require the whole spindle unit swap (i.e unbolting the pulleys and all) or just the tip?

You gotta replace the entire mechanism. You can keep your existing motor but from memory the rods and cabling are slightly different. It's definitely a job you do at the same time as a heater core.

alexjellie

Bugger, I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. Thanks @Slowbrick

Are there any alternatives such as swapping the arm but keeping the spline mount?

Slowbrick

You can swap the arm when it breaks but getting them is the hard part. After having two break and not being able to get more after raiding @Spac's cars I just took the weekend off to do the heater and replace the spindles.

alexjellie

In an unfortunate yet funny series of events i think I have snapped off the thread that mounts the pivot ball (?) within the clutch housing. This is for a hydraulic clutch and is the pivot that sits between the centre spline and outer edge of the clutch housing, the point where the clutch pivots about.

Without disassembling everything yet it looks like its a cast in piece and i'll need to tack it back on or similar, anyone had this pop up before?

VolvoHordz

No not cast in. It has a nut on the back side sandwiched between the bellhousing and the gearbox. The nut can't spin so in theory an easy out or some other method could be used to remove whats left of the pivot allowing you to screw a new one in.

alexjellie

thanks @VolvoHordz - any guess at a size? Struggling to find sizes in the manual

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