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OK, so my venerable old 240 continues to... "surprise".
1) Brakes. It's time to do the front brakes (it's time to do the back ones too, really, but for now the front ones are in direst need). I can get the wheels off, after many applications of penetrating oil and a BIG lug wrench to the lugnuts (and damn if those nuts and posts aren't some cheap metal... the nuts round off like anything and the posts strip pretty easy too). What's got me stumped is the two bolts on the inside of the caliper, which appear to be the ones to loosen to remove the caliper and replace the pad.
a) Are these in fact the correct bolts? One upper, one lower, 19mm or 3/4 in., the former seems to be a better fit (same size as the lugnuts, it seems).
b) Is there a trick I'm missing, or does it just come down to getting a really big wrench and shoving really hard? God only knows how long these sat there accumulating "stick" before I bought this car. Which direction am I turning in, too? So far I've been following the standard rule applied as though I were facing the bolt, so I've been pulling the wrench to my right as I face the wheel to try and loosen.
c) The specification for minimum rotor thickness the guy at Trak Auto looked up was "0.517", but no units. The rotor doesn't look like it was ever more than 3/8 in. thick, so I assume this is in centimeters. Am I correct?
2) Mystery appendages.
a) Under the hood, there's a green wire that terminates in an unconnected connector in the same cluster as the red alternator wire and various others (yellow, brown are two I remember offhand). What's it for? An accessory I lack, or one of my many accessories that's currently non-working, such as rear wiper, either washer pump, air conditioner?
b) There's a round knob that sticks out from the very center of the dash, between the rear-demister and hazard-light rocker switches. It has the same texture as the headlight switch, and generally looks like original equipment. However, it's not pictured anywhere in the manual. It rotates through about 300 degrees, with steady resistance throughout (like an old rheostat) and there's a definite "bump" right in the middle of the range. Nothing obvious happens when I turn it. Any clues?
3) Power, or the lack thereof. The car gets very unhappy if it's asked to go over 55 MPH on level ground (60 MPH downhill) and on an uphill of any steepness I can rarely get it over 35 MPH with the cruise control on. I'm going to get under there and do an oil and filter change sometime in the next 1000 miles, and at the same time I plan to replace the spark plugs, wires, air filter, and possibly fuel filter. Anything else I should look at replacing while I'm up to my elbows in the engine? I know it's only 100-odd horsepower, but sheesh.
4) Lambda-sond warning light. This came on today. According to the manual, this is not what I call an "oh-s--t" light like the oil light, but a "hey-buddy" reminder light (at least I hope that's the case, because I've driven the car about 50 miles so far since it came on). Apparently I need to replace the oxygen sensor, and then reset (or have a mechanic reset) whatever trips the light every 30,000 miles. How expensive a part is this, how hard is it to replace myself, and how do I reset the indicator once that's done?
5) CV joint boots. The boots on the front joints have come loose and travel up the entire length of the arm freely. Can they be reattached, or am I going to have to pull the hubs, or something, and install new boots? If the latter, how big a pain is this? And what should I be looking for to tell if my CV joints are damaged enough to warrant action on those as well?
6) Tailgate lock. The inside handle was removed before I bought the car. Apparently this removed some part that's essential for the latching mechanism to operate, as the lock cylinder turns back and forth, but the latch button doesn't do anything and the tailgate remains locked. There's a curved metal strip that terminates in a T shape at its top, on the inside; can this be used to open the tailgate, and if so, how? Or do I need to go get a complete lock assembly from a scrapyard?
7) Air conditioning. Currently non-working; if the mystery wire above turns out, as I suspect, to be a connection necessary for A/C, and I reconnect it, what should I start checking and fixing on the air conditioner before I try to use it?
I think that's it for now... you guys are a lifesaver! -- Joe
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