New Owner here - with questions!

[TomSaintJames]

Hi everyone, my name is Tom and I have just bought a 1988 740 2.0 auto hearse! It's matt black (which looks quite cool), with belted 17" steel wheels (also looks cool) and a skull on the front of the bonnet (less cool). I love 80's cars and have always fancied a brick shaped volvo, I hoped for a black HPT 2.3 turbo but managed to justify a hearse to the other half as a motorhome base vehicle, good news - after just one day of driving it is already much loved, even with its flaws. It has had it's cambelt, brakes and suspension done recently, so no worries there.

It's done just over 60000 miles, and the DVLA MOT history website (cracking idea that, well done DVAL) sonly has MOT history back as far as 2014, so I think it has been off the road for some time. Nevertheless it drives well, and after a couple of niggles have been sorted it should make a fine campervan for our european and UK exploits! We haven't accurately measured it yet, but it should be big enough for a full size double bed, a decent fridge (one must have cold beer, bubbly, white and rose wine), a cooking device and storage.

I have some questions that I hope the collective wisdom can help me with.

1) There is a whine from the rear end at all speeds, it changes pitch with speed (gets higher pitched at higher speed) and doesn't go away when you take your foot off the accelerator. Im thinking rear diff/prop shaft bearings etc? First investigation will be the diff oil, as in is there any and what state is it in.

2) Cracked and taped rear light clusters have let water in (so much so that when you open the bootlid you could have a quick shower!). This means that the drivers side indicator and brake light don't work, but the wettest side (passenger) do. I'm hoping a replacement pair of light clusters, some new bulbs and a clean and dry up of the contacts should resolve this.

3) The auto gearbox is quite smooth, but can be a bit lurchy when it changes when you put your foot down. It also doesn't appear to have a torque converter lock up like all my previous autos have had (above 55mph in top). It does have a little button on the side of the gear lever that changes the box down a gear (great for overtaking if you don't want to drop 2 gears in kick-down), this puts on a little up arrow light on the dashboard. From this, can it be gleaned which box I have? There is no service history with it, so will be inspecting and probably doing most service jobs in the near future.

4) It feels quite gutless for most of the rev range until you reach 3500 to just under 5000rpm, when it then changes gear and looses all power again. Is this normal for an auto 2.0? When cruising on the M6 on the way home, in the hilly section around the dales/pennines it just managed 67/68 on the inclines without pushing the pedal so it kicked down a gear. I didn't expect a huge deal of power, but does this sound OK? My concern is that when loaded up with all the water/gas/bed/carpentry etc that makes a campervan, it's going to be slow, and thirsty too! Is it fairly simple to drop in a 2.3, turbocharge the 2.0 that's already in there or maybe even drop in a turbocharged 2.3, I've heard that the B230 is the torque machine, whereas the B200 is quite good for peak power. The finished product will need to be able to cope with continental peagé, so 80mph comfortably is a goal - I don't think the 2.0 n/a will manage that once loaded with camper goodies, but the engine will be the last thing to do so we'll see I suppose.

5) It's currently riding on coil-overs, which are new to me. The ride isn't too bad but the back is very bouncy, which makes the driver bounce up and down quite comically in the very comfortable - and more importantly, sprung - seat! I'm hoping with camper stuff in the back, this'll calm down, but wanted to know if it may be worth getting the coil-overs professionally set up when it's finished? Hopefully this'll be a cheaper alternative than getting new OE spec shocks and springs put back in, and in my mind the adjustable coil-overs will deal with the extra weight better. I have a 1985 Citroen BX GT,
and so like my cars to be on the comfortable side.

6) It will stall when you fire it up from cold after a couple of seconds, nursing the idle with the accelerator pedal for those few seconds cures this although it runs lumpy, this soon clears though and it idles fine. Is this worth investigating? I'm hoping with some use, a service and maybe a check of plugs/leads/rotor arm/dizzy cap etc may help.

That's all for now! I look forward to your replies, and plan to have a good look around on this most interesting forum. I've also attached a picture of the hearse for your perusal.

[TomSaintJames]

I appear to have placed this in the sales section! Apologies, can it be moved to the general 700/900 page?

[Dirty Rooster]

Remove the skull and you have a very nice car!

What's in the engine bay? (pics)

[Roger Jennings]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

I appear to have placed this in the sales section! Apologies, can it be moved to the general 700/900 page?

Moved to General as requested.

Kind regards,

Roger

[mrmeringo]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

I appear to have placed this in the sales section! Apologies, can it be moved to the general 700/900 page?

Its not in the sales section,its in the 700/900 Series General which is ok, Tommy.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Roger Jennings

Moved to General as requested.

Kind regards,

Roger

Originally Posted by mrmeringo

Its not in the sales section,its in the 700/900 Series General which is ok, Tommy.

It was originally Tommy! ^^^^^

First post finger-trouble!

[mrmeringo]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

It was originally Tommy! ^^^^^

First post finger-trouble!

Thanks Dave,

[TomSaintJames]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

It was originally Tommy! ^^^^^

First post finger-trouble!

I got so excited with my first post that I put it in the wrong section, thankfully a friendly mod moved it to the correct place

[bob12]

Originally Posted by mrmeringo

Its not in the sales section,its in the 700/900 Series General which is ok, Tommy.

Well done Tommy ....

[greener32]

Hi,

If you ever wanted to part with the wheels could you drop me a message.

Thanks