stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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Jan 26, 2022 18:45:34 GMT
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After over a year without an IC car and about five years without a retro, I'm back in the retro-ish game with this big-ol wagon of a Volvo 940 estate. I'd been looking around for something that piqued my interest and when I first saw this come up on eBay I was interested, but it didn't have long to run and wasn't too sure about it. Fast forward another week or so and it's back up after the previous winner didn't make contact, this time I'm in there and making contact with the seller and arranging to view before making a deal.   It's out of MOT at the moment, so my first jobs will be to get it ready for that and hopefully back on the road next month. Although it had been washed outside, the inside needed was pretty rough, it looks like it's been used as a builders van with brakes glass, stones and sawdust inside, so I had to have a first bash at that as I know it'll take a few goes to bring it up to standard. I knew that it needed a front indicator and rear lense as both were damaged, so have been able to order those in and the former has already been fitted. The other obvious issue is the rust on the passenger front wing, which I'll put tape over for the MOT with a view to sorting out properly once mobile. I've since discovered that the cenral locking isn't working properly on the rea doors, so I've had the passenger side rear door card off to lubricate up the mechanism, which seems to have done the job. Just have the other side to do now.  I'll order up some service items and do an oil change soon. Looks like I should order up a couple of belts too as the alternator and air-con belts have seen better days.  I'm looking forward to getting this back on the road and wafting around in this big-ol barge |
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Last Edit: Jan 1, 2024 14:28:32 GMT by stevea
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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So over the last week I continued to tinker around the car, getting the other rear door to lock properly and try to ready it as far as I could for an MOT. Changing the belts prooved a bit of a bear as I didn't know how the tensioners and pinch bolts worked, but had it sorted after a while. It's strange that someone bothered to get right to the back to change the ater pump belt, but didn't replace the other two at the same time. They certainly needed replacing through.  The nearside rear lamp also got changed out as the previous owner managed to put a hole through one of the lenses, shame I couldn't replace just the lense I needed.  I've done my almost seamless bodge repair to the front wing to get through the MOT while I look for another wing.  As seems to be common with these Volvos, bother front footwells are damp, so that's something to investigate and remedy soon, but first the MOT... |
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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Feeling reasonably confident with the car, I took a punt and put it through an MOT today, it failed. Reading through the fail sheet online I got quite disheartened and wondered if I should cut my losses now, but after seeing the yellow chalk on the car, chatting with the tester and contacting a couple of local places that do welding, I'm a bit more positive.
The car has been moved to another garage to get the essential welding done and then I can crack on with the remainder. Here's the failures I'll have to get sorted soonest;
* Nearside Front Electrical wiring likely to touch hot or rotating parts abs wire rubbing wheel - will need to investigate further, cable tie?
* Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage fractured - picking up a new one tomorrow
* Nearside Rear Inner Tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm - stick the spare on for now and get the tyre changed later
* Nearside Headlamp aim too low - already sorted
* Anti-lock braking system warning lamp does not illuminate - could be a few things behind this, so will start with the bulb and fuses and work from there
* Battery insecure and likely to fall from carrier - I saw this before the MOT, but forgot. Maybe a simple strap over for now?
* Nearside Outer Seat belt anchorage prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced sill - at the welders now to be patched
* Offside Outer Seat belt anchorage prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced sill - at the welders now to be patched
* Nearside Inner Seat belt anchorage prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced sill - at the welders now to be patched
* Offside Inner Seat belt anchorage prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced sill - at the welders now to be patched
* Offside Rear Outer Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength sill - at the welders now to be patched
* Offside Front Service brake excessively binding - I only found out about this when I drove to the MOT, hopefully I can free it up
That's quite a list to me, but hopefully I can make some headway this weekend if the welder finishes when he hopes and get it back in for the free re-test.
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2022 17:39:10 GMT by stevea
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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The old barge is back from the welders with a coat of black anti-chip paint all over both sills, much easier than trying to match the original colour and finish, So that's 5 of the 12 MOT faults resolved.  You can see that I've swapped the rear wheel for the spare and that can stay on there for the MOT and get changed back again when the car is more mobile and I can get a new tyre fitted. Around the front I was able to quickly move the wire out of the way from being touched by the NS wheel just by clipping it back into it's holder. On the OS front the anti-roll bar link was quickly replaced. The MOT failure said it was 'fractured' I'd call that a little more than fractured.  I managed to get one of the bolts holding the OS front brake caliper to the slider out, but the other started to round off, so I've left it along for now. In trying to remove that bolt, I tapped around the caliper and it appears to have freed-up anyway. This has left me with one last problem to sort, the ABS bulb failing to come on. I'd read around what the problem might be, some suggesting damaged tracks on the dash PCB. Once I'd worked out where the bulb should be, I quickly found out why it wasn't coming on, it wasn't there, so that quickly got me to thinking that someone had removed it on purpose as it wasn't going out.  I've had very little to do with ABS systems, so this could be a steep learning curve for me. Both wheel sensors appear to be open circuit, so that could be a problem. The wheel ABS rings are pretty rusty, so they've had a quick clean up, but doesn't appear to have changed anything. Any suggestions of what to cheak greatfully received. |
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2022 18:18:39 GMT by stevea
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On the 940 the rear wheel ABS speed is taken from the same sensor as the speedo in the centre of the diff. So if the speedo is behaving erratically it might give you a clue where to look. The cable from the diff often rubs on the panhard rod and wears through. You can build a very simple code reader that plugs into a socket in the centre console that can read the ABS computer fault codes. That should point you in the right direction.
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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..You can build a very simple code reader that plugs into a socket in the centre console that can read the ABS computer fault codes. That should point you in the right direction. Thanks for the prompt, I've found this thread How To Build A Phase 2, 4.3 Motronic Flash Code Reader that should prove useful, just need to look through my electrical spares for a swich and LED. The speedo seemed to be behaving itself, so I'm pretty sure that at least some of the fault lies with the front ABS sensors as they are both reading as open circuit, hopefully I can get some diagnostic codes out to confirm and perhaps identify any other issues. |
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That's the basic circuit yes, but I think the LED needs to be wired to a different pin to read ABS codes (the injection, ignition and ABS computers are all separate devices). There should be a better circuit diagram somewhere on the VOC forum. Pretty sure your car is LH2.4 Jetronic, not 4.3 Motronic.
It does sound like the sensors are at fault though. I don't know what the resistance should be, but I do know that the front ones are the same electrically as the rear one in the diff. Since you know that one works, the speedo is working, you could measure that for reference.
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It's nice to see another old boxy car on here getting a bit of love.
What's the plan with this one?
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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Thanks for the links. I've had a go at getting the codes, but the LED never turns off after turning the ignition on. Perhaps the LED I used is too small to trigger it into a diagnostic mode?  It's nice to see another old boxy car on here getting a bit of love. What's the plan with this one? After getting through the MOT I plan to make sure it is reliable, use it for longer journeys and gradually work through the bodywork with a view to a respray in the future. |
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Progress at least. Three things that spring to mind are:
* The ABS control unit could be cream crackered.
* Is the LED the correct way round (they are directional)?
* Test your 'reader' on the ignition or fuel ECU's since you know they work. This validates your reader is working as you expect.
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PHUQ
Part of things
Posts: 864
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Nice to see another one- great colour too. I've a dark green one the same age/ spec (pretty sure yours is a Celebration?) and the MOT is due at the end of the month, I'm now trying to remember if my ABS light comes on or not...
Good luck with figuring it out, watching with interest.
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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Progress at least. Three things that spring to mind are: * The ABS control unit could be cream crackered. * Is the LED the correct way round (they are directional)? * Test your 'reader' on the ignition or fuel ECU's since you know they work. This validates your reader is working as you expect. I reversed the polatity of my test LED and it didn't come on at all, so that at least confirms my test light is an LED and the correct way round.
Trying the other pins did not give me any diagnostic results either, the fact that the LED does not go out after the ignition switch is moved to position two suggests that it may not be going into a diagnostic mode and/or not recognising the load on my chosen LED. *Edit to add* Just realised that I had the momentary switch on the diagnostic pin (12 for ABS) when it should have been on the ground (pin 5) which gives me a fault code of 1-5-1  **Edit to edit to add** The code 1-5-1 is Left front wheel sensor: open circuit or short-circuit to battery voltage which comes as no surprise as that's what I measured with my multimeter. Guess it is a matter of resolving the fault, check the code and repeat? ABS Diagnostic Codes |
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Last Edit: Feb 7, 2022 19:33:39 GMT by stevea
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Certainly sounds like a plan.
At least you have some confidence that the ABS control unit isn't knackered. It could still be, but reading out codes is a good sign. Have you tried clearing the codes and trying again?
Didn't you say the LH front ABS wire had been rubbing on the wheel?
I thought the control unit could read out more than one fault, one after the other, so I would expect it to identify the other faulty sensor too, but perhaps not. Worth checking over the wires for damage and the plugs for corrosion (inc. the control unit itself) before condemning the sensors.
For info, I just tested a old 940 REAR wheel speed sensor I had lying around and got about 900 ohms across the leads. I'd expect the fronts to be similar.
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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I've tried clearing the code, which it does, going back to 1-1-1 with no other codes being given. On cycling the ignition the previous code comes back, which doesn't come as too much of a surprise.
The LH front ABS wire was picked up on the MOT as touching the wheel on a hard lock, but there was no signs of damage to the wire and was easily clipped back in position out of the way. The connectors looked in pretty good condition when I was checking the resistance of the sensors. One of the advisories in the MOT was for excessively heavy corrosion of ABS sensors on both sides, so I'm reasonably happy to get them changed out anyway. The RH sensor cable has seen some damage in the past, so someone has soldered it back together and shortened it.
Thanks for checking the resistance of a sensor, that value agrees with what I have seen quotes elsewhere online.
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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Feb 11, 2022 20:57:10 GMT
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A bit of a mixed bag report, but mostly positive. The car now has an MOT and is legal on the road  Changing the ABS sensors fixed the dash light problem, but now the ABS is kicking in at low speed breaking  though this appears acceptable for the MOT  This can be resolved by removing the fuse for the ABS system, but the ABS light comes on again, so it almost feels like I'm back at square one with the ABS. There's a fair bit of corrosion around the front and reluctor rings, so I'm playing with the idea of replacing those. So far I've only been out a couple of times on short journeys and it appears to drive okay, though it's taking me a little time to get used to not having regenerative braking in an auto. My other car and one of my bikes are both auto and electric, so I seem to have got it into my head that there should be more braking when you take your foor off the throttle. It's just something I'm sure I'll get used to the more I drive it. Rough list of works, in no particular order; - Engine oil and filter change
- Source and fit new relutor rings on front
- Sort out leak from steering rack
- Change steering fluid
- Check fixings of fuel filter
- Replace one tyre
- Change auto box oil
- Flush cooling system
- Fit new track rod ends
- Get hole in wing and areas in front of the front wheels welded
- Respray/blowover?
- Remove and clean carpets etc.
I thinks that's enough to get me started, though I'll need to prioritise that list before I go on my first longer journey from Devon to Cambridgeshire |
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Feb 12, 2022 13:26:15 GMT
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Great news on getting the MOT - hope the long drive goes well 👍
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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Feb 12, 2022 19:00:02 GMT
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Great news on getting the MOT - hope the long drive goes well 👍 Thanks, fortunately I've got a couple of weeks to hopefully iron out any niggles before the longer trip. Before going out this moring I did a few checks and started on the maintenance. I'd bought some Dexron II ATF and a couple of large syringes so I could make a start on changing the power steering fluid.  Fortunately what came out was pretty clean looking  Not so good was the signs underneath of a little leak.  A quick feel and smell of the offending fuid suggests that it is coolant, which I think may be coming from the water pump. A repro pump is reasonably cheap and as the current one is probably the original, I may replace it as a precaution.  If I do that, I'll do a flush of the cooling system at the same time as the header tank looks pretty grim inside. Anyone had experience of using Holts Speedflush?  I'd mentioned in my last post about the reluctor rings and ABS. Here's what mine look like  And here is an image found online giving you an idea fo what they should look like.  I'm guessing the lack of definition on my rings may be causing the ABS to come on when it shouldn't. I'd tried cleaning them up before the MOT, but I guess it wasn't sufficient |
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stevea
Part of things
Posts: 281
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Feb 22, 2022 19:10:05 GMT
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A bit more research suggested that the coolant leak I saw may be due to a seal, rather than the pump itself and that the OEM pumps are best. So rather than fitting a new pump I have bought a seal and gasket kit with the main aim being replacement of the top seal.  This meant removing the water pump, but to do that you have to remove the top half of the timing belt cover and to do that you have to remove the water pump pulley, which got it to looking something like this;  After wrangling the pump free from the bypass? pipe I was able to pull the pump out and see the seal I wanted to replace.  You can see that this has certainly seen better days. By the time I had it all back together it was getting pretty dark, but I had decided for some unknown reason to change the thermostat, possibly due to the sealant around the housing. It was just as well I did as it was knackered and the wrong temperature.  As mentioned previously, the expansion tank was looking pretty grim inside, so that has been off to try to clean it, but in doing so the outlet fitting on the bottom has started to fall apart.   I've refitted it for now, but I strongly suspect that it's leaking from that bottom joint, so I've got a replacement on order, shame it probably won't be delivered before my 600 mile round trip at the weekend, so fingers crossed it'll be okay. |
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Feb 23, 2022 20:33:59 GMT
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Nice to be getting on top of all those missed jobs. Definitely in goods hands 👍
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though this appears acceptable for the MOT 
