Hi "b4_ford",

Regarding your fuses, I hope you haven't yet started to take the centre
console apart .........  In my '74 142 & 145, the fuses were located on the
side panel just ahead of the driver's door (Left-hand front door) under a
plastic cover. They were in the same location in my '86 245 and incredibly
STILL there in my '93 245 Classic.  The old saying "The more things change,
the more they remain the same" sure applies to the Volvo 140/240 series! and
for that we should, perhaps, be eternally grateful.  There's another saying
which applies here, a Scottish one:  "Better the De'il you know than the
De'il you don't know!"  (De'il = Devil)

Gary's advice about dealing with the fuses and fuse holders is right on.
These repeatedly give trouble in the 140/240 series.  In addition to doing
Gary's thing, sometimes at the roadside in the dead of night............. I
have finally resorted to scrapping all the fuses with grey metal ends,
replacing them the brass/copper ended type. The snag is Volvo dealers don't
stock the latter type.  I found that suppliers of VW parts do, and no doubt
other Auto Supply outfits.

Rightly or wrongly, I've convinced myself that "Galvanic Action" is the
culprit (the reaction between dissimilar metals such as the brass contact
clips and the zinc fuse ends) causing corrosion.

Good Luck.
Andy I