Beater Volvo 240 and it's quest against the odds to visit all 50 states

[v6buicks]

I installed this ugly old thing only to finally notice that this car got the wrong seat covers when it was reskinned! ?

That bugs the hell out of me, but oh well. As far as I know, nobody makes the correct cover anyway. It looks like my old seat has lower trim which the new one is missing too. I guess I'll have to transfer that over.

I'm kinda nervous to take this thing apart. I hope the seat foam isn't too far gone to stick a seat heater down on it. I've also never re-skinned a seat either. I can't think of a better place to try though! If all goes well I'll do the passenger side too. If not, I'll have to bit the bullet and go to Riggs Bros again. They did an amazing job refoaming my GN seat, but it wasn't cheap!

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Turbo bump?

 

[v6buicks]

Turbo bump?

haha I'm teeter tottering between buying the full 304 stainless exhaust just to further bullet proof the B230, and letting the timing belt snap so that I have an excuse to yank the 3800 from the Camaro. I don't think turbo red block is in the running though. If the AW70 had a chance at survival I'd be all over it, but I really don't want to start gathering parts for a third engine family. My basement is already looking like a part store.

 

[v6buicks]

And I'm dicking around with heated seats. Once I succeed in that, fix the rear dome light,and replace a couple light bulbs, I can officially say that all original functions (besides the heat riser because nobody cares) in this car work. At that point I'll be so friggen proud. For some reason, that's about when I can justify ruining it all and start swapping in a different engine.

 

[v6buicks]

I keep making a liar out of myself. I said I would quit, but broken stuff bothers me too much. $500 is also way too much for a professional cluster rebuild for a $3000 car.

Well this is odd. This gear is certainly bad, but it doesn't makes sense at all given my symptoms.

I'm gonna have to dig deeper.

Oh. My. God.

Could it really be THE issue? I de-soldered the motor. Check out this little piece of the trace I plucked out! That can absolutely cause a no spin when cold situation. I'll post an update when I fix it.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

I would take that if it is whats up. is that star a reluctor or a gear?

 

[v6buicks]

I would take that if it is whats up. is that star a reluctor or a gear?

It's a gear. It spins both the trip and odometer. The tooth broke off in disassembly. Lol

 

[v6buicks]

My first fix attempt was a fail.

The wire interfered with the board sitting flat. Therefore the motor was not aligned. Back to the drawing board.

Then I tried this. It fixed the above issue, but I noticed that the motor winding pin was actually broken. ? I dabbed some solder in there and made it stick again, but I have very low hopes of this actually working, if it does I'm going to feel like a boss. If it doesn't I'm going to purchase a parts cluster regardless. This board is messed up.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

It's a gear. It spins both the trip and odometer. The tooth broke off in disassembly. Lol

I was going to say, it may be something printable.

 

[v6buicks]

I was going to say, it may be something printable.

Possibly. Luckily I had a new spare set. The new ones are a one piece design, so the big teeth shouldn't break anymore.

 

[v6buicks]

I forgot to update this. The odometer works a lot less than it did before, but it does roll for a couple tenths during each ride. The only thing I can think to do next is remove the motor pin, melt some solder in there, and run a new piece of solid core wire from that pool up to the circuit. My only concern now would be shorting the motor internally and popping something upstream of what I was already planning to replace.

By the way, I have been unable to locate a replacement cluster for under $220 which is ridiculous.

 

[IDAFC21]

Yeesh, thats crazy. Tho, I can sadly relate to car parts being wildly unavailable and outrageously expensive. I do own a gto.

 

[v6buicks]

As much as I like to poke fun at turbobricks, there really are some great people in there. A very generous guy has been helping me through all the repairs for my cluster and decided to send me an odometer motor free of charge. I think it pays to make well detailed threads with pictures about a new issue that can affect everybody with the same car. More importantly, you need to take things apart, try something else when you fail, and not have too much pride to post those failures. When you get people really interested, they start to become invested. At least I do! Although I would never expect anybody to send me parts for free, it feels amazing to know that others see the value in logging my quest for Volvo perfection.

It may not be the most riveting information when we have even heavier wagons on the site running 9s with turbos, but I can't be the only nerd who loves AC and roof racks! ? Anyway, I don't really have an update other than that I finally have a part on the way. Let's hope I can finally put this issue to bed and start working on fun stuff.

 

[v6buicks]

At this point, I think posting the details of taking this cluster apart would be beating a dead horse. I'll keep it consice.

My motor arrived! I also bought a soldering iron last week to avoid all the issues I've been causing with my gun.

After tearing it apart, watching some documentaries on my phone while I manually increase the counter over 300 miles, and very carefully install the new motor, she's alive! So far I've noticed that the movement is much less notchy than before along with the accuracy being exactly in line with what my other cars say. Sweet!

Wait...

I've driven 10 miles and my temp isn't even above 1/4?

I guess this is the roadkill life. You can't just fix stuff in an old car without breaking something else. In most cases I would say I had to have messed something up while I was in the cluster. The timing is too perfect. However, coincidences happen to my old turds all the time. Nothing shocks me.

When I got to work, I popped the hood and started feeling around. Neither rad hose was super hot to the touch. I actually grabbed it and squeezed. The valve cover roasted my fingers though! This car has an expansion tank system, so I would think that I should have a decent amount of pressure at the fill cap and I don't. However, the system is still full, so I don't think it's not boiling. That's good. I also recall having overheating issues in drive-thrus and heavy traffic situations over the summer. I never did anything about it. It just seemed to magically heal itself. Shrug.

I will entertain the idea of this being my mistake first. I'll probably play with the temp sensor and confirm proper gauge operation. Then I'll probably throw a new thermostat and cap in there. I have a hard time believing that I have an expansion tank problem because my first 240 didn't even have the right cap on it. It just had a vented gas cap from a mower or something. It never seemed to be a problem though.

 

[IDAFC21]

But the odometer finally works right??

 

[v6buicks]

But the odometer finally works right??

YUP! I can finally move on.

 

[IDAFC21]

 

[v6buicks]

I took another measurement this morning. This time the gauge was reading at about 1/3 of it's scale. I think the gauge is working fine, and 125*F is way too cool. Thermostat and expansion tank cap are on their way from RA. I also forgot to apply the TCG discount AGAIN, so these parts better be top notch.

 

[v6buicks]

This fucking car...

I replaced the thermostat just shits. Sure enough, I'm able to bind the old one up super easily.

I thought for sure that I fixed it, but no. It still won't move the gauge up to where it's supposed to. I'm starting to question my last visit to the instrument panel now. Could I have messed up the gauge?

I wondered about the voltage regulator (M) since that is a common part to break or just go bad. However, it seems that a faulty one would take out my fuel level gauge as well. I just filled up today, so I know it works fine. I really think it has to be an issue between the gauge and the sensor, but it's dark now. It seems mighty convenient for this to happen between the time I pulled the cluster and after I reinstalled it though. ?

 

[v6buicks]

You know what? I'm gonna let it go.

I have much more important things to deal with than over-efficient cooling systems. If I have issues in the spring I'll come back to it, but I think this really just has to do with the recent cold spike in weather and the temp faker delete. I'm going to practice reskinning one of my junk seats and get going on the Camaro.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

What about your heater bypass? is it thermostatic? replace any heater parts recently?

Canaro is good

 

[v6buicks]

What about your heater bypass? is it thermostatic? replace any heater parts recently?

Canaro is good

Hmmm I didn't really consider that, but it's a point worth mentioning. I have the "updated" heater valve. It replaces the stock version with a ball valve. While this is much more robust and less likely to leak, the very nature of a ball valve essentially turns your flow control into an on/off switch. I hate it. However, my commute is 23 miles each direction. I'm usually roasting before 5 miles, so the heater gets turned all the way off by then. If it was a heater control issue, I should still see full operating temp during my day to day drives.

I was going to wait to mention this until I had more data compiled in my brain, but I'm going to say it anyway. I witnessed the car go up to operating temp this morning. I happened to be running a bit late, so I didn't have time to warm it up for very long. I saw the needle climb all the way up to 9:00. I assume that this is where the thermostat opens from fully shut because the needle came crashing right back down to 7:00. I guess the freezing cold water in the radiator making its way to the block makes the whole system spike down. Although the temp never goes back up to 9:00 I saw the needle slowly bouncing between about 7:00 and 8:00 the whole way to work. To me, this STILL sounds like a junky thermostat problem, but I'm tired of screwing with it. Hotter ones are available, but they're meant for Scandanavia and other frigid climates. I don't want to run into the opposite issue in the summer.

 

[v6buicks]

I finally went back to driving my own car yesterday. It was nice to have heated seats, a nice stereo, and a quiet ride again, but Allie gave the 240 right back to me. I guess I just got used to the wonky crooked seat because that was a big "no" for her dog.

As much as this weather sucks for removing driver seats in the driveway, I think that's what I'll be diving into tonight. I have a new plan brewing in my basement workshop.

Once I clean all the nasty dirt, hair, grease, and seat foam out of this thing, I'll compare it with the one that's currently in the car. I'm hoping the mechanism is bent or broken but not the seat itself. Worst case scenario would be that the previous owner's floor patching job made the mounting points unlevel. I don't remember having issues like this when I installed the spare seat though, so I have doubts on that.

 

[v6buicks]

I've already learned quite a bit about the driver seat issues. Last night started with cleaning of the spare seats track. It had wheel bearing grease or something in there, so it smelled awful. That combined with the seat foam flaking off all over made for a hell of a mess to deal with. Have you ever needed to completely remove that thick shit that barely even breaks down with brake clean? It's awful.

That was a lot of work just to realize that the track is not the issue. I pulled the seat out of the car and the track started moving like it was supposed to. ? This means that the real problem can only be my worst case scenario. I need to start beating the floor up in the rear. Oh well. I installed the seat back into its bind (height adjusters level but track not mounting to the floor without extreme force). This helped, but it still felt wonky. Why have we only suddenly started to feel/notice this?

It took two people to figure this out, but something else is broken. This seat has contracted the Volvo "gangster lean", and I almost guarantee it happened while I was trying to adjust the seat back with a warped track. It made a pop. Basically, the right side of the seat back is loose. If I get in the back seat and push, the driver will feel normal again. Great! I solved the mystery, but now I need to fix that because it's annoying as hell.

So this heated seat fix just went from 0 to 100. I'm about to donate my spare seat to science, and figure what the hell it is that fails between the left and right side of the seat back adjuster. I've never done anything with upholstery, so this will be all new territory.

Getting naked.

I guess that would explain why sitting in Olga always felt like a bar was being shoved up my ass.

These springs weren't doing a lot either.

Skeleton

Keep in mind that despite the shitty foam, springs, and skins, this seat frame was actually fine. Therefore, I'm sort of investigating an issue that doesn't exist. I'm just speculating the weakest link. This wimpy hollow tie bar crimped to the gear looks like a likely suspect. I'm guessing that holding the frame in a good spot and applying a couple tack welds will do the trick, but I'm going to ask the folks at Turbobricks. Pulling this bar out and using it in the other seat may be a solid good choice as well, but I want the fix to last. Besides, I want to put this seat all the way back together to find out if I'm able to patch foam and reskin a seat on my own. I'd hate to ruin the good seat and be stuck with nothing.

 

[IDAFC21]

Damn man, when you go, you go all in

Love it tho.