idiotboy

Proper motorcycle flood driving technique shown here:

Just had to detour in the Valiant Volvo 340 variospastic as the road in front was blocked, by 3 things. 1. Over a metre of water 2. A hydrauliced BMW X5 in the left lane water almost up to the bonnet line. 3. A similarly f**ked Merc M class (with a lady sitting on its roof waiting for rescue) facing the other way. I must admit I felt sorry for them for ooh maybe a nanosecond and then laughed heartily, 3 point turned and trundled off to take the other road.

More like Turn key - nuffin happens Open bonnet Swear Hit starter with a handy hammer Turn key Churn Churn Churn Churn Cough Cough Varoom Close bonnet Jump in select gear Drive off Realise that site is still on axle stands too late..

French Cars erm 1977 2CV6 - 1st car - the usual bag of pants wrapped in Isopon held together with spit, string and hope...lots of hope. 1978 Mehari - short term during Summer 95 ahhhh the memories 1986 2CV6 - sensible car on its 3rd chassis when I had it and 150K miles rebuilt it and it was written off by sleeping lady BMW 5 series owner. 1987 2CV6 - brightly polished turd 1977 Ami 8 Estate - fantasic car loved it to bits, sold to buy 88' 2CV, it's still running even now. 1973 Ami 8 Saloon - now in its 14th year in my possession. 1988 2CV6 - immaculate low milage car I loved it to bits, sold it to a complete tosser to buy a DS. Car now in New Zealand. 1983 CX 20 Safari - Took over from my father who fell out of love with it 1985 CX25 Pallas - see above 1988 CX22 TRS- Got for free from Aberdeen, kept for as long as the gaffa tape lasted. Flogged for £50 1974 Ami Super Service van- lowered, GSA 1300 non eco engine and 5 speed box, peppermint green, rusty and seriously fast. 1978 GS Pallas - spent too long in a private museum before I owned it, so everything was f***ed. 1984 GSA X3 - Rusty heap driven until MOT expired and broken for parts 1967 DS 19 Pallas - Bought from an con man. Caught fire on his drive way. Isopon, chickenwire and poprivets from the b post rearwards. 1974 DSpecial - Bought but still bankrupted me. 1989 BX14TE - Cheap winter hack owned for 6 mths...it was very white 1983 LNA - Small scurrying mouse of a car, great fun. 1977 2CV - back to my roots 1986 2CV - donor car for above. Just realised I've never had a renault or a peugoet (except the LNA), that's brand loyalty that is...or stupidity.

Crew cab C15 anyone? http://www.leboncoin.fr/utilitaires/393216665.htm?ca=17_s

Ian, all men are born equal it's just that some are born with the belief that a dented broken, undesireable car with not MOT'd is worth more than £50 in the middle of a recession. He's persistant in that scary way that Yosser "Gis a Job" is though to give him his due, but personally and joking aside he must be a total tit.

Hi Well the CVT vacuum pipes being connected up correctly has made the gear change much better, plus the wheezing noise made by the 4 way valve has stopped. Its still hunting and uneven at idle. Carb service kit was ordered from Webcon yesterday so fingers crossed that new gaskets and a a rubdown of the carb flange will improve matters. Again i find myself fixing things after the presence of the artful bodger.

The Carb is a Webber 32 DIR 104/100, I've also found that some muppet (not me) in the past has connected up the Vacuum lines to the CVT system wrong. The pipe to the solenoid that should be connected to the air cleaner and free to atmosphere was connected into the vac line from the carb with a T piece. I'm going to correct that first and see if it makes any difference.

What did it do when you tried this? Smoother, faster, slower or rougher? Smoother and slightly faster.

Hi Well, things seem to be ok on the open road vario works ok, I think (not having anything to compare against) it just goes a bit wrong at Idle. Let me try taking off the carb give it a clean out, check its base for warpage (replace any gaskets and O rings that need doing) and if its still a bag of crap afterwards then I can rule that out an induction air leak. If there are any Volvo 340 Vario or Daf bods on here can they look at this diagram which is a map of the engine vacuum hoses and confirm that its connected up OK. I'm pretty sure it is but lets rule out anything stoopid up front.

Yes pretty sure. You wind it in and it stops running, you wind it out and the revs rise so, I'm fairly certain.

Had another 30 minute look see at the car. OK with the choke out runs lovely but there is an auto choke shut off and as soon as that cuts in its all over the place. The Mixture screw is almost right out of the carb and I've checked all hoses for leaks and they seem fine. I sprayed carb cleaner around the base of the carb and all of a sudden the revs rise. So my thinking is that the base of the carb is warped or not sealing. My replacing of the Servo pipe has somehow made the car suck in more air which is making it run too lean even with the mixture screw all the way out. I've checked all the vacuum hoses for leaks and they all seem tight and good and the only time I noticed any difference was when I sprayed Carb cleaner at the carb base. I'm hoping someone on here can tell me the conclusions I'm coming to sound about right, but either way it seems that the carb has to come off for a check. As if that wasn't enough I've also got to get the Allegro booked in for a pump up. Should I go for a complete drain down and vacuum out and refill with new fluid or just a pump up? cheers Matt

From what I've been reading on Volvo forums, the carbs on the b14 engine are prone to shaking themselves to bits, due in part to Volvo's stupid idea of fitting a massive air cleaner to the top of it. That acts as a pendulum and makes things worse. The only things I've changed have been noticably broken i.e. split vac hoses, brittle HT leads, worn out Dizzy cap/rotor arm, air filter, fraying fan belt, and the servo hose which had collapsed in on itself. It must be the mother of all air leaks somewhere, so my next port of call is to try eliminiating vacuum outlets from the carb/inlet manifold, by disconnecting them and blocking the outlets to see if any improvement is seen. I've also ordered up a service kit for the carb as its sods law if I take the carb off to clean it, there'll be a knackered gasket or diaphram somewhere. I did try adjusting the mixture and the screw took 6 and a half turns to wind it in. The thing is I've had to wind it back out to that setting just to get it to idle at all, its obviously been suffering from some issue for a while, and probably the reason why the previous owner decided to sell it.

Hi Chaps Well adjusting the mixture, replacing the HT leads, dizzy cap and rotor arm made no difference. The engine is still shaking and running like crap at idle. Its also feels like its hunting at light throttle. I'm guessing that it must be too lean somehow so suspecting there must be a massive air leak somewhere, but if anyone has any ideas please let me know. Cheers Matt

Thanks I'll try the mixture setting and see if it makes any difference.