Electrical issues?

Hopped in my '74 144 to go to class this morning and the AMP idiot light
kept glowing . I went around the block and noticed that the gas guage wasn't
registering and the tach wasn't functioning. I took my truck to school and
started pondering the finer points of alternator replacement. After 5 hours
of math I came home and started it up. Problem gone! Now I suspect that the
alternator is good after all but I don't have proper testing tools. Anyone
have any advice on where/how to start troubleshooting?

 

I'd start with the fuses behind the center console. Remove the two
quarter-turn fasteners holding the console in place, then go across
the fuseblock taking out a fuse, cleaning the ends with steel wool
or fine sandpaper; clean the dimples in the clips with a small eraser
or fine sandpaper; apply dielectric grease to both clips, reinstall
fuse, and repeat.

The color of the fuses indicates the current rating, so don't swap
them around.

It was amazing how many little gremlins went away when I did this.


Gary

 

Hi "b4_ford",

Regarding your fuses, I hope you haven't yet started to take the centre
console apart ......... In my '74 142 & 145, the fuses were located on the
side panel just ahead of the driver's door (Left-hand front door) under a
plastic cover. They were in the same location in my '86 245 and incredibly
STILL there in my '93 245 Classic. The old saying "The more things change,
the more they remain the same" sure applies to the Volvo 140/240 series! and
for that we should, perhaps, be eternally grateful. There's another saying
which applies here, a Scottish one: "Better the De'il you know than the
De'il you don't know!" (De'il = Devil)

Gary's advice about dealing with the fuses and fuse holders is right on.
These repeatedly give trouble in the 140/240 series. In addition to doing
Gary's thing, sometimes at the roadside in the dead of night............. I
have finally resorted to scrapping all the fuses with grey metal ends,
replacing them the brass/copper ended type. The snag is Volvo dealers don't
stock the latter type. I found that suppliers of VW parts do, and no doubt
other Auto Supply outfits.

Rightly or wrongly, I've convinced myself that "Galvanic Action" is the
culprit (the reaction between dissimilar metals such as the brass contact
clips and the zinc fuse ends) causing corrosion.

Good Luck.
Andy I

| In article <>,
| >Hopped in my '74 144 to go to class this morning and the AMP idiot light
| >kept glowing . I went around the block and noticed that the gas guage
wasn't
| >registering and the tach wasn't functioning. I took my truck to school
and
| >started pondering the finer points of alternator replacement. After 5
hours
| >of math I came home and started it up. Problem gone! Now I suspect that
the
| >alternator is good after all but I don't have proper testing tools.
Anyone
| >have any advice on where/how to start troubleshooting?
|
| I'd start with the fuses behind the center console. Remove the two
| quarter-turn fasteners holding the console in place, then go across
| the fuseblock taking out a fuse, cleaning the ends with steel wool
| or fine sandpaper; clean the dimples in the clips with a small eraser
| or fine sandpaper; apply dielectric grease to both clips, reinstall
| fuse, and repeat.
|
| The color of the fuses indicates the current rating, so don't swap
| them around.
|
| It was amazing how many little gremlins went away when I did this.
|
|
| Gary
|
| --
| Gary Heston
| Did you hear about the people caught falsely advertising
| Star Wars memorabilia?
| They were charged with Bait and Sith.

 

Must be one of the things they moved with the '73 model; in my '72 145,
they're behind the console.

Open console/remove side panel cover, go across the block giving each
fuse a 1/4 twist back and forth a couple of times, replace console/cover,
resume driving...

[ ... ]

Now that's a good thing--I wasn't aware that they were available with
brass or copper ends. The tin plated ones corrode way too easily. I'll
have to find some and swap mine out.


Gary

 

"Must be one of the things they moved with the '73 model; in my '72 145,
they're behind the console."

Hi Gary,

You might be interested in this (from the "Green Book", factory service
manual for 1967 140 series):

**The fuses are grouped in a fuse box attached to a bracket mounted on the
heater element below the dashboard.**

So, right from the start (1967), the location was like your 1972; but the
1974 Green Book for the 140 series says:

** The fuses are in a fusebox, which is located next to the left fresh air
vent.**

I sure miss that "fresh air vent" in my '93 245 Classic!!
Andy I.

 

The fuses moved starting with the '73 models from a nice protected place
where corrosion problems were minimal to a spot where the corrosion
problems were almost maximized (under the hood would have been worse).

I had a similar problem to the original poster in my '71 - the
alternator was working but the amp light would stay on, the fuel and
temp gauge wouldn't work when the car was cold - after warmup all was
fine. The problem turned out to be corrosion at the connector between
the wiring harness and dash cluster.


--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)