How to take care of my baby

Hi,

Ive got a 91 740 and I need suggestions on what to keep an eye out for, check on, get looked at, get replaced etc. in my car at this point in its life. Its at 162k approximately.

I also was wondering what i can do to prevent/check for rot underneath the car? I know that can kill it stealthily

Also, i really want to learn to take care of it myself... is there any chance i could find someone who works on 240s to give me some sort of lessons on 240 repair?
What classes are best for me to take for this?

I found a lot of stuff in the frame rails for my 740. I blew it all out with an air compressor.

First off, don't call it your baby.

Just accept that you will stall out often

You in the rust belt?

Have a thorough read through the Brickboard FAQ, it certainly helped me out a few times. For you, especially the preventive maintenance section: https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/HighMileageVehiclePrevMaint.htm

But, why would you like help working on a 240 when you have a 740, or do you have both?

Stalls out often? Weird thing to say. IBlowSeals, take your car to stage 0 and that will stop, you have a problem somewhere. Harland, also a weird thing to say, you've never heard someone call their car that? There are drains in the unibody and doors, like chronicrhythm said, keep them clean. My '91 740T looked perfect but the rockers rotted out badly. Definitely check that brickboard link, and search here for "stage zero"

It's not too weird a thing to say, from my perspective. I've encountered many of these cars with such issues that go beyond any stage 0 components needing replacement. These cars are old as **** and things like crank sensors, alternators, power stages, various relays and sensors crap out all the time. Maybe it's not an issue if your idea of stage O is replacing damn near every fuel and ignition component

Ill call my car whatever i want.

Thanks to everyone else ill peruse all this info tonight, exactly what i was looking for.

IBlowSeals said:

It's not too weird a thing to say, from my perspective. I've encountered many of these cars with such issues that go beyond any stage 0 components needing replacement. These cars are old as **** and things like crank sensors, alternators, power stages, various relays and sensors crap out all the time. Maybe it's not an issue if your idea of stage O is replacing damn near every fuel and ignition component

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The crank sensor was the first thing I replaced on my 245. Pretty cheap, and I got it swapped using a 10mm wrench in around 10 minutes max (it's in a pretty hard to reach spot).

Alternator would count as stage 0 if it's bad. Stage 0 is finding out what immediately needs work/was wrong when bought that prevents it from being daily driver material. Stage 0 is thus more all-encompassing if you find a car with more issues when bought. Mine had a lot but I mainly was looking for a clean body, so I was willing to settle for more mechanical/electrical work.

Since spark plugs/distributor cap/distributor rotor are part of most peoples' ideas of stage 0, I'd say that pretty much every ignition component except maybe the coil/ECU is.

Fuel system might be, if you can smell gas or see obviously bad hoses under the car.


As to advice for a 740 owner:
Tint your windows if your interior plastics are still good somehow and it's not tinted. You won't regret it. That plastic loves breaking.
Most of the 240 stage 0 stuff applies, too, for the drive train.
Make sure your instrument cluster fully works. 700 series clusters like to die with bad capacitors in a couple of model years. Also make sure your odometer moves when your car does. You may have to replace a gear (I know VDO speedos have the gear problem and Yazaki speedos have the "not working at all" problem with the bad capacitors).

If you have a yazaki unit, even if it does work, you may want to replace the electrolytic capacitors preventatively if you have the soldering gear. If your capacitors have been leaking, desoldering the components might start to smell like fish. Not a great smell, but it lets you know the capacitor you're desoldering (or one nearby) is failing/failed.

Meh if it runs good ride out take a look for soft hoses vac lines ect

Its dam hard to get a replacement cluster for a 91 740, it doesn't interchange with anything, I had to get mine rebuilt (Yazaki speedo). Its for sale now

2turbotoys said:

Its dam hard to get a replacement cluster for a 91 740, it doesn't interchange with anything, I had to get mine rebuilt (Yazaki speedo). Its for sale now

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Your cluster is for sale or your car is?

My speedometer works half the time so if youre selling the cluster i may be interested

My car is in excellent condition, so the only thing i had to buy when i bought it was struts. Never stalled out, took me from NH to CO and back with no problems.

Obviously every once and a while there is a perceptable symptom and i have to bring it in. I posted this because i realized i ought to do preventative maintenance so "symptoms" would never even occur and itd be less expensive.

Thanks for everyones help, ill definitely check out that link to the preventative maint. section.

Is there a DIY guide for 740s on this site or elsewhere, as in is there preventative maintenance/testing of components that a layman like me could do himself?

Good 740 sedan tip is to cut out the rear bulkhead so you can stick your legs through into the trunk and properly stretch out while sleeping in your car.

BigWebsite said:

Is there a DIY guide for 740s on this site or elsewhere, as in is there preventative maintenance/testing of components that a layman like me could do himself?

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I already posted the link above, but here it is again: https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/FAQSummary1.htm Tons of information and there is a preventive maintenance section too.

OP:

You really should bookmark this link:

http://www.swedishbricks.net/700900FAQ/FAQSummary1.html

I have, and I refer to it quite often.

"It's not just a car, it's an adventure!"