1990 940 GLE 16V Automatic ~93,000 Miles Various issues

[girlbunny]

Hey again

Okay, I have now replaced the relay. I found out a few things in the exercise. First, I'm grateful I have small hands so that I could replace the relay without pulling it out! Second, I found out why it won't pull out. Evidently at one point the previous owner replaced the radio. I'm presuming they replaced it with one that was slightly longer and not quite as wide as the original. The length of the radio seems to be preventing the board coming out as it has trapped the rear (or front, depending on how you look at it!) relays behind the wiring. Also, I couldn't remove said radio because they kindly glued the darned thing in. Even if I had the "U-shaped" whatever is needed to unclip the radio (which the previous owners didn't use as the frame was broken and glued back together) it likely wouldn't have come out anyway with the amount of glue that was used. Thirdly, whilst all the other relays I could see were Volvo original (probably came with the car!) the flasher unit was not. When I finally managed to figure a way of taking it out, it was a generic part and it has severe scorching on one "pin".

So, I'm expecting this to be a part I will need to replace again at some point, presumably not for a while though I still have to go for a drive to do the final test, but when I tested it after installing it everything was working fine. Here's hoping it continues to do so

Thanks again... now... no ideas on why humidity in the cabin of the car makes the speedometer either go to 0 or 80?

Sam

[billofdurham]

Thank you for the update. Good to see smileys in a post.

Many cars of that age will have had the flasher relay replaced as it gets more use than the others because of what it does.

Having the radio glued in means it won't be stolen so that is a bonus!!!

no ideas on why humidity in the cabin of the car makes the speedometer either go to 0 or 80?

How certain are you that it is the humidity inside? The sender unit for the speedo is in the rear axle and the insulation on the wires could be damaged allowing ingress of moisture. I am grasping at straws with this as it is something I have never encountered. More research will be done.

Bill.

[girlbunny]

When I take efforts to dry out the cabin the speedo returns to normal - even if it's wet outside. Also, if it's dry outside and we leave the windows all closed and the humidity level within the cabin is raised the speedo begins to act up.

I have sprayed the appropriate area in case it was moisture getting on the wires near the rear axle with no joy. However, it was worth trying, just in case

Note: I have been told that there is apparently a common issue with the electronic chip on the standard Volvo board on my particular model of vehicle which can cause issues with the speedo. However, because I haven't heard of it elsewhere and the people concerned were talking about charging me close to $500 just for the replacement chip (or board) I wasn't willing to take them on their word. I figured if it was as common as they'd stated, you guys would have heard of it by now Any thoughts on the veracity of this information? I have considered that if it is a problem with dirt on the chip, I can clean the board (very very early computer users... been cleaning chips on computers since the 80s... so, lots of experience in the past with cleaning boards and areas surrounding chips without blowing any of the chips, even the old ones ) however the thought of getting in to the main board is daunting!

Thanks again, even though it's been a few days now, I am still very pleased when the indicator keeps on working

[billofdurham]

After much trawling through many forums there does appear to be problems with some of the 740, 760, 940 and 960 speedos which all use the same type of sender unit in the differential and electronic speedos. I have only found one case of dampness inside the car being the culprit. His problem arose when the car had been standing for several weeks in the cold, damp weather. His solution was to take off his sweater and go for a long drive with the heater on max to dry out the inside. It worked but he overheated.

Some have been fixed by splicing new wires into the circuit near the sender unit as the insulation does tend to break down
at that point. This seems to be the most common fault.

I have found four instances where the problem was caused by cracks and/or dry joints on the circuit board so it may be that you will need your computer skills to tackle this. I have spoken to my friendly Volvo tech and he says he has had to repair three circuit boards with dry joints, but he told me I couldn't publicize this as he did the repairs in his own time after customers were quoted exorbitant prices by the Volvo dealer. You did not read about it here.

Bill.

[girlbunny]

Sorry about the delay in replying!

Thanks for checking that, I didn't think it was possible that a $500 'new chip' was a common problem. The dry joints and/or insulation do sound very feasible and if I can figure out how to open up the console to check it out, both should be pretty quick things to fix! I can see humidity causing an issue with dry joints, so I suspect that's the most likely culprit.

As for turning the heater on to dry things out... no such luck, the airconditioner unit is still faulty, I haven't bothered trying to figure out the problem yet, open windows tend to help get the temperature right!

Thanks again. Once I've figured out how to open this beasty up I'll let you know what's up and the outcome

Sam

[billofdurham]

The instrument cluster on the 940 is easy to remove. There is a trim piece around the panel. Push in the retaining clips with a small screwdriver and remove the trim. You will now see 4 screws. Remove them and the cluster will pull out of its housing far enough to disconnect the electrics.

Before starting remove the battery negative lead and wait at least 5 minutes to avoid upsetting the airbag. If you need a radio code make sure you have it.

Bill.

[girlbunny]

Hey Bill,

I hate to seem really out of it... but is it possible to put up a picture to show where the retaining clips are so I know where to push with that screwdriver? It's getting a bit more pressing now, since I seem to be losing the speedo pretty much all the time since the weather warmed up.

Oh.. the car now stalls in warm weather, especially for town driving. If I'm stuck in traffic and it's hot, the car pretty much doesn't want to keep going. The temperature doesn't seem to go above halfway, but I'm presuming that it's overheating somewhere. Any ideas? It now seems to be stalling regularly when it's warmer. Not good since it's now in the middle of hot season and I need to get a safety check on the car soon!

Thanks again, I do appreciate all of this!

[billofdurham]

it's now in the middle of hot season

What is a 'hot season'? All of our seasons seem to be the same, cold, damp and dreary. Must be global warming!!

940 Inst panel removal.jpg (24 KiB) Viewed 2557 times

Has your car stored any fault codes in the On-Board Diagnostic unit which is in the engine compartment? Check this first as it could make diagnosis easier.

Bill.

[girlbunny]

I haven't seen it flashing, but I can check if I need to do something special to find out

As for the hot season... right now it's mid summer. The hotter days here aren't as bad as they were in Sydney, however we're out in it more often than we were there! So, the car is feeling it here. I believe we've had a few days in the high 30s, I don't believe we've hit 40oC yet, but darn it felt like it yesterday!

Sorry about the delay in responding (again) I thought I'd pressed send, but obviously forgot!

Sam

[billofdurham]

The OBD won't flash until you are using it.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... c&start=12

This is how to use it. It is the same for your car.

Today was quite warm. It reached +1C and I took off one pullover.

Bill.