[X] My Assistant

The dash cluster's pretty easy to pull out in my '93 240.

It's mainly the mid dash/console area.

I've been trying to diagnose a fault with the indicator blinking too fast.

I checked the relay, the fuse, the globe, and the wiring.

It's very annoying because the fasten seatbelt buzzer shares a relay with the indicator.

I've been thinking that it may be a bad earth in the console itself where the seatbelt is inserted.

I also put a decent stereo in there while I had it apart.

(the indicator problem was there before I did that btw)

It's mainly the mid dash/console area.

Ah, the centre column area?

Yeah, I've done that and it's a bit annoying, especially because of all the parts you have to throw in the back of the car to get access to the relays.
Ignore that speedometer, it's left over from when I swapped my instrument cluster box and I never put the unused speedo inside. This is different from the NIB one I mentioned, too.

I've been trying to diagnose a fault with the indicator blinking too fast.

Is this "way too fast," like a buzzing noise? Or just "about twice as fast as it should?"

If it's twice as fast as it should then there's a lightbulb out (or otherwise a light with higher impedance than the others). I've heard that sometimes having one old bulb and otherwise new ones is enough to make it think a bulb's burned out.

I checked the relay, the fuse, the globe, and the wiring.

It's very annoying because the fasten seatbelt buzzer shares a relay with the indicator.

Ah, is the "globe" the bulb?
Also, I forget if it's one of the ones that can be pulled apart or not, but if it can be you may want to try disassembling it and see if water got inside somehow. I've fixed my rear window defroster relay like that before (here in the states the rear defroster is on a ~20 minute timer, rather than simply being an on-off switch; it was clicking on and immediately off again until I attacked it with a knife to scrape the calcium deposits off).

I've been thinking that it may be a bad earth in the console itself where the seatbelt is inserted.

I suppose it could be. In that year the buckles are still embedded in the centre console, aren't they?

I also put a decent stereo in there while I had it apart.

Yeah, i always end up doing that myself. When I put new door cards in mine I took the opportunity to replace the speakers as well. Did you bypass the pre-amp down behind the lower dash cubby (if yours had it in that model year)?

(the indicator problem was there before I did that btw)

Yeah, I never doubted you there.

Another volvo thought: my replacement door cards look nice, but now that it's summer I can definitely tell they came from a smoker's car. Guess I'll just live with it though. I did clean them off as well as one can clean cardboard-backed door panels with cloth on them before putting them in.

Also the AC died a week ago. This happens every goddamn summer, right as it starts really heating up outside. Then I replace a part where I think the fault is and it runs fine all winter, only to die again at the start of summer.

I think the only part I haven't replaced at this point might be the compressor… god damn it. I'm going to try putting some dye in again but I genuinely despise volvo aircon. If it were dry heat around here I wouldn't mind as much, but I'm near the great lakes so it's pretty swampy.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jun 19 2021, 19:31

Giving flash backs to when I had to go through the whole wiring system on my old cars. Fixing issues with electrical tape rather than doing it properly just means kicking the can down the road until it has problems again.

I think I only bothered trying to do the fixes properly with solder and heat shrink once but still ended up with a problem again 12 months later.

Giving flash backs to when I had to go through the whole wiring system on my old cars. Fixing issues with electrical tape rather than doing it properly just means kicking the can down the road until it has problems again.

I think I only bothered trying to do the fixes properly with solder and heat shrink once but still ended up with a problem again 12 months later.

I've done solder fixes a few times, it's always nice when I can park close enough to an outlet to do that

I've done solder fixes a few times, it's always nice when I can park close enough to an outlet to do that

I just used a really long extension cable. It did come in handy, as I was able to help my mechanic fix a random electrical fault in my current car that supposedly wasn't possible.

Me: Its acting like there is water causing an electrical fault, probably in one the plug/socket connections on the wring harness. Used to happen in my old car.

Mechanic: Couldn't be that, they are designed to not have that issue anymore....

I just used a really long extension cable. It did come in handy, as I was able to help my mechanic fix a random electrical fault in my current car that supposedly wasn't possible.

Me: Its acting like there is water causing an electrical fault, probably in one the plug/socket connections on the wring harness. Used to happen in my old car.

Mechanic: Couldn't be that, they are designed to not have that issue anymore....

They tend to use dielectric grease to try to reduce occurrences, IIRC. But I haven't had a newer car in a long time.

They tend to use dielectric grease to try to reduce occurrences, IIRC. But I haven't had a newer car in a long time.

Correct but it can be an issue if you take the engine out too many times without replacing the grease when reconnecting the loom. Pretty rare though.

Hope this isn't too severe a bump again.

Brother's car is leaking power steering fluid. Last time mine did that I needed a new rack; I hope his is better off.


Also, had a friend wreck their corolla (slid into the back of a pickup during our last winter); I replaced their radiator and fan, mounted it as securely as one can without a good support bracket on top, filled it and pumped coolant through it (got it primed). Also cut and used butt connectors to splice the e-fan wires back in place, since they got frayed and generally messed up in the wreck. So I think that part's OK for now.

Also replaced his hood, left side fender, left-side headlamp, and bumper; they don't line up 100% correctly due to that support bracket I mentioned, but they look close enough. For the bumper I actually had to use a bunch of zip ties for places where screw holes didn't quite line up, since we're on a limited budget and I was working in a parking lot without a jack. Also had to zip tie his horn back on, since again he has this badly mangled piece that the top of the radiator's supposed to fit with, and there's a bar that's supposed to connect to that to mount the horn on.

Still there's this metal line coming from the automatic transmission that butts up against the transmission fluid dip stick tube and it's not connected to anything. Hope that's just a vent.

Also his transmission has approximately zero fluid left in it. So I am now wondering where the hell that's leaking from. I don't really want to deal with it but I hope that if he fills it up with fluid he'll be able to move it far enough to get it to a proper (non-shade-tree) mechanic, or at least to a lift so I can check it out from underneath.

He definitely needs to take it to a body shop at some point because I wasn't able to hammer out that top support beam thing for the radiator mount, all the rest of his front end is sort of fucky, and we are bungee strapping his hood down.

He has a replacement for the support piece containing the latch and radiator support and all the rest of it, but he needs someone to weld it and I'm not about to try that for him since I've welded maybe once in my entire life.

Also hope his pumps are ok since he said he tried to drive it even though I explicitly told him not to do that.

I also told him that if we can get it really drivable he needs to immediately go to a body shop and get the new bracket welded on properly so that everything else can actually fit how it's supposed to, so I hope he decides to listen to me this time.

He said he'd pay me, too, so I hope he follows through on that. I managed to cut myself every damn time I worked on his car, with one exception, and also spent a bit on gas getting him around to places to buy the fluids, butt connectors, etc.. that he needed.

Overall impression: what a fucking mess. If it wasn't his first accident and wasn't ~3 weeks after he got his license (he's an immigrant from Vietnam) I'd probably have not felt sorry enough for him to work on it. He should probably get a motorbike/scooter of some sort.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jul 22 2021, 18:16

It sounds like your brother shouldn't be owning a car.

I don't help friends and family member with car stuff anymore because it always turns into a massive chore that I end up regretting.

It sounds like your brother shouldn't be owning a car.

No; this is two people I'm talking about.
My brother just has a power steering leak. He's actually historically had fewer wrecks than I have (zero versus three).

My non-family friend has a massive horrible project that I'm gonna ask at least $90 for at this point. should really be double that or more if I valued my time.

it always turns into a massive chore that I end up regretting.

Yeah, this.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jul 22 2021, 21:07

Had to re-screw the license plate after I bumped a tow hook with it. Thank you YouTube tutorials.

I don't help friends and family member with car stuff anymore because it always turns into a massive chore that I end up regretting.

Even worse, because they didn't pay money and didn't pay attention, they will continually ask you to come and have a look to fix it when it goes wrong again for the next 10 fucking years until you yell at them to buy a bloody new one and stop letting their stupid ass family borrow their car if they need it for work especially if they keep breaking it and they can't afford repairs.

Even worse, because they didn't pay money and didn't pay attention, they will continually ask you to come and have a look to fix it when it goes wrong again for the next 10 fucking years until you yell at them to buy a bloody new one and stop letting their stupid ass family borrow their car if they need it for work especially if they keep breaking it and they can't afford repairs.

This is my fear as well.
I really hope I can somehow avoid that fate. Probably too late.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jul 23 2021, 05:33

Partially out of that, and partially out of libaility (or the classic thimg working on old stuff: you break something or find something unrelated while in there), my parents or a close buddy are the only 3rd parties I'll really do automotive work for.
If I fuck up my own stuff as a shade tree mechanic, oh well.

I ought to try and find specs for the hard brake lines feeding the brake hoses in my truck, and try to aquire copper. lines before the fact. There's a non-trivial chance I'll twist the end off one of em.

Edit: I think all the fittings are 3/8" inverted flare, now I just need halfass lengths..

This post has been edited by Wayward_Vagabond: Jul 23 2021, 15:50

I ought to try and find specs for the hard brake lines feeding the brake hoses in my truck, and try to aquire copper. lines before the fact. There's a non-trivial chance I'll twist the end off one of em.

Edit: I think all the fittings are 3/8" inverted flare, now I just need halfass lengths...

One of my friends has a 1980 impala which has metric fittings for brakes but everything on the engine in imperial.
It's a special kind of hell.

I really wish all american cars would just use metric stuff, though. And american engineers in general. Let idiots keep using imperial if they want, but technical fields shouldn't have to suffer through them.

I ought to try and find specs for the hard brake lines feeding the brake hoses in my truck, and try to aquire copper. lines before the fact. There's a non-trivial chance I'll twist the end off one of em.

Go stainless.

Worth every cent.

Go stainless.

Worth every cent.

Indeed; the same for exhausts (you want aluminized if possible).

Most american vehicles, especially newer stuff is full metric, minus sometimes wheel studs, towing hitch hardware, brake hardware, battery/filter fittings.
My dakota had the most bastard stud in the intake- M6 into the thrittle body, 1/4-20 for the plastic knob holding the intake duct down.

As for brakre line material, I'm partial to copper alloy for it's ease of forming and never having trouble with it in the past. As it is, copper.lines even will likely outlast the vehicle being ecomonic to keep operarable.

Needed a 36" and 55" or so line. Got 40 and 60" ones, I'll coil up the slack after I route them.

This post has been edited by Wayward_Vagabond: Jul 24 2021, 01:29

Copper not stainless?

Oh less common here as copper breaklines are banned but copper nickel alloy breaklines can be okay.

I have stainless braided lines.

Well, $400 later my car is fixed I think.

(I hope).