Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan
Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:05 am
Well, I bought this car for the engine, but it's actually quite a nice car! So I guess it's time for a thread :-) Crappy pics from the auction, don't do it justice, really:
Fluffy covers were gone when I picked it up, seats are OK under them, so I prefer without them.
All I've done since picking it up so far is tighten the belts up (super loose) and fit new wiper blades. Also remove cam belt cover to check condition. But it needs some more love...
Coolant has not been maintained, to the extent of crunchy hoses. This'll need some sort of flush and the hoses pulling and clearing of the scale. Then fresh coolant putting back in. You can never really recover from this, but I can certainly make it a fair bit better.
Shifting is average, but the ATF is probably from 1990 given it's a jap import car and the rest of the maintenance has been poor. Could also be the kick down cable a bit too tight. I have seen it shift correctly out of first at WOT but sometimes it's reluctant, and in all gears it seems to want to be in a lower gear than I want unless I almost completely lift off. Flush, filter, cable check, sorted, hopefully.
Brake wobble is present. I never solved this on my original 740 wagon in the US, so I'm skeptical about putting time into this car. The 240 brakes are far superior.
Dashboard isn't healthy, odometer, trip counter, and gas gauge are all not working correctly or at all. I think the gauge will be an easy fix, unsure about the odo, but worth a look.
Engine oil looks dirty, but not terrible (the 940's oil was hideous). However last night I noticed that the filter has gone rusty on the outside, LOL. The ATF dipstick was rusted, too. This car has sat dead still for quite a few years probably ending only about a year ago.
Tail lights are pretty faded/UV damaged, so I'd like to source a pair of minters from a cold place, if anyone sees this and can help, hit me up.
So today I might have to do the coolant flush work, and perhaps an oil change, and maybe lube the alternator shaft which is squeaky and tighten the belts a bit more as they still scream through from 4000 to 6000. May head around to a certain good mate's place for an ATF swap too, at some point soon.
I kinda want to make it into a sleeper with a powerful engine but keep the exact current look. Hmmm. This would also let me do a more mild setup on the 240 which is how I'd like to keep it, smooth and refined.
Comments welcome.
Fred.
Fluffy covers were gone when I picked it up, seats are OK under them, so I prefer without them.
All I've done since picking it up so far is tighten the belts up (super loose) and fit new wiper blades. Also remove cam belt cover to check condition. But it needs some more love...
Coolant has not been maintained, to the extent of crunchy hoses. This'll need some sort of flush and the hoses pulling and clearing of the scale. Then fresh coolant putting back in. You can never really recover from this, but I can certainly make it a fair bit better.
Shifting is average, but the ATF is probably from 1990 given it's a jap import car and the rest of the maintenance has been poor. Could also be the kick down cable a bit too tight. I have seen it shift correctly out of first at WOT but sometimes it's reluctant, and in all gears it seems to want to be in a lower gear than I want unless I almost completely lift off. Flush, filter, cable check, sorted, hopefully.
Brake wobble is present. I never solved this on my original 740 wagon in the US, so I'm skeptical about putting time into this car. The 240 brakes are far superior.
Dashboard isn't healthy, odometer, trip counter, and gas gauge are all not working correctly or at all. I think the gauge will be an easy fix, unsure about the odo, but worth a look.
Engine oil looks dirty, but not terrible (the 940's oil was hideous). However last night I noticed that the filter has gone rusty on the outside, LOL. The ATF dipstick was rusted, too. This car has sat dead still for quite a few years probably ending only about a year ago.
Tail lights are pretty faded/UV damaged, so I'd like to source a pair of minters from a cold place, if anyone sees this and can help, hit me up.
So today I might have to do the coolant flush work, and perhaps an oil change, and maybe lube the alternator shaft which is squeaky and tighten the belts a bit more as they still scream through from 4000 to 6000. May head around to a certain good mate's place for an ATF swap too, at some point soon.
I kinda want to make it into a sleeper with a powerful engine but keep the exact current look. Hmmm. This would also let me do a more mild setup on the 240 which is how I'd like to keep it, smooth and refined.
Comments welcome.
Fred.