Hi patob,

You can perform a search for ECU and ignition system fault codes without special equipment.

Elder Volvo ownership can provide you greater joy and realize tremendous value if you acquire a service manual for your Volvo instructing you on this and other tasks required for Elder Volvo ownership.

The after market choice brand of Volvo 240 service manual is the Bentley bible (http://www.vclassics.com/bookstore.htm), the Volvo OEM service manuals, the somewhat maligned Haynes manual, and I guess the more maligned Chilton manual.

You can find these manuals used on eBay, Amazon, and the usual places. It is best to own the most recent edition or an edition produced after your model year. You can also try used book stores and pawn shops that feature tools and things. You can easily buy Volvo 240 service manuals new.

Other than the information you find on brickboard through the search here, elder Volvo ownership requires you to be able to repair the vehicle yourself or use the services of a trusted Volvo-240-literate mechanic. The elder Volvo ownership community can provide advice and direction yet you can empower yourself by gaining the ability to do this work.

You may wish to locate an Elder Volvo 240 enthusiast near you for help through this or another board (like turbobricks). However, the brickboard is your best reference as well as a Volvo 240 service manual.

When you say you have "oil and water in it", I hope you mean oil in the engine and coolant (antifreeze plus deionized, de-mineralized, or distilled water) in the engine coolant reservoir.

NEVER USE TAP WATER FOR ENGINE COOLANT.

...

How to check ECU Computer and Ignition Computer Codes.

Fault codes recorded in the Bosch L-jet ECU and the EZK ignition systems are a set of three numbers. The computers can store multiple fault codes.

Task-Required Materials
- Vehicle Ignition Keys
- A place to record the engine codes (paper pad and pencil)

1. Open the hood.
2. On the (U.S.) driver side, near the hood hinge and behind the inner fender strut tower, locate a small black plastic black box with a cover.
3. SLOWLY and carefully remove the cover. Connected to this cover are a probe you remove from it as well as a flexible plastic ring or strip that allows you to let the cover dangle while checking codes (unless the ring or strip is broken).
4. Remove the probe wire from the cover (a black wire that connects to the box). The probe wire terminates with a bare metal end that you see as you remove it from the cover.
5. On the box interior are six socket holes. You are only interested in socket #2 for the ECU (fuel and emissions) code check and socket #6 is for the Ignition computer (spark and emissions).
6. Inside your Volvo, insert and turn the key to third detente where the dash lights display. Do NOT start the engine.
5. Plug the probe in socket #2. Press the button for one second.
6. A red LED on the box near the button flashes the stored fault codes in a single pulse count. Record the codes as they flash.
- For example, if the ECU contains fault 1-2-1 (a fault in the AMM {air mass meter} sensor or, as some call it, the MAF {mass air flow) sensor, the LED blinks once, followed by a short pause, than blinks twice, followed by a short pause, than blinks once.
- When the computer store multiple fault codes, the LED displays a set of three number fault codes, with a longer pause, than follows with subsequent codes.
7. Repeat the procedure to verify you have recorded all fault codes stored in the computer.
8. Remove the probe from socket #2 and install it into socket #6. The ignition computer code check procedure is the same as you performed for the ECU using socket #2.
9. Once you have recorded all codes for the two systems, reference your Volvo service manual for what each fault code means. If you do not have a service manual, research the brickboard for their meaning. You can also try a search using Google (or other web search portal) using a search phrase like "Volvo 240 fault code 1-2-1". Results from brickboard and turbobricks and other Volvo enthusiast sites may display in the search results.
10. Remove the key from the ignition switch.
11. Return the probe to the box cover. Reinstall the cover on the box.

Post the codes to this thread. We can provide some long distance diagnostic help.

I'll guess the engine oil is clean to dirty. Any white froth on the engine oil dipstick tube or under the oil fill cap indicates excess moisture or coolant leaking into the oil via some engine failure. Excess steam in the exhaust can mean coolant is leaking into one or more cylinders in the engine. Hope not.

Hopefully the fault(s) causing the problem is easily remedied.

As it is nearing Winter and cold, all automobile appear to produce more tail pipe steam when cold or when warming up.

cheers,

Mac Duff