Buying a 240

  • Thread starter Thread starter BlazerFanDan
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BlazerFanDan

Hey,

I found a 1985 240 Wagon, thats in my price range (300-600) and is in
decent shape. Seats are firm, clean and nice, dash is nice, new tires,
strong clutch, OD works and has 207K miles on it. And it handles real
nice when I drove it.

But the wiring harness needs to be replaced (the oil warning light
wire was toast) and the owner didn't know that the oil was incredibly
low (nor that the OD worked..or possibly that it had it or what it
was). Also, the wiper relay needed to be replaced (I think thats what
it was) and it needs to pass DEQ.

He wants 500 for it, and a good friend of mine (who is a volvo nut)
suggested I "walk away from it", due to the wiring harness mostly.

My question is, how hard is it to replace a wiring harness on it? If I
was to replace the wiring harness, I'd do it myself. So Im not
expecting it to be easy. I know it'll be time consuming (but I think
worth it). Are they ungodly expensive though?

Also, and I realize that none of you know what it looks like, should I
lower my offer (if I were to buy it) because of the wiring harness
issue? He didn't seem to know it was bad, which suggests he didn't
price it based on that knowledge.

Part of me says "stay away" because he didn't know about the wiring
harness problem, or the oil being so low or the power steering fluid
being low. And I don't want to buy a car that I have to fix a lot of
and then have to pass DEQ.

But part of me realizes for the price I can't expect it to be
perfect.


If he lowered it to 300, or would accept 300, I'd think long and hard
about taking it. I can provide more clarity if needed.
 
Hey,

I found a 1985 240 Wagon, thats in my price range (300-600) and is in
decent shape. Seats are firm, clean and nice, dash is nice, new tires,
strong clutch, OD works and has 207K miles on it. And it handles real
nice when I drove it.

But the wiring harness needs to be replaced (the oil warning light
wire was toast) and the owner didn't know that the oil was incredibly
low (nor that the OD worked..or possibly that it had it or what it
was). Also, the wiper relay needed to be replaced (I think thats what
it was) and it needs to pass DEQ.

He wants 500 for it, and a good friend of mine (who is a volvo nut)
suggested I "walk away from it", due to the wiring harness mostly.

My question is, how hard is it to replace a wiring harness on it? If I
was to replace the wiring harness, I'd do it myself. So Im not
expecting it to be easy. I know it'll be time consuming (but I think
worth it). Are they ungodly expensive though?

Also, and I realize that none of you know what it looks like, should I
lower my offer (if I were to buy it) because of the wiring harness
issue? He didn't seem to know it was bad, which suggests he didn't
price it based on that knowledge.

Part of me says "stay away" because he didn't know about the wiring
harness problem, or the oil being so low or the power steering fluid
being low. And I don't want to buy a car that I have to fix a lot of
and then have to pass DEQ.

But part of me realizes for the price I can't expect it to be
perfect.


If he lowered it to 300, or would accept 300, I'd think long and hard
about taking it. I can provide more clarity if needed.
Click to expand...


Unless it's been done before, *all* '80ish to '88 Volvos will need to have
the wiring harness replaced, it's really not a big deal, you can buy a new
harness for about 300 bucks or you can just do what I did and pick up $50
worth of wire and heatshrink tubing and build a new harness with the
existing connectors. Once you have the harness it takes about 2 hours to
replace if you take your time and do a neat job, no special tools required.

If the body is straight and rust free, and the interior is decent, $500 is a
great buy, with a new harness the car is worth at least double that. If you
can find a local U-pull yard with some Volvos and are not opposed to working
on the car yourself, you could get a sweet classic 240 wagon for relatively
little cash and a bit of TLC.
 
Unless it's been done before, *all* '80ish to '88 Volvos will need to have
the wiring harness replaced, it's really not a big deal, you can buy a new
harness for about 300 bucks or you can just do what I did and pick up $50
worth of wire and heatshrink tubing and build a new harness with the
existing connectors. Once you have the harness it takes about 2 hours to
replace if you take your time and do a neat job, no special tools required.

If the body is straight and rust free, and the interior is decent, $500 is a
great buy, with a new harness the car is worth at least double that. If you
can find a local U-pull yard with some Volvos and are not opposed to working
on the car yourself, you could get a sweet classic 240 wagon for relatively
little cash and a bit of TLC.
Click to expand...

thanks
 
Unless it's been done before, *all* '80ish to '88 Volvos will need to have
the wiring harness replaced, it's really not a big deal, you can buy a new
harness for about 300 bucks or you can just do what I did and pick up $50
worth of wire and heatshrink tubing and build a new harness with the
existing connectors. Once you have the harness it takes about 2 hours to
replace if you take your time and do a neat job, no special tools required.

If the body is straight and rust free, and the interior is decent, $500 is a
great buy, with a new harness the car is worth at least double that. If you
can find a local U-pull yard with some Volvos and are not opposed to working
on the car yourself, you could get a sweet classic 240 wagon for relatively
little cash and a bit of TLC.
Click to expand...

do you know of a diagram for the wiring harness? So I know the correct
gauges etc?
 
Hey,

I found a 1985 240 Wagon, thats in my price range (300-600) and is in
decent shape. Seats are firm, clean and nice, dash is nice, new tires,
strong clutch, OD works and has 207K miles on it. And it handles real
nice when I drove it.

But the wiring harness needs to be replaced (the oil warning light
wire was toast) and the owner didn't know that the oil was incredibly
low (nor that the OD worked..or possibly that it had it or what it
was). Also, the wiper relay needed to be replaced (I think thats what
it was) and it needs to pass DEQ.

He wants 500 for it, and a good friend of mine (who is a volvo nut)
suggested I "walk away from it", due to the wiring harness mostly.

My question is, how hard is it to replace a wiring harness on it? If I
was to replace the wiring harness, I'd do it myself. So Im not
expecting it to be easy. I know it'll be time consuming (but I think
worth it). Are they ungodly expensive though?

Also, and I realize that none of you know what it looks like, should I
lower my offer (if I were to buy it) because of the wiring harness
issue? He didn't seem to know it was bad, which suggests he didn't
price it based on that knowledge.

Part of me says "stay away" because he didn't know about the wiring
harness problem, or the oil being so low or the power steering fluid
being low. And I don't want to buy a car that I have to fix a lot of
and then have to pass DEQ.

But part of me realizes for the price I can't expect it to be
perfect.

If he lowered it to 300, or would accept 300, I'd think long and hard
about taking it. I can provide more clarity if needed.
Click to expand...

For $500.00 I think you will have a car that you could work on over
time to fix the inevitable problems that will occur on a car that is
close to the quarter century mark. On a $500 car that runs you
should look closely for extensive rust damage. Given that the
previous owner was oblivious to things like the oil sensor I would
think that he would have ignored things like panel and floorpan
rusting.
 
For $500.00 I think you will have a car that you could work on over
time to fix the inevitable problems that will occur on a car that is
close to the quarter century mark. On a $500 car that runs you
should look closely for extensive rust damage. Given that the
previous owner was oblivious to things like the oil sensor I would
think that he would have ignored things like panel and floorpan
rusting.
Click to expand...

actually, my friend who is a volvo nut, checked for rust and said it
was pretty solid.
 
actually, my friend who is a volvo nut, checked for rust and said it
was pretty solid.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

Then go for it. How wrong can you go with a 240 wagon that runs for
$500.00!! Should have a lot of miles left in it after some repairs.
 
My question is, how hard is it to replace a wiring harness on it? If I
was to replace the wiring harness, I'd do it myself. So Im not
expecting it to be easy. I know it'll be time consuming (but I think
worth it). Are they ungodly expensive though?
Click to expand...

I replaced the harness on an '86 240DL (sedan) using a harness from IPD
($318 at the time) in a day. The biggest hassle was routing the new
harness properly, particularly around the injector rail and intake
components, but it's certainly a DIY job.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend trying to "roll your own" harness by
soldering the old connectors on wire from the hardware store. There's a
*lot* of connectors, and even being sure you get all the wire lengths
-just so- would be a PITA. And having the correct wire color coding
could make future trouble-shooting easier. YMMV...
 
I replaced the harness on an '86 240DL (sedan) using a harness from IPD
($318 at the time) in a day. The biggest hassle was routing the new
harness properly, particularly around the injector rail and intake
components, but it's certainly a DIY job.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend trying to "roll your own" harness by
soldering the old connectors on wire from the hardware store. There's a
*lot* of connectors, and even being sure you get all the wire lengths
-just so- would be a PITA. And having the correct wire color coding
could make future trouble-shooting easier. YMMV...
Click to expand...

*I* would hit the fact that this vehicle needs a harness (previously
stated as unknown to the current owner) and offer $300 assuming US
denomination. This offsets your out-of-pocket for a new harness but
nowhere near makes up for the time you will spend in making the
repair.

Yes, a replacement harness is available and I would recommend this
over hand cobbling something from new and old parts.

Chuck Fiedler
Nothing but Volvo since 1974
 
do you know of a diagram for the wiring harness? So I know the correct
gauges etc?
Click to expand...

I've never seen one that was readable, they're always mixed in with other
wiring. What I did was cut out each bad wire one at a time and solder in a
new one, if I were to do this again, I'd go get a junkyard harness, lay it
out on the floor and copy it, but in my case the car broke down and I had to
get it running again on the street in front of my house in the winter.
 
actually, my friend who is a volvo nut, checked for rust and said it
was pretty solid.
Click to expand...

Check the floor pans under the undercoating, you may be able to pull the
carpet back enough after removing the trim piece inside the door, also look
at the lip up under the back bumper, in my experience that's where these
cars tend to rust if they do. Neither is unfixable, but do know what you're
getting into.
 
Hey,

I found a 1985 240 Wagon, thats in my price range (300-600) and is in
decent shape. Seats are firm, clean and nice, dash is nice, new tires,
strong clutch, OD works and has 207K miles on it. And it handles real
nice when I drove it.

But the wiring harness needs to be replaced (the oil warning light
wire was toast) and the owner didn't know that the oil was incredibly
low (nor that the OD worked..or possibly that it had it or what it
was). Also, the wiper relay needed to be replaced (I think thats what
it was) and it needs to pass DEQ.

He wants 500 for it, and a good friend of mine (who is a volvo nut)
suggested I "walk away from it", due to the wiring harness mostly.

My question is, how hard is it to replace a wiring harness on it? If I
was to replace the wiring harness, I'd do it myself. So Im not
expecting it to be easy. I know it'll be time consuming (but I think
worth it). Are they ungodly expensive though?

Also, and I realize that none of you know what it looks like, should I
lower my offer (if I were to buy it) because of the wiring harness
issue? He didn't seem to know it was bad, which suggests he didn't
price it based on that knowledge.

Part of me says "stay away" because he didn't know about the wiring
harness problem, or the oil being so low or the power steering fluid
being low. And I don't want to buy a car that I have to fix a lot of
and then have to pass DEQ.

But part of me realizes for the price I can't expect it to be
perfect.


If he lowered it to 300, or would accept 300, I'd think long and hard
about taking it. I can provide more clarity if needed.
Click to expand...

Check here for a new harness:

http://www.davebarton.com/index.html

I think you'll find instructions there too but the page has changed
extensively since I last visited it.

Good luck!
blurp
 
thanks all, I ended up buying it for 400. for the time being, Im going
to try to fix what pieces of the harness I can (i know, not strongly
suggested). But I'll get a new one as soon as I have enough free time.
 
thanks all, I ended up buying it for 400. for the time being, Im going
to try to fix what pieces of the harness I can (i know, not strongly
suggested). But I'll get a new one as soon as I have enough free time.
Click to expand...


You know, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I have a good used later
style (non crumbling) 240 harness I'd let go for $100, I'm pretty sure it's
for an '86 but I can check the part number. Maybe someone would know for
sure if this would fit your car?
 
You know, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I have a good used later
style (non crumbling) 240 harness I'd let go for $100, I'm pretty sure it's
for an '86 but I can check the part number. Maybe someone would know for
sure if this would fit your car?
Click to expand...

hm...shoot me an email (at [email protected]) with the subject of
VOLVO and give me some info (if it applies)
 
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