problems with a 1991 240

  • Thread starter Thread starter Randy G.
  • Start date Start date
R

Randy G.

Put the car up on stands and spin the front wheel by hand and see if
you can feel the rotor(s) dragging in some places but not others. have
someone depress the pedal slightly and try again, and repeat until you
can't spin the wheel. Taht should give you an idea of the rotors are
wared. New ones can be. It could also be that you have a sticking
caliper that is dragging and it overheated a rotor causing it to warp.
or maybe someone over-torqued a wheel or mis-installed the rotor. You
could also switch wheels- front to back, and see if that changes the
situation, but I doubt it will.

Definitely change the fluid and filter in the tranny. As I remember
reding, the OD tranny is sensitive to that.

A gead gasket is a lot easier to change in a garage than on the side
of the road when it lets loose 300 miles from home. A machine shop
would be best suited to check the head for warpage. You can do it with
a quality straight edge and a .001 feeler gauge. Same for the block.
Check the cylinder head bolts for proper torque. But once they start
leaking then it is probably time to change it.



Paul Colini said:
I wonder if anyone can give me some advice on a 1991 240 with 162 000 km
(100 000 miles). When I braked I could feel a pulsating from the front end
and on the steering wheel so I had the rotors replaced...but it still feels
the same. Could it be the tires are out of balance? Any ideas?
The second problem is with the automatic tranny. It doesn't always
shift into overdrive even at 30-35 mph. It used to shift fine but now I
notice that it often needs to be kept at a steady speed and over 35 mph
sometimes 40 mph before it shifts. If I press the button on the shifter to
overide overdrive-no change in rpm noted so its still in 3rd-then press it
again, it will shift. I was told that the trans fluid needed to be flushed
along with a new filter and that could possibly be causing the shifting
problem.
The other problem I've got is with a leaky head gasket. You can see the
anti freeze on the outside coming from the head but no white smoke coming
from the exhaust. It appears that the gasket is shot on the outside but
still ok around the cylinders. Is there a danger in not changing the gasket
ASAP? By the way, how can I tell if the head needs to be machined if I do
decide to replace the gasket? Any pitfalls I should be aware of? Thanks
for any advice...Paul

__ __
Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
\__/olvos
'90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate
"Shelby" & "Kate"
 
I wonder if anyone can give me some advice on a 1991 240 with 162 000 km
(100 000 miles). When I braked I could feel a pulsating from the front end
and on the steering wheel so I had the rotors replaced...but it still feels
the same. Could it be the tires are out of balance? Any ideas?
The second problem is with the automatic tranny. It doesn't always
shift into overdrive even at 30-35 mph. It used to shift fine but now I
notice that it often needs to be kept at a steady speed and over 35 mph
sometimes 40 mph before it shifts. If I press the button on the shifter to
overide overdrive-no change in rpm noted so its still in 3rd-then press it
again, it will shift. I was told that the trans fluid needed to be flushed
along with a new filter and that could possibly be causing the shifting
problem.
The other problem I've got is with a leaky head gasket. You can see the
anti freeze on the outside coming from the head but no white smoke coming
from the exhaust. It appears that the gasket is shot on the outside but
still ok around the cylinders. Is there a danger in not changing the gasket
ASAP? By the way, how can I tell if the head needs to be machined if I do
decide to replace the gasket? Any pitfalls I should be aware of? Thanks
for any advice...Paul
 
Paul Colini said:
I wonder if anyone can give me some advice on a 1991 240 with 162 000 km
(100 000 miles). When I braked I could feel a pulsating from the front
end
and on the steering wheel so I had the rotors replaced...but it still
feels
the same. Could it be the tires are out of balance? Any ideas?
The second problem is with the automatic tranny. It doesn't always
shift into overdrive even at 30-35 mph. It used to shift fine but now I
notice that it often needs to be kept at a steady speed and over 35 mph
sometimes 40 mph before it shifts. If I press the button on the shifter
to
overide overdrive-no change in rpm noted so its still in 3rd-then press it
again, it will shift. I was told that the trans fluid needed to be
flushed
along with a new filter and that could possibly be causing the shifting
problem.
The other problem I've got is with a leaky head gasket. You can see
the
anti freeze on the outside coming from the head but no white smoke coming
from the exhaust. It appears that the gasket is shot on the outside but
still ok around the cylinders. Is there a danger in not changing the
gasket
ASAP? By the way, how can I tell if the head needs to be machined if I do
decide to replace the gasket? Any pitfalls I should be aware of? Thanks
for any advice...Paul
The vibration can come from wear of a wide variety of front end parts,
including the wheel bearings. This would be agood time to find a
professional you can trust to diagnose it properly - I know they are rare.

External coolant leaks are not a big problem *if you keep up with the
coolant levels.* When you remove the head to replace the gasket any decent
machine shop can measure the flatness of the head.

Mike
 
Thanks for your advice...I'll try using some of your strategies...Paul
 
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