Saving A 245 Turbo, or How Not To Do This Sort of Thing

[John242Ti]

Simple thing to check: Is the breather hose in place on the intake elbow that goes between the fuel distributor boot and the coupler on the compressor side of the turbo? If not, insert it into the hole and see if the car runs.

If that's ok, then I'd look at timing, fuel, etc.

-J

[Hacksaw116]

Originally Posted by snailmale

Came back to it only to find a flat battery. Engine cranks, it struggles to fire, and it dies. 10 years was a good run.

Don't give up, there is a perfectly logical reason for what is going on. Get that battery charged, can just idle another a car next to it with jumper cables for a bit.

Check for the magic 3 elements, air fuel and spark.

Assuming your in-tank and inline pump are good and have adequate voltage, and fuel filter new/flowing, we can work our way toward troubleshooting injectors or spark related issues. Given the age of your vehicle it is prone to wiring harness failure, so we just gotta find where it's shorting if that's the case.

It's a puzzle. Put 12v where it needs to be and things should be ok! ;) May need to build some jumper wires to test against the internal loom, but you get the point.

[snailmale]

Finally had some time to work on the car!

I decided to take care of the rear cam seal and had some trouble weaving the valve cover around a hose over it. The Green Book references a hose that could be pulled out from the intake. Is the connection marked in red where I can safely pull the hose from?



I'm also taking this time to clean off some of the acorn nuts and patch the spark plug wire holder back together with some Gorilla Glue. Can't believe nobody bothered to fix it, but better late than never!

[snailmale]

Another question: Can I simply pull the half moon plug out with some pliers? Doesn’t look like it’s connected to any shafts.

EDIT: didn’t need no stinking pliers after all! Used my hands to pull it out. Boy, that thing was as hard as a rock!

[snailmale]

Postmortem:

All the acorn nuts were filled with old oil and the paper gasket disintegrated into my hand. I guess that means it's broken?

Everything sent back together pretty nicely. The cylinder head looked pretty gross despite scraping (and me leaving a small fingernail deep gouge!) on it, but hopefully a little extra dab of black RTV keeps everything playing nicely.

The wind carried away one of my steel brackets (wasn't doing much anyway) so I just zip-tied that sensor (forgot which one) tight to a cable. Was more secure anyway.

Car's all buttoned up. Figured I'll clean up the battery terminals. They look kind of disgusting.

[John242Ti]

Did my suggestion of working the cam cover off without pulling the breather hose work?

Ah, the connector for the Volvo Monotester. You can actually unthread that from the block on the passenger side near the bellhousing, then delete the whole assembly. Most people use a normal timing light to set ignition timing.

[snailmale]

Originally Posted by John242Ti

Did my suggestion of working the cam cover off without pulling the breather hose work?

Ah, the connector for the Volvo Monotester. You can actually unthread that from the block on the passenger side near the bellhousing, then delete the whole assembly. Most people use a normal timing light to set ignition timing.

Sure did! Thanks again for that. Someone replaced the hose along the way, but there was just enough slack to work the cam cover off. It was around then that the Cam Cover gasket shattered into four pieces.

Never knew that was called a Monotester. Looks like the plastic sensor broke years ago and was just left alone.

[snailmale]

I took a look at the car today. It clicks but doesn't start. The engine's getting fuel (I can smell it in the bay) so I guess the battery really is done. The new challenge is finding a replacement. The H5 is a perfect fit but nobody makes the terminals in the right orientation.

I'll check in with the Napa Auto guys tomorrow to see if they can find one that fits. Almost tempted to just cross the cables under each other, but that sounds dangerous...

Forgot to mention that it's currently running a size 33-36 battery AAA forced in there. Getting that out was fun.

[snailmale]

Great news! After rerouting the battery cables and patching its positive cable with enough electrical tape to build a new harness, the Volvo lives again with the help of a new battery! No oil or fuel leaks as far as I can tell. It's sat for a while so the idle is bouncing like crazy...I'm guessing whatever ECU/ECU-like system(s) is getting reacquainted. Didn't have time to let the car really run, but this is promising.

My plans are to either get it smogged this week or put it onto Planned Non-Operation and do some more work before getting it smogged.

[snailmale]

Shakedown run:

The car looks & runs fine. Noticed it may still have a small oil leak, but not sure if that's an old stain or new seeing as how I park in more or less the same spot. Drives alright, though I haven't exactly pushed it much. Feels good to get back behind the wheel though.

However, the brake system has gotten worse. Pedal goes all the way and then some. Now it's stalling at a stop. As the pedal gets hard immediately after the stall I'm thinking it's a vacuum issue, either a booster or check valve. Either way I'm probably going to put it on PNO for another few weeks.

[Hacksaw116]

Glad to hear you got it running! I know there's a check valve that sometimes goes out on the vacuum brake booster, worth looking into as the part is cheap and easy to fix. As for the idle issues let's get some injector/fuel system cleaner in there and burn a half a tank or so of gas.

Did it have idle issues before?

[snailmale]

Originally Posted by Hacksaw116

Glad to hear you got it running! I know there's a check valve that sometimes goes out on the vacuum brake booster, worth looking into as the part is cheap and easy to fix. As for the idle issues let's get some injector/fuel system cleaner in there and burn a half a tank or so of gas.

Did it have idle issues before?

It did idle a bit rough before. Will look at the plug wires too since one looks a bit suspicious having sat on the cam cover for a long time.

The hose going from the booster to the IM is basically toast. Gave it a squeeze and found it was nearly split. That's getting replaced along with the check valve.

[snailmale]

Did a bit of work on the Volvo today: swapped out the old, broken booster vacuum line and replaced with a fresh piece of vacuum (not fuel!) hose. Fortunately the check valve that's almost as old as I am is still working as expected. Still, I'll include a new valve in my next FCP order given that they're only $5.





Here's the old hose. I'm no expert but I don't this is supposed to be a hard line. This also isn't the full piece, it snapped in two about a half inch from the end and I had to slice it off the IM fitting.



The car runs a lot better. Now it fires on the first try and idles at a consistent rate despite sitting for the last two weeks. Bye bye misfire and hard lumpy idle!

There's a bit of a leak at the front of the engine, possibly due to some bad seal and the nose pointing downward. Not sure if it's oil/water or some water that got trapped when I washed the engine down last week. Probably the latter given how it's not leaked from this point before, but I have a cambelt & front cam seal ready and waiting to be installed.

As long as it's not the rear main seal, we're good!

And now a shameless publicity grab post-shine.

[snailmale]

This guy is my assistant. He considers himself a Volvo & Toyota expert since he's always poking his nose into whatever I'm doing and supervising my repairs.

[Hacksaw116]

That is a majestic beast if I do say so myself. Also, cute cat. ;)

[snailmale]

Well, just placed another big FCP Euro. New drain hose o-ring + gasket, booster check valve, clutch pedal cover, some clips, and various interior bulbs so I can actually see where I'm going.

[snailmale]

Speaking of boxes, here's all the gunk I scraped off the K-member's front side earlier this afternoon.



36 years of oil leaks, sand, and who knows what else on the road...

I also did a quick clean of the Virgos last week. They still look pretty rough but they're not a lost cause. Surprisingly little curb rash, though the right rear has a noticeable flat-spot on the rim.

[Hacksaw116]

I use a high strength de-greaser on wheels, but be sure to rinse thoroughly with water as it can etch the paint/leave a hazy residue if you don't. That and a toothbrush makes quick work.

[snailmale]

^Good to know about the degreaser.

Sitrep/Diary entry/etc

My big box of parts arrived earlier than expected. I fitted the new clutch pedal cover and took it for a drive to burn up some of the seven-month-old gas and pick up a large item, which required the use of a CA DMV Moving Permit. While it's certainly more reliable and closer to road-going status than it was seven months ago, I still need to finish up addressing the oil leak and the brakes ASAP. I intentionally picked low-traffic roads and it's not hard out here in my corner of the southwest.

Suspension is shaping up to be a higher priority than interior body/trimwork. It sags and squeaks and I have a shopping bag temporarily zip-tied over the torn RH boot (ZF Type) until I can install the replacement that arrived in the big FCP Euro box.

The temp needle sits a notch higher than midway (might have just been my imagination), but otherwise held steady throughout my 70 mile loop. That's good. But there's still the matter of a coolant drip I spotted a few weeks ago.

While there's a slight hint of a burning oil smell under hard acceleration - not hard considering its past history of leaks - oil pressure readings are about in line with RedwoodChair's reported #s in the linked post below. That's promising.
http://www.turbobricks.net/forums/sh...27&postcount=3

There's also a shop in my town that has a gold 244 and a silver 745 in their lot and their lone Yelp review comes from a satisfied 244 owner, so I'm in good hands should I need it.

[Hacksaw116]

I'd replace all struts and shocks for sure given the age of the vehicle. Consider springs too, since its easiest to do both at the same time. If budget allows...

[snailmale]

It's been a quiet few weeks so I decided to get back to work.

Moved the Volvo to a much happier place (flat concrete) for service only for the neighbor's cat to throw up under it. Nevertheless I set to work diagnosing the wiper motor. New fuse and cleaned up grounds didn't help, so I guess I'll include that in the next order. At least the switch is providing power, so that's a few bucks saved.


It looks like the rear wiper's not working because the wires are broken.



Went ahead and replaced the brake check valve like I said I would ages ago. That was fun. It's so bright that it's messing with my camera.



Also washed the filthy seat covers. Looks like there's some salvageable foam on both seats, which is nice. Now I shouldn't feel disgusting sitting in them... Passenger seat's jammed all the way back, probably because there's something in its tracks. I guess I'll have to take that out and fix it.

[Hacksaw116]

One of my buddies put v70 leather seats in his 245, and it looks good. He said he had to drill a hole or two, but tossing that out there as an option!

[brickcupra]

Hi , is funny you talk about toyotas and volvos cause im doing a toyota engine swap with a volvo wagon and im almost done, well not really cause the details take soooo long.
I havent posted any images yet cause of the dificulty puting them here.
Good luck with the project
Dz

[snailmale]

Originally Posted by Hacksaw116

One of my buddies put v70 leather seats in his 245, and it looks good. He said he had to drill a hole or two, but tossing that out there as an option!

Don't tempt me!

Originally Posted by brickcupra

Hi , is funny you talk about toyotas and volvos cause im doing a toyota engine swap with a volvo wagon and im almost done, well not really cause the details take soooo long.
I havent posted any images yet cause of the dificulty puting them here.
Good luck with the project
Dz

Hey thanks! Is this by any chance the Toyota Supra engine? There's one featured on Speedhunters and it's my dream setup.

Best of luck with yours.


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Updates: Project's mostly ground to a halt due to me getting pulled into helping some friends move. But I did pull the passenger seat and I'll get around to fixing the rails or just buying a used seat. Probably the latter at this point.

[snailmale]

Well, this project's just getting back into motion.

Pulled the rear passenger-side arm rest out and scooped out what I hope is melted surfboard wax. It gummed up the pocket. Nasty stuff.

I also followed Redwood K-Jet's guide to window switch repair to rebuild the window switch. No word on whether or not this fixes the non-responsive window, but the rocker switch makes a nice click when you flip it back and forth. I think one of the ball bearings came out of alignment. I will also rebuild the other window switches where necessary.


Battery's currently on trickle-charge while I'm not driving it.

https://forums.tbforums.com/showthread.php?t=141489