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Dripping 29 November 2009

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24th March 2007

I had booked an MOT for 12:10pm today so at about 11:00am I headed out to the garage to start it up and get the battery charged. I used booster cables to hook up to my 240 to charge the battery for a while before I attempted to start it. I got the engine started on about the third attempt which was when I found that the clutch had seized again. I got the car out of the garage on the starter and let it warm up the engine while I had occasional attempts to unseize the clutch. It took quite a few tries before I finally broke it free and I did not have much time left before the MOT appointment. The MOT went fairly smoothly with just a headlight needing adjusting and an advisory for a seatblet beginning to fray. I did have a bit of a worry when I saw a liquid dripping from the car when it was up on the ramp but I eventually realised it was just the screen wash from the wipers test. So I now have a shiny new MOT certificate, the insurance and tax disc were also renewed last month so it is all road legal again. The pinion seal definitely needs replacing and sooner rather than later as there was quite a pool of oil from where it sat and dripped all winter. This is not an easy job as the torque required to undo the nut on the flange is quite high indeed, so you need a robust way to stop the flange rotating.

New battery 23 November 2009

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1st March 2006

I spent some time with the car on Sunday. I attempted to take the flame trap apart in the oil cap but the two halves of the case were too tightly joined to part company from each other. So instead I just sprayed it full of carb cleaner. I also discovered that I had the PCV valve back to front. The PCV valve and oil trap also got a good dosing of carb cleaner so I hope that will see an end to the oil being expelled from the cap. Listening to the engine running it sounds a bit like a sewing machine which I believe is the noise you get from badly adjusted valves. I found that the instrument lights came on when I twisted the lighting knob all the way anti-clockwise, the opposite way to how I would expect. The passenger door is not latching shut properly so I attempted to remove the door trim to get at the lock mechanism only to find that a PO had glued the window winder handle on – I was not happy about discovering that. Monday I removed the battery and put it on charge for a bit but I then decided that it had at least one shorted cell and so I have bought a new one. The local car parts place had one the same size on the shelf and it even had the terminals the right way round which was good, the price and only getting a two year guarantee were not so good though.

Flat battery 23 November 2009

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25th February 2006

I took the family out for a drive today. The battery had gone flat so I did not want to risk turning the engine off after jump starting it with some borrowed jump leads. The excuse for the drive was to drop my youngest daughter off at a party. While waiting for my wife to return to the car I had the bonnet up and noticed air bubbles being drawn into the fuel filter. This was a bit odd as I didn’t think that it should be running out of petrol yet, but with the dodgy fuel gauge I thought I had better fill up in any case. So of course I had to stop the engine while filling the tank. I could only get a bit over 23 litres in, so there had been plenty of petrol in the tank and needn’t have bothered filling it up at all. This was after about 20 minutes driving so I hoped the battery would have been charged enough by then. No such luck, when I turned the key to start there was just a faint click. I bought some jump leads from the garage and flagged down a friendly motorist to start it again. A bit of an adventure but it was OK in the end. While poking around under the bonnet I noticed oil being expelled from the filler cap so I think either the PCV valve is blocked or the oil trap. I’ll have to clean them out before it blows a seal. The choke is still too stiff to come off after use so I have to open the bonnet and push the linkage back after it has warmed up. I also bought some paint stripping tools and some primer as well so I can start addressing some of the rusty paint work. I also have a Waxoyl kit to apply as well. I am becoming daunted again by just how much work there is still to do. I think I shall be busy for a few years yet.

New parts 21 November 2009

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Engine bay with new parts

29th November 2005

Just a quick visit to the car this morning but I managed to take the above photo of the engine bay with the heater housing replaced, new heater hoses, braided fuel hose, new radiator cap and quite a few other things that you can’t see. I fitted the flexible hose from the hard line to the fuel pump but I have not secured it yet as I am planning to suck the petrol through with a vacuum pump before attempting to start the engine. I don’t want to flatten the battery before I even get petrol to the carburettors!

Parts not delayed 14 November 2009

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12th November 2005

Brookhouse Volvo did me proud as their delivery arrived first thing this morning. I now have the correct lower radiator hose, heater drain hose and heater valve so I can re-instate the whole coolant system now at last. The correct connector to mate to the one on the tank also arrived this morning. For the record the thread is 1/2inch UNF 20 and the pipe is 5/16od. I spent the morning removing the fuel tank and sloshing some ‘Marine Clean’ around inside to get rid of the varnish and other gunk. I also took the top off the fuel pump and removed the debris from the screen. I discovered that the heater housing drain hose has a plastic plug in the top that I nearly destroyed in removing it, but it helps to keep the hose in place, fortunately it was salvageable and is now happily seated in the new hose. I re-assembled and fitted the heater housing as well but did not fit all the new pipes as I decided to buy all new pipe clips and now I am glad that I got no further with that. After some discussion about what to do with the sensor tube from the heater valve it seems that it goes through a gap in the seam of the two halves of the heater housing, which I must admit I have not found yet, so I may have to remove the housing again in order to fit it correctly. I bought the pipe clips, some ss braided fuel hose to go from the pump to the carbs, some plain fuel hose to join the hard line to the pump, a fuel filter and a fan belt. I put the battery on charge as it still seems to have some life in it.

Not so bad 14 November 2009

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View of engine bay to rear

View of engine bay to front

28th October 2005

I take the battery out of the car and discover that the battery box has previously been repaired and what I saw from inside the car was the repair patch and not the battery. It may not be pretty at the moment but at least the battery is not in imminent danger of falling into the passenger footwell and it is one less job that would need doing before driving it anywhere. In the boot there is a short hose and I guess that this is the missing hose from the heater valve to the matrix, I wish I knew why it had been bypassed. I suppose it probably leaks and so will need replacing. The air vents I bought on Ebay have arrived when I get home from work as have the new air filters. I also bought a length of hose to replace the radiator to expansion tank hose that is rotten.

Rusty box 14 November 2009

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Corroded base of battery box

27th October 2005

I attempt to put some antifreeze in but give it up as I cannot get the radiator cap off. I use a soft brush to dislodge some more of the leaves etc in the engine bay, most of it is gone now and looking better for it (see below). I notice the battery box is just about completely destroyed by rust (see above) and that the fresh air vent is not closing on the passenger side. I manage to buy a pair of vents on Ebay as well as some poly bushings. Still cannot find the VIN. Looking at pictures on the web I decide that the worrisome pipe is in fact the heater control valve and should indeed have hoses attached. Lots of the hoses under the bonnet are looking the worse for wear including the fuel pipes so I think I shall have to replace them all. When I get home the POR15 tank repair kit from Frost has arrived so if I have time over the weekend I shall start the process. I also ordered a pair of chrome air filter housings from Gower and Lee that have a washable foam element inside for less than the cost of the Volvo elements and they would need replacing after 12,000 miles or so.