I figure that this site has saved hundreds if not thousands of old Volvos from automotive graveyards.

I became a reluctant Volvo owner a couple of years ago when a friend of mine wanted to get the '81 245 DL off of his property, it had an intermittent no-start problem. So I thought I'd get it running, sell it and make a few bucks. He wanted $300, I gave him $200.

After the two or three months of tinkering with it and learning much from the brickboard, I found the problem (bad ICU, $20 from another brickboard member.) Well, after having driven it those months, I found that it rode nice, was comfortable, got 23 mpg and had enough room in it to move furniture. Dang it, I couldn't bring myself to sell it. So I put in a nice stereo, good seat covers, fixed some rear fenderwell rust and had Maaco spray it so my wife would ride in it with me.

Okay, so that's that. Right? Not so fast. Last week co-worker told me about a Volvo mechanic who wanted to sell his '89 780 for $1500. I had seen that car. Not perfect, but only 139K and a turbo too! So I bought it for $1300, and it's at the upholsterers (another friend) for new front seats. Next stop, Maaco again, as the paint is dismal. Runs great except that the tranny has a blue-ball problem, which I can fix myself. And the turbo is running stock boost, which I will address in the future. Sheesh, I didn't need another car, and my wife doesn't know about it yet--I am planning on it being a birthday present (any other guys use that excuse?)

THEN the same friend who told me about the 780 said he knew a lady who had an '89 740 GL 271K in her back yard with yet another intemittent no-start problem. She wanted to get it out of her yard, no charge. I gave her $20 for her trouble and drove it home Saturday, and promptly experienced the no-start problem. Well, my wife went with me to get that one, and the no-money deal was not a relationship problem, so while she spent 4 hours cleaning the carpet, seats, Armor-All-ing the interior etc, I did some troubleshooting and came here to find the problem.

Good spark, fuel pumps running, dry plugs. Found the problem--it was the radio suppression relay. I had never heard of the thing, and would never have discovered it. Still doesn't make sense that Volvo would make the fuel injectors dependent upon that relay, but whatever. So I found the relay repair in the 700/900 FAQ and soldered that sucker. Runs great now. I also soldered the OD relay since the bulb was flickering occasionally.

So I gained two Volvos I wasn't shopping for in the last week. Triple the Geek in one week should be my motto. But that 780 is gonna be a sweet ride. Found a couple of headlights and a grill for it on ebay today too, as its headlights are cracked and rare.

Is there a VA 12-step program I can join, and if I go do I have to admit I have a problem?
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Kenny H Three SUVs, two cars and seven motorcycles