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Dear All-
Hope this message finds you enjoying time with family and friends over the holidays. I just wanted to relate a few experiences that might be useful to other Brickers.
I decided to get a new master and valet key cut for my 1989 760Ti wagon a while ago, as the car only had one key when I bought it. I went to my local "parking lot" locksmith and asked him if he could cut a new key for my car, which he could, at 35 dollars each. I decided to see if I could find some key blanks on ebay for cheaper. I managed to find some via jaggraveyard.com, which arrived in short order and cost about 12 bucks total for one of each kind of blank, including shipping.
Title and ID in hand, I then went to Jim Fisher Volvo, as I'm now in Portland, Oregon, after reading on this board that they could cut blanks for my 760 for about 15 bucks each. I walked there, for some exercise, about 5 miles, and the parts person there told me they had to send off to California for new keys matched to VIN, and that they would cost about 30 dollars each. Hmmm...I'm on a budget and thought I could do better.
I marched 5 miles back home and got on the Web to research my options. I found a locksmith located near Lewis and Clark University across town, who said they could cut them for 1/2 price (about 17 dollars each) if I supplied the blanks. However, no lifetime guarantee. OK, if they work well when I drive away, that's good enough. SO: They took a LONG time to figure out the key code for my key, "Should it be 4 or 5 cuts?", but finally managed to get a key cut that would work in my lock/ignition/glovebox, but with a "catch" after I put it in and tried to turn it. The valet key, which only needed to be cut once, worked just fine. I mentioned that I didn't want to pay for a key to be cut and have it "catch" due to the fact they had to cut it 2-3 times before it would work. They told me the key (Volvo cut by VIN and steel) that I was originally using was a Ymos blank, and that it should be a Nieman blank (I think that's right) and because I gave them a key with the wrong blank name stamped on it (the blanks are physically the same) that they would not guarantee the key they cut from my blank. I guess the systems are different because one of them uses 4 cut points, whilst the other uses 5. What!?
Holding my tongue and trying not to get upset, I told the locksmith that I thought I should have a good, fully functioning key for my money. He replied, NO guarantee on customer blanks. The blanks I brought him from jaggraveyard.com were the exact ones he used after mis-cutting my blank, by Ilco of Italy and made of locksmith-friendly brass and not steel, like Volvo.
Then the locksmith told me all the locks had been changed on my car, because the numbers didn't match in his decoding software. What!? The key I had was cut to the VIN by Volvo, so I don't think all the locks, including glove box and trunk, were replaced and "relocked" to VIN-original specs at a cost of hundreds, if not more than a thousand, dollars! I understand that keyed to VIN lock sets are no longer offered for cars as old as my 1989 760. Because Volvo switched from Ymos to Nieman locks at some point, the locksmith figured that my Ymos blank meant that someone had changed all the locks. I would guess that it was simply the wrong blank.
Anyhow, I patiently stood there trying to reason, and finally he agreed to cut me a "new" key from HIS blank for the total price of 34 dollars, including the cost of cutting the valet key. What an ordeal. I'm thankful my car doesn't have a transponder in it! I did get the key code from him, but I hesitate to use it, as I'm guessing it's not right somehow...
Other note: car died while driving the other night to dinner. All dash lights came on as car quit running. Pulled over and cranked it a few times, and it cranked well. Didn't think of looking at the tach at the time to diagnose bad hall sensor, as I was a bit miffed and hungry with sister along. I was on a small, very busy street, so I opened the door in-between passing cars and checked the obvious fuses, which were all OK. That's when I remembered the Radio Suppression and Fan relays under the hood on the driver's side strut tower. I got a flashlight and changed them out: Voila! The car started right up and off we went. Man, it was COLD out there and windy.
I changed back the relays the next day, but the "bad" RSR seems to have healed itself. I hate it when that happens. I ordered two new identical relays for the fan and RS functions and a green Fuel Pump relay from fcpgroton.com just because I don't feel like soldering the old, worn out, heat-exhausted relays and worry about the engine dying while merging onto I-5 at 65 mph. I'll put those in and give a status report on what happens. Next suspects are Hall Effect sensor or power stage. Lots of electrical troubles evident on many Brickers' cars of this age.
But, I love my Black Bomber, and just hope I can work out the bugs so it's reliable: nothing like having the car die while going over Donner Pass when it's -20 and the snow is bumper deep, eh?
Season's best to all fellow Brickers and I look forward to a happy, and prosperous New Year!
Oopala
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1989 760 Turbo Intercooler wagon: 'The Black Bomber'
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