We have an 86 245 with 200,000 kms. It's been a good buy so far, but a few weird things trouble me.

First, the rear wiper acts funny. Funny as in sometimes it activates when I turn on the washer jets in front, turn off the lights, or beep the horn. I figure this probably has something to do with the wiring in the column, but I'm no electrician. The column also makes a cracking noise when you pull up and down on it.

Second, the car whistles. Not from air passing over it, and it's probably not the tranny, because the tone increases with speed, then drops in pitch and starts to increase again, but not in accordance to gear, just with speed. And it doesn't do this all the time. I took it in to the Volvo shop, but they said it was no big deal and probably just something to do with the driveshaft (hanger something?) that didn't need fixing at the moment. Unfortunately I wasn't listening.

Finally, I'm getting increased belt squeal as the cold approaches. Can I do something to stop this car from being so damn noisy? And what should I fix first?

EZ
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"If you were going to buy an old Volvo, pale green was the color to get, and Brian was the kind of person who wouldn't buy a vintage car in any but the best color." - The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen