jonathan_dyane Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I was alerted to the availability of this beast by FOAD and being now without any Swedish turbo action was quite unable to resist! Three trains were necessary to get to Dumfries and the trip was almost aborted before it become after I almost knocked myself out hitting my head on a sign at the first train station (thankfully no one witnessed this particular act of stupidity). Despite this fail I managed to get myself there reasonably intact and collected my reward. Drove back without any problems whatsoever but the following issues are apparent. Exhaust manifold gasket blownPassenger side door card insert brokenHeater only blows tepid air (engine temperature normal)Idle speed excessiveLack of boost making for leisurely progressFront sidelamp inoperative due to broken bulb holderLong overdue a service (brown ATF!)Needs more seat travel to cope with my lanky legsNo load bay cover (was this an optional extra?)Rear window washer inoperative All should be relatively easily rectified delighted with the purchase so far! theorganist, Junkman, Craig the Princess and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 You are a brave man taking a Volvo from Scotlandshire forddeliveryboy, Magnificent Rustbucket, jonathan_dyane and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 I was expecting a blockade at the border! Junkman, fotorabia and eddyramrod 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthecapriman Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Ooooooh you'll be in the shit when the SVM find out! Nice purchase though, nice to see one this side of the border for a change! jonathan_dyane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KruJoe Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 SELECTA! That's a fine choice you've made sir. How are you going to improve the seat travel? jonathan_dyane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cms206 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 "Hi, you're through to The SVM. Sorry we can't take your call at the moment, but an urgent situation has broken out which our team are busy dealing with. If you wish to leave a message please press one, or hold for our next available operator." rml2345, jonathan_dyane, KruJoe and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 'They're coming to get you, Barbera*' You'll be known as barbera by the time they finish with you... cms206 and jonathan_dyane 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Be careful that when you park it, it doesn't face north Magnificent Rustbucket, eddyramrod and jonathan_dyane 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DodgyBastard Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 How much did you get it for in the end? This was the guy I bought my Proton from, he said he wanted £150 for it, I said after viewing it that I was going to offer him £100 for it and he just said OK! If he had let me finish I was going to tell him the car was perfect and he could have the asking price of £150.Glad to see it's gone to a good home. fotorabia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 I gave him £350 for it in the end so I think I did alright although I'm not looking forward to the manifold gasket and I haven't looked underneath properly yet to see what horrors lay beneath the lovely coachwork. No idea how I'll alter the seat travel, but I'm sure I'll find a way! Really enjoying driving an auto again although the enjoyment is tempered by the fear of the (ZF) box failing in an exciting manner... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 I've just ordered a large parcel of service stuff from CP4less (which will all be wrong no doubt) and I'll swing by the Volvo dealer next week to see about a new manifold gasket (after going to that level of trouble I won't be chancing aftermarket). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 I've made a bit of progress with this in a couple of bursts. Just after I bought it I had a trip to Durham planned to rebuild an MZ engine for father and in between doing that I managed to change to service it and replace the exhaust manifold gaskets (which the dunces who had replaced the cylinder head had managed to fit the wrong way round which had led to their early failure. I was then rewarded by the car refusing to pull and spent ages dicking around putting the old plugs and leads back in and all sorts of stupid stuff but finally found the problem was an intake hose which had slightly missed its spigot on the underside and made it completely undrivable. The girlfriend had met me in Durham and I was slightly anxious that on the outward journey the heater had been only lukewarm. Through no intervention by me on the return leg the heater decided to go into volcano mode which required driving with the windows open despite sub zero outside temperatures. I'm sure I'll have great *fun fixing this particularly as it is an early automatic climate control system. Until today the car has been semi in disgrace due to the heater, continued rough running and incredible thirst but I managed to spent a couple of hours spannering today. I removed and cleaned the throttle valve which has improved the general running however the idle is still rough and unstable but also too high (about 1000rpm) despite the idle screw being screwed fully in. I rather suspect the idle control unit thing which I'll have a go at dismantling and cleaning out if I get the chance tomorrow. I do think that it is running too rich however given the stink the car emanates, the sootiness of the old plugs and the thirst (less than 20mpg). I'm not terribly familiar with Motronic but I'm sure it's an open loop system and all I could really think of off the top of my head that might cause overfuelling were a problem with the temperature sensor and/or leaking injector. I did try pulling the wire off the temperature sensor (which I think makes the system default to fuelling for 20 degrees C) which I though maybe made it run better but the jury's still out. I can't get over how tidy it is, and thankfully underneath seems solid too. It would however benefit from some waxoyl thrown about underneath when the weather improves. Hopefully I can soon get to the bottom of the niggles because they do rather spoil it. The rough and overfast idle gives for a sensation of stopping a manual car in gear without depressing the clutch and unless you take it into neutral the torque convertor fights with the brakes. Hopefully fiddling with the idle control valve may help. dollywobbler, Lacquer Peel, DodgyBastard and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 I found some more time for buggering about today. First off see below the reason for the heater which can't be turned down.The copper pipe is where there should be a valve, the vacant vacuum pipe that should operate it is between my thumb and finger. I can't really understand why it took several hundred miles for the heater to become hot, I can only assume that the matrix was either airlocked or partly blocked and has cleared with use. This copper pipe also explains the strange knock from behind the dash... The main object of today's tinkering Taking it off it didn't seem particularly clogged inside but it's innards seemed to drift about without a great deal of direction when I prodded them with a screwdriver. I decided to see what the idle was like without it And although I had to turn the air bleed right up on the throttle body I was rewarded with the smoothest idle the car had had. Regardless I put the cleaned valve back on and although it seemed to behave initially it quickly went back to bad behaviour. I did try driving with an improvised set upThis did generally work better but isn't a real solution. Apart from the risk of losing the mole grips the reason for fitting electronic idle control is apparent because at different points in the journey tickover varied between being at 900 rpm and the point of stalling. As a final bonus I cracked why performance has been generally underwhelming!An unhappy hissing alerted me to a point where the vacuum piping had been melted to the engine and was badly leaking. A temporary bodge repair with some motorcycle battery vent tubing and apart from idle the car is running really very nicely and with loads more power, indeed the level of power on demand is at points quite off-putting because between the slushbox and the turbo lag dialling in a load of throttle results in a goodish pause before things kick in and you're being catapulted forwards really quite firmly. There was a point where a young lad in a Fiesta ST decided we were racing and I'm not sure who was more frightened him or me! Although the flaky central locking has decided it doesn't want to unlock the boot anymore (and the key doesn't fit the boot either) and I've realised that the MOT needs doing immediately I'm starting to feel that this was in fact a good choice. Although it doesn't have the personality and character of the C900 which immediately won me over, I am growing fonder of this old bus. Skizzer, garethj, Coprolalia and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Bo11ox Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Sweet car this and it sounds like you know what you are doing with it, great work man. jonathan_dyane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Cheers Boll, I'm making it up as I go along! I'm looking forward to seeing yours through the test! The plan ultimately is to get the thing reliable and able to fulfil the 'standby' role for when the XM is indisposed or when I fancy a change. It is I must say generally quite pleasing to tinker with due to good access and straightforward design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 Two major items to report. I took the idle control valve completely to bits cleaned it’s innards and replaced and it worked for half an hour then went back to playing up. I managed to score a shiny new MOT which did require a spot of welding but nothing too traumatic and I’ve decided I can’t live without a Saab 900 and Vulva must go. I just miss the Saab too much L£500 would almost recoup my expenditure but I’ll listen to offers… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Part of me wants to buy it just to bring it back to the area it came from but most of me is going OMG MPG. jonathan_dyane and Cavcraft 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Part of me wants to buy it just to bring it back to the area it came from but most of me is going OMG MPG. Inverness judging by the number plate. M'coli 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derskine Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Part of me wants to buy it just to bring it back to the area it came from but most of me is going OMG MPG. Just get it bought, worry about small details later. jonathan_dyane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Station Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Remembering how tall you are, I'd suggest taking the front seat out and just sit on the rear bench. Must be hard being this way as I'm a relative short arse and I find leg room a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Inverness judging by the number plate. Before Jonathan got it I mean, it was a local car to me, I'm sure I saw it just a few weeks ago actually. It came up for sale on a local Facebook page and I posted it in the Ebay Tat thread. Just get it bought, worry about small details later. But but but I want a diesel one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 If you want something good on fuel don't buy an old Volvo with a prehistoric diesel engine, I think some healthy petrol engined models are more fuel efficient. rml2345 and HMC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rml2345 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 ^ That. You'd be as well buying this one and enjoying the noise it makes.Looks lovely too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 For ref,that icv looks like the same sort of thing as fitted to bmw e30s with the 1.6 and 1.8 m40 4cyl-realatively easy to get 2nd hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 If you want something good on fuel don't buy an old Volvo with a prehistoric diesel engine, I think some healthy petrol engined models are more fuel efficient. It's the prehistoricness I like about it though, I like the absurd clatter they make. It's not a pleasant noise I admit but if I wanted something that sounded nice I'd get a twin cam Daihatsu and still enjoy decent fuel economy. Lacquer Peel and oman5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 +1 I love the noise they make, ever since my childhood neighbour across the road had an LT 35 with that engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Another Volvo raffle! As all you lucky people know those who win in life drive Volvos, and the very most fortunate of that number drive 760 Turbos. I am therefore delighted to offer you the exclusive and surely unrepeatable opportunity to be the owner of just such a magnificent piece of Swedish engineering for the remarkable price of £10! How can you possibly afford not to join in! How it works.49 numbers are available and in order to have your chance to be a winner! simply PM me with your chosen number(s) and I’ll send you my paypal email address so you can send me a tenner. When I have the tenner I’ll put your name against your number below. Please also PM me your paypal email address so I can figure out which paypal email address fits with which autoshiter.12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849The Prize DrawThe numbers correspond to the bonus ball on the national lottery. The draw which is the one which will give you the chance to win the Vulva is the one on the Saturday after next, Saturday the 4th of April. In the hopefully unlikely event that all tickets are not sold and an unsold ticket ‘wins’ we will roll over until the next lottery draw.The PrizeA beautiful 760 Turbo with strikingly straight bodywork and 12 months MOT. Mechanically it is fundamentally sound but like most elderly Volvos has various niggly faults. The main ones are 1) unsteady idle – likely to be idle control valve, 2) passenger side door card broken, 3) heater fan tired, 4) heater valve missing and bypassed so heater is permanently on. Toasty!It has loads of potential and will make a minter with minimum investment and spannering. I’m only raffling it because another lovely Saab has turned my head so I need the money… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cms206 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME AGAIN!!!!!! Lucky 13 again please. Let me know how to pay... jonathan_dyane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Baws, I was going to take 13 because it won last time. I neither want nor need this car. Put me down for 42 and 22. jonathan_dyane and eddyramrod 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 12345678910111213 cms206141516171819202122 Richard2324252627282930313233343536373839404142 Richard43444546474849 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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