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Volvo 960 Revival; An unexpected conclusion.


Austin-Rover

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Thank you everyone for your encouraging words. Still plenty to do on this car (they joys of getting stuff cheap from friends!) but it is getting there. There's been temptation to sort out the obvious stuff first, like the scuffed bumpers but I'm glad that I've not. It's lovely to just get in and go for a waft and have confidence in the old thing. Various clunks from the front suspension mean that drop links, track rod ends and a couple of bushes are the next things to tackle. Getting both bumpers resprayed would be nice, but we'll have to see...

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  • 4 months later...

More jobs ticked off in the last couple of months; new drop links means less clunking and banging on the high quality highways of West Yorkshire. The expansion tank was on its way out - I noticed a tiny pinhole that would leak fine bubbles of coolant, and on closer inspection, the old tank was degraded and full of hairline fractures. A new one was thirty quid from the main dealer.

 

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  • 6 months later...

Thread update!

This wonderful and sublime machine is up for sale. It has (as of today) 12 months and 9 days-worth of MoT. Check out the advert for it;

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1208600

Autoshite discount applies for interested parties from here.

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That looks lovely!

How was the heritage day, I was away for the last one at Clive Brook but I'll be popping down to the next one, bit worried my S60 is a bit new compared to the other stuff turning up as it's only 15!

How was the 960 Towing the van? I've got a very similar one (Ace Aristocrat 530/4) and my S60 tows it very well, probably uses more fuel than yours did though!

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20 hours ago, Cento16v said:

That looks lovely!

How was the heritage day, I was away for the last one at Clive Brook but I'll be popping down to the next one, bit worried my S60 is a bit new compared to the other stuff turning up as it's only 15!

How was the 960 Towing the van? I've got a very similar one (Ace Aristocrat 530/4) and my S60 tows it very well, probably uses more fuel than yours did though!

I've not managed to get to a heritage day for a couple of months. I should really try my best for the next one before the car sells!

It tows the caravan well, mid teens fuel consumption though!

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  • 4 months later...

So it turns out a pandemic is a really bad time to sell a 3.0 petrol saloon car. The Volvo remains. I suppose if it were an estate it would have sold three times over, but here we are!

Anyway; it's a good job it didn't sell, as it was required to tow the caravan for our first weekend away anywhere since February. My driving licence won't let me tow with the other tow car, a Discovery 2; so in steps the Volvo!

I had a baaad feeling about today even before I set off and I was proven correct when I rolled to a stop at Jct 22 on the M62 this afternoon. For local people, lets set the scene; The caravan lives in Elland. Elland is at the bottom of a very steep hill from the M62. Normally not a problem as the Elland bypass offers a reasonable climb up the side of the valley to Jct 24 Ainley Top. Not this week, however. It is being resurfaced. The 'other' way out of Elland is up an 11% incline, single carriageway, parked cars, all the usual bollocks. Anyway, I manage that. Next, up the slip road, emphasis on even more of the 'up' stuff. The M62, again, mostly more of the 'up' including the long slog up to the summit at Jct 22. Not far from Jct22, I have to move out a lane to pass a slow moving HGV. The first indication that something is wrong is that the gearbox doesn't kick down a gear when I move out to pass. The second, is the gearbox warning light is now flashing. Thirdly there's plumes of smoke coming from under the car. I get past the truck and bail out on to the hard shoulder, I figure I can keep it moving a bit further to the junction so I can park on the slip road rather than the motorway proper - it's going to be much safer. A quick look under shows there to be oil from the gearbox steadily dripping out. The smoke was it burning off on the exhaust.

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I got to work on my tan for a couple of hours before I was recovered home. (trying again with the towing tomorrow with the Disco). Once home, the Volvo drove on to the driveway without a problem. It selects all gears and is seemingly undamaged. Current thinking is that I've cooked the gearbox oil (it's now black, so ruined anyway) and it's either come out of the breather, or from a pipe to/from the oil cooler. If following that line of enquiry, was it the hot weather and the act of towing that tipped it over the edge? or was there an underlying problem with the pipes to/from the radiator, or the radiator itself?

Investigations planned for next weekend...

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Had a look at the Volvo today, starting with checking the oil level in the box; just about on the dip stick and way under the MIN level. It didn't look or smell burnt, so things might be okay!

After rigging up Volvo Special Tool #2 for refilling the gearbox (pictured), a litre of the correct oil went in. After checking the level again, it was spot on and during a quick drive all seems well so perhaps it has survived unscathed?

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I think it'll sit SORN now for a month or two as there's a few other things going on car-wise and the Volvo isn't going to get a look-in.

 

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  • 7 months later...

The 960 survived its overheated gearbox unscathed... and quickly afterwards it disappeared into the restrictions of another lockdown, only appearing back at home again last week. I made the effort to collect it from its exile with a view to getting it MoT'd and ultimately up for sale (again). I couldn't have picked a worse time to sell such a car, at the start of the pandemic. Efforts to sell it went nowhere.

Twelve months later, a different story. A chance Facebook tag last weekend saw it introduced to the enthusiastic new owner. A week later and this evening it set sail into the drizzle and off to its next chapter...

I'll miss it!

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  • Austin-Rover changed the title to Volvo 960 Revival; An unexpected conclusion.

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