QuestionQUESTION: This is kind of a loaded question because one issue has spawned into several others but here it goes. I just bought an 87' Volvo 240 Wagon (Manual) and the car ran and drove fine accept for the fact that the Alternator belt was loose, so I replaced the belts and everything apeared to work fine for a few days, well I started to loose charge so I replaced the bought with a Junk yard one and did not test it. Put that one in and still no charge. meanwhile a friend of mine was messing with the Wiring for the Stereo and possibly the fuse box. Well suddenly my car is now losing the power bought and also after about 10 minutes of driving it bought Starts to overheat until I turn on the heater then it subsides. It doesn't appear that the car is losing Fluid, accept for maybe head gasket a little, and I think there is a very very small crack in the radiator but I do not think this is causing it to overheat, but I saw steam coming out of it when I first ran it a little hot. Anyway I replaced the alternator with another one also from a junkyard but had this one tested at Auto Zone (tested fine). Installed the new alternator, I realized there is a Black wire not going anywhere and was taped off. I am still not sure if this needs to be hooked up or what, The power, Warning light, and Ground are all connected and I re-cut the wires to get good connection. I put in new Battery wires, and also replaced the thick red wire going to the alternator. Started it up and same thing, (all lights were illuminated as if I was not getting a charge). Funny thing is ...is that when I turn the steering wheel the light goes on and off sometimes. I checked by removing hot cable, and realized I was still not getting a charge. My car is a big mess now and I am getting really angry... I apologize for the lengthy description but felt it was necessary. My question is... Did I miss a wire on the alternator ? Could messing with wires have done me in ? is there any other sensor that could be replaced ? Could it be the Wiring in the steering wheel ? Any thing else that could resolve the issue ? I sincerely appreciate any input because I bought this for my daily driver and I am highly doubting its going to get me through the winter. Thanks soooo much for your help or any insight... !! Appreciated ....
ANSWER: Mario,
Alts have three wires one is a large ground wire, a small red wire that goes to the dash cluster, and the large red wire. The small wire sends a 12 volt signal to the alt to make it charge, ground is gorund and the large red wire is power. Make sure that the internal regulator has a lot of brush left. If in doubt replace it. If the alt will not charge then you may not be getting the 12 volts from the dash cluster. That would mean the circuit card of the cluster maybe bad.
Maybe the engine is not really overheating and just the gauge is showing HOT. There is a temp comp board in the cluster that goes out and the the gauge reads too cool, or too hot.
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QUESTION: Thank you very much for your reply !!. I did have all 3 wires you mentioned hooked up, but i see an additional wire down there aswell, it coul be a meaningless wire but i'm not shure. I am wondering if maybee this Dash cluster you speak of is the cause, it apears that there may be some kind of short going on. Could you provide any help in locating this, can I get a new cluster and replace it ? Unfortunatly the car is really overheating which is wierd because it hasn't before. But I will repair the small crack in the radiator and I am going to try and clean it today with a power air hose, It apears the fan is blowing kind of slow , could it possibly be a fan clutch ? Thank you very much for your input !! Any further suggestions would be appreciated.
ANSWER: Mario,
Fan clutchs do stop working. Also replace the t/stat. The only other wire that is generally in the same loom as the alt wires is the oil presssure sensor wire and is black.
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My 87' 240
QUESTION: Awesome , thank you Ray !! ... yeah I was going to replace the Thermostat thanks for mentioning that again ! Hmm okay so could you tell me where I need to hook up this Black Cable? I am guessing it may be the fan clutch.. but of course I will try the Thermostat first.. and the cleaning of the radiator.. but if not is the fan clutch hard to fix ? would a junk yard one suffice ? I am just wondering if this thing is going to be a wiring nightmare and cause me to give up all together.. I mean the power steering is even going out now! Unless that may be either simple wiring or may be car not having enough charge to run that belt.. I cant believe this car was running great with no warning lights a week ago. Again sorry for being lengthy, and for so many questions.. I am sure you can tell I am an armature mechanic so.... Anyway I sincerely appreciate your time and help and will be sure to give you the highest regards!
AnswerMario,
Black wire to the oil press sensor on the block behind the alt. It is a 16 gauage wire with a spade connector.
If you get a good used fan clutch that will work just fine. If all that fails pull the radiator and have a radiator shop clean it internally.
There is no electical power for the power steering. The pump is belt driven. So problems could be belt, fluid, pump or rack.
