20 Most Recent 1988 Volvo 240 - Page 9 Questions & Answers

Hi, I have a couple of questions.
1. were the signals working before you replaced the brake light bulbs, and did you use the recommended bulbs?
2. Do the brake lights work now?

The brakes and signals use the same filaments, so these things are tied together.

your Volvo will run hot after idling for any length of time with the AC on,, there is no air flow through the cooling coils to prevent this from occurring, you need air flow to cool the fluid in your radiator as well as the ac coils in your vehicle,

First, you need to describe the problem more specifically.
Does the starter fail to turn the engine over? If so, the most likely cause is starter electrical resistance rising when it is hot. You will need a new starter.
Does the engine turn normally but fail to fire because it is flooding? If so, the most likely cause is the rear temperature sensor on the (US) driver side of the head. It is hard to see and very hard to access.
I can think of a dozen other reasons why a car might not restart when it is warm. Tell me more about how it sounds and behaves, and the history of the problem.

solution? ask for your money back, ask for concession on bill, dont go back, but tell them why and that you are upset. they my not even know you are upset. No good business wants to have a dissatisfied customer. Some people you can never please no matter how hard you try. If you ar not one of these then speak to the manager or owner. be nice and you should get results. I do not know Newcastle Volvo, but I am sure they would be very upset if they did you wrong and did not have the oppertunity to fix the problem. At least that is how i do business and hopefuly mycustomers would tell me if they were not happy with something

If camshaft is not rotating then your belt or chain is either broken, or so loose with slack that it just slips

When you unplug the mass airflow sensor, the car goes into "limp home" mode in which it runs full rich. Generally speaking, if a car runs better with the mass airflow sensor unplugged than with it plugged in, the mass airflow sensor has failed.
However, the drifting idle tends to make me want to look for vacuum leaks and check the rear temperature sensor on the driver side of the head. I suspect that running over-rich is compensating for the vacuum leak so the car keeps running.
If you have a propane torch or a can of diesel starting ether, spray it around the intake manifold while the car is idling and see if the engine speeds up. If so, then you have found a vacuum leak.
If it were mine, I would buy a new intake manifold gasket and replace it as a routine maintenance item. It is not expensive or difficult to replace except that if you are like me, you WILL drop at least one nut, and there are several great hiding places on that side of the engine where the nuts go to hide when you drop them. You will need a magnet to recover them. You don't need to pull the manifold clear off, you just have to pull it clear of the bolts so you can slip in a new gasket. You can leave the throttle cables and most of the other connections hooked up
If you know how to use an ohm meter, you might consider getting a manual for this car and looking up the appropriate resistance/temperature values and checking that rear temperature sensor.
While you are replacing that intake manifold gasket, check all the vacuum ports to make sure they are clear, and check all the vacuum hoses to make sure they are intact. Also check the tubes between the mass airflow sensor and the throttle body for cracks. While you have those air tubes off, clean the throttle body and the idle air control valve with some carb cleaner. Spray a little carb cleaner through the mass airflow sensor as well. Actually, there is a special spray for cleaning mass airflow sensors that is more gentle, but I have used carb cleaner on them many times with no apparent ill effects.
If it turns out that the mass airflow sensor has failed, that will run some $$, but having a fresh intake manifold gasket and clean throttle body and no vacuum leaks will be worth your time and money and make the car run better when you are done.

your fuel filter, injectors and fuel regulator should all be checked-these clowns (sorry, mechanics) should have checked line pressure FIRST, and I might have suggested that the fuel tank be removed and cleaned after it failed the first time-n telling what is in the lines, and injectors are easy to clog. Since this is an older car, and more difficult to diagnose, it might be a good idea to look for a Volvo specialist that will diagnose the problem rather than throw parts at it.

Hi there?
If they got carbon deposit bult up round the injector, it helps to sock it in cocacola. Yeah i know weird but it does the trick.
If there is no such thing then try twisting them left and right and eventually it will give up, you may need to use a hamer........
Good luck.........

• This is classic of your alternator going bad. Sometimes, when it first begins to go bad it will function on and off. Soon it just stops charging the battery all together. The battery has one function and that is to start the car. Then the alternator is ran by the belt and charges the battery and in effect runs the car. The reason for the lights coming on is the power fail in the car.
• Buying a new battery worked for a short time because the fresh battery ran the car but with no alternator to charge the battery the car soon died again.
• The fix is to replace the alternator. Do it soon or even that new battery will go bad from being drained so much.

regards, Tony