KdL Automotive Volvo onderhoud voor youngtimers en klassiekers Middelbeers Brabant

About Volvotips

Welcome at Volvotips! The reason I started this website is to collect all the information about older Volvo-models on one website. There are many Volvo-websites but none of them covers all classic models or just aren’t complete. I also wanted to give the visitor a complete description of the cars: not only the technical specifications, but also the complete history (including the prototypes of that model), all the upholstery colors (including samples) and a lot of tips for buying and maintaining the car. All the information on this site is free and nothing is hidden!

At this moment the website is under construction but I try to post new articles each day so the website will grow by day! If you have any ideas or want to ask something please contact me by mail: info@volvotips.com or follow us at Twitter!

Volvotips is not affiliated with Volvo Car Corporation, AB Volvo or any other Volvo company or a company that produce or sell Volvo-parts.

 

About the author of Volvotips

My name is Rob and I live in the southern part of The Netherlands. The reason I’m a Volvo-addict? I can’t really tell: my parents never had a Volvo (they always had Opels, Rovers, a Citroën 2CV and Dyane, and a Daf 66, since a couple of years they have their first Volvo: a 2001 Volvo V70N), my oldest brother bought a V40 diesel just before I bought my first Volvo (a 440) and the neighbours didn’t have any Volvo at all. Apparently, my grandfather (who died when I was 2 years old) had a Volvo 262C Bertone which he bought brand new at the dealer, but he had many troubles with it (I don’t know what kind of troubles, I should ask my parents). He didn’t keep the car long and replaced the 262C with a USA-car (before the Volvo, he always drove American cars like Mercury, Buick and Chevrolet).  But a few doors next to our house there was always standing a 1987 Volvo 240 on the driveway and I think that’s the first car which led to my Volvo-addiction. At the elementary school there were some classmates whose parents also had Volvo’s (mainly 240’s and only one of them a 740 Estate) and I really liked the boxy design of it.

I also worked at a Volvo parts-specialist (which also has a garage/workshop) in The Netherlands for 3 years (parttime, I also have a own company in system engineering and webdesign). But when I left the Volvo-specialist I thought it was time to develop a big website with everything I know about Volvo’s. And Volvotips was born…. 😉

My current Volvo cars

At the moment I own 4 Volvo cars (actually 3, one of them is my girlfriend’s car).

2001 Volvo V70

This is my daily driver, a 2001 Volvo V70N 2.4 litre with 140bhp Comfortline. The car has the standard options and ECC (electronic climate control) and a HU-1205 navigation system was added later to the car. I replaced the standard wheels (with hub caps) with 16-inch alloy wheels but the car is shown on the picture below with a winterset of tires. The car has a grey interior.

Volvo V70 2001

 

Volvo 244 GL D6 1979 (MY1980)

My other car which I drive regularly is a Volvo 244 GL D6 diesel (D24-engine, made by Volkswagen) and automatic transmission which was build at October 1979 and has modelyear 1980. The car was painted in a bronze metallic paint but is being resprayed a couple of years ago in colorcode 220 (Beige gold metallic, which was available on the Volvo 340 and 360). The diesel-engine and BW55 automatic gearbox are being completely refurbished a couple of years ago by a workshop which is specialized in rebuilding VW LT-engines (the D24-engines were also fitted into Volkswagen LT commercial trucks). The car is equipped with beige leather upholstery.

Volvo 244 GL D6 diesel 1980

 

Volvo 240 1986

This car is standing in a barn at the moment. It is a white Volvo 240 saloon with blue upholstery, B200K-engine, no powersteering and a M47 manual transmission. Unfortunately there are some problems with the car: the Pierburg-carburator is having some troubles at a warm start, the heater fan won’t work and the car has some little rust at the bodywork (like the wheelarches at the back and a little hole at the inside of the sill). But there is also some good news: I am the second owner of the car: I bought the car at the most southern part in The Netherlands from an old man who owned the car for 23 years (that was two years ago) and the car drives really well (with 220.000km on the odometer).  The white walls (actually: stainless chrome rings and white wall trims) and I fitted new tires after I bought the car.

Volvo 240 1986 saloon sedan

 

Volvo 740 GLE 1990

This is the car of my girlfriend. It’s a fantastic car to drive and has a lot of options: green velours upholstery, airconditioning, green metallic paint, cruise control, electric sunroof, electric windows, electric mirrors, Hydra 16-inch alloy wheels, AW71L automatic gearbox, chrome trims of a 760, the rare pencil box and digital temperature , armrest with four cupholders, 940 front (with foglights), etc etc! The car is pretty economic with 8,5-9L/100km fuel consumption.

Volvo 740 GLE 1990

 

Previous Volvo (classic) cars

I’ve had many cars. Most of the time I had more cars at the same time, and sometimes I was forced to buy one because the daily driver was in the workshop for a while and others were being restored. Another time the car I had was just one big problem or had a other good reason to be replaced. See the timeline below for my car history.

Volvo 440 GL 1989

My first car: a 1989 Volvo 440 GL with 1,7 litre carburated engine. No powersteering but it had central locking! The car had many electrical problems: after three days the starter stopped working, after a while the alternator also stopped working well and blew up the battery, the electrical fan was pulling the battery empty when the car wasn’t running (but the fan was running all night after being off for one hour or more) and many other problems (most of them were electrical problems). Fun fact: the licence plate was TY-96-RS. Except the Volvo demo-cars (which had a TH-xx-xx registration, as shown on the press photo’s) I haven’t seen any older 440. This means I’ve got one of the first 440’s which was sold to a private customer. The 440 was sold after it was repaired and I wanted a new car which should give less trouble. A member of a forum (he repairs cars in his spare time) needed a car and bought my 440. He never had bad luck with the car but after a half year he sold it because he wanted something different. The 440 was left at a garage and after a few months the car was demolished (for parts I guess).

At the picture below you can see the car, the photo was taken at the day I bought the car. The ugly hub caps and wheels were replaced after a while with Volvo 480 alloy wheels and later some OZ Racing-replica’s.

Volvo 440 GL 1.7 1989

 

Volvo 940 GL 1991

My second car was the finest car I had: a ’91 Volvo 940 GL sedan with 2.3 litre engine (B230F), ZF automatic gearbox and electric sunroof. The car was painted in midblue metallic and has a nice blue upholstery (some people thought it was a hideous color for a interior but I love it). I kept the car for more than one year but I drove too many longer distances so I replaced this car by a Volvo 240 Estate which runs on LPG (which is much cheaper when you drive a lot). The 944 was sold to a friend of my brother, he is still the owner of this car.

Volvo 940 GL sedan 1991

 

Volvo 240 Estate 1990

This car (with B230 engine and M47 manual gearbox) was the replacer of my excellent 940, but switching from a comfortable 940 to a noisy and cranky 240 is a step which I won’t even recommend to my worst enemy. The 245 was driving like a tipsy duck and the paintwork (not even a metallic paint) was pretty dull. But after a long day of waxing and polishing the car looked much better. The tires were brand-new but of a unknown Chinese manufacturer who should choose a other market because the grip was horrible. I replaced the wheels and tires with 740-wheels (and Uniroyal tires, which came together with the used alloy wheels) and the car really handled a lot better! After big maintenance (with new bushes, bearings and again new tires because I drove so much the Uniroyals were worn out) and replacing the seats by new ones the car drives like a 240 should drive: pretty good and nice at the highway (but not so good in cornering and bumpy roads compared with the 940). The thing I missed the most of my 940 was the automatic gearbox (switching from a automatic transmission to a manual gearbox feels like travelling back in time). After a while the distances I should drive were decreasing and the road taxes were too high compared with the new mileage. So I sold the car and bought a S40 with LPG G3 (controlled direct LPG-injection, which is a lot cheaper in taxes). Fun fact: the LPG-tank was fitted at the Volvo importer and had a sticker with “Speciaal ingebouwd voor Volvo Nederland” (which means: “Specially built in for Volvo Netherlands”).

Volvo 240 245 Estate 1990 LPG

 

Volvo S40 1996

The next car was a ’96 Volvo S40 with 1.8 litre engine, manual transmission, LPG G3-system and almost no options (only central locking and a cd-changer). Because the car had three different brands of tires I bought a nice set of after-market alloy wheels with good tires. But after a month the car showed troubles with the in-tank fuelpump of the LPG-system: the car was starting to have backfires and misfires at certain rpm’s and the diagnose of a LPG-specialist was to replace the complete tank (because the fuelpump was in the tank), but I should try to drive it for a while and maybe it should disappear. After two months the car was damaged by vandalism (some &*#$%@ scratched the hood with a key and kicked some dents just above the grille) and that was a good reason to replace the car. The LPG-problems I had (also with the 240 Estate, which had some problems switching from LPG to petrol and back) were a good reason to buy a petrol car. I bought a 850 Estate with automatic gearbox (I really wanted a automatic transmission in my new car) and the S40 was left at the dealer where I bought the 850.

Volvo S40 1.8 LPG G3 1996

 

Volvo 850 GLT Estate 1993

When the S40 was having troubles with the LPG G3 in-tank fuelpump after just 3 months and the car was damaged by some idiots who like to damage other people’s cars it was time for something new. As mentioned before I’m not a big fan of LPG-installations (it can work well, but in The Netherlands owners of LPG-cars don’t really care about maintenance or a service-interval) so it was time for a petrol car. At a Volvo-specialist in Veldhoven I bought a nice 1993 Volvo 850 GLT Estate (one of the first 850 Estates sold in The Netherlands, a Alter I 850 with the old front and bumpers) with a lot of options: wooden trims in the interior, electric windows, heated seats, climate control (which worked very well), automatic transmission (that was really a must-have for me) and a electric sunroof. And the car was older than 15 years which had some nice tax benefits if you are a entrepreneur. But after about 9 months of owning the 850 the Dutch Government were changing these benefits for entrepreneurs and it means the extra tax-rating of € 1500,- a year would change into € 10.00,- per year (and that’s a lot). The age-restricion was changed from 15 years to 25 years if you want have the benefit again. Reason to sell the car and look for something different that should be 25 years old. Unfortunately a couple of months later the new tax-rules were abandoned but at that moment the car was already sold for a few months.

Volvo 850 GLT Estate old type
Volvo 244 GL 1977

When I had the 850 for a while it was time for a veteran car as a extra hobby car. One day a customer of the Volvo-specialist where I worked part-time called that he wants to sell his ’77 Volvo 244 GL automatic (with a B21E-engine which was converted to a B21A due backfires of the LPG-system). He wanted to sell it as soon as possible because the MOT was about to expire soon and he didn’t want to spend a lot of money repairing the rusty wheel arches. I agreed to buy the car (for myself, the workshop didn’t want to buy the car) and one day later I drove with my girlfriend to Utrecht to buy the car. It was a fantastic car with a lot of nice options: black leather interior (but not in a good shape), sunroof with original Volvo wind deflector, a armrest, BW35 automatic gearbox (but one of the previous owners stuck the gearbox in P while driving so the P wasn’t usable anymore), LPG system, power steering, pencil box, snowcap, 4 nice stereo speakers (including the expensive Canton parcel shelf speakers), Virgo wheels and a extra set of Michelin wheels (and steelies). The car was painted in a beautiful limegreen metallic color and had some rust on the rear wheel arches and sill. But the car was really fun to drive! I owned the car only for a week because a member of a computer forum where I post a lot really wanted the car and was able to do the bodywork (which I couldn’t do because I can’t weld and he could). So the car was sold and I bought a Volvo 240 Estate as a hobby car. Not-so-fun fact: the new owner had the car for about 2 months and didn’t have any time welding the new wheel arches and sills so he sold the car to a Volvo oldtimer-specialist in the northern part of The Netherlands. That same day the car got a new MOT (which was almost imposible because the new owner got to the MOT but the car was rejected for MOT due rust at the wheel arches and sills and some other small stuff) and a few days later the car was for sale on the website of the trader: all special parts were removed (the wind deflector was gone, also was the snowcap and Virgo wheels. The car was about 3000 Euro more expensive than the forum member had received. Unfortunately the car was sold pretty quick, I think by people who didn’t know a lot about old Volvo’s and were pretty fooled by the trader.

Volvo 244 GL 1977
The ’77 Volvo 244 GL as I sold it

Volvo 244 GL 1977 at a Dutch autotrader
The 244 at the Dutch autotrader, who removed all accessories

Volvo 240 Estate 1988

After selling the 244 GL I needed a new hobby car and bought a Volvo 240 Estate (sold in 1988 but after buying it appeared the car was produced in 1986, according to the VIN) which had some little work to do: the car needed maintenance, the paintwork had some minor damages and a front fender had a different color. At the interior some parts were missing (like the window crank, some switches and covers etc) but the car wasn’t very expensive. The B200K-engine wasn’t running very well and needed some work to run better. After new oil and oil filter, new spark plugs, a new airfilter (the old filter was black, extremely dirty and I also found a button and lollipop sticks in the airbox) and some finetuning the engine was running a lot better. What a difference! After I resprayed the front fender myself (it turned out really well) and painted the steelies in white (I thought it would like fun on a Swedish blue car) the 245 was looking pretty good. In the winter the carburator gave sometimes little problems, so you should drive with the choke slightly open. A problem which I couldn’t solve but a lot of Pierburg-carburators gave such problems. After all the work was done on the car and a forum member (of the same computer forum as mentioned at the 244 GL-story) offered me a Volvo 740 GL I sold the car. The car is now exported but I don’t know to which country: the new owner also lives in Sweden, but the car could also be demolished and sometimes people say the car has been exported because that’s easier with paperwork at the Road & Traffic Services (RDW) in the Netherlands. I sold the car for the same price I bought it (actually with a loss, but I learned a lot of servicing and painting parts and that’s priceless). Fun fact: the same car (licence plate: TF-01-VS) was on the Wikipedia-page of the 200-series for several years. A Swedish guy uploaded it on Wiki and the picture showed this Volvo 240 standing on a parking lot in Rotterdam (a picture of a previous owner). When I’ve found the picture which was on Wikipedia I will upload it here.

Volvo 240 Estate 1988 1986

 

Volvo 740 GL 1988

The Volvo 740 GL was bought from a forum member of Tweakers.net, the owner of the car wanted to sell it because he wanted to buy something new and the car had a cracked window. Because 740 saloons aren’t very popular in The Netherlands the prices of it (even in good condition) are extremely low. So I got the car with a huge discount (because of the windscreen) and after just one week the window cracked completely. So a new window was installed (which was more expensive than the purchase) and the car was as good as new. The 740 was very well maintained and had a very clean interior. A Turbo-grille was fitted as well. Because my girlfriend had many troubles with her Fiat I sold the car to her and she drove it about one year (I bought a V70 Classic and she was starting to use my 244 diesel). The 740 (now with original chrome grille) was sold to a forum member who also lives in Eindhoven. He sold it one year later to someone in Eindhoven and sometimes I see the car driving by but it isn’t in a very good condition anymore (and the window is cracked again). But I’m happy the car is still running. 🙂

Volvo 740 GL sedan saloon 1988

 

Two Volvo 740 GL Estates 1986 & 1987 – The package deal

While the 850 was for sale I started a quest for a new car which should be 25 years old at the time the new law was going to be active (entrepreneurs had a tax benefit for cars which were 15 years old, but the new law says it should be 25 years at the time when road taxes were transformed to a charge per kilometer, also the oldtimer regulations were frozen for cars made after December 31 1986). When searching for a 245 or 745 automatic I found a ad with 2 cars sold at once: a 1986 Volvo 740 GL Estate (running on petrol) and a 1987 Volvo 740 Estate automatic (running on LPG). The problem was: the 1986 740 only had a few months of MOT and the ’87 740 wasn’t running at all! But they were cheap and the man was in the neighbourhood a couple of days later and was willing to bring the car to Eindhoven (the car that wasn’t running stayed in Den Bosch and should be picked up later). After we’ve done the paperwork for both cars (funny: I bought and owned a car which I never had seen before) and the man (who was working for the Dutch railways) left by train. The 1986 740 Estate (MY87) was a GL with B230K engine, M47 manual gearbox and had a silver paintwork. It was a bit rusty at the battery holder and subframe (but it was strong enough for the MOT). It runs really well but the clutch was wearing out. The 1987 740 (which was a MY88 and also with a B230K-engine) was dark gray and had many options: a AW71 automatic gearbox, Turbo upholstery (with the leather sides at the seats), airconditioning, sunroof, armrest, nice Volvo Rigal wheels (of a 760) with Michelin tires, a USA-style chrome roofrack, chrome sidetrims and many more. But: the car wasn’t running! It appeared the hall sensor was completely destroyed and the ANWB (the Dutch roadside assistance) took the complete ignition unit (it was the old type with the hall sensor at the back of the ignition and not above the flywheel as the late types) with them by accident. I ordered a new ignition unit at Marktplaats.nl but unfortunately it was one of the late types (and the guy who sold me this item said it was the right one before shipping it to me and never responded any mails after I told him it wasn’t the right ignition). But in Uden there is a good Volvo-specialist who sells many 740-parts and he had a couple of the right ignitions in stock. I bought one there and went straight to Den Bosch again (the first time with the wrong ignition I didn’t had any success at all). The new ignition was installed by myself, I adjusted the ignition timing and started the car: it worked! But it couldn’t keep itself running stationary while the engine was cold. When the engine was heating up and warm enough it really runs well (on both fuel-systems: LPG and petrol). But I was able to drive the car home. The mechanic of the Volvo-specialist and I both took a attempt to fix the cold running problem but we didn’t find the problem: it seems the carburator had some troubles but we weren’t sure about it. Meanwhile I got a mail from someone who was very interested in my silver 740 Estate (I replied on his wanted-ad on a Dutch advertising site because I didn’t like to drive again with a manual gearbox) and he bought the 740 Estate. I also bought a Volvo 244 diesel (which I still have, see above) which could meet up all my requirements so the 1987 740 was also for sale. But unfortunately there were no reactions at all, so I took of the Rigal alloy wheels and took the car to a trader who had a Volvo 144 for sale with a new MOT (the 740 was too expensive in road taxes if driven too little and I had two cars at that moment). I didn’t get much money for it and had to pay something at the exchange with the Volvo 140.

Volvo 740 GL Estate 1986 MY87
The 1986 Volvo 740 Estate

Volvo 740 GL Estate 760 1987 MY88 Rigal
The 1987 Volvo 740 Estate, the chrome roofrack was removed at that moment

Volvo 144 1971

The Volvo 140 saloon I bought in Geleen, in the most southern part of The Netherlands (just next to Nedcar: the old factory where the Volvo 66, 300-, 400 and S40/V40-series were build) was a bit rusty but the floor of the car was as good as new: no rust and in perfect condition. Also the wheel arches were in pretty good condition and the car had a brand new MOT. The 144 (with B20 engine and M40 manual gearbox) drove pretty well and the interior was as brand new (with special covers over the seats so the original upholstery was protected). Seems to be a good deal, but it wasn’t: after a bigger inspection and looking at the rusty dew-points the rust at the bodywork was bigger than expected. It appeared that 140-series will rust from the inside of the bodywork (and not the outside like the Amazon). When starting to remove the rust the little holes were getting bigger and bigger, resulting in a 30cm big hole at the sill and upper part of the front fender. What a disappointment! But the car wasn’t good enough for a big welding job (and respray) so I repaired it low-cost and painted the car myself in a steel gray color. For the “sleeper”-effect the front bumper and chrome trims were removed and the wheels were painted black. But the car wasn’t really a sleeper: it needed to be lower and that was not where I was looking for. The result was not wat I liked but most people loved the paintwork and color and the new looks of the car. I sold the car to someone of a big forum (his father is a trader in classic Volvo’s) and after a while the car was stripped for parts.

Volvo 144 1971 B20 M40 saloon
The 144 as I bought it: a bit rusty

Volvo 144 sleeper
After the makeover. Some people think it’s cool, but I didn’t really like it

Volvo Amazon 131 1969

After selling the 144 I was looking for a 245 or 240 Van (the 244 diesel was my daily driver after selling the 740 Estate and buying the 144) because the 244 was in a perfect condition and should be a shame to use it as a workhorse so a extra car with a lot of space was where I was looking for. But when you’re looking for something you can’t find it or something different comes to you. And that was happening to me: a man who lives in my neighbourhood bought a Volvo 145 and needed to get rid of his Volvo Amazon (a 1969 131 with B20-engine and dual-circuit brake system). At one day he came to the Volvo workshop I was working he asked me if I was interested in his car. That afternoon I went for a look but the car needed some work. But the car had new wheel arches and sills (but needed a new paint because the new bodywork wasn’t painted yet) and it drove really well so I bought the car. After a few days the improvements of the car were already made: the car was painted in a matte finish (with black boat paint) so I repainted the sills and wheel arches but the most of the car could also use a new paint job so I fixed that as well and after that I added Ravus white walls with chrome wheeltrims. It was a amazing result! After a few weeks I replaced the original seats (which had no headrests) by the interior of a Volvo 480 (which I bought at the designer of the interior of the 400-series). The car was really fun to drive! I kept the car for two-and-a-halve years and sold it because the last half year I didn’t drive a lot with the car. I still miss the car, but you can’t keep everything!

Volvo Amazon 131 69 white walls workshop
The Amazon at the workshop, just after I mounted the white walls

Volvo Amazon 131 B20 with white walls
The Amazon with new painted wheels (the same red color as the B20 engine has)

Volvo V70 Classic TDI MY99

When a big roadtrip to Sweden and Norway with some friends was planned, we needed a reliable car. A friend could borrow a Volvo V40 at work but only he was allowed to drive it. The other friend had a Ford Escort with some problems and I was having the 244 diesel as a daily driver but on a big road trip (with more than 6000 kilometers to drive) it wasn’t a very good idea (altough my girlfriend and I went to Sweden with the car). So we needed a big car. I was looking for a diesel (because we planned to drive a lot) with automatic gearbox and after a short time I found a Volvo V70 Classic 2.5 TDI (a diesel-engine made by Audi) and automatic transmission from 1998 (MY99). The car was a Sportsline including a lot of options like: climate control, 16-inch alloy wheels, spoiler, fog lights, automatic transmission, black leather upholstery, heated front seats and even a heated back seat, cruise control, electric windows, and many more options! The car was in a really good shape (except for some litlte dents) and drove really well. In fact: I liked the car so much I wanted to keep it as a daily driver (the original idea was to buy the car for the roadtrip and after that it should be sold), so my girlfriend should drive the 244 diesel and her own 740 was sold (because we couldn’t keep too much cars here and the Amazon was also to stay). But things didn’t go as they were planned: on the way back to home a friend of mine (who was with us at the roadtrip) forgot to slip off the handbrake and drove about 60 miles with the handbrake on it. At home the rear wheeltires were pretty damaged and also the brake shoes of the handbrake were broken. I went to a colleague workshop and after a inspection he told me the rear brake discs were also damaged. Because my girlfriend was driving my 244 and my Amazon had some troubles with its front axle and the V70 was at the workshop I needed a temporary car, so I bought a 740 Estate. After repairing the V70 just didn’t drive well (I think much more was damaged)  and I sold it to someone who wanted to repair the car himself.

Volvo V70 Classic TDI

Volvo V70 Classic meeting in Sweden
Fun: at a hotel in Sweden a V70 meeting was set up by chance

The temporary car: a Volvo 740 GL Estate 1987

When the V70 Classic was at the garage, my Amazon was broken and my girlfriend needed my 244 diesel I needed a daily driver. I looked at Marktplaats (a Dutch advertising site) and a Volvo 740 GL Estate (with B230K engine and M47 manual transmission) was for sale for only a few bucks! The car needed some work (the electric windows didn’t work, the speedometer neither and some other small things) but it was good enough for me! I bought it, repaired most of the problems and I had a nice car until the V70 was finished. A week later the V70 was finished and at the same time a good customer of the Volvo workshop I was working for had a big accident and his Amazon was completely wasted. He needed a car quickly and so he bought my 740. The V70 wasn’t good at all after repairing (as mentioned above) and because I was a oldtimer-geek I thought it would be fun to buy a Amazon Combi.

Volvo 740 Estate blue metallic 1987

Volvo Amazon Combi MY65

After selling the 740 I bought the same day a Volvo Amazon Combi, which was produced on December 31 1964 and has Modelyear 1965. The car was imported from Denmark in 2002. The car was painted in light blue, has a Girling brakebooster, was lowered a few centimeters, had a M40 manual gearbox, black upholstery (including headrests) and B18 engine. The floorpanel was as brand-new but one door was bad (just like the front fenders). But a brand new door and front fenders came with the car. The Combi drives really well but a B18-engine is too light for a stationwagon. In the middle of the winter (it was a very cold winter in The Netherlands) the car appeared to be not a great winter car so I bought a ’93 Volvo 940 Estate and my brother (who was interested in the Amazon Combi at the first moment he saw the car) bought my Amazon Combi. After one year doing nothing to the car (even not driving it) he sold it (including a brand new Lockheed VH44L brake servo) with a  big loss.

Volvo Amazon 220 Combi 1965 light blue

Volvo Amazon 131 black matte finish and Volvo Amazon 220 Combi blue

 

Volvo 240 Turbo 1983

After selling the Amazon to my brother and putting the white 240 (which I still have) in a barn (with the licence suspended) I bought a Volvo 240 Turbo which should be a hobby-project: the car had some little rust and the turbo was completely broken. The car was imported from the USA (California) in 1986 and was sold there in 1983. It was a nice red saloon with B21FT engine and AW71 automatic transmission. It has beige leather upholstery and a sunroof. All the Turbo-accessoires and instruments were still there and working fine! After replacing the turbo the car really runs well! But because a ’86 745 Estate was for sale at the 700 Club I liked the idea having a Estate-car (which should become tax-free)instead and so I sold the 240 Turbo to someone who wanted to upgrade the car to a rally-version. The new owner is still working on the car.

Volvo 244 Turbo USA 1983

Volvo 244 Turbo interior and dashboard with beige upholstery
Volvo 740 Van MY87

At the 700 Club-website a Volvo 745 Van was offered. The Van is a commercial break based on the 740 Estate. The car was produced at the end of 1986 and was the last series which should become tax-free (cars made until December 31 1986 will become tax-free in the Netherlands, and cars made after that date won’t). The 745 Van was offered by a couple of guys who are very active at forums and were forming a company but still didn’t were registered at the Chamber of Commerce. Because they were at all big Volvo-forums I thought it would be safe to buy a car there. After having a look at the 745 (the car wasn’t very beautiful but a new interior came with the car) I decided to buy it. I needed to bring my own battery with me (they didn’t have a new one, but the generator was OK they said) and also deliver new wheels because they wanted to keep the Draco-wheels themselves. After installing the new battery and wheels my girlfriend and I went home (it already became dark). But unfortunately the car didn’t make it to home: we needed to drive from the middle of The Netherlands to Eindhoven (in the southern part of The Netherlands) and after just 30km the battery was completely empty. It means the generator wasn’t working at all! Just when my girlfriend and I attached the 745 to the 244 diesel by a towing line it started to rain heavy. Alarmlights weren’t working on the 745 (because the battery was completely empty) so it was a long ride to home. The day after I inspected the car and the alternator: the alternator/battery warning light (in the dashboard) was removed and the electric cable harness was really a mess! It seems to me the guys knew these problems. I replaced the generator by a brand new one (made by Bosch of course) and replaced the cable harness. But there was much more work to the car as expected (some problems were masked and hidden) and when I have a problem with a car just after I bought it I want to get rid of it. So I sold the car (with a loss) to a member of the 700 Club who wanted to restore the car completely. After a while I spoke to some people who also bought a car at the guys who sold me the 745 Van and they had the same problems: the generator was broken and the warning light was removed. Also other people at forums had the same bad experience and the guy who sold me the car was never seen again on any forum.

Volvo 745 Van MY87

Volvo 940 GL Estate 1993

When searching for a car which would keep me warm in the winter I found a 945 (with B230F-engine and M47 manual gearbox) at the Volvo 700 Club (not only for 700-series but also the 900-series). I bought the car for a very good price and when picking up the car I was surprised: the complete service history was delivered in a folder, including the purchase invoice! I was the third owner and everything was working fine on the car (except the fuel meter, but that’s a common problem for the 700- and 900-series). But the exhaust wasn’t very good anymore so I replaced it by myself. When my girlfriend and I were planning a roadtrip and we wanted a automatic transmission for the trip I sold the 940.

Volvo 940 Estate 1993 green

 

Volvo 740 Turbo Intercooler 1986

When I was having the Volvo 940 I also bought a Volvo 740 Turbo Intercooler with B230FT engine and M46 manual transmission with overdrive. The car came from the northern part of Germany, nearby Hamburg. The B230FT had less power than the B230ET (which were sold in The Netherlands). I bought the 740 at the 700 Club (the guy who sold the car imported the car himself) and the papers says it is a 760 Turbo but the chassisnumber clearly says “744”. The Dutch Road & Traffic Services (RDW) didn’t recognise the 740 Turbo with B230FT and catalytic converter in its system, but the 760 Turbo was sold here with a B230FT engine. So the Type of Approval of my car was the same as the 760-version. That’s why the licence plate and paperwork of the car says it is a 760 with a 744-VIN. Very strange, but checked by the RDW. The car was in a very good condition (a new battery holder, chassis beams and spare wheel compartment were already replaced professionally) and drove really well. When I wanted a 850 T-5R I sold the car.

Volvo 740 Turbo 760 Turbo Intercooler 1986

Volvo 850 GLT Estate MY94

While the 940 was still for sale I was looking for a 850 with automatic transmission which should replace the 940 (with manual gearbox). At my birthplace a nice blue 850 GLT automatic was for sale at a car trader. After a testdrive I decided to buy the car. It was a 850 GLT comfortline with nice blue upholstery and interior. The heated seats weren’t working but it was the only problem with the car. But the timing belt was ready for replacing if the engine was the old type (with a shorter interval: the car was from 1993 and at that year the timing belt’s thickness was changed). After the belt was being replaced it appeared the engine was the new type and the timing belt was replaced 40.000km too soon. But it never hurts to replace it sooner (the waterpump was also replaced as well). I sold the car (to a co-forummember) because I wanted a T-5R badly.

Volvo 850 GLT Estate MY94 blue metallic

 

Volvo 850 T-5R

I really wanted a 850 T-5R so I sold my 850 and 740 Turbo to buy a T-5R. A dark olive green color was too ordinary, a cream yellow was too showy so it should be a black one (blackstone). And it should also be a Estate. After a search I found what I was looking for: a 855 T-5R Estate (produced in December 1994) in black and it just had been serviced. It was a nice car but some little troubles started after a few days: the car didn’t start anymore! After a big inspection the cable harness to the contact appeared to be broke. A nice fix and it should be OK. But after fixing that problem the next problem appeared: the vacuum hose of the turbo needed some replacement. Not a big problem, but a lambda sonde error was the next thing. Fortunately it was a small problem, but now the battery was broken. And so a small problem led to another one and so on. After repairing all the problems I had enough of it: I sold the car (of course all problems were fixed, except the cold part of the lambda sensor but I told the new owner about it). The new owner didn’t have any problems at all with the car (except the lambda sensor, which was replaced by a broken one by his garage but is now fixed) but he did have a accident with the car in heavy snow. Fortunately it was repaired well and the car is still running. But I don’t regret selling it. A Volvo 944 was the replacer of the T-5R and I would save some money and pay off my student loan.

Volvo 850 T-5R Estate Blackstone

 

Volvo 940 GL sedan 1997

At the day I sold my 850 T-5R I went to the Volvo-dealer in Utrecht to look for a new car. I knew they got a 940 saloon for a small price and it was maintained very well. The car had a pretty low mileage (228.000km) and a nice B230-engine with low-pressure turbo (LPT). The 940 was equipped with a AW71L automatic gearbox, climate control, a nice armrest with cupholders and a wooden trim on the dashboard.  The car was very nice to drive but wasn’t very nice to park in the new parking at our apartment. After a while I drove the car in heavy snow to home but didn’t see a big hole in the road. A shock absorber was killed and the car was having a strange noise at the right front. But the garage couldn’t find something and the absorbers didn’t leak (because they were filled with gas and not with oil) and the new MOT wasn’t a problem. But driving the car give you the idea of being seasick so I sold the car to a trader who exports cars and wasn’t having a problem with the small problems of the car. My current V70 is the replacer of the 940.

Volvo 940 saloon MY97 blue

 

Volvo 240 GLT 1989

Because my white ’86 240 was still suspended (for road taxes and MOT) and the car will need some new parts (like new seats) I was looking for a cheap 240 which should have a nice interior.  At a forum a nice 240 GLT was for sale for a very low price. It needed a lot of work but that wasn’t a problem because the car should be a donorcar for my 240. After buying it and driving the car home it appeared the wipers didn’t work (only in the fastest position). After solving that problem at home I started to inspect the car very well: the car wasn’t that bad at all! It just needed some extra attention and interior parts. After replacing the control of the wipers I started to buy the missing interior parts. The car was turning into a nice car without any problems at all! And it appeared the car just was serviced. No way I wanted to strip this car, and after a new MOT (without any problems at all) I sold the car to a forum-member.

Volvo 240 GLT saloon

Volvo 240 GLT blue interior dash upholstery

2 Responses to “About Volvotips”

  1. bobbity says:

    Tried to count your Volvos but gave up after a while… You’ve clearly owned very nearly every model at some time or other.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.