Hi everyone,

I'm new here, and I'm not the Volvo owner. My son is. He's visiting, along with my stepson, and they drove the old family battlewagon '90 240DL (roughly 150k miles) from out of state. The car is a bit like V*GER (for those of you familiar with the original Star Trek movie), in that I last saw it in pretty good shape, and a divorce and 15 years later, after the car has roamed the known universe, it has returned to my driveway looking like @#$%. The dashboard looked very colorful with all of its various lights glowing. My older son really isn't to blame, as the car was recently handed off to him by his brother. He wants to learn to service/improve the car and is taking steps to learn. I've just given him a set of tools as a graduation present, and I'll encourage him to join this forum.

The issue today is that my son and stepson hit the road again tomorrow. I won't get the car back until this afternoon, as the local tire shop is replacing some stripped out wheel studs that my son's local tire shop had messed up a couple of months ago. I will need to address these issues, in order of priority (and not necessarily on this trip):

1. Brake Failure light: Glows all the time. I've now pulled all the wheels (how I discovered the stripped studs/lug nuts) and have inspected the calipers, rotors, and linings. All good. The master cylinder seems to hold pressure, and the fluid level is up. Brake hoses seem a bit old/frail, but not leaking. The brakes FEEL fine, although when they're cold/wet and the car is backed, the rear brakes let out an indescribably loud moan that resonates through the cabin. (Problem?) I didn't have time to check the emergency brakes before the wheel stud problem surfaced. The shop was about to close. What are the possible reasons this light might be glowing?

2. Oil change: My son recognizes the oil needs changing and asked me to show him how. The problem/issue/question is how low the oil level can go before the engine is really, seriously in danger of losing pressure. His level reads perhaps a quart below the low mark on the stick (i.e. with oil wetting less than 1/8" of the end of the stick.) There's a lot of varnish in his engine, and I'm thinking of doing a motor flush (Gunk in the crankcase for 5 min, cold idle in the driveway, before draining/replacing oil). However, I don't know whether I'm courting problems. It's been at least a year (maybe much longer?) since the last oil change.

3. "Bulb out" indicator light in dash. I see he has a good brake light, check engine light, oil, alternator, and service light. What other lights are there? Does the 240 have a backup light system, so the "replace bulb" light comes on when a primary light fails, but there is a secondary light in service? What is the easiest way to replace indicator bulbs?

4. Humungous rust hole in door jam beneath lower rear corner of rear passenger door (could easily hold a large grapefruit). I'm worried that this may be a structural issue, and I don't want the car to fold in half when it hits a speed bump. The car is an Ohio vehicle that was rust-proofed (Ziebart) when new. Structurally, how critical is this area? Can I simply hire a welder to put some fresh metal in there, hit it with a can of Krylon, and call it good?

I apologize ahead of time for not researching these questions before asking, but I haven't seen him in years, and I'd cherish the opportunity to spend some time with him (not under a car) before he leaves. Thanks so much for any help with these issues!

Peace,
Sarah