240 dl highway whisteling help

t-sonus · Post by **t-sonus** » 08 Dec 2010, 09:43

Howdy,
I'm new to the forum and i need some advice before I take my "snowdove" to a mechanic. 2 weeks ago, my 1990 240 DL started whistling on the highway and continues to do so when I hit 55MPH and above. The noise fades in and fades out, is high pitch windy-shriek like and seems to change pitch as it fades in and out. It is not temperature dependent. Any recommendations???

Post by **billofdurham** » 08 Dec 2010, 11:43

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

When I had my 240 it started to whistle at about the same speed. Drop below 55mph and the whistling stopped. It got to the stage where I considered selling the car. I eventually traced it to the bottom of the tube that drains water away from the heater intake vent in front of the windscreen.

On mine the tube came out through the bulkhead (firewall) on the left side of the car (US driver's side). It was fairly low down but easily accessible working from the top. The end of the tube was fitted with a closed rubber end with a slit in each side. This is obviously intended to allow water out but stop ingress of any rubbish. I found the rubber had hardened and the two slits were permanently open by between 1/8" and 1/4" allowing air to enter. Not being sure if this was the whistling part I taped a small sandwich bag over the end, after cutting a small hole in the bag to allow water out. No more whistling and the sandwich bag became part of the fixtures and fittings.

This may not be the cause on your car but is worth checking out before the whistling drives you mad.

Bill.

andys240 · Post by **andys240** » 15 Dec 2010, 19:19

my 88 245 was doing something similar, anything above 40 would cause it to sound reminiscent of a circular saw through a door or two. took it to the shop for diagnosis, mine was the carrier bearing for the driveshaft. i soaked it with pb blaster, drove to parts store (squeak was gone after oil) and bought lithium grease in the aerosol can and soaked it with that too, lasted the better part of the week without any more noise, hoping this solution lasts til it warms up! worth looking into on yours