Severely frustrated

[glasgowjim]

Why oh why does the electrics on a 480 have to be so bad ,no 2 cars are the same , there is no rhyme or reason to the variations in wiring pcb boards and insane looming. 3 480s and all have some electrical problem but not the same one. Severely going to take radical action over the turbo and rewire the car with stone age technology. |I am now on intimate terms with the relays having buggered about with them swopped over and replaced info centres to no avail. Have become so disheartened over the Krap electrics that I am going to sort it all out this weekend.

Still one up side of this is the turbo will wink or blink (the driver can choose ) at other cars.

Why do we drive the damn cars is it get an excuse to wash them for hours ?
Restore to pristine original condition or sort the damn thing out so that it is a RELIABLE car which drives sooo well!

I am going for reliability and stuff the originality whats the damn point of having an upgraded turbo VROOM VROOM and not being able to rely on it to function effectively for 2 consecutive weeks without it breaking down electronically the CEM is kaput or at least suffering from PMS the wiring is shite the solder joints are lousy and the electrican was out of his/her face on cannabis cake during construction.

Well bugger me I will not let this get me down on saturday I will get all the switches and stuff and turn the dream machine into retro reliable failing that there is always the final solution sell it to some one I dont like

Rant over

Ah that felt so good - (better than a therapy session )

[aibast]

Sorry but I can't relate to that problem. Havent had any electronic problems with my 94 turbo. Everything works perfect.

[DaKyy]

Only electrical problems so far on my ol' rusty was with the front clusters and corroded bulb holders Maybe I'm just lucky

Sorry about twisting the knife in the wound...

[catgroom]

Nah Im with ya on this one Jim

480 build quality all round is 2nd rate.Electrics showed that these cars really were hurried into production.They were then hurried as they were built.Can ya hurry on hash cake then??Hmmm!

Apparently,according to a guy at Volvo I spoke to,the designers were so pleased at what they had designed,that they skipped BIG TIME in quality of build.

Thing is,these cars were very expensive for what they were when new.They just didnt have the build standard of pretty much any other Volvo.

Anyway,I hope youre not slagging of my old Paris

[Ral]

Well I couldn't really relate before, but having buggered about with relays and switches and what-not for two weeks I sort of can now. Comfies to you.

[glasgowjim]

@ aibast and dakky that is calling down bad luck / tempting fate or famous last words.

@catgroom well steve this weekend I will sort out for once and for all the electrics of the paris blue as the engine and bodywork and interior are really good now.

damn me went out tonight to swop over the speedo on Kiri the little S project car and when I put the dash back on the electrical problems had sorted themselves out by mAGIC (PLUS A FEW NEW BULBS) so in a smiley mood went out for a quick blast on the back roads and reaffirmed why 480s rock

[aibast]

I can be having problems in the future I have a small tach not working prolblem, but I now the problems origin I'm just top lazy to take out the cluster But I know Volvo wiring is legendary for there lack of reliability. For every Volvo that is true, cos they use biodegrading plastic on wires. So I'm realy sad for ones that have problems. I hope my frog will not get these problems and realy realy hope you can fix your problems.

[glasgowjim]

Solved all my electrical problems today Yipee !

By systematically wiping out all the silly dumb little faults I was left with only half rear lights on so checked the fusebox (it wasnt as if I hadnt checked it before) but there was a fuse sitting blown replaced and voila rear lights work popups work.

MEEESA HAPPY BUNNY !

I wont get so discouraged again if I do stray from the path of resigned 480 ism someone come round and skelp me about the head with a dead fish.

So no road kill this weekend.

[glasgowjim]

Ps still got the info centre non functional but it is defo a wiring / connection thing.
still I dont care fitted an auxiliary petrol guage so thats all I need .

happy days are here again..............

Paris blue is working
Kiri is working

The wife is having twins and one is chinese but who cares the 480s rok and roll

[kev]

Hi Jim,

My 480 is an S model so didn`t come with the Info centre
so I bought one and it worked fine.I added some sensors & everything
was great.....Then one day nothing.I tried waggling things ,tightening
things .No good so put my old guages back in.
Then while at the Lakes meet Roo or someone suggested re -soldering all the joints on the PCB
I also checked every pin connection and found one duffer banged on some more solder & Hey presto Working
Hope this helps

[catgroom]

@Jim

Mate,for the last time-WE WANT PICCIES OF THE PARIS UPLOADED

Its no good trying to imagine it!

[glasgowjim]

damn catgroom you just wont give it up will you

ok i finally admit it I dont know how to

so there you are i am a retard - goes into a corner and sobs quietly

@ kev have done that no joy as the bishop said to the actress

[ozturbo]

Ps still got the info centre non functional but it is defo a wiring / connection thing.
still I dont care fitted an auxiliary petrol guage so thats all I need .

How did you go about fitting the petrol guage and where did you put it?

[glasgowjim]

Had a spare fuel pump so I measured the resistance from full to empty then got a 7 watt wirewound resistor to connect in series then put a 0 to 100 mA analogue meter in the circuit. the range is from 30 to just over 100 mA so made a new paper backing for guage then mounted it below in the centre consol above the cigarette lihter/ashtray .It fitted in there rather nicely. When I have time I will put in a voltage stabiliser (simple enoughto do) so that it will eliminate any needle movement when the car is reved up.

You could mess around looking for a petrol guage and connect in a rather fancy guage as the milli ammeter as has a narrow needle. Then you can get really fancy by lighting it with a couple of 12v LEDs no problem and make it look really good.

I tried to use a 10 bar led display and chip using an adapted circuit for accurate voltage measurement ( battery charge guage) but it was a failure and I needed results fast. After a short time monitoring the guage and the petrol put in you get a good idea of your accuracy and there are no problems.
if you want more detailed info I can get this at the weekend and email you photos. It really is an effective and inexpensive quick fix and stone age technology doesnt fail unlike the damn info centre. Oh and it does not have a knock on effect on any other circuits. The only reason I used the meter I did was I found one lying around the lab (physics teacher) and used it as it fitted the aperature nicely.
PS you can easily reconnect the wiring to the info centre. The various resistance values I would need to check on .

[Matthew Brennan]

Can you imagine back to the future but with a 480 instead of the delorean? It would not have made much of a film, cos they never would have got there - the speedo would not work so they would not know when they hit 88 MPH!

[glasgowjim]

Well the damn gremlins have struck again the earth strap to battery snapped /halved in 2 . Headlamps wouldnt work so replaced battery starp headlamps wouldnt work so took out fuse 22 headlamps worked switched off headlamps then they wouldnt light so put fuse back in again headlamps worked switched off ignition headlamps wouldnt light so took out fuse and headlamp worked again dont you just love the bloody car still i dont care its almost the weekend YIPEE