http://www.brickboard.com/FORUMS/uid=33528 The Volvo owner's resource since 1997. en Copyright 1997-2009, Jarrod Stenberg Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:11 GMT Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:11 GMT brickadmin@denizen.net brickadmin@denizen.net volvo 1440 http://www.brickboard.com/images/logo_b_25.gif http://www.brickboard.com/ 25 25 The Volvo owner's resource since 1997. At low speeds, mostly noticable when I'm braking but also a bit while accelerating, in the under 10mpg (maybe under 5mph) speed range, I can hear a distinct noise coming from the back of the car. I can also hear it in reverse. I don't know yet whether it's the right or left side. It's sort of like two pieces of metal passing against each other, and sort of like the sound you get from a bottle that's catching the wind. I don't know anything about the mechanical aspects of suspension and axles and such, so any advice about what this could possibly be is appreciated. The sound just started a few days ago and may be getting slightly worse over time. Thanks again bricksters http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=993155&rss=1 Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:38 GMT All right. Thanks for all the advice everyone. It seems like the board is pretty split on this issue, with about half saying "go for it!," and the other half saying that it *could* be done but probably shouldn't. Since I try to avoid mayonnaise chomping as much as possible, I've decided that given the age of the car and my measly maintenance skills, it's probably just not a good idea to carry that much weight. If need be I could tow it instead. In answer to a few other questions- as soon as I get to California, I'll flush whatever fluids are left to be flushed: transmission fluid and differential fluid (?), I think. I'll also fix/replace that downshift cable. I'm a little afraid of doing it here and goofing something up, then being stranded just before the semester starts. Hope all goes well, just imagine me, stuck in the middle of the country, jetting along at 20mph for 2000 miles, stampeding cows and bicyclists passing me on either side. As for the overheating issue....as far as I can tell, both the thermostat and the temp. comp. board went bad at the same time. Replacing the thermostat fixed half the problem, the other half went away when I finally bypassed that board. P:) http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=992208&rss=1 Tue, 9 Aug 2005 19:44 GMT I'm in the odd position of quite possibly needing to drive my car from New York to California. At least, I need to get to SF, which is my home, and I've taken a liking to my 1990 240, which I had originally intended to sell at the end of this summer. So I have an offer to transport 900 lbs worth of records between the coasts, in exchange for $350, which under normal circumstances would almost cover gas between NY and CA. But, can my Volvo safely take this load? Will it kill my engine, drop my speed, decrease my gas mileage? Are there any ways to find quantitative answers to these questions? The car has about 170K on it. It's been reasonably well maintained, but enough things have gone wrong in the few months I've owned it that I am a little wary... Thanks again, bricksters... http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=991907&rss=1 Mon, 8 Aug 2005 22:31 GMT Hey all, Just a quick question about the shifting on my automatic 1990 240. This has only happened to me once, but what happens once can happen again. The day after driving my car 1200 miles on a 4-day road trip (thank you brickboard for helping me fix it up enough to do that), I drove it to work, about 25 miles on the highway, as usual. Just as I exited, a large, slow truck pulled out of a driveway in front of me, so I slowed down, hard, from 60mph to maybe 20mph. After the truck turned, I tried to speed up again. But the gears didn't shift. The noise from the engine just kept getting louder and louder, so I assumed the RPMs were beyond where they should be for the gear, and slowed down and limped to work at about 20mph. At lunch, just to experiment, with the car on but motionless, I tried manually shifting between park, reverse, neutral, drive, 1'st and 2'nd. Each shift resulted in a noticable thump and lurch of the car, each of which also made my heart thump and lurch. So after work I started limping home, at 20mph. I stopped for an errand, and again ran the car through all its gears, again noticing the lurches. Only at some point, the lurching stopped. When I pulled the car back onto the road, all was well (no shifting problems at all), and it's been fine since (2 weeks). Can anybody tell me what happened? I know I once saw a thread dealing with this subject on the brickboard, but as hard as I look I can't seem to find it again. I think it was a relatively simple repair, and I'd hate to get stranded far from home going 20mph just because I can't remember some very good advice. http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=991891&rss=1 Mon, 8 Aug 2005 22:01 GMT I just replaced the thermostat on my '90 240DL, flushed the radiator, and did my best to clean out the gills by hitting the radiator from the back with high pressure water. But, my car is still overheating. The symptoms are a little odd, which is why I'm posting again. Today I drove city streets for 30 minutes twice- no problem. I went out for the evening (city streets, 20 min.), no problem. I go home for the evening- big problems. When I come to a stop, one of two things happens. Either the temperature gauge drops to 6:30, or jets up to the 10 o'clock position. By far most of the time it goes high. I start driving again and the car cools down. Sounds like a fan clutch problem, right? To test this theory, I take it on the freeway. Highway speeds lead to immediate overheating, almost to the red. I get off the freeway, turn on the heat, and watch the gauge sink back to 9 o'clock. To get home, I get back on the freeway- and guess what, everything is almost fine until I get off, when it starts overheating again. I didn't see a leak in the water pump, though I don't know exactly what to look for. This was the first time I've ever flushed a radiator, I may not have done it perfectly. If I have a leak, it's very slow. To make things more confusing, the overheating was even worse (happened faster) before I flushed the system. I've noticed that the overheating is mostly associated with accelerating (ok, the car is working harder), and sitting still. What is going on with my car? Did I blow some electrical component? Should I flush the radiator again? You guys have been good to me so far. Thanks for the help, and have a good 4'th of July, Chris http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=979076&rss=1 Mon, 4 Jul 2005 03:24 GMT I just did the coolant on my '90 240 myself for the first time today. I had the same problem you did- got confused looking at that metal bar underneath the car that was exactly in the way of the lower radiator hose. I must have stared at that thing for at least 15 minutes trying to figure out why it was there and how I could take it off. I finally decided that its sole purpose is to make draining the radiator more difficult. Luckily, you can work around it. The easiest way to do this is probably to drain the engine block first by opening the stopcock. It's toward the back of the engine on the passenger side, and has a long nozzle where a mechanic would attach a tight-fitting hose. You can use a simple length of garden hose loosely fitted over the nozzle to lead to your drain pan below. You will need a #13 wrench for the bolt, which should loosen fairly easily. Let this drain out completely- it will take a few minutes. You don't need to completely remove the stopcock, just turn it enough to open it. In the meantime, accquaint yourself with the reserve tank. It's the white plastic thing probably filled with green fluid (coolant) next the the white plastic thing filled with blue fluid (windshield wiper fluid). Unlike other cars you may have encountered, you add water to the reserve tank, not the radiator itself. I did this procedure backwards from what I am describing to you, so it's very possible that after draining the engine block, there will be no coolant left in the reserve tank. However, if there is, you will need to drain it. First, loosen the metal piece that secures the reserve tank to the car. Remove the top hose from the tank. Tilt the tank so all the fluid drains. Then drain the fluid from the hose that is attached to the bottom of the tank. When you remove this hose, be sure you hold it up so coolant doesn't spill everywhere. Then direct the flow into your drainpan below the car. Again, you may get to skip this step if you drain the engine block first. The last step is to detach the bottom hose from the radiator and drain that as well. I used a large funnel to direct the spill, but yes, some fluid did end up on that metal bar below the car. To flush the system: reattach all your hoses and tighten the stopcock. Fill the system with water by adding it to the reserve tank. Run the car for a while (5-10 minutes?). Make sure the heater is fully open. Keep your eye on the temperature gauge and check for leaks. Wait until the system has cooled down, then repeat the drainage procedure. Refill again with 50/50 coolant solution and you are good to go. Incidentally, you may develop an air pocket in the upper radiator hose that leads to the engine. You will know this has happened if the engine heats up but the hose does not. To get rid of the air- squeeze the hose a few times with your hands. The hose should get hot. As for getting the dead bugs out of the radiator- i blasted mine from the engine side with a garden hose. I suspect compressed air would be better, it has less potential to damage electrical components. It will be easier if you remove the fan shroud (unfasten the 2 rusted screws at the top of the black plastic thing that surrounds the fan). Good luck. Chris As I work on this car, I am slowly learning three things: 1. What I can fix myself, 2. What I can't fix myself, and 3. What I don't want to fix myself. Changing the coolant may fall into category 3. http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=978831&rss=1 Sun, 3 Jul 2005 05:10 GMT Mark, It makes intuitive sense to me that the fan should turn easier when hot than when cold, but it's the opposite of what the Haynes manual and another thread on this board says. However, I'm glad to hear that you also think it's not likely to be (just) the fan clutch. http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=977583&rss=1 Wed, 29 Jun 2005 15:20 GMT So here's the story. My 1990 240 DL is overheating into the red. This usally starts after freeway driving several miles at about 60mph, or spending 20-30 minutes on city streets. Turning on the heat and driving moderately (45-50mph)solves the problem. Once it has started overheating on the freeway, it gets worse when I get stuck in stop-and-go. The fan spins freely while hot, but has resistance while cold, so I'm assuming that the clutch is bad. My question is, since the car doesn't really cool down while driving at freeway speeds, is the fan clutch my only problem? Or do I need to look farther? Could these symptoms be a combination of fan clutch, dirty radiator, bad thermostat, or water pump? The coolant level is full, and if there is a leak it's a very slow one. Thanks for the advice. -Chris http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=977560&rss=1 Wed, 29 Jun 2005 14:10 GMT Having just fixed my own car, which had all the symptoms you described (shaking, poor fuel mileage, running rich, stench from the exhaust, etc), I would highly suspect the fuel pressure regulator. Pull off the line and see if you smell gas. If you do, then that's probably your problem. Admittedly my car is a 1990 240, but I bet it's similar. My O2 senor was also bad, and the throttle body needed to be cleaned. So be sure to check those too. http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=977539&rss=1 Wed, 29 Jun 2005 13:26 GMT Thanks to everyone on the board who helped me diagnose and fix my car. Turns out it needed a new fuel pressure regulator and O2 sensor, as well as a few other minor fixes. I would have spent a lot of money on unnecessary repairs without all the suggestions from everyone. I want to especially thank Tony, who by sheer chance lives in my neighborhood and generously spent 2 hours working with me on my car, teaching me the locations of parts and what to look for in fixing it. Without him I would have been dead in the water. http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=977427&rss=1 Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:50 GMT Thanks for all your help, you guys are great. I managed to find and fix my flame trap today. Unfortunately it was in relatively good condition so my emissions problems must be coming from something else. I'm going to go ahead and replace the O2 sensor and the cat, since my readings were very high. HC: 3.97 (pass = 0.8) CO: 157.67 (pass = 15.00) NoX: 0.41 (passed! pass = 0.41) The car also eats gas (15 mpg when I baby it), and has a noticable shake especially when I'm stopped. I noticed today that one of the fuel lines was loose, but clamping it didn't seem to fix any of the symptoms. I don't think my car has an EGR. I believe if did it I would have a metal pipe coming off the intake manifold. Instead, it just has a circle where a hole could easily be punched for a pipe. Still, if anyone knows where I could find a picture of a 240 engine with an EGR, I'd appreciate it. I'll let you know how things go when I install the new parts. http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=972995&rss=1 Fri, 17 Jun 2005 02:44 GMT Howdy, I'm still new to my 1990 240 DL, and I'm just learning its ropes. It's fun to work on a car with so much space under the hood, and it's great that there's such a big community of fellow Volvo owners out there. I've read everything I could find on this site and the internet, but am still left with a few questions. I've even got the Haynes manual, but it doesn't really show my engine type. Can any other 1990 240 DL owner out there help me figure out exactly where my flame trap is, and what it looks like? I'm sure I need to clean/replace it, but I'm afraid I'll rip out the wrong hose and destroy something I shouldn't. What about cleaning the throttle body? What is that, and how do I do it? Someone here said that's good to do at the same as the flame trap, but I'm not sure how. Also, how do I know if my engine has an EGR? I don't think it does, but anything is possible at this point. In 1990 they appear to have made engines "with" and "without." My car failed emmissions horrible, and I'm guessing fixing the flame trap along with replacintg the O2 sensor will make it ok (NOX is fine, just high CO and HC), but any other suggestions are appreciated. http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=972481&rss=1 Wed, 15 Jun 2005 22:37 GMT Use the text input below to search brickboard.com query http://www.brickboard.com/FIND/