1988 Volvo 240 GL from North America - Comments

Air conditioner broke before acquiring, and is still broken.

Top of car is faded by sitting in the sun with the previous owners.

Left front ball joint broke at 150000 miles. It was allot of money to replace considering I don't have a job.

Right front ball joint broke a little while after that, both ball joint were damaged because the previous owners ran it into numerous ditches and broke due to my failure to notice them.

Replaced broken strut about 2 weeks ago, pretty easy to replace when you have the right tools.

Odometer was broken when acquired.

Replaced thermostat because the old one had the car running cold at slow speeds and hot at speeds above 80 miles an hour.

The antenna won't go up or down.

The driver side leather seat has a small hole where the seem is I just sewed it together and now it looks like new.

The transmission out-put seal went bad when I got this car.

The over drive goes off and on as it pleases.

I acquired this car from my cousin. He gave it to me for free and I spent over 200 dollars to ship it from North Carolina to Georgia.

When I fixed everything that was crucial to driving safety I could have sworn there were more than 114 horsepower under the hood.

The car seems to have a mind of its own because I will be driving at any speed and the over drive with just shut off. I cannot find out the cause of this because I would take it easy one week and it would just turn off randomly and then I would make it work hard and it would still turn off randomly. The only way I get the over drive back is to turn in somewhere and turn off the car and wait for a minute or two and turn the car back on. If any one has an idea to what's wrong and how to fix it or the same problem e-mail me at mercedesbenzcc23@aol.com.

I love the quality of this car. The leather seats are so comfortable I feel I could ride in them forever and ever.

I love the way the steering feels I have just enough feeling of the rode and just enough power steering assistance. There is no play in the steering wheel what so ever which is nice to avoid what ever comes my way. This car has an amazing turning radius for this big of a car. I always have to set my self up for the turn in my moms Avalon and my dads Four Runner, but in this car I don't have to I can get into a space with no problem at all.

This car has allot fixed on it, but it is not the cars fault. The owners before me were my cousins and they were in many crashes with other cars trees and ditches. Need less to say they always treated the car badly. I think the car has held up excellent compared to 10 years of pure abuse.

This car is not stylish, but it has a certain personality that makes you want to ride in it every day. I plan on getting a Volvo 850 for my next car because this one has convinced me theses car are in this for the long haul and it's a great feeling knowing you are in a safe and dependable car.

I have recently acquired an '88 240, of which I am already in love with. It had been sitting for a long time, and one of the first problems I ran into was identical to the one in your review. The car seemed to shift into and out of overdrive like the car was possessed! After searching on the internet, I found that the most common cause of this problem is a faulty overdrive relay. I purchased one from a local Volvo service center for about 80$. I later found that if you look on e-Bay, you can get one sometimes as low a 10$. The problem is completely fixed!! To find the relay, pull out your glove box (about 10 screws, phillips head), and look to the left behind the middle dash vent. It looks like a white cube about 1 1/2" long. Replace the relay, and the poltergeist goes away!!

Hope this helps, and I hope that you enjoy your Volvo for years to come.

Sincerely,

Tim Chamberlain.

I also own an '88 240 GL and had problems with the overdrive. The relay switch for the overdrive was replaced and I had no more problems. My odometer also broke at 114,600 miles and my a/c no longer works. Is it possible to have the odometer replaced?

I bought my Volvo in 1994 with 60K miles on it. It's been the most reliable car I've ever owned.

When the overdrive is coming on and off as it pleases like you say it is, 99 times out of 100 it is the relay. Left hand drive cars just need to pull out the glove box and look to the left, near the air vents you will see a white/orange rectangular relay. It just pulls out from it's socket. Turn the key to running mode (position 2) and you should not see the orange arrow that lights up saying the overdrive is off. You can drive around with the relay out, and it does no harm. You just don't get 4th gear. I suggest you try a U-pull yard or something like that and see if you can salvage a relay from another 240, or a 740 as the relay is the same. Failing that, go to your local Volvo dealer and get a new relay. I had to buy one for my 240, and it cost about $112 AU. It is worth the spend if you can spare it as it does make a definite fuel saving (up to 25 mpg with overdrive on).

Good luck and enjoy.