I’d been wanting to fix my small clock for almost 2 years now but it was one of those things I kept putting off. The clock stops running at temps under ~50°F as I understand due to 2 old dried out capacitors. I purchased the capacitors from allelectronics.com 2 years ago along with some other components that I intended to use to retro-fit keyless entry to my 940. Anyway, the caps you need are 100uF 16V electrolytic (can style). Available at radioshack as well…

I thought I'd post my experience of fixing the clock while watching PBS.

*The most difficult, well, tedious part of the job was de-crimping the face ring on the clock. I just used a high –quality small blade screw driver and found a spot to wedge it under the crimp and the carefully worked my way all the way around. A little more finagling and the face will come off more or less intact.

*Remove the 2 screw from the back of the clock.

*Next you need to de-solder the ground connection to the case. You can see the connection on the back of the case: you’ll see large solder bubble surrounded by a small brass ring. Place the clock upside down, put a little pressure on the +12V terminal and then melt the solder bubble. The clock body should fall right out of the case.

*The two can-style capacitors on the clock are easy to locate. I found them easiest to remove by applying the iron to the joint and then pressing on the terminal w/ a screwdriver as opposed to pulling on the capacitor body.

*Almost done now. Install the new capacitors paying careful attention to polarity. Both the capacitor and the circuit board are marked. Apply the iron to the joint for a second or two and then flow a dab of solder into the joint… not the iron tip.

Now is a good time to test the clock if you have access to a 12vdc power supply.

Reassembly is pretty simple. Just make sure you force the clock firmly back up into the case when you are re-soldering the ground connection. I used thin piece of wood to protect the clock face as I gently re-crimped the ring with a needle-nose pliers. You dont need to re-crimp the entire thing, just in a few spots.

This tutorial would obviously be a lot better with pictures but I don't have capabilities or just haven’t taken the time to figure out how to attach or post them. I hope this helps somebody be on time!

Matt

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'90 245 244k, '93 945 225k

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This thread inspired me to redo the repair I did to the small clock. It turns out one of the cheap Radio Shack caps died (it was swelled up). Closest value cap I had was some 330mf 16v caps in my collection (of computer monitor fixing) caps. I soldered them in and it is working fine again. I checked it this morning and right on time. Be sure you install them in the correct polarity. The arrow stripe and neg symbol should be noted on the cap. The + is noted on the circuit board.
Charles

Great writeup!

Be sure to trim off the 'pigtails' on the capacitors you installed. Otherwise they will short out on the can housing when you install it and the clock will stop working very quickly. Finding that error took me longer than I care to admit.

Illumination:
I put in a a bright white LED from Radio Shack. I was very happy with that - it was far brighter than the original mini-mini bulb - but after about two years the LED failed. Not being that much of an electronics person I'm not sure whether to blame the part and its source or another cause - and I haven't taken the time to remove the clock to troubleshoot it.

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Sven: '89 245 NA, 951 ECU, expanded air dam, forward belly pan reaches oem belly pan, airbox heater upgraded, E-fan, 205/65-15 at 50 psi, IPD sways, no a/c-p/s belt, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors, aero front face, quad horns, tach, small clock.

The LED probably failed from overheating. LEDs need a current limiting resistor or they will burn out prematurely, unlike incandescent bulbs. I don't know how much space is in the small clock, but it might be possible to fit a resistor in sometimes conversions like that take a little bit of fancy soldering.

Check out http://www.superbrightleds.com/led_info.htm for more info and a handy calculator for resistor value. They also have a fairly large selection of drop-in replacement automotive LED bulbs. I'm not affiliated with them at all, I just like their info page.

Nicely done! Now... does this have any bearing on fixing what to me is the "large" clock? On my '92, the clock is to the immediate left of the speedo, and the same size. I leave it set at 6:30 because I KNOW by then I should be home from work...but it'd be nice to see it move on it's own steam. Anyone?

Thanks..

Barry

Only one cap in the large clock and it is a high quality Philips cap.
Charles

Some of the old large clocks have two caps. The large clocks are a heck of a lot easier to get into. Just the one tab on the back needs to be desoldered.







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Art Benstein near Baltimore

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

Yes. My large clock used to always stop when the temps dipped below 50F. The fix is to replace the capacitor(s) in the clock. I did this many years ago and it has been working perfectly since. I believe I used this post to do my repairs:
http://www.brickboard.com/ARCHIVES/1998AUG/20008992.shtml
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Mike F - 1984 244 DL - 296,000 miles
Original engine, transmission, drive train, starter
Undergoing reconstructive surgery with POR-15

Tell me about yuor POR15 resto work. I dabbled with that stuff a while back but would like to touch up a few spots on my current driver.

THanks,

Matt

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'90 245 244k, '93 945 225k

Hey Matt.

I've used a combination of POR-15 and new sheet metal to rebuild large holes in my car's floor and the rear wheel-wells. Right now I'm playing catchup on more superficial spots.

What I do is remove as much weak and loose metal as possible. Then I clean the heck out of all surfaces that will receive the paint using a cleaner that POR-15 sells and recommends. Then I either use their clear sealant paint to cover the rusted areas or I brush on their POR-Patch, which is a thicker version of the paint, on smaller areas.

If it's a hole that I'm rebuilding, I'll either place some epoxy putty over the hole (while the POR-15 is not fully cured but tacky so the putty holds in place), or screw or rivet fresh steel in place.

And about that fresh steel...it needs to be treated with something called Metal Ready which etches fresh, smooth steel and places a coating of zinc phosphate on it. Much like primer, it gives the POR paint something to grab onto.

Once that cures after a week or so, I seal any seams or edges with POR Patch. Then I prime and paint if it's on the outside of the car, or top-coat it with their undercoating.

Overall, I've been pleased with the stuff. It works well if you follow the directions. And without it, my car would have been scrapped years ago.

I hope this helps; let me know if you have any questions!
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Mike F - 1984 244 DL - 296,000 miles
Original engine, transmission, drive train, starter
Undergoing reconstructive surgery with POR-15

hmmm, dunno, I have a large clock at home but it works.... if you see any capacitors on it you could change them out for sport and see what happens. I've always wanted to come up with some kind of enclosure for the large clock, hook up a 12vdc transformer from one of the kids toys and make a sweet desk clock.

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'90 245 244k, '93 945 225k

Matt82dl--your post has inspired me to dig out the box of dead Volvo clocks I've amassed and see what I can make of them. And I'd like to pass along a little joke I've developed that any driver of an early 240 might relate to--given the loudness of the clock ticking. I like to mention the similarities between my 1980 245DL and a 1960's vintage Rolls-Royce. Back in the day, RR ran an ad campaign touting their cars quietness--the claim--"at 60mph the loudest noise is the ticking of the clock" ---well, big deal--my 245 does that too! -- Dave

I did Arts slice the clock open repair. How he managed to get the cut that straight still makes me shake my head. Mine was "keyed" you just had to match up the edges.

Two great truths about the small clock.

1. Once you change the capacitors it will keep very accurate time.

2. At night you will not be able to see what time it is without looking at it really hard.

Regards,

Paul

Hey Paul,

If I do any more opening of clocks or other gauges, I do it the way Matt did it. Bob Wennerstrom remarked on this once with convincing advice reminding us the wrinkled metal from uncrimping the face is well concealed by the plastic bezel. Unfortunately, the photos seem to live forever.

Matt's write-up is excellent!

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Art Benstein near Baltimore

What did 'cured' ham actually have?

What a concept! A working clock on a Volvo, or any car for that matter. I'm going to try it. Thanks for the write-up.!

Did this on mine about a year ago. It hasn't missed a beat since. Cost me about 3 bucks and about an hour.

Nice write-up. I should do this too, while watching PBS!
But I'm really curious as to what you got which you can use to make a keyless entry.?
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84 242Ti IPD bars&springs, 89 745 16v M46 IPD bars, 89 744 16v M46 IPD bars, 93 945 Turbo AW71, 91 245SE AW70 IPD bars, 93 245 CLassic M47

I came a cross a write-up on it a while back but cant seem to locate it at the moment.

JC whitney sells a generic key fob system. You place the control unit under the dash, fish some wires out to the door where you install a solenoid actuator and conencting rod up to the door lock.

Actuating the key fob, sends a pulse to the solenoid actuator which actuates the drivers door which... actuates all the locks.

I'll post the write-up if I find it or post my own writeup some day.




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'90 245 244k, '93 945 225k

I have that keyless setup system from JCwhitney on my 90 240DL.You will also need a power door lock motor and rod for the drivers side.You can then tap the power wires off the rear left door lock motor.It is pretty straight forward.You can also set it up to unluck just the trunk but I did not do this.Worked great.The only bummer part now is that the central locking control that wraps around the door lock cylinder stopped working.So when I'm in the car and need to lock the doors I have to use the key fob.The doors won't lock using the door knob.Too lazy to change it.

If both key and knob stopped working, the fault is more likely to be in the wiring, because those are separate switches. One place the wiring dies is in the door jamb, right where you had to fish the new wires for the driver's door actuator. The copper can be broken inside the insulation from being flexed for years. If both lock and unlock functions got lost, it is probably the black (ground) wire.

I've installed a half-dozen JC Whitney keyless products in 240s. The cheapest of the cheap - most of them were $30 IC Dynamics.


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Art Benstein near Baltimore

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Art, when you installed the keyless system did you also have it so that you can unlock the trunk seperaely? How?Thanks,
Nelson

Hi Nelson,

On our 89, 90, and 91 sedans the trunk works along with the doors, just as it does when you use the keyswitch or button. It doesn't "pop" the trunk or anything like that, and the valet feature which, frankly I don't have a use for and would have to read up on, would work no differently after installing the keyless. The wagon hatch works just like another door.

However, on our older (pre-86) 240's, the electric trunk latch is optional and not tied to the door locks. One 83 has a button in the glove box, and I have removed the motor from a junk yard car to do the same in another car if I ever get around to it. The three-button key fobs have that function available, but I haven't used it. I wired one "third button" to the interior lights, but that proved to be a waste of time. Although this keeps Matt's good thread at the top of the index, we really should take the keyless entry subject to a new thread, and post year/model information.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

If money doesn't grow on trees, then why do banks have branches?