OHH yeah- one other thing- where is the OD relay? and I assume it is the same relay used through 93 940? i have a couple untested spares, but I am pretty sure they are from 700/900's at the JY, as I did not pull many parts from 240's.

The speedo changed between 85 and 86. All 86-93 cars have more or less the same system, though they changed some items in the cluster and rear end pickup as features changed: added Check Engine lights, SRS lights, ABS lights, and changed the counts from the rear axle tone ring on 91, 92, 93 cars with ABS.

Anyway... intermittent could mean a poor connection on the back of the speedo, a crack or otherwise damaged circuit board for the cluster, or a bad connection in the cargo area or axle plug.

Try the cargo area first, it's easiest to get at. Under the forward panel of the floor there's a grey harness going into a plate in the floor and to the left, should be a plug for it. After doing a fuel pump once, I made my speedo die. Turned out the plug just wasn't quite plugged in.

The connector on the back of the speedo itself is a 3-pin edge connector turned on its side. It can make poor contact. Make sure it's fully seated.

If you have to take the cluster out, just inspect everything, and be aware that speedos are sort of fragile in these cars- but junkyard examples are common enough, you should be able to find a spare cheap. 86-88 ought to work fine for you.

Good luck with it!
--
::: Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244 ::: 90 745GL ::: 90 745T ::: 84 242DL ::: 90 745T Parts ::: Used to have : 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 91 244, 88 244GL, 88 744GLE, 82 245T, 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 245DL, 89 244DL!

Regarding the defroster - That is a normally-closed valve, so you have to have good vacuum in the heater control system in order for the defroster to work.

At the highest point of your intake manifold, there is a tap that points toward the passenger side of the car. There is a check valve plugged on there that feeds vacuum to a very small diameter hose. The hose feeds through your firewall to a vacuum canister about the size of a softball right above the transmission hump, easily accessible if you remove the cover from next to the passenger's left leg.

Start by removing the check valve. It should easily flow air one direction and close tight in the other direction. If it does not work, try washing it in hot soapy dish water before buying a new one. I have cleaned several and never bought one.

If that does not fix the problem, make sure the vacuum hose is intact all the way to the vacuum canister under the dash.

If that does not fix the problem, remove the glove box. The diaphragm that actuates the defroster is in that opening and to the left. It should be air tight and not binding.

If it still does not work, check the connections from the heater control to the vacuum canister and to the actuator. I have never had to go that far.

If you cannot find the problem, wire it open at the actuator so that you have defrost all the time. I had to do that once to keep the windshield clear on a trip home from Seattle, until I got around to fixing it.

"the defrost doesn't. heat blows everywhere except up on the windsheild."

Look under the hood, rear half of valve cover. There should be a small vacuum line crossing the valve cover that goes to a connection on the intake manifold. The vacuum hose might be cracked or have fallen off because of engine heat. That is common and causes a "no defrost" condition. It's an easy fix. Just clip a half-inch off the line and hook it back up. The Volvo dealer once charged my friend over $100 to do this one-minute job.
--
Thanks for all the help. DougC 1981 242, Turbo bars and wheels, M46 ----------- 1993 245, B230 NA L-Block, M46, Turbo bars.

87 has an electronic speedo...driven from sensor in rear. check connection/wiring at differential. Also if one of the previous owners has removed the instrument cluster the connector at the speedo head may be loose. .

A test for vacuum to the "motors" that move the defrost flaps: In a quiet place.

Start motor to build up vaccum. Shut off engine, push in DEF button and listen for the flaps to move. If you don't hear movement but hear a hiss then the hoses might be be leaking or off. All the hoses go to the buttons in the center console, if the console has been removed by a PrevOwner, one of the hoses may be off. Before you go there though, remove the felt knee panels under the dash and repeat the proceedure with both the DEF and the FLOOR buttons while looking under to see what actually goes on with the "vaccum motors". The ones for the floor are easy to see.


Why oh why don't they make 240s anymore :(
75 245(RIP), 80 244 M45 227K, 87 245 M47 172K

Congrats on your mom's new car.

First, re: "...am wondering. It has heated seats. I read that this may mean a locking diff. Is this true?..."

No, it isn't true. Heated seats were a factory option, whereas the limited-slip or locking differential (these are different, but lots of folks use the terms interchangeably) were strictly dealer installed, so you can have one without the other! They aren't related in any way, except perhaps that they're both more likely to be found in colder climates. Even in the coldest markets, the LSD is exceedingly rare.
The easiest ways to find out if you have it, though, is to either:
1) jack up the rear far enough to see if there's be a tag installed that states that the diff has been installed (important because it requires a special additive for the fluid).
2) jack up both sides of the rear and by hand turn one wheel. If the other wheel spins the opposite way, it's an ordinary open diff; if it spins the same way (i.e., both spin forward, or both spin reverse) it's a LSD.

re: "...the defrost doesn't. heat blows everywhere except up on the windsheild [sic]...."

Because you say that the other controls still work, it sounds like the vacuum "motor" (I love this term -- it's really a bellows activated by vacuum) isn't moving the flap, either because the motor itself is damaged, or the flap is jammed, or the actuater (a multiple valve body) isn't directing the vacuum to the line to the motor.

re: "...the speedo is bouncy-intermittent. I am pretty sure that this is an electronic unit?..."

I'm not sure because I'm not familiar with the '87 models. I have an '84 and a '93, so I only know that sometime between the two, they went to an electronic speedo. One of the easiest ways to tell is to look at the diff -- if you see a wire coming out of it, it's electronic. Or, you could look for the traditional speedo cable extending up from the bottom of the car (near the exhaust downpipe) and lying across the firewall to lead through it to the speedometer -- if you can't find it, it may be electronic.

Usually, though, a bouncing speedo needle is a mechanical problem (loose or failing speedometer cable) on a mechanical (not electronic) unit. I just fixed this in my old '84 by simply replacing the cable.

Regards,