Pre-1988 Volvo Wiring

Hi,

I have read on here that pre-1988 Volvos tend to suffer from poor
wiring or wiring that becomes brittle. What problems does this lead
to? What tends to stop working when the wires start to go?

Is it an easy and cost effective thing for a qualified mechanic to fix?
Regards,

Han.

 

The engine wiring harness tends to degrade. Problems can be all sorts of
electrical gremlins, from warning lights coming on, guages reading
erratically to the engine running poorly or not at all. Fortunatly the
engine harness is quite easy to replace, the only downside is it's fairly
expensive unless you can find a good used one in a junkyard. They do turn up
though, several times I've seen wrecked cars with fairly recently replaced
wiring harnesses.

 

IIRC the range of affected cars is 1981 - 1987. I have an '85 and it
definitely has the problem. All the exposed smaller wires outside the
passenger compartment (and especially those in the engine compartment) have
insulation that crumbles at the slightest touch.

I replaced the engine harness (a few hours DIY - probably 2-3 hours for a
pro on the 740/760, although the price of the harness is a little higher now
than the $300 I paid several years ago) and got rid of most of the bare
wires. The wiring can cause all sorts of odd things, but the one that was
most trouble for me was the hood light wire grounding out, blowing a fuse,
and making the key reminder ding at me for nearly an hour.

Mike

 

Our '88 was also afflicted with a milder version of the Wiring Rot.

(...)
--






http://www.albany.net/~mjc1/index.html

 

Our 86 wagon was affected by severe version of Biodegradable Wiring
Insulation. The car caught fire just sitting there stone cold one early
Sunday mooring. Damn near set the house on fire. I am a forgiving person,
so I bought another one.



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca

 

Just for the record............ Our '86 240 wagon, bought almost new, sold
in '93, never experienced a problem with the wiring.

Lucky?
Andy I.


| On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 05:55:44 GMT, Michael Cerkowski <>
wrote:
|
| >
| >> >
| >> IIRC the range of affected cars is 1981 - 1987. I have an '85 and it
| >> definitely has the problem. All the exposed smaller wires outside the
| >> passenger compartment (and especially those in the engine compartment)
have
| >> insulation that crumbles at the slightest touch.
| >
| > Our '88 was also afflicted with a milder version of the Wiring Rot.
|
| Our 86 wagon was affected by severe version of Biodegradable Wiring
| Insulation. The car caught fire just sitting there stone cold one early
| Sunday mooring. Damn near set the house on fire. I am a forgiving
person,
| so I bought another one.
|
|
|
| Regards,
|
| Boris Mohar
|
| Got Knock? - see:
| Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)
http://www.viatrack.ca