caring about a volvo 262c bertone

Hello!

I'm a new member of the group and a new owner of a volvo 262. I'd like
to ask a few questions about maintenance and other stuff to more
experienced owners of this car.

So, the car I bought is a '78 model from sweden. automatic gearbox, all
equipment original, all looks great and new. i've read on the forums a
few 'problem' issues with this car. namely, the camshaft wear on the
engine, the rusting so forth. i intend to preserve this car in a good
condition (as it was bought) and therefore am asking for tips on the
routine maintenance on the car as well as some suggested improvement on
it.

about the camshafts- is regular oiling enough? how often should that be
done? what oil should be used/is absolutely neccessary - synthetic or
is mineral enough? i read about improved oiling on the engine by
creating additional leaks into the engine. what exactly is done? how
difficult/expensive is that to do? are there any trade- offs for this?

sorry about a dumb question - what routine jobs can be done to prevent
rust before it hits the car? (i do intend to drive in rain, snow) i
mean, currently its rust-free (the previous owner has been caring) and
i'd like to stick to that.

any other suggested 'improvement jobs' on anything on the vehicle?

a few quesitons on the usage:

doesn't this model include a fog light? i have had a 240 before and
they all had, when bough this car i didn't pay attention; however now i
discover that there is no switch. on the switchboard there are to
switches for windows, two for seat heating, one for airconditioning,
one for hazard and one key for regulating the light on the speedometer
panel, but none for foglight!

dumb question again - when i read it's a vinyl roof, i thought it would
be vinly like the long players, but to me it looks like leather. it
maybe vinyl under it, but why is it called vinyl then? could it be that
it should have been vinyl but now it's covered with leather? could it
be that the material i think is leather, is actually vinyl? any other
explanation? i don't have another car to compare to.

what is the switch left of the steering wheel on 'the part that hold
the steering wheel' (don't know how it's called) for?

the lighting of the saloon - how do you change from that 'pointer-
light' to the 'normal' light?


sorry for being so long. if anyone is kind to answer anything of this.
i'd greatly appreciate that.

regards,

Ingars

 

Hi, Ingars.
For preserving your engine, you should change oil every 5000km..
You should use synthetic oil, and one with viscocity (not very thick oil!).
The thing, is that the oil-canals inside the engine, are very tiny and
therefore might get clogged.
Then the camaxle wont get enough lubrication and therefore wear out excessivly.

If the engine fails, you can think about fitting the b280 instead, as that's an
improved version, but still a v6, so it wont be a "fake child".
As for the rust: wash it often in winter, fix chipped paint, etc.

Some places on the 240's rust more than others:
spare wheel whells, also the "canals" (beneath the doors, you have to open and
spray with techtyl made for body of the car.. very sticky stuff).. Also
remember to keep the paint in good condition, dont wax it in sunshine, but wax
in the shades..

Congrats with a classy ride!

sincerely,
Olav

 

AFAIK the camshaft trouble was caused by a series of camshafts which had
the asymmetric profile ground on backwards. This type of problem should
show up early in the engine's life

 

Then I would say you are misinformed.
I had a 265 first with B27E which I replaced with a B28E. The B27,
regardless of A or E model, definitely had insufficient lubrication on the
camshaft which was improved on the B28. Furthermore the problems on the B27
was made worse by Volvos service recommendations, 15000 km, whereas changing
oil every 5000 km improves the lifespan of the camshafts.

Johan Plane
Uppsala, Sweden

 

The unofficial factory excuse for the camshaft/rocker/rockershaft
problem, was to blame everyone but the designers. The B27-28 motors are
98% Renault and 2% Volvo. Originally designed as a V8 in 1974 it was
shortened to the 90* uneven fire V6 design an introduced in the European
market, I believe in 1975. Volvo was expanding rapidly and spent time
investigating the production of P200 chassis cars in the US in
Chesapeake, VA.

The uneven fire characteristics, mainly rough idle, of the motor were as
immediately unpopular with the American market as was the first uneven
fire Buick V6 in 1962. American mechanics thought that a proven bad idea
from years before was a joke. The US version with the twin plenum CI
injection was miserable to work on. The plumbing was atrocious, with the
ignition layout not far behind. The French idea of using oil pressure to
tension the skinny little timing chain proved to be a bad idea as well.
Whenever the motor is started there is a delay in oil reaching the top
of the motor since the cam delivery galley drained back through the
tensioner channel.

Since 1976 was a heavy production year, it lasted from the August
changeover in 1975 until May or June of 1977, the ability to provide
parts from various vendors was stressed to the max. In order to acquire
enough camshafts and rockers, it seemed anyone who could grind cams or
cast rockers was tapped to provide them. Hence an inconsistency in the
metallurgy among suppliers and among parts led to the initial rash of
premature camshaft failures. By 1982 the camshaft problem was
essentially solved.

By the time the B280 arrived nearly all the oiling and heat dissipation
problems had been addressed and cured as well as the development of the
offset crank journals that allowed an even firing motor. Volvo
redesigned the heads with a taller internal baffle to retain more oil
around the cam shaft when the motor was stopped. This also helped
conduct heat away from the rockers and the cam to stop the oil from
smoking and coking under the valve covers. The LH injection stopped the
overinjection of fuel during warmup that showed up as severe to moderate
fuel dilution in as few as 3000 miles. With the service interval at 7500
miles the oil was inadequate as a lubricant by less then half the
recommended oil changing distance. Couple that with mechanics
enrichening the idle mixture to help smooth the idle and it became no
surprise that the cams suffered an early demise. Credit the French with
buiding a bottom end that was unbelievably stout and seldom failed. Most
likely due to the motor's design used in the 2.4L turbo configuration in
the group 6 Alpine prototype cars and the continued development in the
Renault chassis F1 1.5L turbo iron block versions (the iron block was
identical to the aluminum block, it's just that the engine was a sressed
member in the F1 chassis and the aluminum block simply wasn't rigid
enough to handle the loads of the rear suspension and drive train).

Bob

 

To minimize rust, keep it washed and waxed.

Use the hose to regularly flush accumulated dirt and grit from the
wheel well / fender area, and make sure all drains are free running.

 

thanks a lot for the tips.

still curious about the vinyl roof and the foglight, though - could
anyone please comment?

 

1. Vinyl roof. It's leather look-alike but it is vinyl = plastic. Should
be treated with cleaner/conditioner for vinyl, no waxing and avoid high
water pressures when washing car.

2. Foglight. At least on the european cars, there were no foglights
whatsoever as standard, but could be ordered as extra. The wiring for rear
foglights is already there. I beleive the reason why they omitted
foglights in the front was that the space where they would have been
fitted, i.e. in the front spoiler, was occupied with ventilation slots
necessary to pass air to front brake disks.

Johan

 

thanks, Johan

that satisfies my interest