Greg's Gold 1991 240GLE wagon B230FT-M46

Got the block-out plate for alongside intercooler installed yesterday after the paint dried.

Broke down and ordered a complete Volvo 2-speed fan harness/relay set off eBay (USA), but still looking to source a few connectors and bits and pieces off a wreck locally.

The flex exhaust pipe I ordered arrived today and isn't going to work (not "flex" enough LOL) so I reverted to Plan A…used an off-cut from the 79 245 (240 turbo exhaust) pipe and two SS band clamps to join that to the 240 Turbo exhaust system (had to cut off about 10 mm of the front of the 240 exhaust pipe as it was flared). It seems to have worked out OK if not a bit ugly. May tidy up and install a cat once I have the car going and can take to a proper exhaust place.

Painted Mr Squiggle exhaust tip.

Installed Helli driving lights I previously had on our 88 240 sedan…still need to wire those up and then obviously aim them. Ignore the wonky look in the photo - bad phone camera distortion. I placed them where I like them - centred on the inboard edge of the main headlights. I've seen some people put them way outboard, which I think looks a bit odd, and also farther inboard (mostly in America with the narrower number plate). Each to their own I guess.

Still waiting for my 90-degree short silicone elbow so I can finish the air intake and order a pod filter.

On a side note, Wayne's now looking for a new car (EV)…maybe I'll write some comments in the Bruces thread about that.

More bits and pieces. I've been plundering my stash of wiring harnesses to come up with bits for the E-fan, driving lights etc. Trying to figure out the best way to add more accessory power circuits up near the battery. Thinking maybe I can just double-up the power distribution thing (the one with all the power wires being fed from the thick feed off the battery terminal). My one concern is fusing…I have some options there. I typically tap off that then use a blade fuse to whatever relay needs power, but it just gets a bit messy with multiple relays. I guess I can cover it up like I did on the yellow 245.

Also my stubby 70 mm silicone elbow arrived this morning, so I fitted that and measured up for the K&N filter. Got one ordered that will fit (mock-up pic below). Later I'll need to think about an air baffle to prevent it from sucking hot engine bay air, but that's not a super high priority as I want to get it going for the VIC Club's 10th May 50th anniversary 240 photo shoot at Shannons HQ.

arebee See my comments on the Bruces thread here: https://ozvolvo.org/d/30685-bruces-jive-in-2025/160

More bits and pieces today…routed the two E-fan relay signal wires from the ECU to up near the battery, and also ran the wire for the driving light relay trigger. I was worried I wouldn't be able to fit an additional 3 wires through the corrugated accessory wiring dash pass-through tube, but it worked out OK. Not sure I could squeeze in another as I already have 3 cruise control wires, 1 ambient temp sender wire, and a wire each for the oil pressure gauge sender and oil temp gauge sender, plus a small tube for the boost/vacuum gauge.

Close to having the temporary E-fan relay set up and wired in (will use the driving light relay trigger so I can manually switch the fan on and off with the driving light switch). This temporary measure will be just for test drives until my proper electric fan relay set-up arrives from the USA.

Also finished up the driving light wiring from relay to lights (yesterday). Ordered a couple HD blade relay holders as well, since I need one for the lights and possibly the air horns (I had a look and currently it doesn't appear I have a fuse on the relay feeding the horns). It's all getting very congested up behind the battery. I'm glad I went for the 93-style integrated power steering pump/reservoir as at least I can mount relays on the front of the coil bracket where the remote PS reservoir used to sit.

I noticed the clutch pedal hits the plastic push-pin fastener for the under-dash hush panel, so I will need to relocate that slightly as it prevents the clutch pedal from being depressed to the floor (and/or twists the push-pin in the process). I've temporarily removed the fastener until I figure out the best route (maybe just a zip tie…just thought of that now.)

Finished wiring up the driving light switch today, and tested the electric fan (using driving light switch to trigger a 50-amp Cartier ex-SAAB relay). Fan works fine on low and high speeds. I'm not 100% sure if low speed is +12V to green wire and high speed is +12V to red wire only, or high speed is +12V to both red and green wires on the fan…I'll let the OE Volvo relay do whatever is appropriate once it arrives.

Also messed with washer bottle…the original bottle with 2 pumps will fit in the rear side pocket, but my preference is to put a small bottle up front so I don't have to mess with running wires all the way to the rear. I ordered one of these 3-way solenoid valves, as I figure I can use the compact 1800ES/early 240 wagon rear style integrated pump/bottle setup with the solenoid valve. The valve would be triggered by the rear washer +12V to switch the flow from the front tube to the rear. We'll see how that works and if I can even fit it all in once the pod filter arrives (should be here tomorrow).

OK, the K&N pod filter arrived this afternoon, so I took the car for its first test drive. Two issues (so far). First the turbo oil drain pipe is too close to the steering shaft knuckle. I knew this would be an issue, but wasn't quite prepared for how it would make itself known (engine tilts toward steering shaft under full throttle acceleration, and steering shaft U-joint coupler bolt hangs up on drain pipe preventing the steering wheel from being turned to the left. Hmm, NOT good. Must resolve…need to look at whether flipping the collapsible bit of the steering shaft would make any difference or not…need to see where that would put the shaft and U-joint in relation to the pipe. If that isn't a resolution, then I will have to revise the drain pipe (either go with a flex hose and AN fittings, or maybe one from a B21FT if it fits? I assume the B21FT drain pipe runs closer to the block as the 740T B230FT pipe seems to route differently (probably to clear the remote/rear mount oil filter).

Second, on my 2nd acceleration run from a full stop, I lost all clutch and couldn't shift into 3rd gear. Why? all new clutch slave, master, hose, fork, throw-out bearing etc. More investigation required. It was dodgy the first time I started the engine, but Dad and I re-bled the line and some air came out, so I assumed it was "fixed". However, I noticed at the beginning of the test drive that the clutch started to engage almost immediately after I started lifting the pedal off the floor…so seems like something was a bit off at that point. The only thing I can think of at this stage is there's air in the line, the clutch master seal is blown (new part?) or the slave piston travelled too far and ejected fluid, but I see no fluid, and the slave piston is still there. Final thought is do I have the correct clutch pivot ball. I know there's several stand-off lengths. I didn't change it as I have a 740T gearbox, dished flyweel, standard 740T clutch plate, disc and t/o bearing. Clutch master is 740T. Clutch slave I believe is slightly different design, but seems to fit perfectly. Not sure why I have so much trouble with clutch hydraulics (see dramas on the "barn find" 79 245!)

Anyway, it's no XC40 Recharge Twin!

More to follow once I have time to investigate further.

First pic is one I took before gearbox went in showing how the turbo drain pipe is close to the steering U-joint. 2nd pic ignore the mess of wires behind the battery. Most of that is the temporary relay set-up for the E-fan. Will be tidied up and covered. 3rd pic shows how the pod filter sits. I'll need to make a support off the bottom of the short joining pipe (currently the whole thing is zip-tied to the coolant bottle bracket).

Major Ledfoot Yep…I had read about it…and now I know why it's a thing! I think the upper U-joint is longer and lower one is shorter, so if you rotate the whole shaft end for end, it would push the whole shaft forward a bit, which I think would help give more clearance. I had originally thought that people were just rotating the rubber isolated main shaft bit end for end to put the fat end at the bottom, but that wouldn't help my clearance issue as the issue is the u-joint and bolt, not the shaft itself. Hmm…we'll see!

jamesinc "Tap the block"…hmm, sounds like something that should be done with engine out and oil pan off…I'm thinking maybe a crow bar between the steering shaft and the turbo drain pipe!

jamesinc Yeah that could be an option. I'm giving it a rest today as we're going to Geelong for lunch and to check out some more new cars.

I had a quick look and can't see anything wrong with the clutch slave (no leakage) and pedal linkage is connected to clutch master, so either the clutch slave or master must be bad? No apparent loss of fluid. I have a good used slave, but not a master. Both parts were brand new, so yeah, guess it could be a defect. You'd think if either one was bad, there would be fluid at either the pedal pushrod or the clutch fork pushrod…

Still need to determine what exactly is fouling in the steering - could also be up against the downpipe, but I thought that had much more clearance than the oil drain pipe.

What's wrong with this picture? The new quality gauges coming out of VDO India…

OK, I delved into the clutch issue today. Turns out the new slave cylinder had a shorter pushrod, so when I was pushing the clutch, the slave piston was moving too far and at one stage I exuberantly pushed the clutch pedal a bit too far, pushing the piston so far that the seal no longer sealed, and boom, fluid loss and no clutch. Of course I had removed the slave cylinder to inspect after I saw fluid around the pushrod…had I known what I know now, I could have just swapped the pushrod and re-bled the line and been on my way without getting covered in brake fluid. Lesson learned.

On the steering issue, none of the steering shafts I have are any different than the one on the car already, and just playing with the shaft orientation and/or U-joint positions isn't going to help. What I think would do it is if I used 2 short U-joints and an aftermarket splined shaft, that would give me more clearance at both the downpipe and the oil drain pipe. The car currently has a short aluminium upper U-joint and a long cast iron lower U-joint. The flared section of the rubber isolation joint is fairly close to the downpipe currently, and no amount of flipping and changing would resolve both issues. So now I need to measure the shaft and figure out if the Coleman 119-112 generic 12 inch long 19mm-48spline shaft would be long enough. I'll need a shaft that's longer than the original one due to using the shorter U-joint at the bottom. Worst case I MIGHT be able to use the same length shaft and a short U-joint on the bottom, and long on the top, but I think that might be too tight at the downpipe. Hmm…time to measure my shaft!