Oh, another thing:

I know there's a battery/alt light on the dash that works, and yet it was an SRS light that glowed before they were standed. The car doesn't have airbags. Any thoughts as to why the alt light wouldn't glow and the SRS light would?

Hi again,

Well, my son's car is now in the capable hands of AAA, half a state away, with a dead electrical system -- most likely the alternator. I had alerted my son to an alternator belt issue while he was here. The alt pulley wasn't quite in line with the crank pulley, and the alt belts were somewhat loose. I wanted to adjust the tension for him, but (1) we were out of time, (2) there appeared to be a busted tensioner, (3) I felt the belts would last the trip back home, and (4) I felt that the mechanic who did the alt installation a short while ago could correct his work. So I sent my son on his way with a can of belt dressing. I don't know whether the belts failed or whether the alternator itself failed. I suspect the latter, but I'm waiting for a phone call.

QUESTIONS:

1. As I said, it appeared the tensioner was busted. There is a long, threaded rod, approx. M6, if memory serves, immediately adjacent to the alternator pulley. I could not see it very well in the dark, but I KNOW there was no hex head on either end. Perhaps it was broken off? Do I presume correctly that this screw is used to turn the alternator on its mount to tension the belts?

2. I also noted a slow coolant leak and couldn't determine whether it was the lower radiator hose connection to the water pump or the water pump itself. The front of the engine was a bit wet, and I could see a drop of semi-dried, green coolant. Perhaps coolant was leaking into/onto the alternator, causing it to fail? Is this a common failure mode?

I told my son to address both issues after getting home, but unfortunately he didn't make it there. :-(

Any advice would be appreciated. I think I will spare my novice mechanic/son the trauma of encouraging him to replace his own alternator at the local AZ, and I'll probably spring for the work to be done by a mechanic there. However, it would be great to be able to tell my son what to look for and what to ask, in order to make certain the problem is fixed right.

Thanks, guys! I appreciate your help! I have the boys patched back together with the critical items addressed. They'll be driving through snow, but at least the brakes are right now, and they have new tires (credit to my son, who bought them 2 mo ago).

1. Brake Failure light. It turns out it was the switch in the proportioning valve that had triggered. There's something wrong with the switch itself, and we'll have to replace it on the next trip, but we've been over the brakes from front to back and are confident everything is right. In the process, we replaced the rear rotors (awfully thin) and resurfaced the fronts. (I had the tire shop do this. They had all the rotors off anyway to replace all the studs, which were in pretty bad shape from the crazy overtorquing by the other shop -- the work all being billed to the other shop.)

2. Oil change: I took your advice and left the varnish there. I've used motor flush semi-irregularly on many vehicles and have never had an issue, but I keep getting warned about this practice. As the vehicle wouldn't be staying in my hands, I opted for conservatism. What I did do was to use Chevron Delo (a diesel formulation very high in detergent). I have an old 280Z that was a BBQ grill inside the engine when I bought it, and I've been slowly working on it with Delo. It's almost sparkly inside now. I also used the premium Bosch filter on it. I reset the service light and told my son to do that with every oil change. I told him if it ever glows at him, it means he went too long (5000 mi, as I recall) on his current change of oil.

3. Bulb out: It turned out to be the righthand tail light assembly. The plug connector had gotten crusty. A bit of dielectric grease and a bit of "working" the connections was all that was needed.

4. Humungous rust hole: My son says he knows somebody who can do a quick weld job. If he doesn't, I do. I told him to paint it with a rattle can to keep it from rusting further.

All in all, I'm surprised how well the engine runs, considering its total neglect. The CEL was on when I first saw it, but the ECU gave me no codes when I tried to read them (only "111", which I realize isn't a real code), and the CEL then went out, never to return.

I also cleaned his MAF sensor, replaced the air filter, unclogged his windshield washer nozzles, and probably other stuff. Soooo... I think he's good for the time being. On his next trip, we'll worry about new shocks (rather worn) and a marginal tie rod end.

I probably won't be an active part of this list. Instead, I'll encourage my son to join. I'm very proud of him that he seems to want to put the car straight and learn to do things the right way. I've actually promised him my '92 Saturn, which is in much, much better condition, but he's going to hang with the battlewagon for a while longer. I have to say that when he and his stepbrother rolled out of the driveway in that ragged machine, I felt rather confident of their safety, even with the humungous rust hole.

Thanks again, guys! :-)

Hi Sarah,
I am trying to talk my 24yr old stepson and soon 16 yr old son to drive 240s, so I think you have already made great progress!

I concur with the messages so far, but thought I would add a few notes of personal experience. I bought by 1991 245 fro $300 six years ago, thus saving it from some years of neglect in rusty New England. It had 167,000 miles on it then I have just added another 100,000. I have spent practically the bare minimum in repairs.

When I can't find a failed bulb sometimes removing them, cleaning the contacts and reinserting them is enough. Extreme cold and bumpy roads (Vermont) can trigger this. Ultimately it may be necessary to replace the bulbs in pairs (left and right brake light etc.). There is a difference in bulb quality.

My car had low oil that had the consistency of vegemite. Using good filters (mann) and regular changes 3,000miles until the sludge reduced was how I did it. It now looks OK.

The rust isn't urgent but I think it would be cheap enough to fix and worth it (your peace of mind, theirs and pride in caring for the vehicle).

Good luck!

rod

The bulb failure warning light can be irritating, but it is a good system and usually easy to repair.

There is a special relay (Bulb Failure Warning System, aka BFWS), that works with the low beam headlights, the tail or rear marker lights, and the brake lights.

The lights in each monitored pair on the right side are wired separately from the left side. When the lights are supposed to be on, and the engine is running, the electricity drawn, for example the right tail light, is equal to the electricity drawn by the left tail light.

If something causes the electricity drawn by one side is not the same as the other side (burnt bulb, oxidized contact, etc) the BFWS relay trips and the bulb out warning light comes on.

The light on means that one bulb is out, you must find out which one. Easy to check if it's one of the brake lights - step on the brakes. No BFWS light? Not the brakes.

Easy to turn on the headlights on low beam, and go look at front and rear. Ah, to learn which brake light is out the brake pedal must be pushed while a helper goes and looks - or else back towards something that reflects, like a store front window.

Your other Q's are answered. Post again if you want more details.

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)

1) On the brake warning light. Might be two things. I'm not terribly familiar with the specifics of a '90 Volvo, but on many the brake warning light is shared with the hand-brake on warning light, there's a switch under the brake handle that turns the light on when the handle is lifted. And it's possible for the stem on that switch to get broken off, so it's on all the time. Another possibility is the switch in the brake line junction box - there are two lines (for the two brake circuits) coming from the master cylinder that go to it, there they are joined to the various lines that lead off the the corners of the car. There's a switch on that junction block that senses pressure differences between the two circuits. It's designed to go on when one side has pressure, and the other doesn't, and once tripped it stays on. I think to reset it you unplug the wire, then screw the switch and pull it out, the piston inside should be able to recenter itself again (although it may be stiff).

2) It really shouldn't be under the low mark on the dipstick. As soon as it gets to the low mark, add another quart. The only other warning you'll get is when the oil pump starts sucking in air, and the oil pressure light flickers on the dash, and that's far, far, FAR from a good idea. Unless you want practice in swapping a motor. Varnish and sludge is indeed evidence of past neglect, but my advice would be to let sleeping dogs lie. Breaking loose decades of gunk in the motor is likely to cause problems, and not really solve any problems, other than the cosmetic appeal of the inside of the oil filler cap. Just keep doing regular oil changes with quality oil, and if the sludge slowly clears on its own, so be it, if not, don't worry about it too much.

3) There are generally lots of unused spots in the dashboard, for other markets, other options, etc. The 'bulb out' indicator is a minor PITA, it often falses. It merely compares the current loads of certain 'paired' bulbs, and if there's enough of a difference it turns the light on. Some times it's too sensitive, and a replacement bulb will pull a different amount of current and set it off. So you have to replace the other bulb, or just pull the indicator bulb out. Replacing indicator bulbs means pulling the dash cluster out. Take the knobs off the headlight and dimmer switches, and the plastic trim on both sides of the dash, then there's 4 screws that hold the whole thing in.

4) 240's are substantially overbuilt. Sure, rust holes weaken it somewhat, but almost certainly not to any dangerous degree. They can withstand epic amounts of rust and remain functional. It's probably not worth the money to have someone weld on it.
--
'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)