First, let me say I've been away from this board since 2008 when I sold my 240, but I enjoyed the board so much back then and I can't remember a single problem that members weren't able to quickly help me solve.

I need a cheap car for my kids and am looking at a few 240 Wagons similar to the one I owned a loved many years ago. I figured my kids and I could take up amateur car mechanics again.

All the 240s in my area have major problems, but I wanted to get a feel for which might be the biggest headache.

A 1990 Manual with bad blower motor. (I replaced the blower motor in my 1988, it took me two days, I've never wanted to do it again).

A 1993 Automatic with a failed power steering pump.

Price and rust are similar on both. I always wanted a manual, just not sure I want one that bad.

Any advice, how does changing a power steering pump compare to the blower motor?

A power steering pump is a couple of hours max and pretty easy, especially on an engine design that has it on top.

A blower motor or its resistors is a couple of DAYS of work. You have to gut the car from the back seats to the windshield to do it without shortcuts.

On a 740, a blower motor is as easy as the power steering pump when its mounted on top. Unfortunately, the heater core is equally bad on both.

Cheers and welcome back!

A nice 740 would be a better choice - I actually think that most repairs would be easier on a 740. The blower motor is a reasonable job.

If yoy liked a 240, I think you will love a 740 if you have never driven one. Don't pass up a turbo, it can be detuned if necessary. All of our four 740s served us past 225,000 miles. their automatic trannys are stout

Do not be to worried about AC - "you gets what you gets" - your kids will drive a car without AC.

Ask the seller if you can have a dealer check the car out, offer $25 for their trouble. Money well spent.

The last car I had checkd out - I had a compression check done and When the test was done if the car was good, I had them put in new plugs.

PS

As far as safety, my daughter's '90 744 TI was hit by a drunk driver running a red light, right in the driver's door. The ambulance crew could not believe she was not hurt - at the trauma center they thought she had to be injured so they X-rayed her hips and legs.

The wrecker drive thought she was hit by a truck until the found the drunk driver 100 feet away in a parking lot.

The car was pushed in so much that her foot well as just wide enough for her feet and the steering wheel was up against the roof, My daughter had a big rasberry on her face as she brohe the window with her face. The window was slightly tinted and the glass was on the road all broken byt still stuck to the tinting.

My daughter and the three other kids in the car were fine.

I cant say enough about our 740s, I tried to talk my wifw into another one, but we have XC70s now and she would not budge!

the blower is the worst part in the whole car to change, tail light wiring is terrible in 240's as well, it had really high failure rates but that's easy to get to.

I often seem to find that the PS pump will seep and get wet but not really loose much fluid. I much prefer the older ones that didn't need all that excess complication, those models are all "classic" now but they never needed power steering and had much less wiring thus very few electrical issues.

if it has a clutch plan on U joints and a clutch pressure plate throw out bearing,clutch cable stretches too.

the autos are pretty bullet proof, Id prefer a manual if given the choice but the autos seldom need U joints. you might have an oil leak near the back of the overdrive, and maybe need to change fluids but Ive had good luck with all volvo transmissions up to and including 740's

head gaskets can fail Ive seen a few with that, I'd be aware of the symptoms if you are shopping. I just ordered the parts to fix mine the prices were good at rock auto. Id rather do a head gasket than a heater blower motor too.

If you got through changing one in just a weekend, and survived that job, you proved you are up to the task of maintaining a 240.

if you do need to do the heater blower motor there are some tricks like butchering some of the panels using a hot solder iron with a knife tool, and replacing the parts with metal heat tape like for air ducts. removing the front seats helps.

There's no comparison. Replacing the P/S pump is a straight forward mechanical job while the blower motor is a nightmare project. I've only done blower motors on the early cars which required grinding out the housing to fit the larger replacement motor--don't know about the later cars. But I'd prefer the stick shift. -- Dave

the ps pump is waaaaay easier than the 240 blower. maybe an hour.

Neither job would bother me, although my experience changing a power steering pump shortcuts the problem of fitting the pulley on a new pump by using a junkyard pump pulled from another 240. And of course, I've provided good reference for replacing the blower motor specifically on a '90. http://cleanflametrap.com

More important may be the condition of the M47 and clutch both before and after someone learns to use it. The '93 has ABS, and possibly working R134a air along with the improved AW transmission -- or at least it came with that.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Art,

Let me thank you for your blower motor directions. I remember these very well back when I did the job, I could not have finished the job without just the manuals alone.

On the 90 Manual, the motor seems to be stuck on low, so there is some air coming out. I might not need to do that job until it warms up a bit.

I live in New England, it is pretty cold to test the a/c now. I'm not sure if it is working on either car, it would be a nice to have, but my kids and I can live without it.

I've been driving a manual most of my life, but I will be teaching my kids on this car if I buy it.

Both cars have some rust, but the 90 definately has less rust, especially underneath.

Anything else to consider. Both cars are running and drive fine.

-Blake

"Both cars have some rust, but the 90 definately has less rust, especially underneath."

If you're in this for the long run (e.g. the 240 I found for my kid 20 years ago is still her daily) rust would be the overriding factor in deciding.

Also, a blower motor "stuck in low" sounds to me like a motor that works, but has a wiring problem. The motor actually has two power sources. The main one, from fuse #3, and one that is often overlooked from fuse #12 that runs the blower in low whenever the AC is turned on. The AC in a '90 is controlled by a dial thermostat that can be hard to turn completely off to shut off the low speed blower. You could luck out here and not need to do any more than fix a fuse!

And no matter the condition of the clutch, your kid will love the experience of learning it from Dad. Or at least, so says mine.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Hi Art,

I'm starting worry about your daughter and the 240 you got her into those 20 years ago. I even remember you mentioning some of the work you did at the time as you fixed it up for your kids and kept it running. It was a rare day you were ever stymied, leastwise admitted to it. Let me take a wild guess, every Christmas for years your daughter wakes up, hoping to find the keys to a new car under the tree, and every Christmas you keep showing up for dinner with a trunkful of tools and parts to keep it going. I'm hearing words like, "Hey, can you hold the turkey and dinner off for twenty minutes, it needs a new timing belt." Am I close?

140/240 heater blower motors and 700/900 heater cores are hands down the two worst projects ever for us RWD types. As many of us have said, it's like Volvo put the heater consoles up on a stand in the middle of the factory floor and built the car around them. Neither are jobs for people with bad backs or anger management issues., nor are those good weeks to also stop smoking or drinking. Being able to focus upwards in close quarters through bifocals and progressive lenses is another skill needed as we age. Having torn that area open before at least allows you to work partially blindfolded until your ready to crack into the final housings. I count on that every time I tear into the dash these days, not wanting to work upside down with blood rushing to my head.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now