New hobbies and jobs come and go. The Volvo continues.
Well over two years have passed since I posted about my Volvo 740 wagon. I got a new job and I moved to a different part of town. The new job was my first big office job with a large financial company. My writing had to be put to the sideline for a little bit. The new job with new responsibilities at a new residence made finding time to write very difficult.
But all during this time, the Volvo keeps rolling. Recently, I found something interesting, as a result of a repair.
A few months ago, I noticed green coolant slime dripping from the driver and passenger front foot air vent. The carpet in the front was moist and smelled of coolant. After 25 years of service the heater core had developed a leak.
I was nervous at first. I learned from research, replacing the heater core on a Volvo 740 is a time consuming and meticulous repair process. (as much as what it is on many other vehicles, I have learned.) But the fear was washed away when the ever loyal ‘Redblock’ online community prevailed. On one of the Volvo forums, I found a complete step by step user made instruction manual on how to remove the heater core. There was mention of every little bolt that was needed to be taken out and every interior piece that needed to be removed, pictures included.
What car has an easy to access heater core?
I must take the time to give my thanks to the individual who created this instruction manual. The information provided was invaluable. I would have been lost in a sea of busted plastic without the manual. Whoever you are, you have my deepest thanks.
The heater core was time consuming and tedious, but straight forward thanks to a step by step guide found online.
Luckily, no one in the family was using the truck, so I took the Volvo out of service for a week and started the surgery. For this whole process to go smoothly I needed to be disciplined in my organization, opposite of my natural behavior. I kept track of my progress by putting the removed bolts and fasteners in sandwich bags that I numbered and matched to each step spelled out in the forum provided manual.
I didn’t think I would ever see it.
When I pulled up the carpet, the underneath was pretty gross. French fries of unknown age needed to be scraped off with a metal putty. Dirt, hair and old food crumbs were everywhere. The carpet was an open catcher’s mitt, a receptacle of anything to fall through the numerous crevices and gaps between that consist of an old Volvo interior and trap them forever. During my ownership I did an adequate job of keeping the carpet clean on the topside, but this was the first time these carpets were removed the and bare metal exposed.
Removing the driver and passenger lower air ducting, I found some surprising tidbits from the first owner of the Volvo. A passport photo, an old Italian coin, and an old french coin and what looks to be some type of luggage ticket. All of this history, buried deep and hidden, an unexpected time capsule hidden in a Volvo. If you know more about these coins, please share in the comments.
I now have a picture of the original owner of the 740!
At first glance, a few coins and a ID photo would not be any significant discovery in an old used car. What makes the find significant for me is this is now the first time I have seen the original owner of the 740. The coins must have slipped under the Volvo’s carpet during its first few years driving around Europe when the original owner was stationed in Germany. So I have the full service history from when the car was new in 1991, and I now have a picture of the original owner.
Is there anything else to be discovered? A few years ago, I found a German ski pass between the rear seats. I have not removed the rear carpet so there is still potential for another narrow but deeply focused view in to the lives of the Volvo’s previous owners.
Italian Coin, Back.
Italian coin, Front.
My imagination can run rampant at times. I think of the owners before me, creating memories as the odometer rolls up, the years increase, somehow, guiding this vehicle inexplicably into my hands.
French coin, Front.
French coin, Back.
There are a lot of memories in this car. With the Volvo, sometimes I feel as if I am not the owner but just a temporary curator. Keeping the wagon intact, filing away new memories as I drive it and doing my best to document the old ones I discover.
Very cool. I don’t recall finding anything of archaeological significance in any of my vehicles but I do make a point of leaving notes behind when I repair hidden things.
For example I fixed my neighbor’s snow blower this fall and wrote “New belts and starter 2016 DD” in magic markers on the driven pulley. My 1963 VW has hidden notes all over it, maybe I should put a photo somewhere too 🙂
Probably the easiest heater core I had to change was from a second generation Ford Ranger. The process involved draining the coolant enough to drop below the level of the heater lines, disconnect the heater hoses at the firewall (not as easy as it sounds if they are old as the rubber tends to “meld” with the copper lines), then remove two screws from an access panel below the core inside the cab. Once its out, the core simply drops out through that hole. Couldn’t be much easier.
As for time capsules, I know what you mean. I swapped out the evaporator in a 74 Satellite and found all sorts of goodies that had presumably dropped in through the defroster ducts. Nothing quite as exciting as your find perhaps, and definitely coated in (at the time) 26 years worth of tar and nicotine stains… Sadly that job was more involved than the Ranger, although not as bad as your Volvo. The end results were also more disappointing (never could get the A/C clutch to properly mate and ended up destroying more than a couple magnets…)
Heater core, expansion valve, blower motor, and evaporator are not too bad on a Saab 9000, at least the post-facelift models. It’s still a lot of work but everything is under the hood so there’s no need to dismantle the dashboard.
The old pre-1964 Rambler American was also pretty easy since everything is just hung on the engine side of the firewall. Just undo a few bolts and it all comes right out. On those cars it’s the wiper motor that’s a PITA since it’s up underneath the dash.
Most cars are pretty awful though, many requiring removal of the entire dashboard. It’s like the cars were built around the heater core and evaporator.
Nice, a 500Lire Italian coin and a 2Franc French one. Once oh so common, now all replaced by the Euro but still plenty of them rattling around in people’s kitchen drawers and under the carpets of many little Peugeot’s and Fiat’s…
Isn’t it incredible how easy the internet has made things? You wouldn’t even contemplate doing this repair a decade or two ago, but now…
The luggage tag-like piece of paper that you found is in Swedish (“Godkand” = “approved”), with a 1991 date (apparently missing its month) on it. This detail possibly indicates that your 1991 740 was a European delivery car that was picked up at the Volvo factory, or maybe the tag was just some sort of common assembly line note that was often/usually left in cars at Volvo, like the build sheets often found under the rear seats of American cars. Your original post about the car explains that the original owner lived in Germany working for the US military, which makes the first scenario quite possible but far from certain. The pan-European collection of coins and other items that you found (French and Italian coins, German ski pass) show that the car was definitely used well to see Europe early in its life, which is a fun thing to know about your car’s history.
Thanks for the information! You are correct, it is a European delivery car.
The ’18’ in the date code is probably a week number. Week numbers are widely used in Europe for scheduling purposes. Week 18 would fall in early May, which would be an excellent time of the year to pick up a new car in Sweden.
Ah the Volvo Heater Core/ Blower motor replacement exercise.
I hope you replaced the blower motor while in there. Nothing sucks more then having to take it back apart to replace the blower.
I had a ford with a blown heater core. The repair involved taking the entire dash out. That was not happening as it was winter and stuff likes to break in the cold. I took a small section of brass pipe with flanged ends and stuck it between the 2 hoses and hose clamped it. I just drove around with a heavy coat and gloves and by the summer I had traded the car in.
Luckily, I have discovered the 700/900 series has a far easier to access blower motor. The 240, I agree, a very time consuming process.
Not to mention brittle plastic that if you look at it funny it breaks.
Luckly my 240DL had a working blower motor that behaved. It is really stupid that the blower motor is that deep in the 240’s bowels and yet it is very easy to reach up and unbolt the wiper assembly under the dash
Not really the topic of this post but… a later-production 740 would make an ideal car for me right now.
You should check out west coast Craigslist for those Perry. Nearly all have very high miles but as you know the bodies are pretty rust free. Less than 200k miles with cosmetic needs or high mile well-kept are always out there. Here was a low mile + nice one from a few weeks ago. Pricey yes.
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=164474&page=994
I’m looking for a 88-89 because I like the four lights. I believe 88-89 had the better A/T and fuel injection. The later ones like you’re looking for are easier to find and faster but I don’t like the revised front ends.
They are great cars. I recommend searching the market primarily on how the owner took care of it before you. Then see if it has Bosch 2.4 injection. Much less cantankerous than Bosch 2.2 systems on the earlier 240/740s.
I don’t need a turbo unless it’s an automatic. I really prefer a base GL with 5-speed and crank-open roof. I like the 91-92 revisions to the seats and dash. And IIRC, ’92s had SIPS reinforcement. So if I could find a ’92 740 GL wagon with 5-speed, it’d be my Volvo holy grail. Or any 740 Turbo sedan.
I had an Oldsmobile about 25 years ago that had a very chilling time capsule hidden in it. I bought the car from the second owner, who bought it from the estate of the woman who bought it new. I found some of the financing paperwork from when the car was bought new. The woman’s name was Eva Groh, born in Germany in 1938. Her father’s name unknown, mothers name unknown. I can only speculate, but I would have to guess that her and her family were victims of the Holocaust. The history of it didn’t seem so far away and long ago anymore.
Chilling indeed.
As someone who’s owned a few Volvo’s and an XL600R, and currently has a Suzuki DR, I like your fleet! And I’ve been thinking about 740 wagons lately. The only memorable “find” I have unearthed in used cars I’ve bought has been marijuana, twice in the ’70’s. Once in my Fiesta purchased from Budget Rent-a-car, and once in my Volvo 142.
There is a certain badass-80’s macho beauty to the 600. If GI Joe rode an enduro, it would be an XL600R.
On more than one Volvo forum I have read multi page threads about people finding pot in their old Volvos.
What car has a easy heater core? My 79 Thunderbird and 76 Grand Marquis. Both on top under the hood with only two hoses and 4 bolts in the way. Takes 20 minutes tops. Worst? My 88 and 94 Tauruses. WHOLE dash has to come out and AC discharged. I will simply drive something else if their heater cores fail.
My ’74 Cortina was like that. Must have been a seventies Ford thing.
Yes, Internet is truly a godsend for the under-the-tree mechanic.
Let me give you an example with my late father’s Mercedes (W210). The air conditioning system started to exhibit erratic behaviour one day. It would start to blow then shut down as in cycle, but my father told me the Mercedes-Benz repair centre couldn’t ‘find’ anything wrong: his code word for ‘the repair is gonna be expensive as hell so I ain’t gonna pay for it!’
When he was visiting my brother in Denver, I took the opportunity to figure out a way to diagnose the erratic behaviour. The owner forums have lot of step-by-step procedures in diagnosing through the series of error codes. After identifying the error codes to the specific components, I found out it would cost more than €800 to replace two components. Yet, the owner forums showed me the workarounds. One required €15 sun sensor from Osram. Other needed a pair of €8 rubber washers modified by hand to replace the worn out rubber rings.
The air conditioning worked the whole time thereafter.
Similar situation in our ’00 Mitsubishi Diamante. The climate control went erratic, not responding in any rational fashion to the temperature setting knob. My son was doing the final year of his heavy diesel fitting apprenticeship at the time, so took the car into the Caterpillar state workshop where he did his lessons, took the dash out (horrifying all the students and most of the supervisors!), and found a connector that had come undone. Would have cost a fortune to have Mitsubishi do it. He said it was no harder than some of the tasks they set the students, just downscaled to car size.
Kinda humbling when your son pulls off a job like this.
Pete;
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It sounds like you Son has the makings of a fine Mechanic ~ curious to diagnose and then not afraid to dive right in and do the entire job, unlike the average parts changing boob……
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Allowing Customers to see their vehicles in tiny parts all over the shop can be a bad idea, sometimes they simply freak out and cannot accept it’ll ever be right again .
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-Nate
the easiest heatercore replacment that i have ever done was on my dad’s Paykan which took about 25 minutes.good memories.
Very cool little tidbits of history found! Seriously that’s wicked awesome!
Yeah the internet is pretty amazing if you’re a car guy. Between helping you decide what to buy (CC), what to look for (BaT), to finding the car (CL) and maintaining it (forums), it’s all out there. Here in CA your heater core is our A/C evaporator. Leaky heater cores we can live with, we just bypass that part of the cooling system and no more leak. No more heater too but you don’t need that much out here. Opposite is true for the A/C — if there’s a leak in the evaporator and you want A/C you have to replace it. Someone will tell you to run a “sealer” through the system which I would never do.
The internet told me the A/C evap in a Mercedes 300E requires the kind of work you had to do on your Volvo because the dash has to come apart. But on the 190E you can access the evaporator through the firewall going in from the engine compartment. That’s one of the main reasons I chose a 190E over a 300E.
I was hoping to buy a Volvo just like yours before picking up the 190 but couldn’t find a nice enough one. I did read about the heater core issue which IIRC is an even bigger problem on the 240 wagons or was that the blower motor?
In Brendan’s article about the Mercedes C280 I was bemoaning how generic exterior parts had become by then for things like mirrors and door handles. The pics of your Volvo’s brake, clutch and gas pedals remind me of how it was back then when even things like pedal covers had a pattern and shape specific to the brand. I miss cool touches like that.
Please keep us posted on your neat little wagon when time permits.
PS — I love how your Volvo doesn’t have a luggage rack. Hard to find ’em like that.
The hairiest repair I ever did was the heater core on son Ed’s 1981 Mazda 626. I didn’t have anything to guide me, so I just dove in. Had to completely take the dash apart; brain surgery. I got it all back together, but I would not want to repeat the experience.
My hat is off to you for tackling this repair. And your finds are great payment for hard work.
Heater cores are something I have never attempted, although I should. The heater core in my old Galaxie began leaking nearly 30 years ago and it’s been bypassed ever since.
I did similar in my ’86 Crown Vic. Naturally, I got heavily scolded for sticking my quite pregnant wife in the backseat and transporting her across the state in cold weather for a baby shower. Hey, her legs hurt and she needed to stretch out. She had plenty of blankets.
Oh c’mon, JS – you are now at the perfect place to do the heater core. You are neither too young and stupid nor too old and creaky. The thing should be as easy to access as on anything made before 1970, and you live in an area where you could get plenty of driving in during colder weather. Plus, you don’t need the car, so you can schedule it for just the right weather or to accommodate your schedule.
Have I talked you into it yet? Oh yes, I will be busy that weekend. 🙂
I dunno, is the 63 Galaxie one of those Fords where you have to cut a hole in the firewall to remove the heater core?
My ability to stand on my head and work under a dash sadly departed around age 40, but it’s so cold here this week I’d almost volunteer to go to the sunny south and help him. A balmy 23 degrees in Jefferson City today…
Doug, come on down whenever you like. It’s a shame JPC is too busy to join us. With it being 23 here, I’m freezing but you are likely still wearing short sleeves.
I had to look up the procedure; it doesn’t sound too bad.
You’re on. I’ll bring the bug and we can have a look at the heater core in that too. 🙂
I am another who has done plenty of wrenching but never a heater core. I suppose that this was one of the benefits of my frequent trading when I was younger.
I just thought about the heater core in my Honda Fit this morning, purely at random. The car is now 10 years old with 109K miles. I would hope it has several more good years left, but that one is undoubtedly a pain to change, as space is at a premium almost everywhere in that car.
The easiest heater core ever is those on the early Foxes, the Fairmont/Zephyr and the Mustang/Capri that used the basic Fairmont/Zepher dash. Open up the glove box, release the clips that allow it to swing all the way open and dump the contents on the floor. Remove 4 or 6 bolts and a cover comes off. Then once the hoses are disconnected slide it right out like an 8 track tape. Minus the drain and refill it is a 10 minute job.
On modern cars dash out is usually a very simple procedure unless there is a very involved multi piece center console. Today most dashes go in fully assembled when the car is built and they come out the same way. Many years ago we had a 1st gen Dakota towed to the shop for a heater core replacement because the owner had tried to do it himself and then gave up. He had ripped everything out of the dash, none of which actually had to be removed other than the radio to disconnect the antenna cable. When he came to pick it up he was rather upset that we charged him an extra hour vs the original quote that was given before we knew we would have to put so much back together and figure out where each of screws an bolts laying around the floor went.
’60-’62 Valiant and Lancer. Fifteen screws hold the heater core/valve housing to the engine side of the firewall.
November, 1975: Under the right side of the front seat of my newly-purchased 1974 Pontiac Catalina coupe was a copy of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask.
I love the little things folks leave behind in old vehicles .
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Easiest heater core I ever did was the ’82 Ford Escort L psycho-b*tch had ~ undo the coolant hoses and remove a plastic cover and it slid right out like the aforementioned 8 track tape cassette .
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Like me she never used it and so was annoyed I’d bothered but it’s an integral part of the cooling system like most modern vehicles ~ they never shut off the hot water, they just shunt the hot air out underneath the car so by passing the heater matrix causes hotter running, never a good thing .
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-Nate
I had a 1982 Mercury LN7, which is probably the same core removal process as the Escort. I didn’t want to do it AT ALL! I sold the car, and bought a T-Bird Turbo Coupe. Man, if I had known it was an easy fix, I would not had to knock off $100 when I sold it. It just looked as if it would be a major pain, like every other core replacement on any other car.
It was a bitch changing the heater core on my ’66 Beetle. I never could find the thing 🙂
It’s behind the coolant expansion tank. Remove that and you are halfway there.
Easiest core for me was a 1965 Ford Country Sedan. 2-hoses, one plate, 4-screws, under the hood, on my feet. . I also did my sister’s 98 Taurus core. The Taurus required disconnecting the steering column and pulling dash nearly all the way out. I got $200 for the job, and afterwards, I realized it was a joy. I enjoyed doing and would do another in a minute! I did the Taurus core on a September afternoon, about 75 °. I don’t think I would do one this day, when it is 7° outside.
Yes, I get sentimental about things I find in old cars. How long was it hidden, what went on the day it was lost. I also wonder when prepping a car for its last journey to the scrapyard, what was it like when the buyer went to the dealer to pick it out, how picky that person was about someone getting his car dirty, or eating inside it. That day he parked it in the driveway for the first time, the neighbor coming over to see the new shiny car…….I know, way too sentimental, but I always wonder about a car going from the new pricey beautiful thing, to its last hurrah in the scrapyard.
I did heater core replacements on both my Mustangs.
On the ’80 2.3 without A/C, it involved taking off the glovebox and it was right there. Easy peasy.
On the ’84 5.0 with A/C, I had to drop the steering column then take the entire dashboard assembly off and set it on the front seats. What a PITA that was. But at least everything was fairly straightforward.
I can’t imagine trying to disassemble a modern car that far…or maybe I can. When a rear A/C line failed in our Grand Caravan they had to disassemble most of the interior to get at at. $1100 in labor to get at a $50 part. I just don’t have the time to deal with that kind of stuff myself anymore.
Phil L. Wow, my brothers first car, in 1970 was a 60 Chevy. It was the same bluish color as your pic! 283, 3speed, 2 Dr Biscayne. Jeeze, that picture just knocked me back in time 46 years. Thanks.
That’s some cool stuff you found! As for “easy” heater core replacements, the easiest I ever did was on in a pug nose Econoline, a ’74 IIRC. Pop the hood, remove both hoses, take out a half dozen or so screws, and there ya go. Took me maybe ten minutes.
Last week we did a heater core replacement in my 850 R. 45 minutes job, and probably we did it rather slowly…great car.
Studebaker Lark/Champ- heater core is located under a plastic cover on the passenger-side inner fender, in the engine compartment. Not even a need to deal with a soaked carpet.
And in the older ones it is in the floor under the passenger seat.
Easier heater core? my Hillman its in a tin box on the engine side of the firewall. Worse than your Volvo a holden Commodore I owned the heater sprang a huge leak after removing vast amopunts of dashboard and air con ducting I was nowhere near it so just blocked the pipes off when winter hit I put a 200gm pot of ground black pepper in the cooling system and fixed it just like that heat and no leaks $2.99 thankyou very much.
I have a 1990 Pontiac Trans Sport minivan with 135K miles on it. I got it when it was about 10 years old with 60K miles. Given how many things are broken (not the main things which are fine) it doesn’t have long to live.
Anyway, it needed a heater core around 2004. It cost $400 in San Francisco (well, Daly City). I think its under a plastic cover visible under the dashboard. Being a minivan there is a lot of vertical room to work under the dash and the heater core is apparently pretty accessible.
Now in the south part of Brooklyn, NY (Gravesend right next to Bensonhurst for those that know) that heater core failed a couple of years ago. No one would work on it, including the GM dealer (since closed, ha ha) even though you can easily get the parts and it’s an easy job and far less torturous than in most cars. One nearby place – I think it was a radiator/AC specialist – wouldn’t work on it but referred me to an independent guy (like, one guy) in the Coney Island area. His shop was very, uh, basic. Kind of dark and dirty. HE HAD CAGES OF PIGEONS IN THE OFFICE ROOM. Charged me $300 – cash only. Four years later it’s fine.
Life in the remaining real (non-hipster) Brooklyn.
A few years ago I bought all new tires from the tire place a couple blocks away. Also a dirty office with foot high stacks of paperwork all over the place. Paying cash was a round number substantially lower than the credit card price. Obviously neither of these places are reporting anything. It’s like what all of Greece is like. Yeah, I paid cash for the tires.
Replaced the heater core twice on the old ’70 C10 stripper. mounted on the right side of the firewall, just needed to remove the hoses and cover from under the hood. It did require loosening the steel fender well enough to lower it enough for room to pull the core out, but it was still really easy. The first replacement started leaking after a couple of years, but the second one lasted the next 15 years and was still good when I sold the truck in 2006. Blower motor was an easy job as well in the old Chevy.
The ’86 Jetta with AC heater core appears to be quite a job, it was replaced under recall in 1992. It still doesn’t leak and works fine, keeping fingers crossed. I have found very well detailed instructions on the internet on it’s replacement as well.
Nice having all the history on your car, bought the ’86 Jetta from original owner in ’91, he bought it new in Virginia from Lee Volkswagen in Springfield, later the owner moved to Ohio, and then moved to SoCal (still had Ohio plates when I bought it), and I moved to Washington in ’97 and it’s still in the driveway today. A lot less interesting history compared to the Volvo’s.
The three heater cores I have done: ’87 Caprice w/o A/C, ’78 Fairmont w/o A/C, ’85 Marquis (Fox platform) with A/C. The first two, easy. The Marquis- nightmare, dashboard in lap, managed to cut myself all up and it was fall in New England weather. Got it all back together without breaking anything. The girl who I fixed it for dumped me shortly after, and then abandoned the car on the street. Still bugs me about the car, the girl dumping me was a blessing.
Of all the cars I have owned, nothing noteworthy found. Odd.
Late to the party but oh well! Easiest 70 and 71 GM pickups, on firewall,drain some coolant undo hoses and a few bolts ,job done. Maybe 30 minutes if your dogging it. IIRC the 69 Ford half ton wasn’t to complicated either. Worst 76 Ford LTD Country Squire with climate control. I started and gave up and sold as is. Ten years old anyway so time for a newer car. What did I buy? 1983 K car wagon,shoulda kept the Ford??