Volvo Owners Club Forum - 240 General: - Recommended Garage (East London)

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Recommended Garage (East London)

Hi all,

Reluctantly, I am thinking of taking my 240GL Estate to the garage. I've was very keen to get all the work done on the car myself and had started to (with the help from some on this forum) nail down some of what ailed it. Recently I've done my back in and it's not really getting better at pace. That coupled with the fact that the car is now salvaged (repairable) due to being hit by a lorry whilst parked, a visit to a garage now seems inevitable.

It may be a lost cause and I may have to break it up (would be sad), but wanted to ask first if there were any community recommended garages in or close to East London that others have used. I have a garage about 5 houses down from me, but he has already told me he doesn't know much about the older Volvos and I would rather really go to someone who has experience with them.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I've been combing the stickies and searching the threads, but haven't come up with any preexisting thread, so apologies if I missed it.

Best,
Joel

Hello and welcome.

I do not know the answer. It does seem you have two problems. Mechanical maintenance, and bodywork. They may need separate garages? Surely East London still has "small workshops"? Ask around.

More knowledgeable members might be better able to advise re the bodywork if you tell us what the damage is to the bodywork and perhaps post some pictures?

I hope you do not have to break the car.

And above all, all the best re your health.

recommended garage

Hello
i do remember reading somewhere about this welder called weld-rite in east london i have not experience or knowledge of this company might be worth a ring visit however as stephen said not sure of your issues with the car would be a shame to let it die try also braydons for secondhand panels steve in parts dept always helpful anyway best of luck ----- louise

Thanks for your replies, very much appreciated.

Sorry I should have clarified what is actually wrong! The lorry, despite its size did little damage to the body. Effectively it just cracked a headlight and potentially did something to the transmission, but I have driven it since so it’s not fully gone yet. I know there are some other bits (preaccident) I need to sorting like an electrical gremlin and some new engine and trans mounts.

Hi,

Replacing the engine and transmission mounts is a simple job- any garage will be able to do that for you, or you could with pretty basic tools- socket set, jack, stands etc.

Cracked headlight is also a pretty simple job, you can buy replacement glass- and reflectors which could be changed at the same time if yours are in need of it.

Did you get to the bottom of the battery drain issue?

What makes you think there’s something wrong with the transmission? Is it auto or manual?

Where in east London are you?

Cheers

Hi @Bugjam – thanks for the reply.

Quote:

Replacing the engine and transmission mounts is a simple job- any garage will be able to do that for you, or you could with pretty basic tools- socket set, jack, stands etc.

Aye, I have seen and read some tutorials on this and it looked pretty basic, but really only with something to lift / support the engine. I was going to invest in the stands and jack (especially for the future), but then figured if I had to take it in to get it signed off anyway, then I may as well have them do it.

Quote:

Cracked headlight is also a pretty simple job, you can buy replacement glass- and reflectors which could be changed at the same time if yours are in need of it.

It was until I screwed it up. I bought a new piece of glass and was ready to go, but then the bolts fixing the headlight unit to the car we rusted shut. I did what I could to loosen them, but ended up stripping the (poorly designed) plastic "grips" that hold them on the inside of the lights. I had to then drill out the bolts and with that, seemingly damaged it even more. Still might be repairable with some resin (or washers, bypassing that little recess completely), but then all the little clips holding the lights in are also crumbling. The more I unravelled, the more it felt unsurmountable. One of the front wipers also broke, but I'm not that fussed about that. The cost of a replacement seems to be more than it's worth.

Quote:

Did you get to the bottom of the battery drain issue?

I tried everything under the sun but couldn't seem to find it. I tested and cleaned every fuse looking for the slow drain, but even with all of them in, checking the battery it didn't read anything. After I had replaced the battery it seem that something that I had done had fixed it sat for a week or two and still started, but then despite driving it at least once a week, the problem reared its ugly head again. I remember someone in another thread mentioning a short in the locking mechanism due to water ingress via the window seals, so I just bought new ones to try that out, but somehow I'm not hopeful.

Quote:

What makes you think there’s something wrong with the transmission? Is it auto or manual?

It's a manual. It seemed ok, but the lorry dragged it about 5 -6 ft up a slight hill (backwards) and it may have been in gear, so I wanted to get it checked just in case. The parking brake might need a little love as well.

Quote:

Where in east London are you?

I'm in Bow E3 (Just off the A12 / Tredegar rd).

A few extra's to Bugjams comments. Braydons as such doesn't exist any more. Steve has moved to a different place near Seven Sisters but for the life of me can't remember its name! However I found it last autumn by googling.... and he is just as helpful and knowledgable.
Those 240 headlamps are one of Mr Volvo's rubbish designs. We all know headlamp bulbs get hot so over the years those white plastic pivot mounts disintegrate as plastic always does. So why did they do it - idiots! And as for those pivot bolts, the nuts securing the reflectors from the back ALWAYS seize if not assembled with a bit of grease: result the hex bolt head rips the plastic housing thus wrecking that too.
As said replacement assemblies aint cheap.... headlamp glasses can be removed with care by opening those securing clips around the perimeter, by taking the grill off and removing yet more plastic surrounding the unit. Give me round headlamps like on my '76 244 any day!
Battery drain: I had similar on my Volvo 145 - it flattened a battery when parked up for just a day. I swapped the regulator - no difference so swapped alternator. Result - no problems now. I know naff-all about electrics but the answer in my case was a fault in the Alternator but dunno what.

P

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktz (Post 2546058)

Hi @Bugjam – thanks for the reply.

Aye, I have seen and read some tutorials on this and it looked pretty basic, but really only with something to lift / support the engine. I was going to invest in the stands and jack (especially for the future), but then figured if I had to take it in to get it signed off anyway, then I may as well have them do it.

Makes sense- shouldn’t take them very long with the benefit of a proper lift.

It was until I screwed it up. I bought a new piece of glass and was ready to go, but then the bolts fixing the headlight unit to the car we rusted shut. I did what I could to loosen them, but ended up stripping the (poorly designed) plastic "grips" that hold them on the inside of the lights. I had to then drill out the bolts and with that, seemingly damaged it even more. Still might be repairable with some resin (or washers, bypassing that little recess completely), but then all the little clips holding the lights in are also crumbling. The more I unravelled, the more it felt unsurmountable. One of the front wipers also broke, but I'm not that fussed about that. The cost of a replacement seems to be more than it's worth.

All fixable- I’ll post pics later of how I fixed mine after the bolts seized and needed cutting out - I used a dremel.
Those white clips go brittle as they’re affected by heat, replacements are available directly from Volvo or there’s a place on eBay that has pattern ones and will post them to you, if getting to a dealer is an issue.

I tried everything under the sun but couldn't seem to find it. I tested and cleaned every fuse looking for the slow drain, but even with all of them in, checking the battery it didn't read anything. After I had replaced the battery it seem that something that I had done had fixed it sat for a week or two and still started, but then despite driving it at least once a week, the problem reared its ugly head again. I remember someone in another thread mentioning a short in the locking mechanism due to water ingress via the window seals, so I just bought new ones to try that out, but somehow I'm not hopeful.

Perhaps the alternator as suggested below? What voltage is showing across the terminals of the battery with the engine running? Might be that the alternator is barely charging.

It's a manual. It seemed ok, but the lorry dragged it about 5 -6 ft up a slight hill (backwards) and it may have been in gear, so I wanted to get it checked just in case. The parking brake might need a little love as well.

Most likely fine- shoving the car along in gear is what you’d do to bumpstart it and I haven’t heard anyone say ‘tried to bumpstart my car and broke it’.

Parking brake is easy to adjust. Replacing the shoes if they’re worn out is also easy, thankfully.

I'm in Bow E3 (Just off the A12 / Tredegar rd).

I’m near Haggerston N1, although I don’t keep my cars or tools in London.

Cheers

Edit- hmmm, formatting isn’t great on my phone. I’ve responded to most of your paragraphs above, but it looks like I just added the end note.

Ok, how I fixed my headlights after stripping the plastic and then cutting out the seized bolts - the pictures tell the story but the assembly is:

an m6 bolt (same size as original, but longer)
a butterfly nut on the bolthead end
followed by a normal nut

The normal nut fits into the remains of the stripped hole in the headlight bucket where the original volvo bolthead was, the butterfly nut is held in place with epoxy putty meaning there's no way the bolt can spin. There is loads of space for the new bolt heads with the butterfly nuts etc attached.

I put the new bolts in place with epoxy putty then bolted the headlight buckets to the car with nothing else in them until the putty set so that the bolts were definitely straight and in the right places. Then I took out the headlights, installed the reflectors with new clips (still available from volvo or there's a place on ebay that sells them) and then installed the glass before reinstalling.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

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Hi @Bugjam – thanks again for the reply! Sorry for the delay coming back, for some reason I wasn't getting notifications.

Re: headlights

Quote:

All fixable- I’ll post pics later of how I fixed mine after the bolts seized and needed cutting out - I used a dremel.
Those white clips go brittle as they’re affected by heat, replacements are available directly from Volvo or there’s a place on eBay that has pattern ones and will post them to you, if getting to a dealer is an issue.

The pics were really helpful thanks (will post a response to that separately). I will try and hunt down those white clips as, you guessed it, two of mine broke when pulling off the headlight.

Re: electrical gremlin

Quote:

Perhaps the alternator as suggested below? What voltage is showing across the terminals of the battery with the engine running? Might be that the alternator is barely charging.

The previous owner's records show them replacing the alternator relatively recently, but it's always a possibility. I recall the voltage being fine when the engine was running, but I will need to double check now that everything down. I had replaced the battery with an original from volvo and I think I may have fried it somehow trying to charge it. I'm not great with electrical tinkering, but so I would also not be surprised if I wasn't charging it properly. Either way, I had to revert back to my old battery (which I thought was faulty but seems ok...it was just the gremlin). Right now I need to get that headlight fixed and get some petrol in it (evaporated I think) to get it back on the road to test. This electrical issue is a huge burden really.

Re: transmission

Quote:

Most likely fine- shoving the car along in gear is what you’d do to bumpstart it and I haven’t heard anyone say ‘tried to bumpstart my car and broke it’.

That's good to hear. I wasn't sure if it made a difference if it was dragged backwards whilst in 1st gear or not so didn't want to take any chance, but it seemed ok driving it around the block.

Quote:

Parking brake is easy to adjust. Replacing the shoes if they’re worn out is also easy, thankfully.

Awesome, good to know thanks. The less I brief the shop with, I am sure the better off I will be. I think I also really need to do an oil change, but I recall struggling to whatever was recommended in the book (non synthetic 5w/30 i think?) Not to derail the topic, but what do you use?