First! Thanks for the patience in answering my posts to date! This is a
neat little car but with the ECU thing I get a little twitchy about
useing brute force and ignorance. Hence the many questions. On my VW bus it is
hard to kill anything electrical! No brain box. ;-)
Newbe questions:

1) Is it normal to be able to hear the main fuel pump?
2) Is it normal for the fuel pump to vary up and down
with regard to the sound. Sounds like it speeds up and slows down
over an over.
3) If this isnt a normal operational sound, would this indicate a bad
in tank fuel pump? (I'm planning on pulling it out and check the filter anyway)
4) How do you test the in tank fuel pump to see if it runs? which wire is +12vdc
and which is ground for the fuel pump?
5) West coast: Floor pan rust behind both front seats right where the metal
starts to go up.. typical? Where is the water coming from? seems to be a wire tunnel next to the driver's seat... is there a seal that may be shot?
6) Testing idle control system: Does the idle screw have any effect?
the manual says to go to ground at the ecu but had advice to jumper to ground
at the connector in the engine compartment (blue/white wire). with this done
it supposedly removes the solenoid from the equation and then you set the idle with the screw. Then remove the jumper to ground. comments?(cant see it on the schematic I have)
7) The connector by the battery that isnt plugged into anything (the one with
the blue/white wire) is this just a test connector or should it be plugged into
something important?

My daughter bought this car and I get to get it up and running well. As I have worked on it I actually like the damn thing. having suffered from VW addiction
for years this is a scarey feeling! ;-) To many hobbies as it is!

Axel, Like Matt said the best way to check the rust out is to pull the seats and carpets. Pull the plastic plugs on the inside of the rocker panels and see if they are filled with leaves, all the leaves that go into the air intake in front of the windshield wind up in the rocker panels, which can back water up into the interior. The other source on wagons is the rear side cargo windows, rust and crud build up under the gasket and wick water into the car, and yes a leak near the front corner of that window will end up under the carpet behind front seats, ask me how I know. Good luck!
--
Bruce S. near D.C.

The connector by the battery should have a blue/wh wire and a pink wire. The blue/wh wire is the one you ground to turn off the idle control motor as part of asjusting the base idle speed. The pink wire is a test connection for setting the air/fuel ratio. If you are starting to like to work on the Volvo, you should get the Bentley manual. Next to the Volvo green manuals, it is the best for DIY. Warning, Volvo DIY repairs can bwe as addicting as the VW. There aren't too many good cars an owner can work on these days.

Thanks for the clarification on that! I intend to get a good manual as soon
as I get done putting out $$$ to get this problem fixed and my daughter
happily in her car! ;-)
--
vw bus site - http://www.geocities.com/vw_bus_74/index.html

I can only speak to the rust issue. You need to find a body shop or welder that can fix it. If you were down hear in Portland I could refer you to somebody, I never did find anybody up there. I have received 2 estimates, after asking 12 people, one was for $500- and the other for around $1500-. The difference, the $1500- one was from a reputable body shop and they would use a piece of floor pan. The other guy is going to pound a piece of metal in there and weld it from top and bottom. BTW, my rust is just the driver side.

To find somebody to do this just starting asking at body shops, they know others in the area. If one guy doesn't know ask the next and so on. There's bound to be somebody around that can do this for a reasonable price. If you find somebody to do it for less the $500- per side, let me know, I'll bring it up to that guy to save a couple hundred dollars!

I am relativly certain that the water is coming from my windshield. The crack and the water you can see on the inside of it is a dead give away. It dribbles down the fire wall and ends up getting everything one the drivers side wet (plastic trim panels) It makes me nervous that water seems to go around the fuse panel, it's always missed it but it gets closer then I'd like. Hopefully soon I'll be replacing the windshield. Then the floor boards.
--
1987 240 dl wagon 'rustbucket'

When I figure out what I am going to do I'll post it.. I've done some
stuff on vee dubbs.. POR-15 works wonders for killen rust.
I am up in Renton, Wa.
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vw bus site - http://www.geocities.com/vw_bus_74/index.html

If they're big holes, POR 15 won't do it. Not that the stuff won't kill the rust, the stuff is amazing for that, but the floor boards are structural.
--
1987 240 dl wagon 'rustbucket'

True,but if you are in the same boat as me.. killing the rust and pluggin the holes is a just a precurser to putting in new sheetmetal. I was actually
thinking of welding in some metal straps along with the sheetmetal replacement.
One at each "corner" and one in the center. That would really stabalize the area..... you might even be able to do the straps and then do the hole repair
with feebleglass... hhhmmm
I might have one of the structures guys here look at it.. I R electrical but
work with structural test and development engineers.. I do load control systems and data systems.
--
vw bus site - http://www.geocities.com/vw_bus_74/index.html

1.) Yes, but it should be a steady buzz
2.) Probably not, see #1
3.) Most likely, or a bad fuel delivery tube, or clogged filter sock
4.) Pull fuse #7 (for the intank pump), see what happens to the main pump noise. Louder with fuse pulled, intank pump maybe working, no change, intank pump most likely has a problem. Does main fuel pump noise change with full tank vs. almost empty tank?
5.) Could be a number of things, a) leaky windshield trim, b) missing grommet in firewall, c) clogged sunroof drains, d) clogged rocker panel drains. The good thing is, if the rust hasnt gotten to close to the driveshaft tunnel or the rocker panels, you can repair it. Easiest way to diagnose is to rip out the seats and carpet -(only takes 15min, really) then have an assistant go to town w/ the garden hose. Search the archives or faq for details on rust and leaks.
6.)I would try Mr. GTs suggestions for adjusting the base idle AFTER you clean the idle control valve.
7.) Dont know, but it is probably a test point.


Hope this helps.

Matt

--
'82 DL - 150k, '93 945 - 96k

Matt,
On my 84 it is fuse #5 according to the chart on the cover. I did pull
that fuse and heard no change in the sound. I'll check the in tank filter.
I spose I can pull the pump out and temp. seal the hole in the tank.
get a fan blowing air through the car and turn the key on and see if the pump
even works... hopefully its a filter problem though. The noise stays the same
full tank or half full...
Clogged rocker panel drain sounds most likely. There is no sunroof.. ooorrr
the firewall grommet perhaps... ahh so many choices .. so little time! ;-)
--
vw bus site - http://www.geocities.com/vw_bus_74/index.html