Månad: juni 2017

Dashboard switches and connectors

The Volvo 240 has a very modular approach when it comes to dashboard switches. This system was introduced with the 1973 Volvo 140 facelift dashboard, which was partly was carried over to the 240.

Switches of the exact same size and type were also used in commercial vehicles and the Volvo 340/360. Jon-Erik has a list with the different types. A whole bunch of third party switches were also available, I remember back in the 80’s when all car parts stores had an assortment of 240 switches.

This post will cover the connectors of the switches and their background lighting (if any). It’s actually quite a mess with a mix of flat pins and round pins. Luckily they’re quite standard and easy to get hold of:

  • The flat pins are standard 6.3 mm/0.250″.
  • The round pins are actually the same type as used in the 4-pin Molex power connector that connects to IDE-drives in PC:s, 2.13 mm/0.84″

Depending of the application of the switch, the number of pins vary. Below is an example of on/off switches with the exact same functionality, however one has round pins and the other has flat pins.

Switches and connectors

To the left is a black funky looking connector, this is used by the hazard switch and therefore has six sockets. For obvious reasons, only two sockets will be used; the one with a white/green lead and the white lead. This type of connector is only (to my knowledge) available in black and I think it’s the only one available for switches with round pins. A tips is to source the from the hazard switches in the junk yard.

To the right is an L-shaped connector with flat sockets. This type is common and is available in black as well. Another usage of this connector is for the fasten seatbelt connections under the seats. Can be found behind rear demist and foglight switches.

Note that the lamp holders also differ – the left one has two flat pins, the right one has only one flat pin. More an that later.

 

IMG_9207

Above is the connector connected to the switch with round pins. This connector is found  Power should be inputted on the upper round pin (marked ”+”), and output will come from the lower round pin (marked ”S”) when switched on. To make the button light up, you’ll in most cases have to create a small jumper cable between power output and one of the flat pins on the lamp holder. Then you’ll have to ground the other flat pin.

IMG_9208

Above is the switch with flat pins. As on the one with round pins, the upper flat pin is power in (marked ”+”), and the one below is power out (marked ”S”). Now look at the lamp holder, it only has one flat pin that in most cases would be connected to ground. The jumper cable I mentioned for the other switch isn’t needed on this switch, since it has an internal connection.

IMG_9209

The lamp holder was removed to show that there’s a metal part in the hole where the holder goes. It’s this part that is internally connected to the output pin (”S”).

IMG_9211The lamp holder it’s obvious how the lamp gets it power internally. By the way, I’ve seen lamp holders in black or white, of both types.

As a bonus, the power window switches that was used 1973-1980. I haven’t found seen what connector this switch officially ses, but I do know that the connector used by the hazard switch fits perfectly! I’m starting to believe that the ”hazard connector” is used by all switches with round pins.

IMG_9213 IMG_9214

 

 

Power junction box inside

Early 240’s don’t have a lot of fuses, and therefore not many terminals to use for modern equipment such as radio, keyless entry etc. My idea was to branch the power so I only have to use one terminal at the fusebox, and at the same time avoid multiple wires that go to the same fuse. So about two years ago I bought a power distribution block that is aimed at subwoofer/audio use in cars and ran a 2.5 mm2 wire to it from the fuse bock. However, I don’t like what screw terminals do to wires.

Then a week ago I realised that all 240’s already have a perfect power splitter, namely the power junction box next to the headlight relay near the battery in the engine compartment! This exact box is also used inside 700- and 900-series cars. They can often be found in mint condition behind the glovebox, a bit down to right, where one of the LH-boxes are. Some days ago I went to a pick-and-pull and picked and pulled a few boxes and got them for free, since I had no cash.

The box has a total of eight terminals, six of them are standard size 6.3 mm, and the other two, where you’re supposed to connect the power source, are more oddly sized 9.6 mm. The standard six terminals are often adequate, but in some cases I’ve used a Dremel to cut the 9.6 mm down to 6.3 mm.

I zip tied one of the boxes to the right of the lower storage compartment where the radio often lives. There are some factory made holes on the back side of the compartment, so no harm and drilling was done. I used a zip tie and only the ”head” of a second zip tie to lock the box in place. Perfect! This is even more professionally mounted than how Volvo did it in the 700/900s, where the box just hangs loose!

The junction box now powers the keyless entry and central locking, the radio memory and some USB things. I will also be mounting one of these boxes in the trunk to distribute power to the in-tank fuel pump, a subwoofer and a trunk light.

For your information, the three parts that the box consists of are: case 9162083, cover 9162425, terminal 1234263.

Also, VADIS is very useful for finding 240 parts that also are used on other Volvo models. However, VADIS is clearly wrong about the location of the box on the 700/900, claiming that it is located at the left side of the car, when it’s on the right side of the car. I probably spent 20 minutes searching multiple cars at the wrong place before I started to think outside the box…

Hjulmuttrar bak

Volvo 240 har till skillnad mot nyare Volvo, som t.ex. 740, halvtumsmuttrar på alla årsmodeller (1975-1993), oavsett vad som hävdas på internet. De muttrar jag hade bak på min bil gick väldigt trögt, en kombination av dåliga gängor på bultarna och dålig Biltema-kvalitet på muttrarna. Muttrarna finns för övrigt inte att köpa på Biltema längre, vilket är lika bra. Jag begav mig till Mekonomen och köpte 10 st nya för 81 kr inkl medlemsrabatt. Artikelnumret är 40-X10659.

Bränslesystem: Uppgradering av bränslesystem – översikt

Under år 2017 kommer jag att uppgradera hela bränslesystemet. Eftersom min bil är en förgasarbil från början, som uppdaterades till mekanisk insprutning och slutligen elektronisk insprutning LH 2.4, har systemet modifierats steg för steg. Dessvärre inte så snyggt, till mitt försvar har det aldrig svikit mig, men nu är det dags att ta ett större grepp och göra det snyggt!

Allt kommer inte göras på en gång, utan jag har delat upp det i följande steg:

  1. Inköp och målning av ny tank
  2. Omdragning av el
  3. Modifiering av armatur
  4. Nya rör och bränsleslangar

Efterhand som varje steg blir färdigt kommer jag att skapa ett inlägg för det och länka det ovan!

Bakre bromsok i guld

I samband med att jag bytte främre skivor till ventilerade byttes även oken till bättre begagnade. I samband med detta fick de en syrabehandling med Fertan och målades därefter guld med Biltemas guldfärgade bromsoksfärg (36355), som för övrigt verkar ha hållt bra. Från fabrik är oken gulkromaterade, men vädrets makter i kombination med salt ser ofta till att de blir rostfärgade.

Båda bakre oken flyttades över i samband med att bakaxeln byttes till 1031. Då det vänstra var kasst, köptes ett nytt från Mekonomen för ca 1100:-. Av dessa var 375 kr en ”stomavgift” som man får tillbaka om man lämnar in det gamla oket. Således gick det nya oket på ca 800 kr, vilket jag upplever som helt humant. Nya bromsoks-bultar i 12.9-kvalitet köptes på Volvo.

Det högra oket var funktionsmässigt helt hundra, men täckt av ytrost. Idag fick jag tummen ur och penselmålade båda två i guld, men har dessvärre inga före-bilder. Fina blev de i alla fall. Vi får se hur länge färgen håller. I alla fall på det som var rostigt. Detta är nog enda gången jag målat över rost!

IPD rear sway bar

About a year ago I replaced the stock front sway bar with one from IPD. I actually bought the whole kit (25 mm front & 22 mm rear) second hand. The kit was nearly complete, but the blue IPD paint was partly peeled off, so I decided to paint both sway bars with a silver 2 part industrial polyurethane paint called Temadur 20. It’s available factory mixed in silver and is very tough.

Today I was about to mount the rear sway bar, but unfortunately the nut and square neck screw that holds the sway bar were severely rusted. And with the rear axle on jack stands, I couldn’t use the impact wrench. So my suggestion is to follow the IPD install guide, but I’d add a “step 0″:
Loose the rear nuts just a bit to make sure they aren’t too rusted to the square neck screw

In fact it got even worse when the right side nut just rotated with the screw. I had to untight the bracket to be able to pull down the old sway bar. The square neck screw was no longer square at the top, so I sourced new ones with nuts at a local hardware store, since this screw is discontinued (Volvo part number is/was 947292). I had to grind down the top so that the height was approximately the same as the original one. It’s also worth noticing that the screw I bought was about 10 mm longer than the original ones, which was good, since the IPD sway bar is much thicker.

Happily reassembling the damper bolts, I noticed they were too short because of the sway bar thickness! The original bolts from Volvo were  M12x130 mm. Apparently, IPD includes M12x140 mm bolts in the kit, but they didn’t come with my second hand kit. An M12x140 mm wasn’t the easiest bolt to find locally, but I finally found it at Tools for about $5. I also bought new nuts there.

So – lesson learnt again. A supposedly easy task isn’t always that easy. This took three sessions and a lot of time browsing different hardware stores because of the missing bolts and screws!