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Car Forum / Volvo Cars / March 200890 Volvo 740 GLE
There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and started it up. They claim that it runs rough, but shouldn't be driven on the road. So, I started it up, and it roared to life, but it sounds like a lawn mower. They claim that it needs new fuel injectors. What do you guys think? Are they blowing smoke (no pun intended)? The bid sits at $255 at the moment, and the auction ends on Thursday. Is it worth the risk? Travis > There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that > I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Travis Sounds like an exhaust leak to me, did you look under the hood? There's a gasket between the exhaust header and downpipe which fails sometimes and will make it sound like a dragster, I've also seen the downpipe break at the Y weld from someone driving through a deep puddle with a hot exhaust. It's easy to get injectors for these at junkyards, you can probably pick up a set for under 20 bucks and send them out for cleaning and matching but usually they're ok. It's also common for people to get the firing order wrong if they take off the plug wires due to the design of the distributor cap. All the posts are in a line, but they do not connect to the cylinders in that order. If the car is in good cosmetic condition then I would say it's worth it, all the mechanical stuff is readily available and easy to work on. Body, trim, and interior parts are spendy and increasingly difficult to find good used ones. > The bid sits at $255 at the moment, and the auction ends on Thursday. > Is it worth the risk? > > Travis You may find this link of most interest: http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/ Good luck. joe > There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that > I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Travis Which engine is it? Is it Auto or Manual ? Perk  SignatureNote --- My real email is perkatwavecabledotcom >> There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that >> I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Which engine is it? Is it Auto or Manual ? If it's a '90 740, it has a B230F, and if it's a North American car, it's an automatic. Does it smoke at all? Are there ticking or knocking sounds from the engine? What is the condition of the interior, exterior, tires? While you cannot drive it, you should be able to start it and then move the transmission through the gears, making sure each one works well. Push body up and down and then sideways for very rough check of suspension condition. If it passes all the tests and looks good in and out, bid. If not, walk. >>> There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that >>> I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > If it's a '90 740, it has a B230F, and if it's a North American car, it's an > automatic. My 90 740 auto has the 16 valve B234F interference engine in it. P. (:>) SignatureNote --- My real email is perkatwavecabledotcom > >>> There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that > >>> I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > - Show quoted text - That's the same one that I bid on (and just won about two hours ago). What exactly is the interferance engine? Travis >That's the same one that I bid on (and just won about two hours ago). >What exactly is the interferance engine? It's an engine in which the valves and the pistons occupy the same space, hopefully not at the same time. Keep up on the timing belt change, it's absolutely vital. If that belt fails, the engine will be destroyed before you know what happened. Other than that it's a sweet motor, smooth, powerful, decent fuel economy. > >>> There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that > >>> I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Here it is! Travis http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX %3AIT&viewitem=&item=230226572961&_trksid=p3984.cWAT.m240.lVI >>>>> There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that >>>>> I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX %3AIT&viewitem=&item=230226572961&_trksid=p3984.cWAT.m240.lVI Absolutely agree with Mr. Sweet. Mine's fine but I know from the records that the timing belt was changed only about 20K ago. Even knowing that I may have it changed when I have a little extra $$, just to be sure..If there are no records with it that's the very first thing I would do!!!! Otherwise you'll be always driving and listening for something. The "an ounce of prevention" thing. (:>) Perk (:>) SignatureNote --- My real email is perkatwavecabledotcom Wish you'd posted the link earlier. Body is real rough. There is no headliner. > Wish you'd posted the link earlier. > > Body is real rough. > > There is no headliner. Did you expect a mint condition ride for $600? He saw the car in person and obviously was satisfied with the cosmetics. Yeah it's a bit of a fixer, but he should end up with a good solid car for a thousand bucks and a bit of elbow grease. > > Wish you'd posted the link earlier. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > he should end up with a good solid car for a thousand bucks and a bit of > elbow grease. Yeah, it's actually going to be a gift for my uncle who's birthday is in October. So I've got the rest of Spring, and all of the Summer to fix it up. Travis >Yeah, it's actually going to be a gift for my uncle who's birthday is >in October. So I've got the rest of Spring, and all of the Summer to >fix it up. A tip regarding the headliner, remove the windshield to get the backing in and out. People say it can be done by just folding the seats back, I barely managed after removing the seats, console, steering wheel, and other interior parts then flexing it so far I swore it would snap in two. If the windshield needs replacing then perfect, otherwise it's well worth having it removed and reinstalled, you'll be pulling your hair out otherwise. > Did you expect a mint condition ride for $600? He saw the car in person and > obviously was satisfied with the cosmetics. Yeah it's a bit of a fixer, but > he should end up with a good solid car for a thousand bucks and a bit of > elbow grease. That is ridiculous, you should know better. The buyer is a clueless newbie: he doesn't know what an interference engine is, for goodness sake. So how can he wind up with "a good solid car for a thousand bucks and a bit of elbow grease," eh?" He's already into it for over six hundred. Do you seriously expect a newbie to be able to replace a headliner? I've done it, and it is a real PITA: he'll most likely be intimidated by the complexity of the job and farm it out...KA-CHING! Let's not forget "it sounds like a lawn mower, and (at minimum) needs new injectors. Not a task for a newbie. KA-CHING! Unknown maintenance history: did he do a compression test? Of course not: no telling what the valve train, rings and lower end is like. Lots of problems evident with the body, too. No, this newbie, or the intended recipient, is going to spend some serious coin sorting out this car, Mr. Sweet, your Pollyannaish optimism notwithstanding. Maybe you or I could sort it out and not spend much more than our time on it, but a newbie? Puh-lease. >> Did you expect a mint condition ride for $600? He saw the car in person >> and [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > Puh-lease. Nothing that it needs is beyond what a reasonably determined amature can figure out with a bit of help from the group. I've been working on Volvos for 14 years, but when I first started I knew nothing about them. Through trial and error, a Haynes manual, and advice from the web I've become very proficient and donate a significant amount of my time to helping others maintain their bricks. As far as the engine goes, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if all it needs is some exhaust system attention or checking the order and condition of the plug wires. I've picked up several cheap cars over the years as-is with various problems, it's always a gamble but so far I've been lucky and it's been little things people overlooked and assumed the problem was much more serious. When I redid my A/C I knew nothing about it but found enough info here to figure it out. When I did the headliner I had zero experience there, but found tutorials online and jumped into that. Looking at that car, I think a good solid weekend of washing, waxing, scrubbing, polishing, and vacuuming will have it looking presentable, then he can tackle all the other odds & ends it needs. Put simply, I'd pay 600 bucks for it without batting an eyelid if I didn't already have more cars than I need. Are you actually trying to help, or do you just get off by being an a-hole? > Are you actually trying to help, or do you just get off by being an a-hole? I am an a-hole who is helping. You claim that this newbie can use elbow grease and spend less than four hundred bucks to turn this apparent beater into "a good, solid car." Given that it has NO HEADLINER, and runs LIKE A LAWNMOWER, and has a beat up body, I say NO WAY. You are imparting FALSE HOPE there, Mr. Sweet, albeit perhaps unwittingly; you may not know any better. In contrast, I tell it like it is. >> Are you actually trying to help, or do you just get off by being an >> a-hole? [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > In contrast, I tell it like it is. Good solid car as in a reliable runner that won't win any beauty contests. I've done it, I've seen others do it, it's not rocket science. My friend bought a beat up 240 for a few hundred bucks that was barely running, replaced a vacuum hose that had cracked off, did a tuneup with new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, changed the fluids and it's been a dependable driver. Another got one that didn't run at all for a song, swapped out the fuel pump relay, fired it up and drove it home. I bought my daily driver 8 years ago for 500 bucks, it ran poorly and had water in the oil, I thought the engine was shot but I did a tuneup and 80K miles later I'm still driving it, I never did find out how water got in the oil but it never happened again. Another friend picked up a Saab 900 that "was loud, had no power and the electrical system was shot" for $250, well the downpipe had a broken weld, so it was loud as hell. It turned out that the power was fine, and the electrical system, well both headlights were burned out. The point is it's a gamble, but 600 bucks is a trivial amount of money to spend on a car, you'd throw away more than that the moment a new car is driven off the lot. If he decides to give up on it, I have no doubt he could sell it to someone like me and recover most if not all of his investment. The 16V cylinder head alone is a rare part worth a few hundred bucks to guys who put them on turbo motors to get 300-500+ HP. No headliner and beat up body in no way affect the drivability, they're strictly cosmetic. I would fix them personally as time permits, but a lot of people don't care about that stuff and just want dependable comfortable transportation. In my extensive experience, the running like a lawnmower is usually something simple, sure it could be a hole in a piston, dropped valve, or some other serious damage, but that sort of problem is rare. Usually with these motors someone has put the plug wires on in the wrong order due to the weird distributor cap design, vacuum leak, cracked downpipe, that sorta thing. Most of the parts are cheap and plentiful, no special tools are needed and the logical layout and spaceous engine compartment makes these cars a joy to work on. Give the guy some credit, don't assume he's an idiot just because he's a newbie. He seems willing enough, and with help from this group I'm sure he'll manage and either way the education will be worth something. Just because you are unwilling, incapable, or un-interested in taking on this project doesn't make it pointless for someone else to try. He's already bought the car so unless you've got something positive and productive to say, there's no point in saying anything at all. He bought the car as a gift for his uncle: I have to suspect he's not damn-fool enough to give a car to an uncle as a gift if it has NO HEADLINER! That is the OP's biggest problem. As I posted, a headliner repair in a 740 is a major PITA. Check on turbobricks: it is a loathed job, one that makes experienced shade tree Volvo geeks cringe and decide to farm the job out. It is expensive to farm the job out. You cannot seriously expect someone with little knowledge about Volvo repair to hit the ground running and refurbish a beater. Oh sure, I have done it, but I've worked on these damned cars for more than 20 years and I know a lot about them: were I a newbie I'd never dream of taking on such a project: it would be the height of folly, and setting myself up for failure. Do I suggest that people not repair their own cars? Of course not. I simply say this: do not take on projects which exceed your abiltiy. Just because I could do it, or Mr. Sweet could do it, does not mean that anybody can do it. I take great pride and satisfaction in working on these cars, but it is a skill I have acquired over time. Start small, and work up: it's the only sensible way to go. On Feb 26, 2:11 pm, "Mr. Blah Tee Dah" <unclefloyd1...@yahoo.com> wrote: > There's this 90 740 GLE listed on ebay at an auto donation yard that > I'm thinking of bidding on. It's close to my home, so I went out and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Travis Whether it is worth the risk depends on whether you are willing to risk $255 to acquire the car. And then possibly put a lot more into it to fix it up. Many but certainly not all donated autos are being given away because the owner doesn't want to pay to fix some costly problems. > Whether it is worth the risk depends on whether you are willing to > risk $255 to acquire the car. And then possibly put a lot more into > it to fix it up. Many but certainly not all donated autos are being > given away because the owner doesn't want to pay to fix some costly > problems. He didn't pay $255, he paid $603.27. >>Whether it is worth the risk depends on whether you are willing to >>risk $255 to acquire the car. And then possibly put a lot more into [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > He didn't pay $255, he paid $603.27. I don't think we have enough info here to know if the guy is capable of doing the necessry work himself. If he can work on an engine, but isn't familiar with this particlualr one, he probably can. If he really is a newbie, then it is way too big a job... > I don't think we have enough info here to know if the guy is capable > of doing the necessry work himself. If he can work on an engine, but > isn't familiar with this particlualr one, he probably can. If he really > is a newbie, then it is way too big a job... I inferred that he is a newbie, or at least inexperienced, as he didn't know what an interference engine is. It would seem axiomatic that anyone with the knowledge necessary to replace a 740 headliner, to troubleshoot fuel injection and otherwise undertake sorting out this beater Volvo would know that salient fact. > > Whether it is worth the risk depends on whether you are willing to > > risk $255 to acquire the car. And then possibly put a lot more into [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > He didn't pay $255, he paid $603.27. Did he or someone else pay $603.27? I wasn't clear on that. The difference is only $350.00 and not really significant. The bigger issue is whether he has the skills and tools to do the work himself or the pocketbook to pay someone else. It may be back on the road with $2k paid out. But since the car was apparently driven with no headliner that is a very good indication that it was driven with other significant probles as well. > Did he or someone else pay $603.27? I wasn't clear on that. The > difference is only $350.00 and not really significant. The bigger [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > headliner that is a very good indication that it was driven with other > significant probles as well. He posted that he bid on it and got it, and posted a link to the e-bay listing for the auction: sale price: $603.27. From the link: "Up for auction is a 1990 Volvo 740 GLE that was recently donated to a national charitable foundation and is being sold with NO RESERVE. This vehicle appears to run ROUGH AND IS NOT DRIVEABLE ON THE ROAD." So, the seller bought a beater, a car that is not driveable, rough body, no headliner, and which was GIVEN AWAY by its prior owner, who was probably savvy enough to recognize a tax break when he saw it. I will call a spade a spade: I think the purchaser made a bad bargain. Let this be a warning to others who hope to find a diamond in the rough; do not let your grasp exceed your reach. Still and all, he has until Fall to learn how to repair a headliner, perform body work, trouble shoot fuel and electrical issues...it will certainly be a learning experience, IF he buckles down and does it, instead of giving up in frustration and kicking himself for having bought this beater. > > > Whether it is worth the risk depends on whether you are willing to > > > risk $255 to acquire the car. And then possibly put a lot more into [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > headliner that is a very good indication that it was driven with other > significant probles as well. I have a secret weapon, actually. My roomate. He swears by these cars. There isn't a single component anywhere in the bricks from bumper to bumper that he hasn't studied. So, while I may be a newbie, he is not. And the best part is, he works cheap. He's already helped me whip two previous 740's into shape, before this, that I bought from the same seller. We have another roomate that owns one, which he's fixed up, and he of course drives his own, that he keeps in tip top running shape. So, there you have it. That's what keeps me afloat. Anyway, long story short, I drove the car home yesterday, with my roomate following close behind, and it made the 14 mile trip from Orange to Anaheim with little trouble. It just seems to bog down quite a bit after stopping at red lights. The check engine light is on, because the O2 sensor is wasted, and the CAT converter is baked. My roomate said that driving behind it felt like being put in a gas chamber on death row, but other than that ... well ... well, hell, it runs, doesn't it? Hey, I'm not worried, I've owned other vehicles that were worse gross polluters than this one is ('90 Dodge Caravan), and I was able to get them whipped into shape for less than two hundred bucks. As far as the headliner is concerned, who cares? Like one of you said, it's just cosmetics. I could give a rat's a$$, and I think my uncle will feel the same way, because he's riding a bicycle 'cross state, right now, and he'll just be happy to have SOMETHING. And who was it that said the body looks like crap? Looks fine to me, especially for a car that's almost twenty years old. I personally don't mind a few dings and scartches here and there. It gives the car character. Travis >Anyway, long story short, I drove the car home yesterday, with my >roomate following close behind, and it made the 14 mile trip from [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >chamber on death row, but other than that ... well ... well, hell, it >runs, doesn't it? A few things I'd check here: Timing belt, someone may have changed this themselves, if the timing is off by only one tooth the engine will run very poorly. If you don't know when it was changed, change it anyway, but be *very* careful to do it right. This is probably the most critical maintenance job on the whole car to do correctly and on time. Catalytic converter, if this is clogged you'll have very little power. Timing belt being off can clog the cat, as can a few other things. In my experience, you can gut a clogged cat and the car will still do well on the emissions test, but this may not be true in CA. If you're sure it's clogged, gut it for testing and buy a new one once you make sure the cause of the clogging is fixed. Air mass meter, failure here can cause the engine to run very rich, these are spendy but if you can find a good used one, it's nice to have as a spare. Most of the time when I see these fail, the engine won't even stay running unless you unplug it, then it will run kinda sorta ok when warm. Vacuum leaks, particularly the corrugated hose from the air mass meter to the throttle, they like to wear through when they rub on the body anywhere. A failure here on NA motors will cause lean running. Ignition firing order, this should be 1-3-4-2, look at your friends 740 to see what order the wires plug into the distributor since the posts are inline. As I recall, it's not very intuitive. Fuel pressure regulator, this is another good item to have a spare of. Mine failed once and caused it to run rich, took a while to track down what was going wrong. Coolant temp sensor, if this fails the ECU can think the engine is always cold and compensate by enriching the mixture I suspect I was right and you'll end up with a dependable driver for what amounts to just a few payments on a crappy new car. You made it home ok so I doubt anything serious is wrong. I agree, I think it's a good looking car for 600 bucks, my first car I bought when I was 18 cost me 3 times that and didn't look any better. Wash it, wax it, polish it, replace the broken lenses and it'll look presentable. If you wanna get fancy, wash all the black plastic trim with denatured alcohol and paint it with black plastic bumper paint, it's amazing what a difference that can make if you take your time to do a clean job, but focus on the mechanical stuff first, a paint job won't get you from point A to point B. Good luck and feel free to ping me with questions. I've been driving and working on these for a long time, fantastic cars.
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