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Back in a Brick! 1990 240 DL LH 3.1 M47

VolvoMan1990

New member
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Hi all,

Long time reader, first time poster here. I come from a VW background (1990 Jetta, 1990 Golf, 1995 Mexican Beetle) but this is my second 240! My first was a gray '93 Automatic. Great car, just too slow for me in automatic fashion. I'm a huge believer that cars are best enjoyed manual (not trucks, I mean cars as in the opposite of trucks).

I had been searching for a manual brick for a while and managed to find this gem out in Arizona. My dad and I flew out, picked it up, and drove it back 15 hours to Austin, TX. It's a one owner brick with all specs ordered straight from the factory. These include the LH 3.1 fuel injection and the M47 manual transmission.

Specs:
Milage: I believe I broke 300K? Not sure when the odometer stopped working, but I bought it at 298K miles.
Engine Code: B230F
Transmission Code: M47
Injection Style: LH 3.1
Color Code: 400 (Gold Metallic)
Interior: Tan Fabric
Build Date: 5/90

I'm currently working on improving it where I can. Some tasks & items so far:
  • Bought replacement tail lights (lenses were cracked)
  • Bought new dash blanks to replace the altimeter and exterior temp gauge from previous owner
  • Bought a new radio that has bluetooth capabitlity
  • Bought a Turbo cluster with Tach
  • Bought a replacement Passenger side mirror
  • Bought a replacement center vent as current one is missing the bezel
  • Bought a replacement dash temp knob (for the A/C)
  • Bought NOS OEM dash gauge surrounds for when I install Oil Temp & Volt gauges

I'm also doing a full belt replacement (timing & drive), tensioner replacement, oil seals, plugs, wires, dizzy, rotor, and valve cover gasket.

More to come soon!

These are the pictures from the original listing:

00000_kceWGONX9A2_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

00Z0Z_22gPmafeJKb_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

00h0h_8KgtdRw8oV1_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

00303_axFmQWitNoF_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

00t0t_IDqbW7ZAXU_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

00l0l_bafi1lBSltA_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

00505_kgUq6xpckWK_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

00q0q_6JmNKUTUWvi_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

01212_38MEwTpYttN_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

01111_9RxaehfPRCK_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

00h0h_jcakcK0Zcqb_1200x900 by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

Working on the timing belt & oil seals:

Untitled by Volkswageneer1990, on Flickr

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Nice! Welcome to the zoo.

Thank you!

Been working on little thing so far:
  • Fixed headlight switch surround with JB weld
  • Gave a sharpness to a tab for the A/C temperature control knob panel
  • Got to work installing my new tach into the cluster. Also installing the temp & gas gauges to, (1) match the glossiness of the tach and (2) I like the letters that are not on the original cluster.
  • Installed a replacement side mirror since the car didn't come with it.
  • In the process of replacing the mirror, found that it would be a good time to sort out the non-operational central locking on the passenger side. In the process broke some of the trim that was so fragile so I have to sort that out as well.


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New 90 sedan

Looking good! Good find.

Maybe you should get a fuel pump relay to put in your glove box if you have not already. To me that's kind of like a simple insurance policy should it fail on you. I actually used one I had to "rescue" a fellow 240 owner who had his car not want to start if the tank was below about the half way level.

Keep the pictures coming !

:nod:
 
I like how organized your thread is already. Nice work. And I also agree, an m47 makes these cars totally different, in a good way.

Thank you! And yes, my old 240, an automatic, I had to "make" the car shift by giving and taking on the throttle, made for a horrible ride.

Looking good! Good find.

Maybe you should get a fuel pump relay to put in your glove box if you have not already. To me that's kind of like a simple insurance policy should it fail on you. I actually used one I had to "rescue" a fellow 240 owner who had his car not want to start if the tank was below about the half way level.

Keep the pictures coming !

:nod:

Thank you! I have heard that advice before, luckily, the car came with an extra one, so I should be good there!

Recently finished up some work:
  • Installed tachometer, coolant, and gas gauges
  • Installed GLE (?) steering wheel. Managed to grab a setup with all parts I needed, including the contact ring
  • Installed a cheap ebay bluetooth enabled radio. Works great and was a simple install. Will be saving up for a Continental radio that looks OEM spec!
  • Installed OEM Front Fog Light switch in preparation for the install of a pair of universal Hella fogs I have
  • Went to start the car, and no still no dice, so I looked up the codes and found that I had 1-2-3 and 2-2-4 (fuel & ignition respectively) so I will be troubleshooting them this weekend by fixing the harness first and then replacing the CTS after if that doesn't work.


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Some more work:
  • Sorted the CTS fault. Turned out the CTS wasn't even plugged in. Plugged it back in and it started up right away.
  • Took the car for a spin and sure enough another issue. No speedometer or odometer. Worked a bit on it again double checking my work and no dice, tested the sender in the diff, and apparently it failed, but before replacing it ($165 new) I went to a local junkyard, picked up a cluster from a 90 as well as luck would have it.
  • Replaced the speedometer unit that I had with the one from the junkyard, set the mileage correct, and took it for a spin, voila. It works.
  • There was another 240 in the yard, a 91, so I pulled the brakeline junction box from it as I know I need it for the conversion to a brake fluid float warning system rather than the pressure driven system that appears to be broken at the moment as evidenced by my successful bleeding of the brakes 3 times and still a brake failure light.
  • Unfortunately, the 91 had the old reservoir and the plug just sitting in the bay, so I was only able to get the junction box I need. I was able to source the fluid reservoir from eBay though. Should have all I need to make the swap soon.
  • I also replaced the broken and tatty tail lights with a new set I bought off eBay. Fanstastic set, not cheap at all. To protect them in the future, I covered them in Lamin-x film. It's not the best looking around the edges, but I would rather have a 90% perfect look and protected rather than 100% perfect and exposed to breaking and costing me another $134.
  • Unfortunately, in cleaning the interior, I found that the drivers side floor is SOAKED. I'll have to figure that one out. Any thoughts anyone?
  • That's all for now. All set to get inspected and take it around the block a bit more to ensure it can continue making another 300K.


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Took out the carpet, inspected, yes, it was definitely wet, so I took out all the soaked foam and took a closer look. The color looked greenish? But I put down some towels and let it stay there for about a week during which Austin got quite a bit of rain, and the test concluded that no water seemed to be getting in...


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