• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

Saving A 245 Turbo, or How Not To Do This Sort of Thing

Great to see this. Nice work.

I just skipped through the whole thread - but I didn't see how you tackled the floor rust. Did I miss it?

I just found some rust in the pass. side floor of my 84 244.

Did not have time to tackle the floor rust, but I did tackle the battery tray rust. Spent a bunch of time grinding & applying Naval Jelly and then some Rustoleum Rust Converter.


MYGjQSF.jpg


9oVf7wJ.jpg
 
Made more progress this past weekend. All coolant hoses are in, but I'm still trying to get that strap back on the overflow tank. Not sure if it's a "well it was cheap for a reason..." or I'm just not putting enough force on it.

ThKWF9L.jpg


9x7O2dC.jpg




Also reinstalled the "old" battery tray. It'll have to do until I can source the plastic one from a later car. Fresh bolts are better than what was originally one, so I guess that's something.

yaqzpML.jpg



Began splicing in new wires. Had to 2x check to see if it was the 1.0 sq. mm wire and not the thicker one for the black ground wire, but it looks like it was just an optical illusion. All others have been successfully crimped on, though the white one is a bit longer. I'll wrap this one a little more. Will put the black wire on maybe this weekend? Also couldn't find my heat gun so I didn't have a chance to see how well this heat-shrink crimp connector works.

7Uzf3Qw.jpg



I splurged a bit this time - purchased a Klein ratcheting crimper, Klein wire stripper (use the 18AWG), and the nice 18-22 AWG heat shrink crimp connectors from Home Depot. Splurged a bit more last night purchasing the Turbo coupler from iPd, which was a few bucks more than my usual source but I absolutely need this ASAP and can't afford for Volvo Classic to have parts shortages.


Getting ever closer to putting this back on the road! The old gas worries me, but this is such a dry environment that it hasn't smelled like it's varnished yet. The 2004 date code tires still hold air, so I think I can limp it a mile down the road to the tire shop for new Goodyears and brake fluid when the day comes.
 
Last edited:
Made great progress yesterday! My friend who owns the garage (and the house it's attached to) wants to install a new roof, which means the garage needs to be emptied out ASAP so they can load stuff in there.


aE6f9UW.png


QCVmyY8.png


Finished the passenger-side harness today, but it turns out I don't have the right connector, so it's another trip to the Dave Barton store. I will have to repair the driver's side red wire as the insulation cracked while putting on the new connector housing. Or just put more tape on it.

q0cwKZQ.png


kgO4Ihj.jpeg




Biggest achievement was getting the intake manifold back on. Those pictures I took when I started helped me piece it all back together. There were a few moments of breath-holding (weaving hoses around wires and having to slightly wedge apart the fuel lines to get the intake manifold gasket in), but all-in-all it went on much easier than it did coming off. Also went ahead and plugged in some of the vacuum lines back onto the intake manifold. Plugging the IACV sensor was no fun at all, but I got it on there. It's looking more and more like a car now!



NGK BP7ES plugs are in too and it took forever because the Home Depot socket kept losing the rubber insert onto the plug. It was easier to just hand-tighten and use the socket without the insert to "tighten" them in.



Things left to do: strap in the coolant bottle, order & install the new passenger-side connector, cut new fresh-air pipe, and reinstall turbo pipes & couplers.
 
1hV55tN.jpg


Almost there! Unfortunately the MTC coolant bottle didn't want to go in and I found out I accidentally bent the little rotor in the distributor. A genuine Volvo unit is on its way and I'll probably get another steering rack soon.

D1OFqyt.jpg


But the turbo couplers are back on and the electrical stuff is just about done! Might just go fix that red wire the "right way" instead of just having a bunch of tape on it.

Another one!

d9BBbLv.jpg


I still can't believe I was able to drag this car back from the brink. We'll find out if I'm successful in the next few weeks.
 
And it's all back together once again, with no missing pieces outside of the rusty fasteners I replaced! I bagged and tagged every single item taken off, which made it easy to get replacements where and when necessary. Various internet resources and the Volvo dealer parts manual helped fill in other gaps.

TfAM7IO.jpg


0rhVTes.jpg


I was able to work the reluctor wheel back into a relatively correct shape. The spare accidentally got routed to my other address so I had to make do with this one. Looks ok.

PxX6fVZ.jpg


Unfortunately the Cold Start line seems to have bid the world farewell as I am having the exact same issues as this post: http://www.turbobricks.net/forums/showthread.php?t=147058. It has air and spark (quality unknown), suggests a fuel issue. Vacuum lines are all brand new. The leak is very obvious - gasoline is leaking out from the line, onto the airbox, down the fender apron, and out along the front rails.

wGyoTtS.jpg


Any advice on fabricating a replacement is welcome. Or if you'd like to sell me one, that'd be cool too. :)
 
Well, got back to this project after a long break.

One of the K-Jet distributor screws is not coming out and my left-handed bit doesn't seem to go far enough, so hopefully the local machine shop can get it out for me. The most important lesson I've learned with this is that there are no "routine" repairs when you're going through it first the first time. The only thing that came out without a fight was the oil trap box...


I was able to complete one task: I drained out the remaining 9 gallons of gas from April 2019. It's free if you're willing to come up to the high desert.
 
It took a bit of time, but I finally extracted the seized screw from the distributor block. Made a slight nick in the side of the distributor when my left-hand bit blew through the side of the screw, but it's out. The secret was having a big enough hole for the extractor bit to "bite".

FbXnGJD.jpg


yDfKlLr.jpg


Of course, as you've come to expect, I cleaned every single part. No before pictures, but from what you've seen in the previous pictures, it was caked with grime and oil deposits. Cleaned up real nice.

WbQvPwA.jpg



The plunger was stuck in the barrel - no amount of shaking or tapping could get it to slide out. I ended up soaking it in Berryman's for a few hours while I did some other jobs and then gently worked it out using my thumb and forefingers pinching the tip of long tweezers wrapped with electrical tape. Did the trick. Now it slides in & out of the barrel with no resistance.

j5Z8vR4.jpg


(Taken while soaking in Berryman's B12)

Mzg0FrO.jpg


(Still seemed sluggish, but at least I knew it broke up some of the gunk. I depressed the plunger and then worked it back out after this.)

Just ordered a fuel distributor block gasket and might as well order some other odds-and-ends. My favorite part of this adventure has been changing the gaskets that haven't been touched since the car rolled out of the Torslanda factory.
 
An update! I pulled out the fuel distributor to check out the O-ring in the last update. Here is the part where I tell you how I put it all back together.

After waiting six weeks for Volvo Classic to find the gasket I needed out of a Swedish warehouse, I could finally reassemble the volumeter. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

3q0lx2p.jpg


The old gasket shattered when I dropped it on the floor.

gPmVekc.jpg


oxbBkRN.jpg


KQg3y4f.jpg


After some cleaning.

BuTNN8z


Back together again!

Wp5cY6e.jpg


In the car.

xUwAfZC.jpg


Fully buttoned up. There was a brief moment of panic when I realized I was missing a copper washer. Had to put that back on and hopefully the gasket still holds.
 
Last edited:
Well, my date got cancelled at the nth hour on the 28th, so I got neither a dinner date nor a chance to work on the car. But I did buy a "proper" grille from Thor so I can toss (lovingly place) my poverty-spec DL grille into the storage pile. Move aside poor people, a TURBO is coming!

Well after I get the turbo badge made...
 
If it seems like this project has ground to a halt, that's because I've been stymied by these fuel distributor leaks. What little I've checked electrically suggests it's good - ignition coil's a bit weak (dips below what the Bentley suggests), frequency valve has the right resistance, filter and distributor and all the stuff to the tank are a-ok. Injectors are unknown until my gauge gets here, but there's nothing suggesting they are bad. It's a humbling experience, but one that I hope to figure out before I lose my garage spot at the end of November.


The metal line leaked, so I tried a bit of sealant on the copper gasket faces. This stopped the leak, but it caused the soft line to eject gasoline, so that's going to be interesting. Depending on how things go, I might get a new one from a member (hi!) or see if the local shop can just fabricate a replacement for the time being. Don't want to hit the parts cannon, but sometimes you have to, I guess...


On a more positive note, here's some progress I made.

Rewired the shredded wiper lines. Who know what else has been shorting?

dpwWvPB.jpg


35W8fBD.jpg



Stuff with no pics:

Replaced the battery tray with a nice, new unit from MTC. Also ordered a genuine Volvo tie-down so I can get that period-correct look.


Cleaned up some of the rust spots in the rear cargo area. Gave it a quick blast of rust converter until I can get it properly sorted.


Just wrestled the driver's seat into the car this past weekend. Getting it out was easy, getting the replacement in was hard. My tip: get the tracks aligned so you don't fight the seat in. Sure is nice not having to see that shredded carcass that I'll no doubt hang onto for a "rebuild"...


Just waiting to get these fuel issues solved so it can turn a wheel in anger...

Mj26ShD.jpg
 
Good news: 2manyturbo's frequency valve cured my leak. Now my car leaks nothing! (likely some small weeping due to old car nonsense, but nothing serious)

Bad news: Engine starts, runs, idles, and then dies unless I keep my foot down. Some of the vacuum lines weren't hooked up right and I tightened all the connections, but that didn't quite fix the problem. I re-routed the vacuum lines based on the last-known good configuration, which apparently means running the vacuum line from the canister to the Tee coming off the intake manifold that feeds into what looks like a check valve.

I hope it's not the IACV, because the car didn't have this problem when I last dealt with it. It was running into the garage with fuel and wiring problems. Of course, it could be both.

Plug wires look good, brand-new Bougiecords connected the right way per the Bentley manual.

Fuel is good. No more than a few weeks old, but still clear & potent. Gave it 2 oz of Marvel Mystery Oil and 1.25 gal fresh 91 from Chevron.

Unfortunately I'm officially out of time and the car will have to get looked at by the Euro mechanic in town who, curiously, has dealt with this town's Redblock cars. Seriously, the lone Yelp review is someone with an '80s 240. I've made this claim in the past but managed to get it running, but looks like I'm all out of options at this point.

Either that, or I limp it onto a UHaul trailer and have an epic 100 mile road trip...
 
cx7z5vg.jpg


So I chose the road trip now that the recommended mechanic retired. The 245 has weird stalling issues that I haven’t fully solved, but I can now deal with them at my own leisure.

The 10’ uhaul did a fantastic job hauling it down.
 
Killing time until I can get back to work on this:

Updates since last post

* Sourced K-Jet fuel pressure tester, but one of the fittings is defective. Time for a polite, strongly-worded letter. Or I could cough up the eight bucks out of pocket, which I am too cheap to do.

* Found a disconnected vacuum line which may or may not be the source of the stalling. Boy, wouldn't it be silly if that was what caused all my problems?
 
Finally getting back to work!

Yes, that vacuum line was the source of the stalling. I know this because I started the engine and the B21FT roared to life and idled at a steady 1200 rpm cold without the WUR plugged in.

Unfortunately every other start didn't go so well, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I also learned that the aftermarket fuel pressure tester did not work like the Volvo unit. It is rotated 90 deg so it was a little confusing when I saw the numbers running backwards compared to the service manual. Some thinking (and asking TB) got me sorted out.

EqYije0.jpg



fnSCilE.jpg


HyWJpxu.jpg


Not the best numbers, but I'll hold off on shimming at the moment.

I also noticed it did an awful job with rest pressures. I cracked open the line pressure regulator and found that the O-ring on the tip was permanently deformed. The whole dang line pressure regulator was a nasty mess (the shims are rusted on), but I was able to clean it up with some Berryman's B-12. I almost want to put my old one back on...

3d5SMxU.jpeg


nLjecNG.jpeg


I heard a slight hiss as I took it out, suggesting it held some line pressure.
 
BcK0IPG.jpeg


New o-rings are in and the effects are immediate: rest pressure holds nicely and warm starts are a lot easier, though I can still get it to stall if I blip the throttle hard (1000-1500rpm jumps) and the CPR line is still weeping fuel onto the distributor. Guess that's what I have to fix next.
 
So we're back! In the weeks since the original post, I rebuilt the CPR using the double-diaphragm instructions from kjet.biz. Holds pressure nicely (though may be a little high at some temps), but then I noticed the gas was pretty ripe. Time to siphon out 4 gallons this weekend!

Have a new fuel pump check valve (among other things) arriving Monday so I'll hopefully have the last of the cold fuel pressure checks sorted soon...
 
Back
Top