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'78 245: ALL dashboard lights on? 200

I've got to go to the shop, but I'd love to have an idea what's going on before I take her in. If anyone has any thoughts, thanks in advance!

Here are my symptoms, they may not all be relevant:

Driving home on the highway the other night, ALL of the red warning lights on the dash came on when applying the brakes, then would slowly fade out until the next application of the brakes.

I can't tell if the brake pedal feels soft, or if I just think it does because of the lights. I had a brake cylinder fail about 12 years ago on the same car (in downtown San Francisco during rush hour!!) and the pedal went right ot the floor. This is not the case now.

Smell of fuel outside the car, esp. after driving--I had a rotted fuel line coming out of the tank that I replaced about a year ago, so maybe another part of it has disentigrated, or there is another leak somewhere. I don't know what brake fluid smells like, or of this is unrelated.

Drove around last night with no traffic to see if I could gather any more info. The red warning lights didn't seem to be as closely linked to brake application (I wasn't travelling at highway speeds) but the engine almost stalled when accellerating from a dead stop, and all the lights dimmed momentarily, making me wonder if this an electrical problem. It was raining hard all yesterday, and I have had problems during wet weather in the past. Within the last year the alternator and distrubutor have been replaced.

ALSO: Both front brake assemblies were replaced with 90s vintage parts by a Volvo guy this summer, fyi.

Thanks for any input!








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    '78 245: ALL dashboard lights on? 200

    I owned a 1979 245DL for many years, and while not encountering your exact problem, this might help.

    The reason there is an apparent link between braking and the warning lights is that on braking there is a shift in the location of the engine relative to the car frame, larger movement if the motor mounts are seriously worn.

    The motor mounts are not a problem needing immediate repair - worth checking out, though. Do this: with a cold engine, the distance between the bottom of oil filter and the motor mount below it should be large enough for ones hand to pass through easily. Easy check, just a little greasy.

    There is a wiring harness that runs from the left side of the engine to a route under the front of the engine, coming up between the block and the alternator. That harness carries a wire to the oil pressure sensor (black), a small red wire to the alternator, and a large red wire to the alternator.

    Due to age and rough environment the harness cover becomes brittle, the metal tabs holding the harness in place loose their protective coating, and the tabs abrade their way into the harness and the wires.

    This creates a ground path for any wire so invaded. When the oil pressure sensor is grounded, the oil light comes on. When the thin red wire to the alternator in grounded, all the other warning lights come on. If the thick red wire gets grounded, there is danger. That wire is large and always connected to the battery. A grounding creates a serious fire hazard.

    Engine movement makes contact between the invaded wire and the little tab to occur at certain times, not necessarily all the time. Hit brakes - engine moves a bit forward - contact made - lights come on.

    Repair of the two small wires is usually to replace each wire from its end use connection (gray connector on firewall) down along the right fender and thence, with a lot of slack, to the using appliance.

    Your first step would be to get under the car, drop the gravel protector pan, inspect the harness and the motor mounts, especially the right side.

    Good Luck,

    Bob

    :>)

    PS: If the thin red wire to the alternator gets an improper ground, all charging stops, too.













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