IDK if this will help anyone, but my 89 240 had the typical bouncing speedo. some times it worked, some times it didn't. Noticed jumping when I used wipers or turn signals. Turns out it was A GROUND WIRE ON THE STEERING COLUMN. Tightened it up and no more issues!
thanks, Andrea

Hi,

I see from your profile that you have been on the board quite a bit in the past. It says back to 2008. - 2014 and some posts recently. Welcome back.

I have heard of the ground screw issue before and I think I had a problem or issue at one time or another with something connected in or around the steering column. It could have been blinkers or an excessive needle jump of the speedometer when first turn on the key to position two.

Trouble is I don’t remember what it was exactly but I also found a screw loose near the location of the steering column. More like on the frame of the dash above the column.

I think it was one of those new TORX screw heads with a bunch of wires to be tightened under it.
On early 240s it could be behind the center console but the one I remember was a TORX head because you have to get out of the car and retrieve them.

Maybe they hadn’t come out with ratchet handles for extra power needed to squish the terminals enough yet in 1989.
Assembly lines get the new quirky stuff first to save time and money during assembling.
After that the tooling gets licensed or an exclusive right for that tool maker.
In the case of TORX’s vendors they might furnish the tool and a quantity of screws for free to get their formidable foot into many manufacturing doors!

Just another one of those subtle changes that were coming in the future of Volvo nineties cars

Thanks for taking the time to put it in front of us and the search engines.
The one on the BB with the tiny car uses GOOGLE a lot. It ends up showing BB posts.

How to phrase a question into what might be in a post is another topic all together … in any search engine.

Phil

Probably this ground screw. I was interested in what all got grounded here, so I cut the wires to trace their origins in this 1990, first year with airbag.



--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

"Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?" - George Carlin

Hi Art,

From what I can make out the fastener screw looks to be both TORX and possibly a hexagon on the outside.
That would be a novel idea to provide the capability to use either tools.
It would still sell the same amount of tool sets.

It might eliminate some of the frustration of taking a double check 👀 too see if an Allen hex socket head was substituted 😊 from a spare parts stash.
Mix and match on our old cars is bound to happen.

Phil

"From what I can make out the fastener screw looks to be both TORX and possibly a hexagon on the outside."

Looks that way to me too. I checked the original images -- before they were sized for the internet -- and they are no clearer. Just a poorly focused photo.

However, my memory would have jumped on a special, nonstandard fastener, and it did not. Having been through many cars of that general time frame, I've concluded Volvo began its switchover from Phillips to Torx with the 1990 model year. So I believe it is just a standard M4 Torx bolt just like all the others, despite the photo looking like I stuck a nut under its head on top of the ring lugs. It has me curious enough to tear off the cover on the steering column to explain this appearance, but alas, all I have at home is cars 1989 model year and earlier. Perhaps one of my kids will bring one of their cars for me to look at.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

You have to stay in shape. My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we have no idea where she is.