Maintenance Manuals
Maintenance Manuals PDF
Volvo Cars Technical Literature and Service Manuals
Volvo TSB and Recall Information
Online Help Forums and Guides. See the following for great illustrated procedures for various Volvo repairs:
Step-by-Step Volvo: By Fred Su, this site has illustrated procedures for timing belt replacment, exhaust, switch repair, and basic no-start diagnostics. Thanks, Fred!
Online Volvo Green Books: Many Green Books have been digitized for various models at the site noted.
Brickboard, a forum for Volvo enthusiasts
Volvo Club of America, a member-supported Volvo resource
UK Volvo Club, a member-supported Volvo resource
Brickspeed.Net, a forum for RWD enthusiasts.
Volvo Cars Technical Literature and Service Manuals.
- Printed Books. The VCNA website also has a direct link to the Technical Literature ordering site: http://www.volvotechinfo.com/ at which you can purchase the superb Green Books and parts microfiche. Each book, priced between $20 and $50, covers a specific car system (e.g., "front suspension", "climate control", etc.) so a whole set is quite expensive. You can buy used versions on EBay. The one manual you should always have is the wiring diagram book appropriate for your model and year: these are invaluable. NOTE: a recent tour of the Volvo site (late 2010) showed many of these manuals "no longer available". Another helpful tool is the parts microfiche set: five or six microfiche parts diagrams. You will need to find a local library to view and print these via a fiche printer. See the links above and below for some pirated online scanned copies.
- Service-on-Disk. The Volvo VADIS DVD disks have integrated parts diagrams. You can buy a bootleg disk on EBay for around $30 but be aware that information for early 700/900 cars may be scanty. There is no substitute for the paper Green Books.
- Owners Manuals. For downloadable copies of Volvo owner's manuals, visit the following Volvo Car websites: US: www.Volvocars.US Other Sites: http://www.volvocars.com and select your country. Few have online owner's manuals.
- Pocket Data Book: A scanned copy of the 1991-1997 Pocket Data Book is at http://linuxfan.org/~ipdown/mybrick/docs/Volvo_DataPocket_700-900.pdf
- Wiring Diagrams. Each year and model has a separate wiring diagram book. Various pirates have imaged copies of the Volvo wiring diagram books. These tend to come and go on the Web so if one link does not work, try another:
- one fairly complete set is at: Dropbox using login "volvowiringdiagrams@gmail.com" and password "turbobricks". Click on the "files" tab.
- http://www.volvowiringdiagrams.com/?dir=
- http://www.nuceng.ca/bill/volvo/Volvo740wiring.pdf
- http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/vehiclewiring/1/yeard/Volvo.html
- http://www.autoelectric.ru/auto/volvo/740/1989/740-89.htm
- http://www.brickspeed.net/
- On-Line Systems Information. Volvoworld, a retailer in Quebec, has a nice on-line manual for selected subsystems thanks to founder Stephane Lapointe. See also the link below to Alldata.
- Regina Fuel Injection Manual: a scanned copy of the Volvo Greenbook is found here.
Volvo TSB and Recall Information. [Tip] See the Alldata website for titles of recall notices and Technical Service Bulletins for various Volvo models. You can buy their CD-ROM listing of the text of each title at the same site.
http://www.alldata.com/Commercial Manuals. [Editor] You have several choices in addition to the exceptionally good but very expensive Volvo OEM manuals:
- Chiltons publish a series of manuals for Volvo cars; my favorite is the 1990-1993 Volvo Repair Manual (Chiltons Number 8428; ISBN 0-8019-8428-9) which is focused on RWD cars. Buy it new from IPD for around $20.
- Haynes UK publish a nice Volvo 940 Service and Repair manual (Haynes number 3249; ISBN 1-85960-249-5) which is better than Chiltons on illustrated procedures but has fewer reference statistics. Buy it from IPD or Haynes UK or on EBay at prices up to $30.
- Volvo Problem Solver, available from IPD, is a comprehensive troubleshooting guide to Volvo RWD cars. It is becoming a little dated, with no information about Regina or Motronic systems or 960s, and is best for mid-1980s RWD cars. Still, it has great troubleshooting charts for all major systems on cars up to Bosch LH 2.4. Buy it for $70 from IPD.
- The Gothenburg Bible, by Paul Grimshaw, focuses on basics and the "whys" of preventive maintenance and is updated over the Internet. Buy it from IPD or from Paul for around $30.
- Bentley Bible for 240 Owners, (Robert Bentley) available from IPD for around $47, is exceptionally good but limited to 240s. As a result, it will not reference 700/900 except in congruent engine and transmission systems.
- Bosch Fuel Injection and Engine Management by Charles Probst (Robert Bentley, ISBN 0-8376-0300-5), available from IPD for around $30, is a comprehensive theoretical and practical guide to the Bosch engine management systems on Volvo and other cars. It contains troubleshooting, diagnosis and test procedures, but no specific diagnostics for Volvos using the Bosch diagnostic system. Very good overview of all engine management systems from Bosch.
Bosch Manuals. Having first found it at the local University library, I have now purchased a copy of Automotive Electric/Electronic Systems, by the Robert Bosch company. If you own a Bosch-controlled car, as many of us do, this book is outstanding. For example, it has one of the best descriptions of what the knock sensor does, and what kind of signals it puts out, and how the computer handles them, that I have ever seen. If you really want to understand your car, you will buy this book. Even Swedishbricks, with the combined knowledge of the gurus cannot approach the succinct explanations offered herein. Anyway, the book is available in the US from SAE - the Society of Automotive Engineers - for $39. It can be ordered from their website - http://www.sae.org [Editor] You can purchase chapters of this book for around $10 each on selected subsystems such as alternators, starters, etc., also from SAE.
On-Line Technical Information. [Tip: Ross Winberg] To subscribe to on-line technical data and technical service bulletins, try http://www.alldata.com/ The same database professional mechanics use may be available free of cost to you. Many libraries subscribe to the AllData database. Call your local librarian to find out. AllData is basically a database of all factory repair manuals for all automobiles. It has the complete procedure as well as relevant pictures. It does not have everything, however. Regardless, it is a wonderful resource