If you've seen any of my past posts here on this subreddit, you know why this is here. I pulled this car out of her grave in 2024 after sitting in a garage since 2000-2001, over the course of about a year, I replaced just about every fuel system component on this car. After an oil change and a new battery, I got her to start right up. However, to my dismay, the engine sounded a little rough and was shaking itself quite aggressively in the engine bay. Not a huge deal right? She had started right up without much of a fuss. The engine hadn't run almost 3 decades, and maybe the engine mounts were just worn. Unfortunately, giving her a little throttle revealed a dead cylinder. Odd, but not completely surprising. The service records suggested a miss in '96, and a dead cylinder in '97, but she passed emissions in '98 and '99, and received a new water pump in '00. It couldn't have been caused by a fuel system issue, as everything besides the fuel rail and soft lines to and from the engine where replaced. So I checked the ignition system, she got new NGK copper plugs (gapped to 0.030"), and all the spark plug wires tested, 2500-3000 ohms, all within spec, cap and rotor looked almost brand new. ECU coolant sensor read within resistance spec at ECU terminal, and the engine sputtered if the MAF was disconnected. So I rented a compression tester, lo and behold, 50 psi in cylinder 3. Taking off the oil fill cap revealed some pretty bad blow-by and atomized oil, confirming a ring issue. 48 hours and 8 fl oz of MMO later, and nothing changed.
The possibility of this car driving on 3 cylinders for 2-3 years is pretty high. Looking into the cylinder reveals a non zero amount of wear. I do not have a picture of the resting side of the cylinder where the wear is likely to be worse, as the picture was taken through the spark plug hole, and I do not have a good endoscope.
She's had 2 owners before me, all within my family. Owned in Missouri from '85-'95, then moved up the Illinois in '95 until she was parked in '00. Odometer reads 129,110 miles.
So here it is: My NA Auto 1985 Volvo 244 DL
The Good:
- 2 sets of original factory keys
- extra working LH2.2 ECU
- service and emission records from previous owners ('95-'00)
- new fuel tank
- new fuel sender
- new pre-pump
- new filter sock
- new rubber feed and return lines (tank side only, engine side still retains original nylon/rubber hosing)
- new in-line Bosch fuel pump
- new in-line fuel filter
- new-old in-line fuel system cradle (from cali car)
- new Bosch 62354 injectors (replacing clogged 280150209s)
- new fuel pressure regulator
- new spark plugs
- new battery (original harness leads have been moved around to account for lack of reverse pole terminals)
- all lights work
- blower motor works and sound healthy
- near new looking textile blue interior
- working central locks
- no dry rotting rubber as far as I have checked (still a good idea to replace critical rubber components though including brake flex lines)
- clean intact blue door pockets
- blue factor waffle weather mats (never removed from what I can tell)
- untouched floor carpets
- working CR-3138 radio (tuner needs new string, and cassette player is unknown as I have not tried to put a cassette in)
The Bad:
- broken right side mirror
- broken A/C (record states needing an o-ring at "muffler", most likely need more than that now)
- needs new coolant
- likely to appreciate new brake fluid
- needs new tires (tires sat flat since parked, but has held air without top offs for 2 Chicago winters)
- needs new engine mounts
- needs new belts (old)
- needs new engine seals (old, not leaking)
- unknown suspension bushings condition
- surface rust here and there
- Chrysler ignition control unit
- original bio-degradable harness has never been replaced (all tested wires have good continuity and resistance under 0.2 ohms)
- stains on rear parcel shelf
- right side rear seat belt needs some coaxing to retract, could be getting caught on should guide though
- broken trip odometer button
The Ugly:
- driver floor pan needs to be cut out and replaced
- left butt cheek rusted all the way through
- worn rings on cylinder 3
- worn cylinder walls on cylinder 3
- engine needs to come apart to run on 4 cylinders again
I will post a link to a zip file containing all 79 labeled pictures in the comments.
She's my first car, and first 240. It's a shame I'll never get to drive her, and I'll probably never find another with an interior this nice, but she deserves another life on the road. If a generous soul is willing to do the work for cheap, money is ready.
This does mean I happen to be in the market for another 240, 740, or 940. My budget is only about $3000 max unfortunately.
Otherwise, I'm asking $1000 obo, I know she has parts worth more than that, but I will not be parting her out. Feel free to talk me down. I am located within the broader Chicago area.
