Volvo 480 Club Europe

The doors are adjustable to a fair degree. With an assistant taking the weight of the door, loosen the bolts going into the door side of the hinge. Don't loosen the grub screws holding the hinge halves together, as this will move rather than the door! A ring spanner (13mm I think) is all you need. Y...

You might be quite right regarding the diff. ratio. Please note that I wrote that it seems lower revving at motorway speed. I would have liked to have known for sure before I started, as it was one of my concerns. Haynes book no help. I can't do pictures at the moment, (cameras & card readers stolen...

Had no choice but try - and it worked OK. The final dif ratio seems fractionally higher (it's a box from a 2l 440, going into a 1.7 480) which I feel is an advantage, as the car was a bit buzzy with revs on motorways. The speedo pickup was the only hurdle - the 480 is electronic and the 440 mechanic...

After many hours researching this, I have found the following: 1. Synthetic oils are better at transmitting heat than mineral oil, so a box filled with synthetic oil will run cooler. This is an advantage for any g/box. 2. Any oil containing sulphur compounds causes damage to copper and copper based ...

I'm not going to fully repeat a previous posting (I know it's faster asking an old question again and again, but save yourself re-inventing the wheel and read the old forums!) In a nut shell, there are 3 100uF electrolytic capacitors on the info centre PCB. After may years they leak, and need replac...

First time - 1.5 days. Third time - 3 hours. I made a beam hoist using a roof rack. email me if you want pictures. I used one of the Haynes methods - wordy, but works OK - that is, support engine, remove LH suspension bits, lower subframe and 'box out under the LH wheel arch. Even managed it at a wr...

Done three, and half way through one now. Got it down to three hours. 1. The starter motor does have to come off. There is the one last bolt holding the bell housing to the motor underneath it. The starter/heatshield and stupid rear bracket is a pain in the arse to get off. Poor design. I found it e...

Did you get it fixed in the end? I'm noting alot of people on the net commenting on their clutches juddering when the car was cold (which mine is doing) and getting better once warm. I blamed the engine mounts - which were OK - before I found that the engine movement damper had come loose. Fixing th...

If the speedo is correct, but the calculations incorrect, I'd say the sensors are OK, and the fault is in the CEM module which sits on the back of the instrument panel. A faulty connection/broken solder joint between the CEM and instrument panel would cause this symtom. Also check my previous postin...

There's no lamp in the switch to light up. The "same" white dot is just paint. That switch assembly has three lamps - two are in the heated seat switches (they are buried inside the switches). The third one is mounted in the middle and shines through a clear plastic 'light guide'. It is the night ba...

Agreed - buying a clutch is the easy part. Do get and fit a new release bearing at the same time. I'd even go as far as recommending that owners of older 1.7es cars get the longer clutch release lever and bracket and fit that on re-assembly. I used the 'engine stays in the car' method from the Hayne...

Sounds like you're getting good car help, and I'm glad someone mentioned your typing. Blame a certain Mr Gates and his products having a 'spell check' feature! A quick proof read before you submit would be useful as this is a pan-Europe site and some 480 owners might not get past the teh's. Good luck!

I'd use a centre punch to mark the centre of the bolt, and then drill a pilot hole with a new small drill - 3mm perhaps - lubricated with a small drop of engine oil. That will stop the drill 'walking' and eating into the softer metal. Don't use hammer action. Then go up to the correct size. Even bet...

Hiya Oz. The 480 came into NZ, and I don't have any problems getting bits from Repco or Volvo NZ. They use the Oz warehouse before going to Sweden - I'll bet they could order parts in the reverse direction i.e. from NZ if they were stocked here. I have a spare if you're coming over for the Super 14 ...

You've described what happens perfectly Ozturbo. The fan & pump run only for a minute, unless it's one of those 45 degree Adelaide days, then the fan might run a bit longer!

I've assumed that everyone knows why it's there...a quick explanation just in case. In old cars, the cooling fan and waterpump was driven by the engine, so when you turned the car off, that was it. In modern cars, electric fans were introduced. For the manufacturer, they are cheaper to produce than ...

Mine was a piece of cake to get out from above (1989 es). Had to remove one bolt from the air filter to release a bit of slack for the cable. Remove the cap from the coolant filler bottle to release any pressure in the system, and the loss when you disconnect the hoses will be minimal. It is an auxi...

Well worth fixing it, as about 10% of the cooling water is circulated by this pump. One of the reasons that the turbo in the 480 is durable...The next step after "noisy" is "seized". It'll sound quiet then! Having said that, have seen the pump fitted to some non-turbo cars. Dunno why they were there...

Excellent news. So glad you didn't go down the route of making a CEM less indicator. When something used to work for years, but now doesn't work, it shouldn't be too hard to get working again. Re-reading my postings, I found this: However, if +12v is present, it must be the wire. The green/brown wir...

Hi again That confirms that the fault is due to the CEM or poor supply to the CEM. Doing the other three checks with a lamp should confirm one or other. I recall perhaps that this is another CEM you've tried? It is possible that it too is faulty - after all it is nearly 20 years old. I'm still suspe...