Hello,

I have 200000 miles on my 1989 240 Volvo. I've had it since 164000 miles

My car quit recently, while driving, then started again about fifteen minutes later.

I am read to do a 200000 mile maintenance, is there an online list of what I should inspect and replace?

Also, I would like to know what spare parts I should take on my trip. I have a donor 240.

Since it quit once on you only to restart after a few minutes, I would suggest checking the crank position sensor (if you haven't fixed it already). It is located on the top of the bell housing where the engine and transmission meet. It has a fat black coax cable running up to a connector on the firewall. Check it for pealing and flaking insulation. If the insulation is bad, replace it.

I would also check to ensure that in-tank fuel pump is working. If it isn't the strain on the main pump may cause it to fail. To check the in-tank pump, use Art's instructions on www.cleanflametrap.com

As the others said, replace timing belt if it is due. Change oil.

I am read to do a 200000 mile maintenance, is there an online list of what I should inspect and replace?

No. There does not exist any useful and comprehensive listing as such for Volvo 240. Well, beyond that in your owner manual. And that ends at what, 100k or 150k and is not comprehensive.

Yet, as aforementioned, many lists in brickboard threads for this info.

The best you have is hosted right here in the form of the (see "FAQ" at the top of the web page?) Volvo 700-90-900 series FAQ.

The best of the rest is right here on www.brickboard.com/RWD

Either use the search tool in your JavaScript-enabled web browser.

Or, using the characters the comprise your search query expression string, use google (as bing STILL sucks, yet Google is EVIL) to target the brickboard.com domain. In the same search field containing your search query expression string, to target a web site, use:

site:www.brickboard.com

So, if searching for issues about Volvo 240 windshield, and you use a search engine, in the search field, you may use:

Volvo 240 windshield site:www.brickboard.com

You prolly know this all already.

... and them front and rear wheel bearings ... with fresh NLGI-2 grease.

I suspect you've not inspect the wheel bearings?

On the front wheel bearings, you have an inner side seal that, if not yet replaced, is prolly pretty shot.

One of my actionable items I continue to protest on with all RWD Volvos autos are the care and feeding of them wheel bearings.

You should have at least packed fresh NGLI-2 grease in all four wheel bearings. Some rear wheel hub inspection would not hut. Checking the parking brake cable sheathes for damage.

And like that Volvo parking brake cable, and your clutch cable, you can jet some lube down them cables. Makes it last longer.

Your rear wheel bearings are probably getting quite dry of the factory grease pack at around 200k miles.

Ideally, we'd treat the rear wheel bearing to a repack of compatible fresh NLGI-2 grease.

You support the hub weight end as you withdraw the axle shaft so as not to distort or disturb inner seal. Then, go to town. Apply the proper amount of grease. I'll guess that's pretty full.

A 1989 Volvo 240 is equipped with OBD-1 as part of the Bosch LH-jetronic 2.4 injection and the Bosch EZK116 ignition (and, if fitted, EGR, if fitted). Use it. Check for fault codes.

https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/EngineOBDCodes.htm

Just read around

https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/

and

High Mileage Preventative Maintenance
https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/HighMileageVehiclePrevMaint.htm

It could help to lubricate the chassis like door hinges and latches.

I dunno. Perhaps we could use a Volvo 240 FAQ that would list wear item by mileage by year and model. Who'd write that?

Do you have your Bentley Volvo 240 service manual? I thought I saw something in some publication for high mileage recurring maintenance.

Yet I'll add to the listings and mentioned here in the thread comprising replies to your original post, and in no order, other than the aforementioned:
- If severely domed, and bushing material shows separation from the inner bearing assembly, or tears or cracks of any sort (concentric tears are the last stage before failure) replace the strut mounts on 240. Volvo PN 1272455. Do not buy aftermarket URO, Meyle, and so on. The OEM are made for Volvo by Made in Germany Boge.
- Go to Speedway in E St. Louis, Pick and Pull on Hall street, or maybe Taylor's on the Rock Road. If not already, you want to stock up on spare parts. The white fuel injection system relay usually mounted to a metal clip on the Bosch EZK ECU in the passenger side foot-well on the firewall. Spare ECUs of the same PN. In the corner on the inner fender to the left of the battery as you sit in the Volvo 240 and look froward, is the ignition power stage. It is a signal amplifier and is mounted to a heat sink. The heat sink is secured to the inner fender sheet metal. The thermal paste become brittle and falls away. Like the space between the computer process and the heat sink, scrape away old and replace with new thermal paste. Back at the junkyard, a spare AMM (or MAF), and any other sensor as well as those other relays that reduce electric fan noise on your car radio.
- Vacuum leaks? The large accordian like air hose downsteam of the AMM and the throttle body.
- Hows the positive crank case ventilation working (PCV)? Flame trap all clear?
- Do you still have that silver preheater hose between the exhaust manifold and the air filter box. Remove it. That hot airs goes through your AMM (or MAF), unless you fixed the flap valve inside the air filter box.
- Motor mounts and transmission mounts?
- If you are handy with a multimeter, and after you run the OBD for faults, as you reside in single snow flake and 9000 hundred tons of salty St Louis, it may not hurt to check wire harness connectors, actually, all connectors, all leads to ground, and such, for corrosion. A good plug and unplug works. And for wires or cables secured to ground, a mere untwist and retwist with a socket. Though a dielectric spray for connectors after you clean them out with compressed air and a toothbrush.
- If manual transmission, it may not hut to look at the coupler to which the transmission output flange connects.
- A 1989 Volvo 240 is the second to final year of the 25-amp blade fuse located at the +12VDC junction and relay on the rail secured to the inner fender behind the battery. Replace or relocate the fuse. Solutions are well documented in a brickboard search.
- You use Ford "Type F" automatic transmission fluid for your power steering fluid for the TRW CAM rack power steering pump. Some sort of Dexron in the automatic transmission 1989 240, and well, I dunno.
- Drive shaft center support carrier bearing? Making any noise? Squirt any grease into the splines where the front and rear halves of the drive shaft interface?
- As you have a 1989 240 wagon, your drive shaft should come fitted with recessed set screws into which you can fit Zirk pressed grease fitting. Very low profile Zirk can remain on the Volvo 240 drive shaft. I'm unsure the correct grease. Yet you may want to at least check the drive shaft U-joints using the fore and aft twist or disassemble the drive shaft and work the U-jojnts to see if you feel any not smooth in the action. If all okay, you drive fresh grease from a grease gun until fresh grease comes out the spider bearing seals.
- The bushing material in the harmonic balancer crankshaft pulley may be cracking. It can fail by the outer and inner metal section spinning around each other and squealing.
- Alternator brushes. They wear down. Use only BOSCH brushes in that Bosch alternator.
- ... give a good power wash and clean the engine and gunk.
- Under coating? Waxoyl and others.

I guess I kind went into the high mileage maintenance thing. Sorry.

Yes, a service interval and wear item time line as part of a Volvo 240 FAQ would be most useful. The 700-900-90 FAQ could use one. hint.

The timing belt every 50k, and tensioner every second timing belt. Reset timing belt tension several times in the first 1000 miles. Than ever oil change or sooner.

And other aforementioned tune items. Rotor cap, spark plug gap or new plugs. Wires.

How is engine compression?

Accessory belts? Water pump belt. That sort of thing.

Questions?

Hope that helps.

Roland Garros - The 2015 French Open
--
Please give my best to Lucky Mc Ateer at John D. McGurk's Irish Pub at 1200 Russell in Soulard, St. Louis, MO. No worries, Mike Wallace and his Irish Brigade shall return again this year! Be nice if Peter Yeats showed up also, so they could play together again. At McGurk's in St. Louis or Kells in Portland.

hello michael,
depending on what has been done already and what shows in the records,

1. replace all fluids & spark plugs if nearing the end of their use. have you replaced the differential fluid in the past 90k miles? i use a good name synthetic.
2. check brakes pads, tie rods, ball joints, rack boots check
3. ditto on timing belt, etc, but 600 miles is not large compared to the 70-90k mile life of these belts.
4. i started to carry an extra external fuel pump when mine died away from home one time unless you know how old your old one is--15-20 years for a bosch fuel pump is the life extent. i suggest always buy a bosch for reliability.
5. carry a regular size spare tire instead of the donut.
6. i like carrying my toolbox with me.
7. extra fuses, flashlight, certainly a fuel pump relay.
8. make sure nothing important is leaking under neath before you leave.

i've seen other good lists on bb. others can and have made good comments.

enjoy your trip, drive safely.

regards,
byron golden
86 245
92 245
94 940

Several lists in the archives cover pre-trip maintenance and spares.
--
240 drivers / parts cars - JH, Ohio

600 miles is only about 1/5 - 1/8th of the distance to your next oil change. If you are willing to drive the car on a daily basis I wouldn't be too concerned about going that far.

Obviously, I don't know your car. Did you figure out why it quit on you ? If not, that would be first on my list. Next I would go over the maintenance list in the manual and make sure everything was up to date (except maybe changing the antifreeze...)

Greg

Hi Mike,

Not everyone will agree, but my opinion on this is that if the car is running well now, then I don't touch a thing. I figure the more monkeying around I do, the more likely something I've bungled will come back to haunt me. I would definitely do my 200 teardown after I got back.

I give it a 10 minute walk around, look for leaks, belts and hoses, and kick the tires.

There's a long list of suggested spare parts on this site somewhere. I think an AMM and CPS were on it. Although it didn't make the list, I think a spare tire and jack might come in handy.

By the way, what do you mean by a long trip ? Alaska? the new cross Labrador Highway ? Tierra Del Fuego ? How far can you get from St. Louis ?

Good luck
Peter

Peter,

The trip is 550 miles. A long trip to me is one where if I break down, I can't just have the car towed back home.

Michael

There will be many here who've done 550 miles as a one way or there and back day trip. They might have dipped the oil before they set off. If you've had your car a while and built up trust with it, there should be no problem. However, if you know there are problems that are currently small, best to sort those out depending on their ability to leave you stranded. Volvo's own servicing schedule should really be a minimum for reliability but "full service history" on a 200K car is hard to find. Doesn't mean that you haven't serviced it to that standard in your ownership.

You make a good point Derek. A Volvo 240 that's had reasonable service is up for a trip like that day or night.

I've thought about some of the long trips I've taken and perhaps the following story will help to ease your mind.

I worked on Catalina island for three years from 2000 to 2003. It's 26 miles offshore of LA. I worked from Sept. to June each year forging wrought iron gates and railings for a man whose family owned most of the island. I think they also own or owned a baseball team in Chicago, among other things. Very nice people. I flew back and forth from Vermont each year.

On the last year I was there, about 2 weeks before I was due to leave, I was having a pint with an acquaintance and Volvos came up in the conversation. This woman said she had an old 240 over town, meaning in LA, that she had been trying to give away for a year. She'd had it for 5 or so years and it had been given to her by her father, an indie Volvo mechanic from Berkley. Someone may know of him, the name was Harrell and he unfortunately passed away in 2001.

Anyway, the next day off I took the boat to Long Beach and found my way to the car where it had been sitting on a street gathering dust. A 1984 245 auto, built without air with 250 k and had that California look. Bleached baby blue in several shades, without any serious rust but plenty of bare metal from chips and scrapes. She'd been around the block.

In the glove box I found some old receipts, one for a wiring harness and another for a tranny seal up. The latest was 18 months previous for an oil change, a new battery and a tire repair in the name of the lady. That seemed encouraging. Like most every 240 it started on the 2nd revolution. The brakes worked, it steered, shifted, and didn't make any awful noises so I took it back to Long Beach and put it up in a parking garage.

I gave the lady $500. to ease my conscience and that us both happy. A week later I packed up my tools and kit and took the ferry to the car. I filled it with gas and with only the 2 wrenches and double ended screwdriver provided by Volvo, I started home. The only service I did was to get a Mexican car wash in Palm Springs. It looked a little better but unfortunately the 2 quarts of water I'd bought went missing, and so I nearly perished crossing the desert on my way to Phoenix where I have a friend.

I got home 3000 miles and 8 days later down a quarter quart, never having had to use a wrench or screwdriver. I still have the car, it's in my barn needing some floor repairs. If I knew then what I know now, I would have renewed the undercoating that had mostly flaked off. It's not too bad, but 3 Vermont winters is about all she could handle.

One thing you might think of doing if you have the time, or can make the time, is stay on the 2 lane as I did on that trip. Not only is it much more interesting, but if you should blow a hose or break a belt you'll be a lot closer to help. This is a pretty friendly country and there's no need to worry. It seems that there's always been a good person shown up when I've needed one, knock on wood. I 've seen that movie about Arkansas, but I think it's only a movie.

About your intermittent, what I suggest is to take a look at your coil wires. See that the big one isn't chafing somewhere and clean the small ones. I might look at the 2 wires that connect to the main fuel pump and clean it's fuse. These are all places where I've had issues.

Peter

Unless you know the history--the timing belt and tensioner would be 1st on my list. -- Dave