Heya,

I just bought a 1990 340 1.4 for pennies, and in my favorite colour

It came with a few problems, and before I start debugging them one by one, I was wondering if some could be related (common fault).

- Speedometer doesn't work
- rev counter doesn't work
- economy-meter-thinguie doesn't work
- medium lights (don't know how to say it in english, the lights that you use while driving at night.. not the high beams i think) don't work
- oil (?) temperature gauge doesn't work ( http://i.imgur.com/afWHvWY.jpg this one )

Now before I assume the previous owner changed the dash and didn't connect all the stuff, here is what works in the dashboard :

- backlights work
- presence light indicator (little green lamp) works
- fuel gauge works
- water temp gauge works
...
and the high beams work when i pull the lever to "flash" them, but they don't stay on.

I've checked the fuses and visually they look ok.

Any clues on this?

Anyway, grats on a great forum which i've been lurking for a bit now, and heres the old thing :

peppp wrote:- Speedometer doesn't work

Check cable at instrument end and at left-hand front wheel. Check left-hand front hub cap as this has a clipped in drive. Clip may be missing (viewed from driver's seat looking forwards)

peppp wrote:- rev counter doesn't work

Check electrical connections. See wiring diagram HERE

peppp wrote:- economy-meter-thinguie doesn't work

Check vacuum pipe connections.

peppp wrote:- medium lights (don't know how to say it in english, the lights that you use while driving at night.. not the high beams i think) don't work

Check fuses, relays, wiring and column switch. Medium = "Dipped beam" High = "Main beam".

peppp wrote:- oil (?) temperature gauge doesn't work ( this one )

Check wiring and sensor (behind bumper?) This is nothing to do with oil, it is the "ambient/outside temperature guage" -40 deg C to + 40 deg C.

peppp wrote:Now before I assume the previous owner changed the dash and didn't connect all the stuff, here is what works in the dashboard :

- backlights work
- presence light indicator (little green lamp) works
- fuel gauge works
- water temp gauge works

In general check main electrical plug behind the fuse box.

Water gets in between bulkhead/firewall and corrodes connectors behind the fuse box. See http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... =5&t=11054 and http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... =5&t=11054

peppp wrote:and the high beams work when i pull the lever to "flash" them, but they don't stay on.

Corroded multi-plug as above or defective relay. (Some relays in fusebox, some behind the instruments)

Hope this helps.

wow, you gave me a lot of info there.
I think i'll start checking the corrosion in the multi connectors, since the car was parked outside and not working for a while.

It was running on 3 cylinders when I got him, a 40 Km trip solved that issue by itself, so i'm thinking isolated electrical connections might be a probable issue here.


Thanks !

peppp wrote:wow, you gave me a lot of info there.

Yes, I can sometime be in a helpful mood and not just say "f**k off and use the "Search...." box at the top right".

Good luck and do let us know how you get on with the repair.

Just stick your hand up inside the dash grab your wire and wiggle it around,, stop giggling macplaxton! That should pickup burnt connections, I've seen this in 1/10 cars or so (was an 89 360 I think).

Obviously check its all plugged in. The econo gauge has a pipe connection, its not electrical AFIAK, so it may not be connected as you say because the owner has put in a new intrument panel. If the car didn't have this originally the pipe would not be there.

Hi Mate.
Macplaxton and Ride-on have got your head light problem sorted.
I had this problem with a GLT i once had. I fixed it by putting half
a brush shaft under the wiring loom to hold it up
It actually worked and solved the main beam problem.
Cheer Mark.

thanks again everyone

i just discovered the stop lights aren't working aswell, so the car isn't road safe ;(

removed the bottom part of the dashboard today but it wouldnt come all off because of the cold start cable thinguie..

fiddled around with the cables that lead to the light switch while they were on, but had no luck in discovering something that would make it work. EDIT : forgot to mention i unplugged all main connector plugs in the fuse box and connected them back on, they seemed ok. bellow the dash there are a couple of relay looking little cubes which i unplugged one by one, no luck aswell.

This thread got me wondering :
http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... hts#p50752

Guess my 2 questions for today are :

1 - Is there a common point of failure between the main beam and the stop lights ? I'm terrible at decoding wiring diagrams.

2 - whats the proper way to disassemble the dash? steering wheel out first? how does the cold start cable come off?

Heres a pic with the proper Portuguese license plates (as they were in 1990).. they look like some dutch plates

Today's work was to check for ground regarding stop lights...

At the back, its a little metal bar which provides ground to all the lighting there, so it is working... problem with stop lights is that i have no energy there.

I double checked at the pedal switch.. 0 volts

so yeah, question still remains, how to disassemble the whole dash, guess i'll have to

Hi peppp.
The senders for the ambient temp gauge are the
same as the 440/60/80 so you will probably be able
to pick one up in a scrapyard for little money.
Cheers Mark.

The choke knob just unscrews, pull out the pins for plastic studs and it should come away. Can't remember if there are screws.

The dash (full grey bit right across the car) can be removed 'easily', without the centre console (mechanical+wet bits) but its still a biggish job, the hardest part is seperating the soft heating ducts.

It is easy to remove the instrument panel, 2 screws at the top remove a metal strip that holds it in, then pull it towards the steering wheel (which is best removed). Need to disconnect the connectors + speedo cable first.

Status update :

- Stop lights not working - SOLVED (reconnected pedal switch)
- Main beam not working - SOLVED (cleaned every connector in the fuse box)
- Rev counter not working - NOT SOLVED .. its weird that it works sometimes... I tried reconnecting all the plugs in the reni-thinguie-majinguie , no luck

If the panel with rev counter is not original you may not have the wiring.

So the car, still runs in Portugal?