240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

I have the same tow bar and yea it weighs a tonne

I’d like to put the electrics into it - is this easy?

JJ

Somewhere above you may find a piece by LS regarding complications due to the Volvo bulb failure warning system.

Alan

[Othen]

I have not forgotten about this thread, nor indeed the RB, it is just that nothing much goes wrong with the motor car, so there isn't much to report.

I had not used the RB for a while (only because I have 3 other motor cars - and two motorcycles (I have sold two bikes in the past fortnight and now feel quite virtuous). Anyway, I thought I'd use the RB to pop into the Wetherspoons for some breakfast this morn and it started first turn of the key and all the systems work perfectly. It was (as always) the subject of some interesting conversation when I got to the pub:



Having sorted the RB out quite comprehensively over the past 3 years it now runs almost like a modern car (but without all the computers). I keep concluding that I'll have to sell the RB one day, it just doesn't get used now I have GAM (and I really do enjoy the 1960s motoring experience) - but not just yet :-).

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I have not forgotten about this thread, nor indeed the RB, it is just that nothing much goes wrong with the motor car, so there isn't much to report.

I had not used the RB for a while (only because I have 3 other motor cars - and two motorcycles (I have sold two bikes in the past fortnight and now feel quite virtuous). Anyway, I thought I'd use the RB to pop into the Wetherspoons for some breakfast this morn and it started first turn of the key and all the systems work perfectly. It was (as always) the subject of some interesting conversation when I got to the pub:



Having sorted the RB out quite comprehensively over the past 3 years it now runs almost like a modern car (but without all the computers). I keep concluding that I'll have to sell the RB one day, it just doesn't get used now I have GAM (and I really do enjoy the 1960s motoring experience) - but not just yet :-).

Alan

Isn't that the whole point of owning something like the RB and GAM though Alan? The simple fact that after bringing it up to a standard you're happy with you can then use it ad hoc with just simple servicing/repairs/TLC without the need to go silly on restoration?

Personally i'd sell the two modern things you have (which would be useless anyway if Putin deployed an EMP blast weapon) and keep the two older Volvos that don't rely on electronics to start and drive.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Isn't that the whole point of owning something like the RB and GAM though Alan? The simple fact that after bringing it up to a standard you're happy with you can then use it ad hoc with just simple servicing/repairs/TLC without the need to go silly on restoration?

Personally i'd sell the two modern things you have (which would be useless anyway if Putin deployed an EMP blast weapon) and keep the two older Volvos that don't rely on electronics to start and drive.

Wonderful Dave, that would be very eccentric of me: only having two vehicles with a combined age of 101 years!

Unfortunately Dan and Bob would not let me get rid of the Porsche (unless it was to buy a McLaren) or the Skoda (Bob's favourite).

I'm under no pressure to sell the RB at the moment because it costs almost nothing to run, but my reasons for keeping it are running a bit thin. I can't help thinking it is remarkable: an historic vehicle that is as reliable (maybe more so) than a modern one. As I have said many times the 1980 (or there about) Volvo 244 is the absolute sweet spot in usable historic car ownership.

:-)

[Othen]

I've decided (after 2 1/2 years) that it is time to correct the RB's slightly wonky smile:



... whereby the NS headlamp wiper parks at the top of its stroke, rather than the bottom (both wipers function properly otherwise).

I suspect the timing mechanism for the park function has just slipped by 180 degrees and needs re-aligning. This seems to be a common failing for 240s, has anyone done this job and is able to offer any advice?

I'll probably have a go at this later on this week. If it doesn't work I'm minded to remove the headlamp wiper system completely. I noticed this had been done to the nice, green 244 that Andrew saw for sale last week - and it looked quite smart:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265605264...53.m1438.l2649

- Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Othen

... for some reason the forum editor does not like me posting at the moment, so I'll try to continue the story here:



so, I could either buy another LH motor, or I could disassemble this one to see if it may be fixed - or I could live with the RB's wonky (but otherwise charming) smile ;-)

Alan

... brought forward from July last year so I can refer to the photos.

... and this useful link as well:


https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showp...&postcount=231


Alan

[Othen]

I'm a little bit stuck on this one chaps, I wonder if anyone has an idea?

I took the NS headlamp wiper motor off the RB today, it certainly seems to be the correct Bosch part and is clearly marked 'L':



It had obviously been taken apart previously and so disassembly was just a case of cutting the zip ties:



So far so good. I connected it up to the car's electrics again and could see that the motor always rotates anti-clockwise, so with the crank starting in this position it will always produce a downwards stroke first (this is the problem - hence it parks at the top of its stroke, rather than the bottom).

I gave it a clean up clean up and tried just repositioning the crank 180 degrees from its original position:



... I linked it up to the car's electrics again, but soon realised this will not work, the park mechanism is actuated by these three little teeth on the back of the crank:



... so whatever position the crank starts in the park switch will always just wind it back to there - which puts it in the same orientation as it started with (parking at the top of the stroke and with a downwards motion first).

Here is the front of the crank again:



So, when the motor is energised it rotates anti-clockwise as I have shown with the arrow. Because it will always park as it is orientated here (due to the three gear teeth on the back) this will always result in a downwards motion of the wiper blade, hence it will park at the top of its stroke. If I didn't know better I'd say the motor was wired to run backwards.

The detail on the crank says 'L' (so it is the correct one for the nearside), '60' (which I am guessing is 60 degrees of arc) and perhaps there is also an arrow indicating it should rotate clockwise (I don't know, that is a guess)?

I can't make much sense of this, it seems for all the world that the wiper motor should be rotating the other way, but I can't see that is possible. There are only 3 wires and they follow the same code as the right hand motor.

Have I missed something obvious?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Alan

PS. I have found a wiring diagram (for a later MY, 1991 I think, but it all seems the same, even down to the wiring colours):



... so we still have black=12v, red=switched (washer motor to start the stroke) and brown=-ve return. There doesn't seem to be any way the wiring could lead to the wiper operating backwards.

[Laird Scooby]

You see the pinion driven by the rack fed from the crank Alan? Try repositioning that pinion so it is 180 deg further round so it starts at the bottom of the stroke instead of the top.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You see the pinion driven by the rack fed from the crank Alan? Try repositioning that pinion so it is 180 deg further round so it starts at the bottom of the stroke instead of the top.

This one Dave?



The other end of that is just a shaft with some splines onto which the wiper arm fits, so rotating it through 180 degrees won't change anything apart from moving the splines round half a turn.

This is puzzling me - I keep coming to the conclusion that the motor must be running backwards, but I can't see how that could be possible.

:-(

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You see the pinion driven by the rack fed from the crank Alan? Try repositioning that pinion so it is 180 deg further round so it starts at the bottom of the stroke instead of the top.

... an idea: I have what I believe to be a good LH motor, but I think from a later MY and therefore it sweeps too large an arc for the MY1980's headlamps (probably 75 instead of 60 degrees). I could wire this up tomorrow and see if it parks at the bottom (starts its stroke in an upwards direction. If it does then I will know there can't be an external wiring error (although I can't see there can be, there is only one -ve return and both the 12v and switched feeds must be +ve.

At the moment I can't think of anything else to try.

:-(

Alan