240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Laird Scooby]

Glad to hear Bob is back to (nearly) 4-paw drive! You can see why he reminded me of Rusty!

I suspect when you investigate the instrument cluster, the reason for the currently dead tacho will present itself and if not, mysteriously fix itself.

While you have the cluster out, give the plugs that connect to it a clean with emery cloth and switch cleaner on the contacts, if they're similar to the later 7xx, the multiplugs will have bowed spring contacts and these get compressed over time so teasing them out with a terminal driver usually restores them to "full boing".

If they're like a cluster of bullet connectors it's not so easy, other than gently explanding the make bullets they're difficult to tease back into full contact.

That said, the tacho is very often just a single wire on a 1/4" female spade on the wire and a male terminal on the back of the tacho. Usually this is red/white from the -ve of the coil to the tacho but check the diagram in case the colour has changed at any point.

You may have to ferret about inside the dash for the tacho wire, i'm wondering if a previous attempt at changing the bulbs in the cluster resulted in someone pulling everything out without noting the connections and simply forgot to replace the tacho wire and it has fallen down somewhere.

Sure you'll figure it out anyway!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Glad to hear Bob is back to (nearly) 4-paw drive! You can see why he reminded me of Rusty!

I suspect when you investigate the instrument cluster, the reason for the currently dead tacho will present itself and if not, mysteriously fix itself.

While you have the cluster out, give the plugs that connect to it a clean with emery cloth and switch cleaner on the contacts, if they're similar to the later 7xx, the multiplugs will have bowed spring contacts and these get compressed over time so teasing them out with a terminal driver usually restores them to "full boing".

If they're like a cluster of bullet connectors it's not so easy, other than gently explanding the make bullets they're difficult to tease back into full contact.

That said, the tacho is very often just a single wire on a 1/4" female spade on the wire and a male terminal on the back of the tacho. Usually this is red/white from the -ve of the coil to the tacho but check the diagram in case the colour has changed at any point.

You may have to ferret about inside the dash for the tacho wire, i'm wondering if a previous attempt at changing the bulbs in the cluster resulted in someone pulling everything out without noting the connections and simply forgot to replace the tacho wire and it has fallen down somewhere.

Sure you'll figure it out anyway!

A good day so far: Bob looks more or less back to normal, the Triumph passed the MoT test and my contact adhesive repair on the Royal Barge's sunroof seal seems to have worked well.

I suspect you are right about the tacho Dave, like a lot of things with this car, it may well be a case of taking it apart and reassembling it carefully - then inexplicably it may just work. My Haynes manual arrived yesterday - removing the instruments looks to be trivial, so that may be this afternoon's job.

Alan

[Stephen Edwin]

Good point Loki re the sump plug. (By the way Volvo dealers can supply a genuine plug. Not a lot of dosh.)

Good point Othen re the strong flow of oil draining overwhelming the drain tray. I use one of these. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FLOTOOL-O...EAAOSw0w9dpHgP The drain plug is caught on the grid and does not need to be retrieved from the oil. The grid is large and the oil just flows in to the container easily. What's not to like about it. Kushtie.

The copper washer/gasket is specified to be replaced every time. And I find that with a new washer/gasket and the specified torque, the plug does not leak oil. So far.

Re oil changes. Use a good filter. Volvo sell one.

And beware there might be an always live terminal on the back of the alternator close to the filter. Use a filter tool that will not touch it or a fabric strap type of tool or disconnect the battery or put a sheet of insulation between the alternator and filter while removing the filter ..... or ....

Hope this helps a little.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

Good point Loki re the sump plug. (By the way Volvo dealers can supply a genuine plug. Not a lot of dosh.)

Good point Othen re the strong flow of oil draining overwhelming the drain tray. I use one of these. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FLOTOOL-O...EAAOSw0w9dpHgP The drain plug is caught on the grid and does not need to be retrieved from the oil. The grid is large and the oil just flows in to the container easily. What's not to like about it. Kushtie.

The copper washer/gasket is specified to be replaced every time. And I find that with a new washer/gasket and the specified torque, the plug does not leak oil. So far.

Re oil changes. Use a good filter. Volvo sell one.

And beware there might be an always live terminal on the back of the alternator close to the filter. Use a filter tool that will not touch it or a fabric strap type of tool or disconnect the battery or put a sheet of insulation between the alternator and filter while removing the filter ..... or ....

Hope this helps a little.

I suspect most Volvo owners have fallen foul of the always live terminal at the back of the alternator ... :-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Fingers crossed for other improvements to follow Alan! Looking forward to your report later!

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Othen

I suspect most Volvo owners have fallen foul of the always live terminal at the back of the alternator ... :-)

Alan

Unless they have read the Volvo 200 Serries Articles threads. All sorts of info in there.

Good luck with your car.


.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

Unless they have read the Volvo 200 Serries Articles threads. All sorts of info in there.

Good luck with your car.


.

:-)

I take your point, but I suspect most owners are like me and just have a go rather than read about how to first.

Many thanks - the Royal Barge has been fun.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I suspect most Volvo owners have fallen foul of the always live terminal at the back of the alternator ... :-)

Alan

The exposed B+ terminal is common to many alternators Alan, not just Bosch and not just Volvos either!

You tend to learn quickly to check for it! not sure which Porsche you have but that will almost certainly be similar!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Fingers crossed for other improvements to follow Alan! Looking forward to your report later!

The weather has taken a sudden turn for the worse here Dave, so I think I'll do a couple of easier jobs on the other cars and leave the Royal Barge's instruments for a nicer day (maybe tomorrow - but today's forecast was 'mostly sunny). The maps need updating in the Skoda, that sounds like a nice easy job for a wet afternoon :-)

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The exposed B+ terminal is common to many alternators Alan, not just Bosch and not just Volvos either!

You tend to learn quickly to check for it! not sure which Porsche you have but that will almost certainly be similar!

... I know Dave, I've been caught out with that a few other cars over the past 40 years or so. I suspected it might be live on the Royal Barge, and knew I should disconnect the battery, but ever the optimist: 'I'll just be careful - that filter looks like it will come off easy enough to me...'

I suspect many of us will have done the same sometime.

:-)

Alan