5 replies to this topic

[esundell90]

Hey all:

Figured I'd introduce myself to the RWD crowd as I now have a pair of RWD volvo's. 2 1990 240's. I love em so far. However, both need some work. I may ask some questions of you more experienced folk. No mod plans. Just wanna make sure my cars are up to snuff and running well enough. My wagon runs and drives right now, but has a sticky rear brake, smells like gas (prob. a leaky fuel line) and the tailgate won't open at all. Tried opening it up from inside by tearing that back panel apart and no luck? Probably needs a big ol tune up too. I was gonna order the tune up kits from IPD, seem like a good deal for the price to get everything I need.

I had a volvo before, but it was FWD, an 850 R, but I blew the motor up and sold it

The sedan just needs a big ol tune up and some small oil leaks addressed and a few tie rods/front end parts.

A few pics of the 2 cars:

[James A Sousa]

Howdy and welcome. I answered your other post.

If you purchased your Volvos without full maintenance records, you may well be attending a very expensive school.

Many owners find that Volvo's maintenance is too expensive for them and they limp along until some mechanic tells them that they should dump the car,

Of the 7 contemporary Volvos that we have owned, only one did not have good records. The owners looked like a nice couple and they had slips from Jiffy Lube and local garages - the car looked great. A sad tale - nothing really was bad about the car, but everything needed attention, and we sold it after two years - a record for us.

I would suggest that you have a dealer run your cars through a certified used car check - if they can still do that for a 240. My dealer charges about one hour's labor. One one car that we were going to buy, the repairs suggested were about three times the price of the $4500 car we were looking at!

I wish you good luck

BTW try Brickboard.com there is a lot more RWD activity at that site.

[esundell90]

Thanks. These cars do have records. Also I don't have a volvo dealership near me. Closest one is a 5 hour drive. I'm taking care of these cars myself in my driveway. I must say I really like how easy 240's are to wrench on.

[550]

James A Sousa, on 03 October 2011 - 04:32 AM, said:

Howdy and welcome. I answered your other post.

If you purchased your Volvos without full maintenance records, you may well be attending a very expensive school.

Many owners find that Volvo's maintenance is too expensive for them and they limp along until some mechanic tells them that they should dump the car,

Of the 7 contemporary Volvos that we have owned, only one did not have good records. The owners looked like a nice couple and they had slips from Jiffy Lube and local garages - the car looked great. A sad tale - nothing really was bad about the car, but everything needed attention, and we sold it after two years - a record for us.

I would suggest that you have a dealer run your cars through a certified used car check - if they can still do that for a 240. My dealer charges about one hour's labor. One one car that we were going to buy, the repairs suggested were about three times the price of the $4500 car we were looking at!

I wish you good luck

BTW try Brickboard.com there is a lot more RWD activity at that site.

To be strictly honest these cars are cheap and easy to work on.

[Three Fat Tigers]

The specific advantage of the RWD cars are that they are for the most part DIY and require no special tools (although they can be handy). I submit that these cars only make economic sense if you first really like them, and second are going to DIY repairs, at least the ones you can handle. Otherwise Honda and Toyota are the way to go where the price of the car is all up front and the odds are they will be much cheaper to own over the time you have it.

The wagon tail gate latch has a pin that slides (via the key lock) into two loops that are attached to/part of the outside thumb lever used to open the door; this would be the unlocked position. I've seen where the linkage for this pin had disconnected from the lock and stopping the pin from sliding over, or fall out all together, preventing the door from opening. Also have seen where one or both loops had broken. Should be a way to reach in there and pry the latch open from inside the car, otherwise I can't be more specific without direct observation.

Also looks like you could use some hood hinge adjustment:
http://forums.turbob...56&postcount=17
keep them lubed as it's easy to bend the hood in winter.

[esundell90]

Thanks. I got the tailgate un-done, and have to go get new parts for the wagon's latch and shocks. Bought em, just have to go get em. I'm also picking up a set of 740 turbo rims + tires, a rust free set of front fenders, hood hinges, some doors, and plenty of other odds and ends for the whole car just so I can keep em running/looking good, well the sedan anyway, since that is the car with the real nice body and 40k less miles. I'm gonna try and get an eggcrate grill for that one, roof rack, euro tails the wheels I talked about previously, and I'm thinking about giving it a bit of a drop/a few mild suspension goodies.