So, my beloved 1978 262c died. Just when it was starting to come together. It seems that something in the engine died an it wouldn’t start and if it did manage to start, wouldn’t stay running. Vicki and I thought about it and we came to the conclusion that I couldn’t continue to spend alot of time constantly fixing the 262 – I have too much going on with the family, what with all the kids’ activities. So, we decided to get another car – this course of action was arrived at because I had received a $1,000 bonus ($880 actually) for work I’d done back in December 2014. Long story short, I got a 1991 240 off of Craigslist. I was in a hurry and didn’t do a good job of vetting the car so… lets just say the car had issues. I say had because my friend Roy Key, owner of Swedish Connection put in a huge amount of work to get it operational. To date, its had the following done:
- Crank and layshaft oil seals
- Crank Pulley
- Cam Belt
- Proper cooling fan clutch
- Cam Belt upper cover
- Timing set properly
- Distributor cap and rotor
- Plugs and plug wires
- In tank pre-pump
- Main fuel pump
- Fuel pump relay
- The big one – Rear Main Seal and re-set of flex plate to proper timing
- Oil Filter and oil change
- Shift linkage bushings and repair of neutral safety switch
As you would expect, after all that work, it runs great. Very smooth.
I did some minor cosmetic work – moved my Tethys wheels and plastic floor trays over today.
I took the car to emissions Friday the 20th but it didn’t pass. I need to take it again ASAP before the temporary tags expire on 1-APR-2015. I’ll probably take it tomorrow, the 30th. Crossing my fingers!
30-MAR-2015
It passed emissions!!! Wasn’t even close. The car is registered and has tags through the end of February, 2016. Best part is that its just as cheap to register and as the 262c – $20!
Original readings:
Loaded – HC: 152 / CO: .68
Idle – HC: 638 / CO: 1.08
After all the work Roy did:
Loaded – HC: 97 / CO: 0.47
Idle – HC: 92 / 0.44
In case you’re wondering, the standards are:
HC: 220 / CO: 1.20 for both loaded and idle.
So yeah, being 45 degrees advanced in timing will affect your emissions. At some point someone changed the rear main seal and assumed the crank pulley was ok, i.e., the timing was correct and they set the flex plate off off that. That little assumption threw the whole thing off – pinging all over the place, no power, poor gas mileage.
Only real big things to take care of are the broken kick down cable thats leaking, and to get the AC fixed. (and the odometer!…)
Last note – it’s getting pretty good mileage for a 24 year old car.
11-APR-2015
So, let me start by saying that I don’t wish having to replace a kick down cable on a Volvo AW7x transmission on anyone even my worst enemy! That being said, it needed to be done – it was leaking and I was tired of sending unanswered smoke signals every time I came off the freeway or came to a stop. Now, after a day of work, its all better.
The day started innocently enough, I finished what little cleanup in the garage I needed to do, including sweeping off the floor and setting up the ramps.I prepped my tools, including sockets, large and VERY large Crescent (real ones) wrenches, dental pick tools, etc. I began by removing the cable at the throttle end, which turned out to be the easiest part, lol! Next, I drained the pan, then loosened the fill tube with the Crescent wrenches, then unbolted the 14 10mm bolts holding the pan. So far , so good, or so I thought.
I figured since I was in there I’d swap the filter – holy cow is there a lot of fluid behind that filter! I’m seeeriously thankful that I read about the job prior to actually doing it so I knew to expect a gush of fluid and had left the pan under the trans body. There are 5 long, 8mm bolts holding the filter in place, one of which is strategically located sort of underneath one of the fluid tubes – precicely where its most likely to frustrate men with large hands. It got done, but at the cost of a great many curse words that can not be recorded here. This turned out to be foreplay, compared to the main event.
So, removing the old cable proved to be an evolution in itself. I moved the old sheath to give me some cable down underneath – this allowed me to rotate the bell crank the cable rides in to release it. I had more hilarity ensuing though – the broken end of the sheath was on the cable like a collar and would not le me pull the end out of the transmission. So close, yet so far! I hit oon the idea of fishing the cable end down into and out of the transmission and using a heavy pair of pliers to just crack the piece off – problem solved and the cable came out.
This is where the next fun activity began – feeding the new cable in. The first attempt had me fishing out the cable end and having to statrt all over with the bell cank to rotate it and lock it in place with one of the dental pick tools. Fun. This second attempt to fish the cable into the transmission and attach the cable end actually ended up taking only 5 minutes! I jumped out as fast as possible from underneath the car and attached the other end to the throttle body so it wouldn’t let loose. After this it was just puttting the pan and gasket back on and going on a test run. I was so wrong.
During the test run the car started smoking heavily – I looked underneath at the Safeway parking lot where I’d stopped to check. Sure enough, fluid pouringout of one corner of the pan. I raced home as quick as possible and drove right up on the ramps, pushing the drain pan under the bleeding transmission. I tried tightening the pan bolts, but that just made the bleeding worse. The soft cork gasket that I’d received and installed was cut in two by the ridges of the transmission pan. Clearly not up to the task. The solution – a service kit for a 1985 Toyota pick up with the A43D version of the transmission, $12.00 at the local Oreilley Auto Parts. Ironically, can’t get the same kit for the Volvo at any price anywhere in town except to order it. Go figure.
This time, problem seems to have been fixed though – no more apparent leeaks!
12-APR-2015
I fixed the driver side passenger door handle. After I pulled the handle off it was as expected. it was the original driver door handle. The pin that acts to pull up the door lock actuator was almost completely worn off. I used a Dremel cut off wheel to trim the back side where the pin was hammered over and punched out the pin. The hole is perfect for threading a 10/32 screw, which I did. I cut an Allen head screw to fit, applied thread locker and turned the screw in from the back – back to operational status! 🙂
I also spliced the wiper hose together where it had been cut and then drained the tank and filled the tank with wiper fluid. More progress!