Little electrical surprise

Tuesday night I was presented with some pretty coloured lights on the dash of the 240 on my way home from work. The combo of battery, parking brake, brake failure and bulb integrity sensor.

That combo of lights means the alternator isn't charging. And they were showing intermittently, but I managed to get the car home, and even start it the next day to return to work.

Luckily for me, there's an auto electrician next door to my office, because the lights stayed on for the last 5 minutes of the drive into work and the volts gauge dropped into the red, in the 10 volt zone.

It was a cheap and easy fix, the voltage regulator had died, but luckily Volvo had the foresight to use a Bosch alternator, which are really easy to get parts for, so after $80 for supply and fit of the part, things are back to normal.

Today the 240 is in at the local Volvo specialist, having rego check done, the reverse lights fixed as well as a C service done, plus a look at a leak and why the gearbox is suddenly doing weird stuff (hoping an ATF change will stop the problems getting out of 2nd when it's cold and the overdrive disengaging at random times). Either way the guy is not cheap, so I am not looking forward to his bill.

Sunday DIY: Change rear shock absorbers

Well this morning was very cold, so I held off until after midday to change the rear shocks on the 240.

I am used to just taking the car into the mechanic and letting them deal with anything mechanical, whilst I kept an eye on the electrical side of things, because I feel more comfortable working with electric / electronic stuff. So armed with the Haynes manual and some info on changing shocks from the Mobil web site, I went forth and attempted the changeover.

It was fairly straight forward and took all of about 90 minutes. My ratchet handle broke though, which made things a bit tricky, but I found a way around it. So I will be off to Repco or Auto Pro on pay day to get a new one.

The shocks I bought were off eBay, for $75 including the shipping for the pair. They're non genuine, but are made in the USA for AC Delco (yes the General Motors subsidiary). They're a little stiffer than I am used to, but I sure that's got a lot to do with them being brand new.

The old shocks were very spongy and very easy to manipulate out of the car, and when compressed, never sprang back out again.

Here's the new shocks:

The old shock still on the car (left side):

New shock on the car (left side):

New shock on the car (right side):

New plugs and volts gauge

Yesterday was a day of doing stuff on the 240.

I wanted to do an oil and filter change but couldn't get the sump plug off, so will try again next weekend using a different spanner.

But I did replace the spark plugs, leads, distributor cap (rotor button was jammed on, so I left it), and I added a genuine Volvo volts gauge as well. I ran out of daylight to finish it, so it will also get done next weekend. Just need to connect it to the fuse and cable tie up the wire.

Here's the pix:

The new volts gauge in place

Ratchet handle and plug socket along with the new distributor cap, plugs, leads and rotor button

A very dirty number one spark plug. Number 2 was similar, but 3 and 4 were reasonably clean

Photos of the 1992 240

Well here's the photos of the new brick. Cost $1500.

When the previous owner doesn't look after his car

Well my old mechanic in Sydney went over the 240, and found more than $1200 in repairs to be done. This made me think twice about whether the 86 was worth working on further, especially with the hail damage and rust spot and buggered interior. Anyway out of curiosity I looked on eBay to see what was about, and found a 92 240 sedan.

Yesterday I went and looked at it and bought it for $1500. Very good price. The body has a few scrapes and dings, as you'd expect for a 17 year old car, but interior is almost like new, and the rest of the car is in pretty good shape. It does need some new shocks and trailing arm bushes for the back, but not a lot of effort elsewhere.

The new 240 was built in October 1992, which is one of the very last of the cars to be built. It's silver, with blue woven interior. Has airbag and electric left mirror. Has factory security system and air conditioning as well.

I will post a few pix in a few days.

Today I fitted my Virgo rims with the new tyres to the 1992 today, and tidied up some trim in the boot and replaced the left indicator lens on the front with one that didn't have a stone crack in it.

So now I have the 92, my red 86 model is up for sale, looking for about $500 for it. Message me if you want more information.

Some of the service done!

Started the service on the 240 with my cousin Mick today. I of course left the Haynes manual at home, so we didnt get as far as we wouldve liked. But the car is running better with new spark plugs, oil and filter. Also replaced a very dirty air filter as well.

Will start the driving and fog lights tomorrow morning.

Mick found an interesting rust spot under the gutter trim on the rightside near the quarter glass.

New fog light switch installed

I couldn't help myself this morning before work - I had to put the fog light switch in the dash.

Anyway here's a photo of it there with all the others.

Now onto actually hooking up the lights and doing the service the car so desperately needs.