13 years since an MOT

[Challo]

Originally Posted by fredmd3

Hi everyone!

A slightly longer post below but I thought I'd update you all on progress so far. Since originally posting my grandma passed away and at 94 years of age, I'd say that was a fine innings.

I now have even more determination to get the family wagon back on the road. As a quick refresher, this 740 estate was bought new by my grandparents back in 1989, a year after I was born. It was used until my grandad died in 2008 and it's been sitting on the drive ever since.

I went to the car this weekend (it's taken a little longer than I had hoped for) to check out the situation and it's a hefty drive from where I live so not something I can do regularly. I effectively had a day and half to get it running with no knowledge of what would be wrong with it.

I was shocked at the condition of the car underneath the algae, moss, dirt and general foliage covering it....shocked in a good way! I found the tiniest section of rust near the tailgate and that was it; the rest of the car was solid. The black leather interior was also in great condition.

However, to cut a long story short I could only fire up the engine on easy start. So there was obviously a problem with fuel delivery and couldn't hear any sign of the main fuel pump working. I was getting current to the fuel pump but no pumping so I needed a replacement. I also hooked it up directly to the battery and still nothing. Clearly I couldn't get anything on short notice and on a Saturday so I removed the unit and carrier and spent the rest of the time doing what I could to get it MOT ready.

I got all the lights working through a combination of replacement bulbs and cleaning up connections so I think I got quite lucky there. Washers and wipers work (although I need to replace the actual wipers but that's a nice easy job), seatbelts looked ok etc and it was all looking a bit better.

However, I jacked up each side and couldn't rotate any of the wheels by hand. Any advice on how I overcome this? The handbrake had not been left on luckily in the years it's been on the drive.

I gave it a quick clean (the most satisfying pressure washing I've ever done) and I think its come up surprisingly well - some before and after pics attached I hope. I'm looking forward to going over it cosmetically more detail once its been through an MOT.

So the plan now:
- Get replacement in line fuel pump and fit to carrier which I have with me
- Should I also get a replacement sender unit? Should I have heard that when turning on ignition?
- Get replacement wipers
- Head back up there > fit the above with some new tyres too > sail through MOT(!)

Thanks all, wish me luck!!
Fred

Attachment 134873

Attachment 134874

I had a non running 740 recently which wouldn’t fire. Your fuel pumps could be seized, but check the fuse and potentially it’s worth change the fuel relay. Less than £20 and replacing mine fixed the issue. They all go at some point

Good luck

[90Wine745]

Best of luck Fred. You have made a great start. Wonderful salute to your grandparents. First pictures look good.
Well done,
Mike

[fredmd3]

Hi team,

Good progress today. Fitted new in line fuel pump and fired up the engine. After clearing the old fuel it was idling quite nicely.

Freed up the brakes and was then able to take it for a quick drive. We’re at the end of a long private road so ideal for this!

It wasn’t running at well under load and the main fuel pump is making an intermittent high pitched noise. I’ve uploaded a video of this to my YouTube:

https://youtu.be/5wK_qsAbNJc

https://youtu.be/5wK_qsAbNJc

We think the in tank pump is working as it should. It was certainly sending lots of fuel through when we were clearing most of the old stuff in the tank and pipes.

We haven’t tackled the fuel filter (hoping some WD40 will help with that overnight!). Do you think this could be culprit? Is there anything else it could be?

Thanks again, all your help is much appreciated!!

Fred

[fredmd3]

Just to add, it doesn’t make any odd noise when initially starting the car and leaving it to idle. It starts making the noise when under load and from then on...

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by fredmd3

Hi team,

Good progress today. Fitted new in line fuel pump and fired up the engine. After clearing the old fuel it was idling quite nicely.

Freed up the brakes and was then able to take it for a quick drive. We’re at the end of a long private road so ideal for this!

It wasn’t running at well under load and the main fuel pump is making an intermittent high pitched noise. I’ve uploaded a video of this to my YouTube:

https://youtu.be/5wK_qsAbNJc

https://youtu.be/5wK_qsAbNJc

We think the in tank pump is working as it should. It was certainly sending lots of fuel through when we were clearing most of the old stuff in the tank and pipes.

We haven’t tackled the fuel filter (hoping some WD40 will help with that overnight!). Do you think this could be culprit? Is there anything else it could be?

Thanks again, all your help is much appreciated!!

Fred

Add a couple of eggcupfuls of Carlube ATF-U (or similar synthetic ATF) to the fuel tank Fred. Should help quieten that noisy pump, i'm guessing it was a new secondhand pump?

Will also help the in-tank pump, clean the pumps, fuel lines and injectors and help revive the internal seals in the injectors and fuel distributor (think yours is a B230E) and lube the whole shooting match.

When you come to change the fuel filter, make sure you use two spenners on each union, one on the filter, the other on the moving part of the union and be careful of the small link pipe between the pump outlet and filter inlet. It has a habit of splitting or developing pinhole leaks if twisted. If this happens, get a short length of 6mm bore fuel hose and two fuel line hose clips, make a loop of the 6mm bore tube and use that to replace the short nylon length. The nylon piece is easiest remove by slitting the ends with a Stanley knife as it's a shrink fit onto the hose barbs.

Check for leaks after and don't forget to renew the copper crush washers or if the filter comes with Dowty seals (a cross between an "O" ring and a washer) use those instead.

[360beast]

The pump sounds like it is struggling to get fuel through, just like the issue I've been having with my 360. Chances are there's some sediment in the tank which is clogging the fuel filter and stopping the pump from working as it should.

An easy way to tell is disconnect the fuel pump from the line with a drain tray underneath (clean as you will want to put the fuel back in the car) then disconnect the connector in the boot for the lift pump as you don't want that pumping fuel out! Put some hose on the end of the underfloor pump and stick it in a full Jerry can, wire the fuel pump up to a battery so it is pumping and start the car, if it is silent then you know it can't get fuel through properly when it is connected properly.

[Forrest]

Have you replaced the in-tank pump yet? The main pump can make a noise like that if it’s struggling to do all the work without the in-tank feed pump operational. I ran my 940 like that for ten years and 100k miles but in the event replacing the in-tank pump is not as bad as some of the write-ups claim. Just make sure you’re 100% sure you’ve connected the wires the right way around otherwise it will be forcing fuel away from the main pump.

Are you planning on getting the car running and driving it home or is transporting it to your own place an option? I recently used Shiply to transport a Volvo. It worked out OK in the end but the company we used were a bit of a nightmare with communication.

[fredmd3]

Hey everyone!!

Long time since an update again; I was finding it hard to find time to work on the car. I travel to race in Germany a lot and hardly have any days out of quarantine at the moment but those are the times we live in aren't they!?

I recovered the car down to my dads place so I could get to it a bit easier, when I was free to do so, and have made decent progress since then.

The running issues on the engine were down to water in the fuel tank! We drained it as best we could using the in tank pump, refilling with a few litres of good fuel, giving the car a good wobble and repeating the process about 8-10 times. It did the trick and it's running sweetly; it has a brilliant, enthusiastic engine tone. I love it!

progress.jpg

Rear brakes replaced (will do fronts when the correct disc size is delivered!), replaced the front light lenses which make a massive difference, and gave the car a good polish! Another issue was with the car charging. Tried various things but unfortunately had to replace the alternator in the end, but that's fixed too.

Then the last job before MOT time will be the rear exhaust. The trouble I'm having here is about mounting points. I ordered one online and the mounting points were right at the end of the muffler, not in the middle as they are on the car. I'm struggling to find one with the correct mounting points; what should I do?
exhaust_old.jpg
exhaust_new.jpg
Thanks very much
Fred

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by fredmd3

Then the last job before MOT time will be the rear exhaust. The trouble I'm having here is about mounting points. I ordered one online and the mounting points were right at the end of the muffler, not in the middle as they are on the car. I'm struggling to find one with the correct mounting points; what should I do?
Attachment 135914
Attachment 135915
Thanks very much
Fred

If you look online, you will find you can buy the mounting strap to position the mounts in the middle of the silencer.. Also have a look underneath the car where the back box goes, you may be lucky and find two sets of hanging hooks, one pair nearer the bumper.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114837189696

There's that one but it's in Lithuania, usually there's a UK seller (Charlton Volvo) that has them but can't find the listing at the moment.

Seeing as you found water/condensation in the fuel tank and have removed most of it, add some meths to the tank to remove the remains. If you have up to 4 gallons (18L) of petrol in there, add 2L of meths :

https://www.toolstation.com/methylated-spirit/p99550

Cheapest way i know of to buy 2L of meths, any less than a 1:10 ratio of methsetrol won't work and will just be a waste of meths.

Nothing to be gained by adding even more meths in terms of ratio but the little 500ml bottles for about £4 are an expensive way of buying it!

[360beast]

Put the two silencers side by side, Mark where they should be on the new silencer, cut them off the old one and get them welded on to the new one.