240 '93 245 Wagon with 113,000 miles

We acquired the wagon from an elderly woman who had to stop driving at 88 years of age. She bought it new in California and after a year, moved to Tucson where it stayed until we bought it and shipped it to freezing cold Connecticut. I had an enormous amount of work done to get it perfect including all new brakes, suspension, motor mounts and a timing belt service.

One thing that still annoys me is a ticking valve. I thought a valve adjustment would help but my Volvo expert mechanic here in CT says 240s rarely ever need one and he hasn't performed one in 15 years. He preferred to add an oil treatment to the fresh oil to help loosen things up.

I drive it a lot harder than the original owner so I am patient as I wait for things to get better but after 700 miles, it hasn't improved. Should I press him to do the adjustment, wait longer or find someone else?

by the way, it is not a garage queen. We don't depend on it as a daily driver but use it frequently...

Since it doesn't have hydraulic valve lifters, there's really nothing to loose up - unless a valve was sticking slightly open in which case you'd have a persistent miss at idle.

It's probably a crumbled valve husher - little rubber cushions between the valve and lifter that do nothing other than quiet the ticking down some (which is, apparently, for the benefit of the knock sensor).

You could pull the valve cover and use some feeler gauges to check for a loose valve easily enough, if everything is good it's a chunk more work to take the timing belt off, cam off, lifters out (keep track of where they go!!! they need to go back to their specific spot) and put new hushers in. Maybe wait to do that until you're doing a timing belt/water pump anyhow, then it's only a little extra work on top of what you're already doing.

Couldn’t this 'ticking valve' be a bad exhaust manifold gasket? I sure thought mine was a valve issue until i pulled the manifold to see a bad gasket.

The above post is probably the 'problem'. Even though it's low miles those gaskets are aged and probably bad. Looks like a great car for the family. Enjoy!

That is a good point. I remember being fooled by a leaking exhaust gasket on my 240 when I first got it. I would have sworn it was a mechanical tick tick tick from the valve, but it was just #4 leaking.

Whatever you do, if you replace the exhaust manifold gaskets, don't use Fel-pro paper garbage from the local parts store. Elring or Mahle.

Wow nice find. Looks good with the 15" steelies. (BTW, Those will accept the old style button hubcaps.) It pains me to see the salt bath it is getting. If it were mine and had the option, I wouldn't drive it in the salt. Rust free examples are getting very rare. About the ticking valve, I agree with John about waiting until timing belt change.

buffalo said:

Wow nice find. Looks good with the 15" steelies. (BTW, Those will accept the old style button hubcaps.) It pains me to see the salt bath it is getting. If it were mine and had the option, I wouldn't drive it in the salt. Rust free examples are getting very rare. About the ticking valve, I agree with John about waiting until timing belt change.

Click to expand...

Well I have an unlimited car wash program with an underbody wash. I know how rare it is to find a rust free example but then again, they were made to drive and enjoy.

I guess everyone missed that the timing belt service was done about 500 miles ago...so if all of you knowledgeable contributors agree that a valve adjustment is not the issue and I am not hurting anything, then I might consider the exhaust manifold gasket or turning up the radio (which miraculously works).

Now I am sorting through the non-working windshield washers. Probably frozen solid like the tank was until I extracted it and melted the ice block inside. Yes, Tucson probably doesn't use window cleaner good for -25 degrees. I'll wait for the weekend thaw to see if the lines are clear or if the pumps are shot.

It's *probably* not a loose vale. It really just doesn't happen at that mileage unless there's a freak failure.

When does it make noise? When cold? When warm? Idling Reved up? Throttle open? Throttle closed? All the time? Does the sound ever change?

Your post doesn't say where you are, but it may be worth it to check what a local indy shop would charge to for a valve adjustment. A local Volvo shop close to me only charged $85, including a couple shims.

Might be a good time to get your hands a little dirty. Older cars like this aren't always that practical for someone who has to pay a professional mechanic to do everything. Checking the valve clearance is pretty easy and doesn't take too many tools. Fixing a problem takes some more tools, but you could at least rule that out.

Taking the manifold off to replace the gaskets is a PITA job, because those nuts are usually not willing to come off easily. And some of them are hard to reach in addition. A very frustrating task.