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Can anyone recommend an honest, competent, mechanic/restorer for a 1989 240 wagon? We bought the car new, it is in good shape cosmetically, but has some electrical/mechanical issues. Live in eastern Pennsylvania.
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Hi Vineyard,
Try:
- http://www.brickboard.com/SHOPS/
- http://www.volvomechanics.com/
You may be able to find a competent, honest, and caring mechanic near you in Eastern PA-state.
At 110$ or so hourly on auto repair labor rate, plus parts markup, such a restoration will come at a cost more than your 1989 Volvo 240 wagon is worth, I imagine.
Your will want OEM parts in many instances. Like, in the instance of front suspension rebuild, you want Volvo OEM bushings (made by Boge in Europe), and OEM quality parts like Bosch alternator brushes for your Bosch alternator, unless the bearings are bad and you have to replace the alternator.
The auto parts market is a tempest. Beware anything made in China or, sometimes, Mexico. OEM Volvo, like from Tasca Parts is usually the best quality. FCP Groton and iPD can help with research and parts at the websites.
How is the rust? If good cosmetically, you apply new undercoating and rust proofing after a good clean in late spring or summer or so? How many miles?
You may want to try searching for a mechanic that performs diagnosis and the sort of mostly electromechanical restoration we brickboarders do as a matter of course. You'll save the most money doing what repairs you can yourself.
Good luck.
MacDuff.
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Thank you for the links.
240K. We bought the car new. My wife LOVES the car and wants it back on the road. I realize it is not the most cost effective method of transportation, but want to at least look into it. We stopped using the car about a year ago due to electrical /instrument cluster issues. A local mechanic switched out the instrument cluster, and more problems were created than solved. What I would like to do is to re-wire the car, but I am sure it is a massive task. I guess professional diagnosis is the best next step.
The body is in great shape. It has no rust (except around the rear tailgate window) and has never been hit.
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There is one way around this. You could adopt car repair as your new hobby and benefit from the almost unlimited technical help available on these enthusiast forums. In other words, become an enthusiast yourself, because in this case, your wife has chosen to love a car that is easy for the home mechanic to love -- and there aren't many of them made since.
You certainly don't need the whole car re-wired. You just need to investigate what your last mechanic did and what her mistakes were. Often, folks think instrument panels of different years are interchangeable, when they are not; and just as often, those same people plug in wires they find dangling behind them, thinking they must have forgotten they pulled them off. Simple, easy-to-make errors, that can have wide-ranging effect.
We can guide you through this if you make the commitment to try.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore
What engineers say and what they mean by it:
"This project has low maintenance requirements."
We wouldn't let the technicians change a light bulb, much less fool around with our baby.
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Thank you. I hope to begin working on the car this weekend and will post when I need advice.
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posted by
someone claiming to be kittysgreyvolvo
on
Tue Nov 19 14:39 CST 2013 [ RELATED]
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What Art says.
Doing this sort of hobby is for the quietly brave whether you want to desperately need to. You'll want the Bentley Volvo 240 Service Manual.
You'll at least want to identify a Volvo-friendly service facility nearby when daunting tasks like suspension or clutch replacement is needed. (I really do not like pulling transmission on 240s anymore.)
At 240k, and in Pennsylvania State near Pittsburgh or Cranberry Township, you may want to perform an assessment of body corrosion from the years of salt and snow. From your informal risk assessment, you may make rust repair a part of the mechanical restoration or not.
Do you have the original instrument cluster? See the K-number at the bottom of the speedo display plate. That K-number better suggests compatibility of the entire dash head.
You have a 1989 240 DL wagon with 240k miles? Manual or automatic transmission?
Do you have some semblance of car care and repair experience?
cheers,
MacDuffy's Tavern ...
--
... featuring Bing Crosby.
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It is a manual transmission. In PA near Delaware and rust is not an issue. I have the service manual. Some semblance of car repair experience would be a good way to describe my experience. Put a new motor in my VW while in college...but that was a long time ago. Put a 240DL sedan into service for my daughter a few years ago. Found a local junkyard where I could scavenge parts and did most of the repairs. But I had an MG years ago with an electrical could have been described as an advanced system of candles and wax. Had little success fixing it's problems, hence my lack of confidence in fixing the Volvo's issues. That said, I am going to give it a go.
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posted by
someone claiming to be kittysgreyvolvo
on
Thu Nov 21 18:35 CST 2013 [ RELATED]
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Like the other poster indicates, use the correct version, though a 1989 Volvo 240 may have Bosch 2.4 or 3.1 with manual transmission, I *beleieve*, so the speedo and dash head cable pinout at the dash head rear can be very different even within the 1989 model year.
If you have exhaustive wiring diagrams and also search here on the bb, you may have found your answer with the speedo, though the speedo replacement action in a dash head, or entire dash head replacement, can cause problem.
http://www.volvowiringdiagrams.com/
The Blue Bentley Volvo 240 Bible is best.
My 1990 with Bosch 2.4 Jetronic has a 9800 speedo, as Uncle BlueRidge indicates on his 1989 240.
With the speedo issue resolved, and I hope you can soonest, you only have wear item and consumables replacement. As you owned the car since new, you have the service history.
Then you have to diagnose what your 1989 Volvo 240 wagon with M47 II (I think 1987-88 had the M47 II and newer) manual transmission requires.
At 240k miles, you should be on a second set of suspension bushings and all joints, if these are OEM (www.tascaparts.com) parts. You have rear wheel bearings that could probably use some new NLGI 2 grease packed in there, and maybe the front. Fluids Coolant, brake fluid every two years. Your M47 II uses a filled for life filled at th factory Volvo gear oil for this special manual transmission. Do NOT use TYPE F fluid as the owner and Volvo literature suggests in that M47 II transmission. Use the Redline MTL version the website suggests. See the instructions for M47 II overfill. Rubber parts like suspenspion bushings, the low pressure fuel return line from the gas tank forward and the immersed fuel line between the in-tank fuel pre-pump and the fuel sender unit, all require replacement (use newer low pressure fuel line that resist petrol and ethanol). How are the tailgate hinges and wire harness through the (right or left?) hinge? The hinge pins can pull through the roof mounted hing plate, require replacement by as many miles as you have on your 240. The tail gate sags and the bottom lip of the tail gate may drag or chafe on the bottom door sill.
White lithium grease all around the body, hinges, door locks, a good quality oil, like mobile 1 15W50 is good for the locks and keeps them free moving all frozen winter.
There exists a host of matters you can treat. The various 740 (see FAQ link at the top of any BB page) and what passes as a Volvo 240 FAQ can be helpful with wear items on crticial systems.
There's more. While logged into the BB (I'm not currently), check out the post histories like Uncle Art's and others for insight into these and other matters.
As for parts, go either with Volvo OEM, and in PA-state you have www.tasca.com in Baltormors, so you have a day or two UPS ground or USPS priority. Or, go for the OEM part, like instead of a replacement alternator brushes from Volvo, get the Bosch bradn brushes for your Bosch brand alternator, or buy a rebuilt or replacement alternator as new.
Questions and comments?
cheers,
Hope That Helps.
--
Grumpy Cat is a LOL cat meme.
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No need to worry about those oddball LH 3.1 cars until 1990. AFAIK, each and every 89 stick shift wagon got LH 2.4 and the 9800 speedo head.
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The problem is, the K-number does not identify the cluster, only the speedometer. Many incompatible clusters use the same K-number speed meter. If a sedan's speedometer (K-10042) was used, the only problem would be a 3% difference in speed and odo readings.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore
Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
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Ah yes, of course. Perhaps if the existing cluster is pulled a manufacturing date will be more helpful in this case.
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That's what I would look for, and keep in mind the dates do lead a bit into the next model year, for example on this '89:
Click on image to see the date stamp in a separate tab.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
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Thank you. Your post is a great help. I am sure I will have questions once I get into the project.
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A '89 240 5 speed wagon should have a cluster that says "9800" on the bottom face of the speedo. If your hack mechanic put in something else it won't work properly--especially if he connected a bunch of extra wires that shouldn't be connected. The instrument cluster wiring on these cars is very straight forward, but if the mechanic is unfamiliar with 240s, anything can happen.
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Sounds to me like you've got plenty of what it takes to take on a 240. Most things are pretty straight forward and for the stuff that's a pain (like heater motor) farm it out.
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