Hood latch spring failure

[Tim McNamara]

My 1990 240 popped up an odd little failure yesterday. Two of them
simultaneously, actually.

It was reluctant to start and was stumbling on acceleration from a stop;
this was following several days of rain and in the past this has
indicated new spark plug wires being necessary. So I popped the hood
and the wires looked fine. I noticed a strong gasoline smell though and
started looking around. I found a fuel leak just in front of the left
rear wheel, dripping off a sort of cage around what is probably the fuel
pump (I haven't looked at my manuals yet to verify, and I'm not going to
fix it myself anyway. It's also due for a new fuel filter and the
in-tank pump makes a lot of noise too so there are several issues to
attend to).

Figuring that the fuel leak may have been causing the slight stumble, I
closed the hood. It wouldn't stay down. Further investigation showed
that the hood latch retention spring had broken off. Jeez. Now this
seems like something I could fix myself- the question is, do I need a
specific part from Volvo or can I find something suitable at the
hardware store?

 

[James Sweet]

My 1990 240 popped up an odd little failure yesterday. Two of them
simultaneously, actually.

It was reluctant to start and was stumbling on acceleration from a stop;
this was following several days of rain and in the past this has
indicated new spark plug wires being necessary. So I popped the hood
and the wires looked fine. I noticed a strong gasoline smell though and
started looking around. I found a fuel leak just in front of the left
rear wheel, dripping off a sort of cage around what is probably the fuel
pump (I haven't looked at my manuals yet to verify, and I'm not going to
fix it myself anyway. It's also due for a new fuel filter and the
in-tank pump makes a lot of noise too so there are several issues to
attend to).

Figuring that the fuel leak may have been causing the slight stumble, I
closed the hood. It wouldn't stay down. Further investigation showed
that the hood latch retention spring had broken off. Jeez. Now this
seems like something I could fix myself- the question is, do I need a
specific part from Volvo or can I find something suitable at the
hardware store?

The fuel pump and filter are both mounted in that bracket, that leak
certainly needs to be fixed ASAP.

I'm sure you could find a suitable spring somewhere to replace it, but I
would just go to a salvage yard and get one from another 240, there are
millions of them out there and I've never seen that spring break so
there should be plenty of good ones.

 

[Tim McNamara]

The fuel pump and filter are both mounted in that bracket, that leak
certainly needs to be fixed ASAP.

Yes, leaving a trail of gasoline is a bad idea on many fronts. I'm
hoping my mechanic can take it in tomorrow.

I'm sure you could find a suitable spring somewhere to replace it,
but I would just go to a salvage yard and get one from another 240,
there are millions of them out there and I've never seen that spring
break so there should be plenty of good ones.

Looking at the latch, that spring looks surprisingly non-robust. It
appears to have just rusted away.

Thanks!

 

[Richard W Langbauer]

The fuel pump and filter are both mounted in that bracket, that leak
certainly needs to be fixed ASAP.

I'm sure you could find a suitable spring somewhere to replace it, but I
would just go to a salvage yard and get one from another 240, there are
millions of them out there and I've never seen that spring break so
there should be plenty of good ones.

in the 70's & 80's there were junk yards. i often knew who had what
vehicles so" presto replaco" i could find what was needed by whom.
mais, l'est plus ca change le plus ca reste meme. we no longer have
yards we have ip adresses. i know a "few" dismemblers but all their
stock is on line.

you don't need the exact spring. @ first guess many other (read
American) hoods opened the same way. on line there will be people who
sell just spings. if you are smarter than the average bear, you will
find one that works. i own an R which i race.... so Volvo, small
package, Swede-air -- first class oh, & two points of attachment,
2x$millions. right now my hood doesn't pop. instead of springs, i use
my wallet or a book, or a.....

the filter, pump, bracket arrangement was fairly comman @ that time.
after 20yrs the connections become aged & fiddled/ refiddled w/. my
lines are monel, "steam fitted" & inspected frequently. alot of vinyl
ended up being used. 5 connections 20 cm -- Houston we may have a
problem.

 

[James Sweet]

in the 70's & 80's there were junk yards. i often knew who had what
vehicles so" presto replaco" i could find what was needed by whom.
mais, l'est plus ca change le plus ca reste meme. we no longer have
yards we have ip adresses. i know a "few" dismemblers but all their
stock is on line.

Depends on where you are I guess. There's at least half a dozen well
stocked U-pull yards within an hour or so of me, about half of which
have a good selection of Volvos and cheap prices. Seems to be a thriving
business, the places are almost always packed, especially when the
weather is nice.

 

[Jon Robertson]

Don't forget a new fuel filter as well and maybe the tank sock filter.

 

[clay]

Depends on where you are I guess. There's at least half a dozen well
stocked U-pull yards within an hour or so of me, about half of which
have a good selection of Volvos and cheap prices. Seems to be a thriving
business, the places are almost always packed, especially when the
weather is nice.

They ought to be over full after the cash for clunkers debacle.
My uncle is in the used car business (karnutz.com, voted the most
irritating web site on the net) says the junkyards he uses were giving
parts away to make room...

 

[Tim McNamara]

Today the leak was fixed, apparently two things were involved. The
first was that the fuel filter hadn't been changed in about 100,000
miles. The second was corroded aluminum washers/gaskets where the fuel
line attached to the fuel filter.

It was also discovered that the in-tank fuel pump has no output (e.g.,
it's not running). So that's on the list of things to do. A couple
other things were noted included a control arm bushing needing
replacement (which I knew already but had forgotten about) and an inner
tie rod end starting to have some movement.

Jeez, these 20 years old cars... I'm delighted to have it back and
running well, now on to fixing the newly discovered issues.

 

[James Sweet]

Today the leak was fixed, apparently two things were involved. The
first was that the fuel filter hadn't been changed in about 100,000
miles. The second was corroded aluminum washers/gaskets where the fuel
line attached to the fuel filter.

It was also discovered that the in-tank fuel pump has no output (e.g.,
it's not running). So that's on the list of things to do. A couple
other things were noted included a control arm bushing needing
replacement (which I knew already but had forgotten about) and an inner
tie rod end starting to have some movement.

Jeez, these 20 years old cars... I'm delighted to have it back and
running well, now on to fixing the newly discovered issues.

The pre-pump failure is very common, and will eventually lead to failure
of the main pump. The rubber accordion hose to the pre-pump is almost
certainly split as well.

 

[Tim McNamara]

The pre-pump failure is very common, and will eventually lead to
failure of the main pump. The rubber accordion hose to the pre-pump
is almost certainly split as well.

Ah. That would be bad. OK, the to-do list:

Left control arm bushing (probably should just do all of them)
Inner tie rod end(s)
In-tank pump and associated bits
Replace the plastic radiator with a metal one
New plug and coil wires
Replace the bracket by the coil, which is cracked
Repair or replace the driver's seat.
Replace the center console/rear seat ashtray assembly

I think that's about all the known stuff until the next timing belt
change which is 20,000 miles off.

 

[clay]

Ah. That would be bad. OK, the to-do list:

Left control arm bushing (probably should just do all of them)
Inner tie rod end(s)
In-tank pump and associated bits
Replace the plastic radiator with a metal one
New plug and coil wires
Replace the bracket by the coil, which is cracked
Repair or replace the driver's seat.
Replace the center console/rear seat ashtray assembly

I think that's about all the known stuff until the next timing belt
change which is 20,000 miles off.

I'll trade you chores. I'm about to do motor mounts on my '83.

fwiw, I got seats at a pick a part (ecology center?) for $40.00 each.
They were cloth instead of plastic. Dirty but cleaned up nice. Beats the
heck out of sitting on springs and foam.
Can't hardly do much fixing for that kind of money.

 

[Tim McNamara]

I'll trade you chores. I'm about to do motor mounts on my '83.

Cool! No, wait. Not. I'll keep mine, thanks. ;-)

fwiw, I got seats at a pick a part (ecology center?) for $40.00 each.
They were cloth instead of plastic. Dirty but cleaned up nice. Beats the
heck out of sitting on springs and foam.

On mine the lumbar support adjustment failed resulting in a rather bowl
shaped seat back; I understand this is basically a glorified string on a
winder. And I think one of the wires in the mesh of the seat failed,
too. The odd thing in that the seat back leans unevenly, farther back
on the right side than the left. I wonder if there is a cracked frame
member. One of these days I'll pull it out of the car and get the
upholstery off to have a look at it.

Can't hardly do much fixing for that kind of money.

True. If I could find a good driver's seat for $40 I'd probably just
swap that in. I vaguely recall "Road & Track" making up a hotrodded
turbo 240 and putting Recaro seats in the thing; the idea was that a 240
was basically invisible to police so it was a stealth hot rod.

 

[/g]

Cool! No, wait. Not. I'll keep mine, thanks. ;-)


On mine the lumbar support adjustment failed resulting in a rather bowl
shaped seat back; I understand this is basically a glorified string on a
winder. And I think one of the wires in the mesh of the seat failed,

String on a winder. Yup, more or less. Repair kit available at dealer.
Also, look in 700/900 FAQ, there is something in there about repairing
a broken winder.

too. The odd thing in that the seat back leans unevenly, farther back
on the right side than the left. I wonder if there is a cracked frame

Nope, probably not anything cracked. I once had an '86 240 wagon
with that exact symptom. Along with the broken lumbar support. Damn
near ruined my back before I fixed it. I removed the seat from the car.

IF YOU HAVE AIRBAGS, DISCONNECT THE BATTERY AND LET
THE CAR SIT 30 MINUTES. Otherwise, if you don't, and you hit the
sensor under the seat, bang goes the airbag.

Next, I figured out how to separate the seat back from seat bottom,
basically
unbolt some stuff, pull out rod connecting left and right, separate back and
bottom,
or something similar. Unclip and unroll upholstery on back to expose lumbar
mechanism. Fix. Replace upholstery. The reason the the back was tilted
was
that the 2 separate gear sections, left and right, became 'unsynchronized'.
You
need to figure out how to assemble everything so that it all moves at the
same
pitch. It might have been something like get both gearsets to the same
extreme
end position, (all the way back?) and then assemble...??? It's been so long
(I now do only 940's and 740's), so I don't remember if it might have been
in
the Haynes book, or I found something online. It must have been somewhat
intuitive, or I would have screwed it up. All I know is that I got it
right, and my
back loved it.

best of luck, /glenn

 

[clay]

On mine the lumbar support adjustment failed resulting in a rather bowl
shaped seat back; I understand this is basically a glorified string on a
winder. And I think one of the wires in the mesh of the seat failed,
too.

My lumbar support went boing one day as I went over a speed bump. That
was long after I was sitting on springs and foam though.

The odd thing in that the seat back leans unevenly, farther back
on the right side than the left...

My 'pick a part' seat has exactly the same issue.

True. If I could find a good driver's seat for $40 I'd probably just
swap that in.

Boneyards are full. Go get one.

I vaguely recall "Road & Track" making up a hotrodded

turbo 240 and putting Recaro seats in the thing; the idea was that a 240
was basically invisible to police so it was a stealth hot rod.

After looking at prices for foam, covers, etc. I figured I could buy a
Recaro, or Corbeau, or Sparco, for less than fixing the stock one.

 

[James Sweet]

I'll trade you chores. I'm about to do motor mounts on my '83.

fwiw, I got seats at a pick a part (ecology center?) for $40.00 each.
They were cloth instead of plastic. Dirty but cleaned up nice. Beats the
heck out of sitting on springs and foam.
Can't hardly do much fixing for that kind of money.

Motor mounts are pretty easy, last time I changed a set it took about 2
hours including jacking up and lowering the car. You'll want a decent
floor jack and a block of wood to put under the oil pan to lift the motor.

 

[James Sweet]

On mine the lumbar support adjustment failed resulting in a rather bowl
shaped seat back; I understand this is basically a glorified string on a
winder. And I think one of the wires in the mesh of the seat failed,
too. The odd thing in that the seat back leans unevenly, farther back
on the right side than the left. I wonder if there is a cracked frame
member. One of these days I'll pull it out of the car and get the
upholstery off to have a look at it.

Probably, I've seen several cracked seatback frames. Fortunately
replacements are not too hard to find so far.

 

[Tim McNamara]

On mine the lumbar support adjustment failed resulting in a rather bowl
shaped seat back; I understand this is basically a glorified string on a
winder. And I think one of the wires in the mesh of the seat failed,
too. The odd thing in that the seat back leans unevenly, farther back
on the right side than the left. I wonder if there is a cracked frame
member. One of these days I'll pull it out of the car and get the
upholstery off to have a look at it.

Probably, I've seen several cracked seatback frames. Fortunately
replacements are not too hard to find so far.[/QUOTE]

I hadn't thought of that until today, but as I am 6'4" and 220 lbs it
wouldn't be a surprise.

 

[James Sweet]

Probably, I've seen several cracked seatback frames. Fortunately
replacements are not too hard to find so far.

I hadn't thought of that until today, but as I am 6'4" and 220 lbs it
wouldn't be a surprise.
[/QUOTE]


Open the seatback and have a look, if you can't find a replacement, you
can weld the frame, it's just steel. Let me know if you need tips for
getting the seat apart or back together, I've done quite a few seat
rebuilds.

 

[Jon Robertson]

The frame breaks or bends on that side as yopu tend to lean with pressure on
the seat to reach kids or objects on the back seat .In Taxi cabs its common
..

 

[Tim McNamara]

Open the seatback and have a look, if you can't find a replacement,
you can weld the frame, it's just steel. Let me know if you need tips
for getting the seat apart or back together, I've done quite a few
seat rebuilds.

I've never pulled one apart and haven't looked at it closely. Are there
photos somewhere to see the process?