New owner of an old 480

gambafreak · Post by **gambafreak** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:07 pm

Hello all, I am new to this forum. I have just registered but I am reading a lot on the forum for the last few weeks.

Since the 4th of august I am the owner of a 1989 480 turbo. The car has 173000 kmâ€™s on the odometer and I am planning to use it as a daily driver, about 30.0000 kmâ€™s per year. It isnâ€™t my only car or means of transport so if the volvo lets me down this wonâ€™t be a big problem.

The engine is fine, the breaks are fine. The instruments are working flawless, the engine uses no significant amount of oil or water. Fairly economical on petrol.

The body is sound for its age, only some minor rust at the rear wheel arch drivers side (LHD) and at the roof above the rear window and somewhat serious rust in the boot.

As for the rest some minor technical problems that most of you seem to have, like

1. Airco not working, including max speed of the interior fan (probably the two relays in the VEM)
2. rear window wiper not working, cut wire above the tailgate
3. the interior is not flawless, so I will have to do some repair work there

The handling of the car is interesting to say the least, so I need to replace the suspension bushes. Probably I will replace the shocks as well.

And of course I will need to replace the timing belt pretty soon.

Marcel

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:19 pm

Welcome Marcel

Good luck with your 480 Turbo

Big Brother · Post by **Big Brother** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:40 pm

Welcome to the Club.

Yep those problems usually come as standard with a 480 but one thing you are certain of is never having a dull day with it

Cheers

Ad

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:38 pm

Welcome to the club! Lot's of help here!

catgroom · Post by **catgroom** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:48 pm

Welcome here Marcel!

It sounds like you have a good 480 for its age.

Hope you enjoy it!

Steve.

ICFM · Post by **ICFM** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:08 pm

Welcome.

I bought a '91 turbo as a stop-gap daily runabout. Expecting to replace it after a year. That was 4 years and 75,000 miles ago!

Iain

Brasco · Post by **Brasco** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:55 am

They are summink else...

Welcome to our superb club mucker!

gambafreak · Post by **gambafreak** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:23 pm

I dug in to the VEM this afternoon, only the relay of the max fan speed needed some soldering.

The relay for the airco seemed to be ok. But there is no current from fuse 14 through the orange wire to the VEM on my car. I will look into the airco electrics some other day.

Did some work on the rust spot on the rear arch, removed the rust with a small screwdriver and a dremel. Put two coats of Noverox on it, I will sand and paint it tomorrow.

While the front of the dash was out for checking the VEM I repaired the cracks in the dash with some epoxy resin. It is drying now, I will put it back together tomorrow.

So I'm already having some fun with the car.

gambafreak · Post by **gambafreak** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:32 pm

A quick update to the state of the 480.

I have been on vacation, so not a lot of work has been done on the volvo. But proceeding gradually.

I had the timing belt changed and put on some new spark plug cables.

Fixed some leaks in the front, the rubber rain gutter was torn. I still have to fix the leaks in the back.

Fixed the two rusty holes in the boot, no problem for the MOT according to my mechanic.

I have asked some prices for parts from the Volvo dealer, they are now looking if the parts are available.

front droplinks 26,80 â‚¬ a piece
rear droplinks 28,00 â‚¬ a piece
rear light clusters 155,00 â‚¬ a piece

all VAT exclusive

I'm going to have the shocks replaced and have the alignment checked tomorrow.

Matthew Brennan · Post by **Matthew Brennan** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 10:29 am

Hi Welcome to the joys of 480 owning.

If your rear clusters are not cracked you can make them like new yourself several other members have re-vamped them and they look great. It will save you lodsa cash.

gambafreak · Post by **gambafreak** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:48 pm

Just wanted to let you guys know that the 480 is still running.

I replaced the CEM today with a new second hand unit. This solved a few problems like indicators and rear windscreen wiper not working. The wiper has never worked while i owned the car and the indicators stopped working last week.

The car needs an MOT in a few months but I don't expect much trouble on that part.