Customer Reviews

Volvo Coupes, Sedans, and Wagons, 1970-89 (Chilton's Total Car Care Repair Manuals)

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4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

1970-1989 is 19 years. You may probably think that Volvo was not developing new cars during this period. Wrong! An average manual covers about 7 years. Thus you just get almost 3 times less information for the same price. Apart of that you will be searching among all this features and years for your particular model. However, I did not find anything better for my 89 740GLE:(. For earlier models, Haynes is probably better.

I found this book to be very brief on particular subject matter. I suspect it is because the models and years are so broad. Also the paper is cheap leading to diagrams that are sometimes hard to read. I'm going to buy the Haynes and see how that is.

This book was disappointing in that it covers to wide a year span,and does not specify year that most changes occur or if there were changes. It is a book for designed to assist persons only making minimal repairs. The transmisson section does not give a breakdown or even include wiring for transmisson. The location or change of location for the overdrive unit,relay or selonoid as well as the wiring for it are not included. All in all it did not meet my needs or expectations.
I was not told that if the other book I ordered was not in stock it could take from 6 to 8 weeks to get. If I had been notified in a timely manner the book was unavailable I would have shopped elsewhere. Now I'm without a vehicle for a month to a month and a half. This could have been avoided had I been given the delay information in the E-Mail conformation of my order.

Thank you for at least reading my concerns. Hopefully this will help you in processing your orders with less disappoint and confusion.
Thomas J. Spillers

I have a 1989 240 and find this manual not specific enough because it covers 18 years and many different models. Example: I wanted to remove my radio and the only radio featured was for a completely different model. I also purchased the 240 specific manual (blue cover) and found it much better because it covers just 240's.

I have owned this book in the past, and ended up throwing it out. It's a total waste.
Your better off buying a "Bently manual", or the "Haynes manual". The Bentley manual is considered the Volvo Bible.. the Haynes manual will get you by.. with more basic repairs, but a fair to good manual.

Gee, I had no idea that "good" condition meant "new" condition. The Volvo Chilton's Manual 1970-89, 1996 edition is very cool. Just opening the cover has proven to be worth the money spent, and I plan to use it to 'tinker' on our project car until it purrs. Yes, even gals enjoy showing their spouse an easier way to fix things - the right way!

This book won't be very helpful; it attempts to cover far too much material. The editing is shoddy also, with quite a few errors, such as listing the crankshaft dimensions of the B23 and B230 engines as identical.

This book is terrible. I own it, unfortunately. It has never been able to really help me on any of the problems, down to the most basic, for instance, changing the maddening air filter, or even replacing the metal wiper blades (not just the rubber).

Let's start w/the cover. Look closely: it doesn't even have the model "240" listed on it (seems to have every 24X model but their most-successful)! "There must be a Chilton expressly for the 240 alone", i wondered upon discovering this at home, "this manual perhaps being just for the 'other' 24X's?" But, nope! That's where the oversights begin... right on the cover. And the standard is really set there. And reading it, you wonder if it really is about the 240. It has a scant few things on the 240 proper, and whole bunches of stuff are missing. I would say the same thing of most models (not) represented in the "how to" sections.

It's a waste of time, because you end up looking for stuff, not believing it's really not there. Take the elec schematics (most recent example); my buddy helping me was happy to see them, but the 1 thing we were looking for (door/light chime, which rings nonstop) to see if it was okay/safe just to pull the plug until we can figure the rest out -- it wasn't in the elec schematic! It had the wipers, int. lites, brake lites, horn, everything-- but no door chime! 20 minutes re-reading the drawing being sure we missed it!

The book's content is worth less than the poor pulp paper it's printed on (mine's a few yrs old and is heavily yellowed). Better to use it for kindling.

This book has never managed--once--to help me. It will spend pages telling you what an automatic transmission is, but never tell you how to check the rear differential fluid. The book actually ended up hurting me, since the hours of my life I spent looking for useful info in the book, I will never get back (i.e. changing that pesky air filter [only swedes could make such a routine thing so complicated], how to turn off the service engine light by yourself [which I understand comes on at 5k miles for 90 sec on ignition, until it's reset to tell ppl to get their oil changed at the dealer], etc.).

There are many times where i had to look at other Volvo models in the book, just to get an idea of mine, because mine (a common 240) wasn't even listed , and of course, it never helped to try that. I think the air filter was the most notable example, so i just figured it out myself, which why i say, the book actually slowed me down. This book is neither helpful for the newbie, nor the experienced mechanic. But it will tell you the theory behind catalytic converters.

Doesn't tell you how to flush (I don't mean changing the pan gasket) your tranny oil, to my memory, like the better lube places. But you can find out on the web from users' sites; several versions are available.

The question is not "what doesn't it cover", but "does it really cover anything?". This should be the last volvo service manual you ever attempt to buy, unless you're buying it for an enemy. I am not exaggerating. It's really that bad, and not just me who noticed it. Anyone who has tried to help me w/the car has found the manual useless, and a frustration.

I just ordered BENTLEY'S VOLVO 240 SERVICE MANUAL which actually has good reviews--here, and from friends. At least it has "240" in the title/cover; that's a good start. It's a 'must-have', apparently, but I don't know anything else about it, so I won't say more. I'll review it when i get it & read it.

I have been satisfied w/Amazon's online shopping experience (prices, shipping charges [often nothing], website solidity/ thoroughness, and staying away from javascript & frames, & browser compatibility. I just wish they had an available cust svc phone # (as opposed to all email) and a better way to exchange things, but I did not buy the Chilton here. I wish i had shopped here first, or i would have seen the reviews, and bought the Bentley manual first! Amazon's user reviews have been very helpful to me.

Actually, reader, there is no such thing as a "240 proper." This may be the source of your trouble. The cover of the book lists 242s, 244s, and 245s. Think you don't have one of these? Try counting the doors on your 240. If you have two doors, that's a 242, four doors is a 244 and a 5 door wagon is a 245. Volvo named all of their models by series, cylinder, and number of doors, thus a 262 is a two-hundred series (like the 240) with a six cylinder engine and two doors. I do not own this book so i cannot fairly review it, but it seems like the biggest problem you had with it is due to your own fault.

structure of auto transmission include parts number 83 volvo 240 dise