Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.
Said No Volvo 240 Owner, Ever.
I did not realize that replacing the large clock in the 240 dashboard with a tachometer would rain down problems galore, not the least of which is finding a small clock to fit in the gauge pods.
Let me clarify that statement a wee bit: ….finding a small clock to fit in the gauge pods that actually worked.
These clocks were not produced after 1984 and they all shared a common problem with the twin capacitors drying out (don’t ask, I have no idea what that means) and ceasing to work first below 50 degrees F and finally just stopping completely.
The last resort source for old Volvo 240 parts- eBay – was overloaded at times with small clock sellers which, on one end, could not guarantee their clocks worked and at the other end just plain knowingly lied and said they did. I learned to assume all small Volvo 240 clocks were broken.
I took a chance on a California clock from a turbo Volvo which was in great shape and had none of the salt corrosion that comes with every part from the deep south and, of course, it did not work.
After spending an hour de-crimping the lens and bezel unit away from the body of two busted clocks I ended up with a pile of parts and one good clock mechanism to rebuild.
Now I am mustering the motivation to go ahead and replace those two dried out (still don’t know what that means) can-type capacitors. The person who showed me which parts to replace said this was a piece of cake to do with a simple soldering iron. We will see about that.
We are waiting for a giant windstorm to pass through this afternoon which means that we will lose power. If it rains in this section of Philadelphia the power seems to always goes out.
More later.