?'s about a Volvo 740 series...

[red91]

So push has come to shove, and I'm buying an econo-bucket rig that avg. about 10-12 MPG more than the Heep.

87 740 4cyl non turbo,4spd AT.

Anyone ever own one? And if so...what are it's weak points? ( other than looking like a brick )

I know the motor and trans can easily do 300k..and it is sitting at 113K right now.

Yes the interior plastic leaves something to be desired, and I currently have a complete set of replacement relays.

What else should I be looking for? (other than the reverse lens falling out of the taillight because of poor glue.)


( other than the swedish bikini team?)

[GSequoia]

Volvos are square.

[red91]

Volvos are square.

yeah....no kidding. I got your message...work has been hell. I'll call you monday morning sometime....or PM me with what you were lookin for.

[Gil BullyKatz]

Look for forgotten patchouli bottles, rusted root CD's and edamame peas...

Was the greenpeace sticker and butt plug included?

Nice buy...

I've got the perfect sticker for ya...


http://www.rainbowdepot.com/ProductImages/stickers-pide-rainbow/16743.jpg

[Glenn B]

Volvos are square.

The old ones yes, but ours is far from square. :)

[Glenn B]

So push has come to shove, and I'm buying an econo-bucket rig that avg. about 10-12 MPG more than the Heep.

87 740 4cyl non turbo,4spd AT.

Anyone ever own one? And if so...what are it's weak points? ( other than looking like a brick )

I know the motor and trans can easily do 300k..and it is sitting at 113K right now.

Yes the interior plastic leaves something to be desired, and I currently have a complete set of replacement relays.

What else should I be looking for? (other than the reverse lens falling out of the taillight because of poor glue.)


( other than the swedish bikini team?)

I suggest doing a timing belt on it. IIRC, they suggest em at 50,000 on that model. Better safe than sorry. :)

[Matthew Currie]

A friend had one of these for a while, and my son had a 760 turbo wagon of the same type.

First off, it's not that much of an economy car. I averaged about 21 mpg on my old 240 wagon, and my friend didn't do any better with the 740. My son's 760 was a real beater, and not much of a reference point, but it was pretty thirsty too.

It's BIG. A pretty good ride when everything is right, but that engine works hard for a living, and it's not always smooth. The engine mounts are soft, and exhaust mounting is critical. Pretty conventional drivetrain, good brakes, expensive front wheel bearings (units like an XJ, I think). Otherwise, they're pretty solid, and most of your problems will be nasty irritations. Volvos have a lot of tricky wiring, and if you have the deluxe type with all the power options, there will always be something that doesn't work.

As mentioned above, a timing belt is a good idea. The belt on my 240 was very easy to replace. Check the engine mounts, because they tend to break.

[IXNAYXJ]

...econo-bucket rig that avg. about 10-12 MPG more than the Heep.

87 740 4cyl non turbo,4spd AT. Are you saying your Jeep gets 6-8 mpg? If you're lucky, you might see low-to-mid 20's fuel economy.

I'll last a long time, but not be the most efficient getting there.

-----Matt-----

P.S. There's a company that does Ford small-block conversions on those...Converse Eng., IIRC. Paul Newman owns one, so they've got to be cool :D

[TheInstaller]

We used to have a 1990 740 GLE wagon which had the 16v non-turbo in it. Ride is nice and smooth. The plastic interior is crap. As stated above, do the timing belt. For fuel mileage though, you bought the wrong car. Around town we only got about 17 mpg, and low 20's on the highway.

[red91]

well...good to see I asked since the info I got would lead me in a totally different direction.

Hmm.....I heard mid 20's was accurate for MPG, but low 20 won't cut it.

So basiclly the consensus is that 25 MPG is out of the question?

mid20's (25) would put me in at 10 mpg better than the Jeep.

and I think I'm only getting about 14-15 now out of a 20 gallon tank...

[Matthew Currie]

well...good to see I asked since the info I got would lead me in a totally different direction.

Hmm.....I heard mid 20's was accurate for MPG, but low 20 won't cut it.

So basiclly the consensus is that 25 MPG is out of the question?

mid20's (25) would put me in at 10 mpg better than the Jeep.

and I think I'm only getting about 14-15 now out of a 20 gallon tank...

Of course it depends on how "built" your XJ is, I guess, but all three of the stock XJ's I've owned get better day to day mileage than my Volvo 240 did.

[lilredwagn]

old school volvos are sweet cars, but the mileage will be as others have noted - maybe 3-5 better than the jeep but definitely not 10-12. Also, with the AT, the 4 cyl is a real dog - as in you will think very hard about turning off the A/C to get on the highway.

[Jeff in VA]

Take a peek underneath at the rear axle.....it's a D30 (really, it is)

Jeff

[Matthew Currie]

Take a peek underneath at the rear axle.....it's a D30 (really, it is)

Jeff

And the automatic tranny is an Aisin Warner, too!

[IXNAYXJ]

Here's what you need, Scott.

http://www.converseengineering.com/inhouse.htm

-----Matt-----

[Atl XJ]

And the automatic tranny is an Aisin Warner, too!
It is, I didn't know that. I had a 91 that had a lot of transmisison problems. That whole car was a lemon though.

That being said...They're good cars, my family had several of them and all of the other ones were very good cars. The non turbo/auto is a dog around town, Especially on initial acceleration, its computer limited off the line and it has no power till you get moving. They do pretty good on the hwy. Surprisingly good actually. It got decent gas mileage but not great. I got low 20s around town and 26 on the hwy.

I like the manual models and the turbo models much better. I also had a '91 940 turbo and a 850R, they were both good cars. My sister still has my old 940 and its been a great car. It has over 200K miles on it and its only needed minor repairs and maintenance items. The 940 is very similar to the 740, they share the same drivetrain.

They're fairly easy to work on, but parts are pretty expensive when they break. Thats their downfall.