Well, it seems like people stopped reading my "145 Story" thread,(go check it out, I added a couple posts) so here's a new one with just the issues in it...

Electrical system... Is a little funky. Main problem is the brights. I think it may just be the turn signal switch, I'm going to take a look at it after I finish posting this. What happens is, when using the right blinker, you can hear it shorting out and the brights flicker on and off randomly. Sometimes you can turn them off with the turn signal stalk, but sometimes you can't. Sometimes they just stay on for a lil bit. Then, when on the highway, at speeds above 70mph or so, they do it a LOT more. The brights will sometimes even mess around when I'm not using the turn signal stalk at all. It's a bit embarrasing... And people think I'm flashing my lights at them on purpose on the highway. I don't think I could flash them as fast as they flash sometimes though. It's not good. I guess it's very likely the switch, I'll have a look see and clean it up, and then maybe switch it with the one in my 142 if need be. My 142's brights aren't hooked up to it so if it's shorting out and I can't fix it, it doesn't really matter. Also, the right front turn signal keeps burning out or something. I'll try and fix this signal situation, then clean out the socket up there, and see if that takes care of it.

Now this was a bit ODD. While driving up to Portland on the highway around 70mph, the car suddenly started slowing down... The car didn't respond when I pushed the gas more other than revving up the engine. Sort of like a slipping clutch feeling... Kinda worried me a bit considering I was an hour away from Portland still, and I didn't feel like being stranded anywhere. I thought it might have popped out of gear, so I pulled back on the shift lever, but nope, it was where it should be. Took the car out of gear, put it back in, and got some slight response. Anywho, it started working again, and I didn't lose too much speed while messing with it and wondering what was going on. I'm thinking this has something to do with the overdrive unit??? What could be happening? I don't know where the wires are for the OD unit so I don't have them connected to a switch anywhere, and so I don't have an operable OD right now. I don't know if it'll work/engage/slip/do anything when I find the wires and hook them up to a switch. What do you think?

After parking at my parent's house for 15 minutes, when I moved my car, I found a silver dollar sized spot of clear gear oil from the tranny, and a dirty silver dollar sized spot of very black engine oil. Not fun. The actual oil level in the engine is still ok after 300 or so miles without adding any(after putting on the correct oil cap and putting in some fuel pump gaskets), and it's relatively clean still. So maybe that oil drip is just dirty from other dirty stuff on the bottom of the car because it hasn't been cleaned yet? Who knows. It does drip. One of my projects this summer will be replacing seals... What seals are there for me to replace on the m41?(new news on that... The drain plug FELL OUT of the transmission today. Lost fluid all over the exhaust and made a nice smoke show... This could be why when I got it the car didn't have any tranny fluid though, the plug was just barely in there...)

The rear end has a little bit of play in it, when you let off the gas you can hear it rumbling. I don't know how much fluid it has in it if any. I'll eventually get around to putting in some Redline Shockproof oil in it, with the heaviest weight they sell. Because why not. I'll get a new gasket for the "inspection cover", should I also look into getting a new seal for the part where the driveshaft goes in? Is that a complicated job? Should I mess with it at all?

Thoughts and suggestions about any/everything always appreciated. Thanks!
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Kyle - '68 142? - Oregon Volvo Tuners?

The turn signal switch is indeed internally broken. The little brass or whatever metal thing that get's pushed against another one when you pull back on the lever has broken it's mount and just flops around in there. For now I just disconnected the little connector that connects the brights to that so I don't have to worry about it shorting out. But now I don't have brights either. I really need to go check out a junk yard.......... =D

I also was at Lee's place up in Vancouver, WA and picked up a newer lower dash that isn't cracked and beat up, and doesn't have the AC stuff that the wagon no longer uses. I haven't put it in yet because I will have to punch out the hole for the rear windshield wiper button, and mainly because I will have to disconnect my intermittent wiper control box and all of those MANY wires that are connected to the buttons/switches and clock and what not that all mount up to that center panel. Not gonna be a bunch of fun, I think I'll have to label everything, and that'll take time. Which I don't have that much of. Well, I guess I don't really drive it around every day, so it isn't really a big deal... Work on it a little bit here and there...

I also picked up a left rear tail light lense from Lee to replace the one that was one it. The one that came on the wagon had the lower running light lense area melted because of someone using the wrong bulb in there. The new one hasn't been melted down. Also, I went out and got some bolts to hold on the old air filters I had, so they're on there now, and it works fine.

Oooh, and I took a rubber ring thing that was left over from my 142's exhaust install to replace a broken one on the rear muffler, so now my exhaust doesn't rattle up against the body like it used to. Good good...

And over the weekend I cut a single vaccum line to length for the brake booster to manifold to eliminate the T fitting that was installed to connect the breather to the manifold as well. The brake booster's action seems to be erratic, could the vaccuum leaks around the carb's throttle shafts cause this problem? I think there could also possibly be a slight leak around the little grommet thing that holds the nipple going into the brake booster as well. Maybe.

And I got a new tranny drain plug from Cameron(thank you) so I'll have to figure out a way to fill up this remotely shifted tranny, and I will use some sort of thread locker on the plug to make sure it doesn't work its way out like the last one.

I need a house now so I can wash the car again, and start working on one side of the car with the polishing compound I got... =D See how nice I can get it to look compared with the other side of the car.
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Kyle - '68 142? - Oregon Volvo Tuners?

Brights were working on the way to work, doing their normal thing on the highway, although I do get the impression that it doesn't start messing around until after having driven for about 5 min or so, so until it warms up? And tonight on the way home from work, they don't work at all. I also noticed that the rear windshield wiper stopped working in the last three days... Intertwined at all? Fuses?
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Kyle - '68 142? - Oregon Volvo Tuners?

Hi Kyle,

The high beam problem: certainly sounds like the turn signal/hi beam switch. Mine is similar but not as bad, sometimes I flash my high beams while signalling. A bit embarrassing sometimes, as you say... Should be lots of those switches around.

Slipping: sounds to me like the sprague (one-way) clutch in the OD unit. Had a similar problem in my 740, especially when cold. Felt very much like a slipping clutch (which it is, just not the usual one.) Was worse with synthetic fluid (Redline MTF) and Duane (odguru) said that he had heard of similar cases with synthetic. I know some people have had no problems with MTF, so probably a marginal situation anyway. Might just try changing the fluid. I cured mine by overhauling the OD and changing the sprague clutch with a better used one, not a quick fix...

Have fun!

Sounds like you gotcha self a winner, Kyle! Fun fun fun...

Turn signal/brights issue... I would definitely start by looking into the switch and wiring on the steering column... I can't think of anywhere else that those two systems could be related at all...

Slipping clutch? Sorta sounds like that's the case to me...I don't think issues in the overdrive would or could cause similar issues. But I could be wrong. Do you ever notice the clutch slipping in lower gears? 70mph in 4th though is not an unlikely time for clutch slippage I would think.

Leaks... Well, a loose/missing transmission drain plug would definitly be a good place for oil to leak out. Rear transmission (overdrive) seal is another fairly common one.

For the engine... if it was leaking real bad before, could well be that old leaks are still dripping... hard to tell until you get things cleaned up well.

In any event, if you end up doing a clutch job, that would be a fine time to adress leaks in both the transmission and the engine. But I'd shoot to put some miles on it first to get a better idea of just all what it needs...

Cheers!

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-Matt '70 145s, '65 1800s, '66 122s wagon, others inc. '53 XK120 FHC

Turn signal/brights, yeah, sounds like a plan. I didn't get to look at it yesterday, I went out and got some bolts to hold my old airfilters in place on my 145, so now I'm getting cleaner air at least...

Played with some other stuff on it, and the brakes feel REALLY spongey now(not really because I've been playing with things, but maybe)... I'll be doing a brake bleed sometime soon here just to see what that does if anything. The fluid in there now really is crap and dirty and really old though, so it should make a difference.

Put an extension on the back of the 142's exhaust so it exits out from under the trunk a bit more.

And re slipping clutch: Nope, this clutch has lots of grip, I can burn out with it better than I can with the 142, but then again, this has smaller lighter wheels and tires on it. But yeah, it doesn't slip at all, that's why I'm so confused! I do need to adjust where it engages though, it's near the top of pedal travel as opposed to the close to the firewall setting I've got my 142 at. I almost stall my 142 going from the long engagement, 4.30+ rear end(including the tire diameters), to the quick engaging, taller gearing of the 142.

Re leaks: Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for on the dirty engine oil spot, and then about the transmission, hopefully the rear OD seal is decent, we shall see I guess when I get this one filled up again and plugged back up with some mild thread lock.
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Kyle - '68 142? - Oregon Volvo Tuners?

Make sure your tranny oil level is up before you connect the OD wiring. If OD is not engaging, it shouldnt sllp, as far as I know. If the engine oil drips from the bellhousing, you might have a clutch that slips because there's oil on it.
Bob S.