Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - 240 soft brakes

Stephen Edwin · Jul 25th, 2020, 23:45

It sounds as if your car has been looked after and/or worked on by people who have not followed EXACTLY the best procedures specified by Volvo. I have followed all of this thread, and other discussions, re brakes for Volvo 240 cars. And for Volvo 240 brakes hydraulics it seems to be ESSENTIAL to follow EXACTLY the procedures specified by Volvo.

This thread illustrates how far things can go wrong if good mechanics do whatever they would do on other cars. Especially if they then make more mistakes trying to solve the problem.

Bob has given you excellent advice. And. There seem to be three little things in particular.
1. There is a sequence for bleeding the brakes. It really matters not just the sequence of wheels, but the sequence of the individual bleed nipples..
2. Jacking up the rear of the car for bleeding the brakes. So that air bubble(s) do not form or lodge in a particular place in the brake system.
3. Specific installation procedure for the master cylinder. See Nick'e explanation in this thread.

If the brakes have been messed up you could find a Volvo 240 specialist and spend possibly a lot of money. Sorry but that is my honest assessment of what is probably the situation.

There are people in this forum who can give you seriously good specific advice. They might say that a problem like this is VERY difficult to diagnose without having the car available to work on themselves.

Bottom line. As you have said, you need SAFE and cheap wheels. Whatever happens, all the best to you. And welcome to the forum

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Jul 25th, 2020, 23:45	#36
Stephen Edwin Premier Member Last Online: Oct 26th, 2023 20:42 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Thurrock	It sounds as if your car has been looked after and/or worked on by people who have not followed EXACTLY the best procedures specified by Volvo. I have followed all of this thread, and other discussions, re brakes for Volvo 240 cars. And for Volvo 240 brakes hydraulics it seems to be ESSENTIAL to follow EXACTLY the procedures specified by Volvo. This thread illustrates how far things can go wrong if good mechanics do whatever they would do on other cars. Especially if they then make more mistakes trying to solve the problem. Bob has given you excellent advice. And. There seem to be three little things in particular. 1. There is a sequence for bleeding the brakes. It really matters not just the sequence of wheels, but the sequence of the individual bleed nipples.. 2. Jacking up the rear of the car for bleeding the brakes. So that air bubble(s) do not form or lodge in a particular place in the brake system. 3. Specific installation procedure for the master cylinder. See Nick'e explanation in this thread. If the brakes have been messed up you could find a Volvo 240 specialist and spend possibly a lot of money. Sorry but that is my honest assessment of what is probably the situation. There are people in this forum who can give you seriously good specific advice. They might say that a problem like this is VERY difficult to diagnose without having the car available to work on themselves. Bottom line. As you have said, you need SAFE and cheap wheels. Whatever happens, all the best to you. And welcome to the forum . Last edited by Stephen Edwin; Jul 25th, 2020 at 23:49.