1988 Volvo 340 GLE, Car older than the owner!
Discussion
Hello there, I've owned various rubbish/semi interesting cars over the few years I've been driving.
My third car was a 1989 Volvo 340! It was awesome, had 40K Miles on the clock, two previous owners and was brilliant.
I sold it after a few months because i wanted to tinker with/modify it and i couldn't bring myself to do it to such a clean example, im glad i sold it for that reason and it remained a clean original car but im sad because i really enjoyed the car!
I then owned various other cars over the last 3 or so years, nothing greatly noteworthy, a E46 328i Coupe, a Mk4 Escort Xr3, Two V6 Ford Cougars, An Mk1 MX-55 (Didnt like it, sorry PH!) And many other cheap cars to run about in.
Ever since owning that first 340 i've always had a keen eye on them on eBay and other sites, i came across one 10 minutes away from me in Bath, fresh new auction with 0 bids an no pictures, but described as a one owner car with low miles, I thought it's worth a look since it's so close and the advert probably put a few people off.
Went over to look, very nice chap selling it on behalf of his Father who'd past away a few years ago and wanted his garage back. Said he'd take £500 for it. Deal was done there and then, i went away and came back to pick it up, took it straight to work and it was sat in the yard for a few days while it got an MOT put on it and i taxed it.
26K Miles from new, one owner, lived it's whole life in Bath, GLE spec, top of the range, sunroof, heated leather, electric windows, central locking, the works
Pictures of when i got it back to the yard
After a week it was taxed, MOT'd and Serviced, took my trusty VW Bora workhorse off the road to put up for sale and starting using the Volvo daily
After about 2/3 weeks of using it every day i noticed a few things, it was rather bad on fuel compared to the old one and when i went round roundabouts or corners and got any sort of body-roll (Which is easy to do in these old boats) it would starve on fuel, after a bit of searching and research it would indicate the carb floats need replacing, not uncommon for them to wear out over time and absorb fuel.
So i decided to order some and get around to sorting it myself, how hard can it be?....
I took the car into work so i could use the workshop one Saturday, stripped it down and replaced the floats. Tip of the iceberg doesn't cover it First mistake i made was no just checking the carb over instead of replacing the floats, thinking 'job done' and bolting the bugger back on.
Got it back together and it ran like crap, spent a few hours working it out and realised im an idiot, and there was now a huge air leak coming from the base... crap. Common problem again with the Solex Z10 carbs, the bases warp due to over-tightened bolts. So i made the decision to strip it down myself and give it a bash..
I got the carb into bits, went ahead flatting the base out using wetted sandpaper taped to a flat metal surface, moving the carb in circular motions, behing ally it slowly flattened the base out.
Starting:
Better:
Better again:
Sorted:
Brilliant, right? The base was sorted and i was chuffed, i'd done it, all by myself! What i did next was an abortion. I put the carb back together in what i thought was the proper fashion, bolted it back on the car and it worked! For a day or so.
Then i spent a week or two diagnosing the million problems i'd caused, choke being terrible/not working, idle being iffy, overfueling etc etc.
I got frustrated in general with the car, decided to try and sell it, then decided that was a mistake and i liked the car i was just arsed off it wasnt working!
I sought more help on the Volvo 340 forums, a chap on there by the name of Mac is a genius with the Solex Z10 and had written many a guide regarding it.
I sent Mac a PM asking him if he fancied taking a look at it if/when he had the time spare if i had it courier'd up to him, he said he'd be happy to, couldn't promise it would be quick but that was fine by me, having somebody such as him take a look and tell me what i went wrong with would be great and i could get it back on the road!
So Monday this week i packed the Carb up and sent it up to Mac, leaving my poor Volvo sat on my drive feeling sad!
Come Tuesday evening i had a reply: (PM copied from the Volvo forums edited as need be)
Evening Dan,
Carb arrived today (no "from" or return address but I presume it's from you)
Not sure if you expected this - but here goes ---------
Initial examination shows a moderately clean carburettor but with the following noted defects,
1. Float chamber vent incorrectly adjusted (with a closed throttle the vent should be open by 3mm.
2. The base insulation block is cracked through (giving an air leak) and has been fitted without a gasket (only what seems to be Blue Hylomar). The secondary (thin) insulation block is not present.
3. The primary venturi throttle plate sticks partially open,
Dismantling revealed the further issues,
4. The choke cam tensioning spring is damaged,
5. The choke cam preload sprung ball is missing,
6. The float height is grossly maladjusted (abuts the roof of the float chamber before sealing needle valve (would cause gross over fueling)
7. Primary throttle shaft nut non standard.
8. Accelerator pump bleed off vent loose in housing,
9. Primary throttle plate screws loose,
10. Idle mixture CO% adjustment screw - missing - simply not fitted!
11. In-service upgrade never carried out on this carb (changes to float chamber venting, fitting dual spray Acc.pump jet, sealing pump vent).
I've fully dismantled the unit and passed all parts through my cleaning tank,
I have found replacements for the damaged and missing parts from my stock,
I shall carry out the rebuild over the next day or so and we can see what difference it all makes.
Could you let me have your postal name and address for returning.
Hope this makes interesting reading - best regards - Mac.
Could not thank him enough, what a brilliant bloke! I was shocked at my own mistakes but i guess that's what happens when you jump in with very limited knowledge on something, i dont regret it however, you learn as you go and im glad i attempted it.
Onto today, i get home from work to another message on the forums:
Hi Dan,
Assembly completed today, missing parts replaced,
Float needle valve found to be a 1.6 - should be a 1.8 - correct 1.8 fitted.
Carried out service upgrade and fitted dual spray accelerator pump jet, sealed pump chamber vent and fitted a ZY185 primary air emulsion tube.
Using a gauge to set the float height,
I have correctly adjusted the pneumatic choke pull off servo and set the choke cam clearance to 2.0mm on closed throttle.
The (replaced) idle mixture screw has been set to a basic "fully in and 2 turns out".
I have supplied new gaskets, both insulation plates, and a carb top to sit cleaner housing gasket.
I have also provided the correct foam seals for the securing bolt heads in the carb top.
The finished item,
When fitting the carb make sure the CC breather restrictor is still in place in the pipe between the carb and the "T" piece (replacement sent with carb). If the restrictor is missing you will need to make one - simple plastic plug in pipe with a 1.0mm hole drilled through it (limits the amount of unmetered air the carb can draw from the crankcase.
If you have access to a CO% meter set the idle CO to 1.0 - 1.5% @ 900rpm - if you don't, with a warm engine set the idle to about 500rpm and use the idle CO screw to obtain the fastest, smoothest idle you can - reset the idle speed to 850-900rpm.
Carb will be collected by TNT tomorrow for delivery to you Monday.
Let me know how you get on.
Mac.
Cheered me up hugely, a genuinely brilliant human being. I'm very much excited to get it back and get it fitted when time permits.
I really cannot say enough to thank Mac, he's a brilliant person over on the 340 forums and always helps people out whether it be guides or going to what i consider to be a lot of effort for somebody like myself who he's never actually met! ON top of all that he insists all i owe him is the cost of the Courier, he had the parts lying around, and i quote "As for my time - it's my pleasure - I actually enjoy this stuff!"
Regardless of what he says, when i get his paypal he'll be receiving more than just the courier cost for his time and effort! And im very happy to see people like this are still about and are giving that sort of support to cars they enjoy driving, i would've lost all faith and energy and sold it otherwise more than likely and then who knows where it have ended up.
I plan to keep this thread updated as i go, my immediate plans for the future are get the carb back on and get it running well again, then continue to enjoy it daily and waft around in retro leathery goodness In the future the plans are to maintain it and keep it original.
If you've made it this far i congratulate you, it's a lot of text for an old box of sweedish metal, but i like it and that's what counts.
Dan.
My third car was a 1989 Volvo 340! It was awesome, had 40K Miles on the clock, two previous owners and was brilliant.
I sold it after a few months because i wanted to tinker with/modify it and i couldn't bring myself to do it to such a clean example, im glad i sold it for that reason and it remained a clean original car but im sad because i really enjoyed the car!
I then owned various other cars over the last 3 or so years, nothing greatly noteworthy, a E46 328i Coupe, a Mk4 Escort Xr3, Two V6 Ford Cougars, An Mk1 MX-55 (Didnt like it, sorry PH!) And many other cheap cars to run about in.
Ever since owning that first 340 i've always had a keen eye on them on eBay and other sites, i came across one 10 minutes away from me in Bath, fresh new auction with 0 bids an no pictures, but described as a one owner car with low miles, I thought it's worth a look since it's so close and the advert probably put a few people off.
Went over to look, very nice chap selling it on behalf of his Father who'd past away a few years ago and wanted his garage back. Said he'd take £500 for it. Deal was done there and then, i went away and came back to pick it up, took it straight to work and it was sat in the yard for a few days while it got an MOT put on it and i taxed it.
26K Miles from new, one owner, lived it's whole life in Bath, GLE spec, top of the range, sunroof, heated leather, electric windows, central locking, the works
Pictures of when i got it back to the yard
After a week it was taxed, MOT'd and Serviced, took my trusty VW Bora workhorse off the road to put up for sale and starting using the Volvo daily
After about 2/3 weeks of using it every day i noticed a few things, it was rather bad on fuel compared to the old one and when i went round roundabouts or corners and got any sort of body-roll (Which is easy to do in these old boats) it would starve on fuel, after a bit of searching and research it would indicate the carb floats need replacing, not uncommon for them to wear out over time and absorb fuel.
So i decided to order some and get around to sorting it myself, how hard can it be?....
I took the car into work so i could use the workshop one Saturday, stripped it down and replaced the floats. Tip of the iceberg doesn't cover it First mistake i made was no just checking the carb over instead of replacing the floats, thinking 'job done' and bolting the bugger back on.
Got it back together and it ran like crap, spent a few hours working it out and realised im an idiot, and there was now a huge air leak coming from the base... crap. Common problem again with the Solex Z10 carbs, the bases warp due to over-tightened bolts. So i made the decision to strip it down myself and give it a bash..
I got the carb into bits, went ahead flatting the base out using wetted sandpaper taped to a flat metal surface, moving the carb in circular motions, behing ally it slowly flattened the base out.
Starting:
Better:
Better again:
Sorted:
Brilliant, right? The base was sorted and i was chuffed, i'd done it, all by myself! What i did next was an abortion. I put the carb back together in what i thought was the proper fashion, bolted it back on the car and it worked! For a day or so.
Then i spent a week or two diagnosing the million problems i'd caused, choke being terrible/not working, idle being iffy, overfueling etc etc.
I got frustrated in general with the car, decided to try and sell it, then decided that was a mistake and i liked the car i was just arsed off it wasnt working!
I sought more help on the Volvo 340 forums, a chap on there by the name of Mac is a genius with the Solex Z10 and had written many a guide regarding it.
I sent Mac a PM asking him if he fancied taking a look at it if/when he had the time spare if i had it courier'd up to him, he said he'd be happy to, couldn't promise it would be quick but that was fine by me, having somebody such as him take a look and tell me what i went wrong with would be great and i could get it back on the road!
So Monday this week i packed the Carb up and sent it up to Mac, leaving my poor Volvo sat on my drive feeling sad!
Come Tuesday evening i had a reply: (PM copied from the Volvo forums edited as need be)
Evening Dan,
Carb arrived today (no "from" or return address but I presume it's from you)
Not sure if you expected this - but here goes ---------
Initial examination shows a moderately clean carburettor but with the following noted defects,
1. Float chamber vent incorrectly adjusted (with a closed throttle the vent should be open by 3mm.
2. The base insulation block is cracked through (giving an air leak) and has been fitted without a gasket (only what seems to be Blue Hylomar). The secondary (thin) insulation block is not present.
3. The primary venturi throttle plate sticks partially open,
Dismantling revealed the further issues,
4. The choke cam tensioning spring is damaged,
5. The choke cam preload sprung ball is missing,
6. The float height is grossly maladjusted (abuts the roof of the float chamber before sealing needle valve (would cause gross over fueling)
7. Primary throttle shaft nut non standard.
8. Accelerator pump bleed off vent loose in housing,
9. Primary throttle plate screws loose,
10. Idle mixture CO% adjustment screw - missing - simply not fitted!
11. In-service upgrade never carried out on this carb (changes to float chamber venting, fitting dual spray Acc.pump jet, sealing pump vent).
I've fully dismantled the unit and passed all parts through my cleaning tank,
I have found replacements for the damaged and missing parts from my stock,
I shall carry out the rebuild over the next day or so and we can see what difference it all makes.
Could you let me have your postal name and address for returning.
Hope this makes interesting reading - best regards - Mac.
Could not thank him enough, what a brilliant bloke! I was shocked at my own mistakes but i guess that's what happens when you jump in with very limited knowledge on something, i dont regret it however, you learn as you go and im glad i attempted it.
Onto today, i get home from work to another message on the forums:
Hi Dan,
Assembly completed today, missing parts replaced,
Float needle valve found to be a 1.6 - should be a 1.8 - correct 1.8 fitted.
Carried out service upgrade and fitted dual spray accelerator pump jet, sealed pump chamber vent and fitted a ZY185 primary air emulsion tube.
Using a gauge to set the float height,
I have correctly adjusted the pneumatic choke pull off servo and set the choke cam clearance to 2.0mm on closed throttle.
The (replaced) idle mixture screw has been set to a basic "fully in and 2 turns out".
I have supplied new gaskets, both insulation plates, and a carb top to sit cleaner housing gasket.
I have also provided the correct foam seals for the securing bolt heads in the carb top.
The finished item,
When fitting the carb make sure the CC breather restrictor is still in place in the pipe between the carb and the "T" piece (replacement sent with carb). If the restrictor is missing you will need to make one - simple plastic plug in pipe with a 1.0mm hole drilled through it (limits the amount of unmetered air the carb can draw from the crankcase.
If you have access to a CO% meter set the idle CO to 1.0 - 1.5% @ 900rpm - if you don't, with a warm engine set the idle to about 500rpm and use the idle CO screw to obtain the fastest, smoothest idle you can - reset the idle speed to 850-900rpm.
Carb will be collected by TNT tomorrow for delivery to you Monday.
Let me know how you get on.
Mac.
Cheered me up hugely, a genuinely brilliant human being. I'm very much excited to get it back and get it fitted when time permits.
I really cannot say enough to thank Mac, he's a brilliant person over on the 340 forums and always helps people out whether it be guides or going to what i consider to be a lot of effort for somebody like myself who he's never actually met! ON top of all that he insists all i owe him is the cost of the Courier, he had the parts lying around, and i quote "As for my time - it's my pleasure - I actually enjoy this stuff!"
Regardless of what he says, when i get his paypal he'll be receiving more than just the courier cost for his time and effort! And im very happy to see people like this are still about and are giving that sort of support to cars they enjoy driving, i would've lost all faith and energy and sold it otherwise more than likely and then who knows where it have ended up.
I plan to keep this thread updated as i go, my immediate plans for the future are get the carb back on and get it running well again, then continue to enjoy it daily and waft around in retro leathery goodness
In the future the plans are to maintain it and keep it original.If you've made it this far i congratulate you, it's a lot of text for an old box of sweedish metal, but i like it and that's what counts.
Dan.
Takes me back. I bought a 40k mile one at in 2000 for £500.
Was great, took me around Europe. Pretty bomb proof but a bit sketchy in the wet if you weren't used to it. Really well built and comfy. Had heated seats which were ace.
I swapped it for a Mondeo which I regretted later.
That guy that helped you is a legend. A real mechanic who can understand and fix complex things.
Was great, took me around Europe. Pretty bomb proof but a bit sketchy in the wet if you weren't used to it. Really well built and comfy. Had heated seats which were ace.
I swapped it for a Mondeo which I regretted later.
That guy that helped you is a legend. A real mechanic who can understand and fix complex things.
Edited by STURBO on Thursday 8th January 23:37
Takes me back to my 300 days... I got my first taste of RWD in a 340 DL and then had a couple of GLTs, the second pimped out with a load of Volvo accessories that I scoured eBay looking for (was just missing the leather interior). Must have been 6 or 7 years ago I sold that and I still thinking about buying another occasionally.
Anyways, great to see one not being abused on the drift scene, and i'm glad to hear Mac is still an active part of the V300 Community. He was always very helpful when I was an owner - for example diff gaskets were NLA from Volvo so he went about making his own supply. IIRC I trialled one of the original on my GLT. The world needs more people like him!!
Anyways, great to see one not being abused on the drift scene, and i'm glad to hear Mac is still an active part of the V300 Community. He was always very helpful when I was an owner - for example diff gaskets were NLA from Volvo so he went about making his own supply. IIRC I trialled one of the original on my GLT. The world needs more people like him!!
I remember a mates dad buying a damaged repairable one of these and fixing it up back in 94/95.
Said 17 year old mate put it on its side about a week after it had been fixed up - it was a drunken tour of a private farm track (honestly) in the midst of a house party.
He claimed to his dad it happened about 10am the next day, but the clock had stopped at 2am.
Them were the days
Said 17 year old mate put it on its side about a week after it had been fixed up - it was a drunken tour of a private farm track (honestly) in the midst of a house party.
He claimed to his dad it happened about 10am the next day, but the clock had stopped at 2am.
Them were the days
I remember a mates dad buying a damaged repairable one of these and fixing it up back in 94/95.
Said 17 year old mate put it on its side about a week after it had been fixed up - it was a drunken tour of a private farm track (honestly) in the midst of a house party.
He claimed to his dad it happened about 10am the next day, but the clock had stopped at 2am.
Them were the days
Said 17 year old mate put it on its side about a week after it had been fixed up - it was a drunken tour of a private farm track (honestly) in the midst of a house party.
He claimed to his dad it happened about 10am the next day, but the clock had stopped at 2am.
Them were the days
Thanks for the feedback, hoping to pop into Halfords tomorrow and pick up a few cleaning products and weather permitting give it a wash, it's sat on the drive looking broken, dirty and sad.
Carb will be back in my hands Monday but it's likely to be next weekend before i put it all back together and get it running. Will update this as i go.
Carb will be back in my hands Monday but it's likely to be next weekend before i put it all back together and get it running. Will update this as i go.
0a said:
It was, forgot to update it that it's no longer for sale, was also on eBay. If you read my first post on here it explains that "I got frustrated in general with the car, decided to try and sell it, then decided that was a mistake and i liked the car i was just arsed off it wasn't working!"Also if you read the ad on there it mentions the problems i was having, but yeah i decided to sort it out and keep it because id regret selling it and only tried selling it because i was annoyed with it/myself.
Harding91 said:
It was, forgot to update it that it's no longer for sale, was also on eBay. If you read my first post on here it explains that "I got frustrated in general with the car, decided to try and sell it, then decided that was a mistake and i liked the car i was just arsed off it wasn't working!"
Also if you read the ad on there it mentions the problems i was having, but yeah i decided to sort it out and keep it because id regret selling it and only tried selling it because i was annoyed with it/myself.
I thought I might be mad looking at two 340s with leather seats in one day Also if you read the ad on there it mentions the problems i was having, but yeah i decided to sort it out and keep it because id regret selling it and only tried selling it because i was annoyed with it/myself.
I'm generally speaking a volvo fan having grown up with the family 240s and 940s, but sorry to say I've never had much time for the 340. Having said that, I'm so glad somebody like you has bought such a lovely time warp example and is looking after it, this could so easily have been picked up by the drift/'scene' brigade who probably would have stuck rollerskate wheels on it and trashed it at a local airfield.
It brought a smile to my face looking at the pictures
It brought a smile to my face looking at the pictures
Popped over to Halfords this morning and picked up a few bits, decided to give the Volvo a wash since its been sat there looking sad collecting grime.
Figured while the carb was off i could give the engine bay a clean a bit easier, i bought some gunk spray foam degreaser.
Before:
Dizzy/etc covered up and spare wheel taken out, also took battery off as i'll take that to work with me this week and give it a full charge.
Foamy foam:
After:
Not as clean as i was hoping but i really didnt put that much effort in, i gave it a light spray with the hose, covered it in the foam, let it sit and rinsed off, at some point i will spent a lot longer doing a proper job but for now it's better at least.
Then gave the outside a quick wash, nothing special but got the grime of it being sat there off. Didnt bother with the interior just yet as it's still full of tools/parts.
Excited to get the back back tomorrow and hopefully put it all back together next weekend and start using it daily again
Jobs for the future :
- Drain and flush the cooling system and put fresh coolant in, sometime before summer.
- Sort out surface rust on wheels, or buy new wheels, very temped by a set of ATS Classics.
- Upgrade the speakers without having to cut anything/alter anything on the doorcards etc (A pain apparently as the standard speakers are very shallow)
- Full service, not due for a few thousand miles but i will get it done soon.
- Fully underseal
- Drive, and enjoy
Will do my best to keep this updated as i go.
Figured while the carb was off i could give the engine bay a clean a bit easier, i bought some gunk spray foam degreaser.
Before:
Dizzy/etc covered up and spare wheel taken out, also took battery off as i'll take that to work with me this week and give it a full charge.
Foamy foam:
After:
Not as clean as i was hoping but i really didnt put that much effort in, i gave it a light spray with the hose, covered it in the foam, let it sit and rinsed off, at some point i will spent a lot longer doing a proper job but for now it's better at least.
Then gave the outside a quick wash, nothing special but got the grime of it being sat there off. Didnt bother with the interior just yet as it's still full of tools/parts.
Excited to get the back back tomorrow and hopefully put it all back together next weekend and start using it daily again
Jobs for the future :
- Drain and flush the cooling system and put fresh coolant in, sometime before summer.
- Sort out surface rust on wheels, or buy new wheels, very temped by a set of ATS Classics.
- Upgrade the speakers without having to cut anything/alter anything on the doorcards etc (A pain apparently as the standard speakers are very shallow)
- Full service, not due for a few thousand miles but i will get it done soon.
- Fully underseal
- Drive, and enjoy
Will do my best to keep this updated as i go.
Olivera said:
I'm amazed after a 328 and an MX5 you'd go back to one of these! A friend and I owned one a few years ago, and the handling and steering is simply appalling! In fact words can't quite describe how bad it is when compared to anything built during the last 20 years.
Well it's older than 20 years old so cant really compare it to something of a newer era.I enjoyed my 328 but really didnt like the MX5.
And in all honesty i didnt buy it to be throwing it around corners or travelling anywhere at a pace where i'd need perfect handling, it does what it needs to just fine.
Not every car is meant to handle well. Toyotas are criticised for their handling by some but in reality, a Prius or Auris was never designed to be good at handling, just a tool to get from A to B reliably and in comfort, which I'm sure your Volvo does too. I think it's absolutely amazing that you've got such a clean, rust free example that is so old - I wish they built them like this now! Please keep it for as long as possible and don't modify it (except for replacing broken bits with nice new not broken bits)
joshc said:
Not every car is meant to handle well. Toyotas are criticised for their handling by some but in reality, a Prius or Auris was never designed to be good at handling, just a tool to get from A to B reliably and in comfort, which I'm sure your Volvo does too. I think it's absolutely amazing that you've got such a clean, rust free example that is so old - I wish they built them like this now! Please keep it for as long as possible and don't modify it (except for replacing broken bits with nice new not broken bits)
The limit of modification will be audio that can be put back to standard and maybe wheels, although unlikely. And it is bloody comfy, the leather seats are like an old sofa
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