240 Worth It? Opinions Wanted!

Sometimes the A/C works. Sometimes it doesn't. You get in the car,
Make sure you have a good ground on the a/c compressor. Without a good ground,
the clutch will not engage.

 

You can. That wagon/black leather/stick combo was only about
5-10% of all Volvos sold, IIRC.

 

ie- wiring harness neds to be replaced with a 1990+ version
(non-bio-degradeable from 1990-1993).

 

I had myself one and made nearly 380.000,-- Kilometers without any majors
problems
look carrefuly at the hidden places and give the guy 2.000,--


good luck
Pierre

 

Subject: Re: 240 Worth It? Opinions Wanted!

Well, I got it! Just got back a few hours ago. It hasn't been checked out by
my mechanic yet, but I have driven it 1000 miles in the past 24 hours, and we
got on like a house afire, as folks say. And the best part is that it turns
out not to be blue, but a nice teal green. (Because color is the most
important thing in these transactions, as you know.) Anyway, thanks everyone
for your input. I'll let you know what my mechanic says.

 

Patricia,

How is your new 240? What has your local mechanic found?

Pat

 

Subject: Re: 240 Worth It? Opinions Wanted!

I just took it in yesterday and got word back last night. It does need several
things done, for a total of about $1250, and they also think I should get new
tires before winter. However they said it's a good, solid car and once I take
care of these things it should be good for years. Considering the Blue Book
value of the car (about $4500 for private sale, $6000 retail) and how much I
paid for it ($2250), I thought this seemed okay. I mean I'm not *thrilled* to
be spending more money, but it seems reasonable to me. I don't have the list
on me (it's at work, I'm at home), but I'm happy to list the recommended work
if you're interested. Thanks for asking!

Patricia

 

Sure. Let's see the estimate.

Also, get some accessory gauges(fit in the square slots in the dash)
and replace the plastic lenses with glass Euro-spec ones if you
can.

But - $2250+1250 is only $3500 for a car that's basically in
perfect condition with a bunch of new parts.

 

Subject: Re: 240 Worth It? Opinions Wanted!

I thought you'd never ask -- literally, which is why I left the list at work
again. Here are the things I remember, but I don't remember the estimates for
each: needs a full tune-up, needs an oil change, transmission needs to be
serviced, some other thing I can't remember, and the most expensive thing was
that apparently someone put in a new timing belt recently, but they put in the
wrong one and it has to be changed. That last one was something like $350. I
can tell you better when I'm back at work next week, but that's what I
remember. In addition, they recommend new tires by winter. But they said
after those things are done the car will be good to go for years to come. They
said overall it was a good, solid car and very well cared for.

Why would I want more gauges? And why would I want to replace the lenses?

Thanks,
Patricia

 

There are external temperature, oil temp, tack, a small clock,
and a couple of others. The smart choice if it is a manual
is to swap the big clock next to the speedometer with a big tach.
The clock is replaced with a small one in one of the slots.

The two remaining slots(assuming the radio is up top) fit
an oil pressure and voltmeter gauge. All of those small square
covers are now filled with shiny gauges

 

Subject: Re: 240 Worth It? Opinions Wanted!

No thanks. I like the big clock next to the speedometer, very much. And the
oil pressure and voltmeter gauges would mean nothing to me. I'm quite happy
with the number of shiny gauges I currently possess. And what of the lenses?

 

lenses?


Hmm maybe the guages are more of a guy thing, you can never have too much
information about what's going on with the car, oil pressure is arguably the
most critical thing to keep an eye on in the whole car because lack of it
will completely destroy the engine in short order and prolonged low pressure
will greatly reduce it's life. You can get a lot of early warnings from it's
behavior as well, and the idiot light on the dash is just that, it tells you
when the pressure is already gone and damage is being done.


As for the lenses, the plastic US spec stuff is junk, after driving around
with european headlamps for couple years it's a bit of a shock every time I
drive a car with the US lamps, it's like putting on sunglasses while driving
at night. That and the glass lenses won't cloud and yellow after a few
years.

 

Subject: Re: 240 Worth It? Opinions Wanted!

I change the oil ever 2000 miles, earlier if I'm going on a long road trip. I
think I'm pretty safe.

The car's 11 years old now and the lenses aren't cloudy or yellow. When's that
supposed to kick in?

 

They are about 2 inches in diameter and round. Recessed and very
attractive. On an older car, oil pressure and voltage are critical
as if the voltage is dropping fast, your wiring harness or electrical
system is shot - but you can likely drive to a shop.

The oil pressure, though, is a must. Even if you don't add any
other gauges, this should be in the upper left slot. If your
oil pressure sensor or half a dozen other systems go bad, your
car will literally fall apart in a matter of a few miles. Most of
the time, the car will be at half normal pressure for a few days before
it actually drops to 0, so catching it is simple if you have the gauge.

2-3 years. Yours have likely been replaced at least once.
The Euro lenses have a birghter, larger pattern as well as are
glass, so they are virtually impossible to chip or crack compared
to the cheap plastic ones.

 

There's a healthy market in plastic headlamp protectors in the UK,
because the glass is very easy to crack or chip and replacement is
very expensive. At our relatively high motorway speeds and pretty
poor roads (generally initially surfaced with loose chippings) it's
hard to get a motorway car to a few years old without some damage to
the front lights.
--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

My Landies? http://www.seriesii.co.uk
Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Tony Luckwill web archive at http://www.luckwill.com

 

Just thought I'd add my $0.02
I bought a 1981 240 DL wagon about a month ago on Vancouver Island. Drove
it back to Southern Ontario in 3 1/2 days. Would have been faster but had
charging system problems which meant only daylight driving (long story).
Great vehicle.

 

I'm not familiar with difference in European and US lenses. I'm driving a
US '91 240, original lenses are just fine with me. I'm not saying European
is or isn't better, so please don't start a geopolitical flame war on this
point.

On the dash instruments, you may want to add a tachometer. Next to watching
your speedometer, the tach will inform you of hard driving habits (higher
fuel costs and wear and tear costs). There are 2 styles: small and large.
Your mechanic can easily add the small 2 inch type into either of the unused
slots just left of your radio. Look on ebay or junkyards for an inexpensive
source. The large type, more preferred by data junkies (just kidding),
installs where your big clock currently sits, and typically you would then
put a small 2 inch clock into the slot left of your radio. This arrangement
actually makes the most sense, by placing frequently referenced speedo and
tach conveniently in your line of vision, with large faces, while moving the
less-referenced clock away and making it smaller (less obtrusive), but
hardly inconvenient. Like the small tach, the large tach and small clock
can probably be found cheaply on ebay or a junkyard.

Either way, this leaves you still with one more unused slot next to your
radio. So many more gauges to choose from. You will have to confront this
life-threatening dilemma on your own...

Backing up to your mechanic's review and maintenance/repair list, I
recommend you flush your brake fluid, radiator fluid, and transmission
fluid, unless your mechanic can determine that these were done recently,
using top quality fluids. Replace the flame trap and have all of the
orifices into the throttle body cleaned, and the throttle body hoses
inspected/cleaned/replaced as needed. All of these items are pretty cheap,
and can prevent very expensive serious repairs. All the talk about gauges
is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, whereas these last few maintenance items are
not.

Ask your mechanic to inspect your radiator to see if it is the original
(with cheap, hard plastic tank and hose neck that often deteriorates and
cracks around 10 years). If original, ask his opinion about preemptive
replacement with an aftermarket metal hose neck radiator.

lenses?

 

Oil pressure and oil changes are two completely different things, you could
change your oil every 500 miles (every 4000 is plenty if you use good
filters) and if you lose pressure due to a faulty pump, bad seal, leak, etc)
the engine will still cook in short order. At the very least make sure the
idiot light comes on when you first turn on the key.

Depends very much on the climate, I've seen them get grody after 5-6 years
but usually they last 10-12, longer if the car has been garaged. Sunlight
contains a lot of UV which degrades plastic.

 

Yes particularly in the US, european lenses are expensive to import (though
cheaper than OEM plastic ones) so protection is a very good idea. I
installed RockIt film over my 740's lights, it's nearly invisible and I
haven't had a chip yet.

 

If you tried them you'd never go back, a lot of late model cars have similar
beam patterns. The high beams are better too, whenever I have friends along
I always get comments if I flip on the high beams.

She said she likes the big clock, fair enough, if it's an automatic you
don't really need the tach anyway.