Project Shirley Knott's Evil Web Of Shite - Volvo gets a clean sheet MOT, now on to wheel trims, thermostat and brakes revisited

[Zelandeth]

I have had a coolant leak in a car before which only leaked with the engine off and when cold. As soon as it had been running a couple of minutes it would stop...so leave it a day or two and see what happens I'd say.

[Shirley Knott]

Aye, I've literally just knocked it off now after running for 2 hours on the drive produced not a single drop! An eye shall be kept on it over the course of the afternoon and in the coming days etc.

[danthecapriman]

How bizarre. Maybe it was just a touch too loose? Fingers crossed anyway.

[Jim Bell]

Is it still dry now?

[Shirley Knott]

Yep, still bone dry as of 15 minutes ago.

 

My plan is to leave it like that for the next 24 hours and continue checking. If it remains dry then having been tricked by it before, I'm going to whip the front carpet out and take it for a lengthy motorway run to see if that produces any weeping.

 

My thought process is either one of two things is happening. First and most favourable scenario is that I simply hadn't nipped the hoses up tightly enough and it's now fixed, the second more depressing scenario is that it doesn't leak unless driven hard and the system is pressurising under those conditions (Possible HGF?) and coolant is coming out from the point of least resistance (The valve). I'd imagine that in those circumstances the coolant cap should be the point it vents, also I would have imagined 2 hours of idling on the drive would have created sufficient pressure to do it but you never know? I'm guessing basically, but thoughts and prayers are focused on it being scenario A as the latter is a pretty grim prospect.

[Jim Bell]

Fingers and eyes crossed man.  Sounds like a thorough plan anyway.

 

Come on posibility A!!

[Jim Bell]

Is it still dry?

 

Don't leave us on tent hooks!

[Shirley Knott]

Weirdly it is yes.

 

I removed the carpet, bolted the seat back in and made a 60 mile round trip to Scotch Corner nailing down the motorway this morning in an attempt to see if I could get it to burst. It didn't.

 

Perhaps it was a freak occurrence or I hadn't tightened the hose clamps on the valve sufficiently, who knows?

 

It's early days, I'll continue to use the car without a front carpet for the coming weeks and I'm not going to use the 'F' word yet, but things look promising.

[Jim Bell]

Well that's the best result you could have hoped for, touch wood, hail Mary, fingers crossed, turn around, touch the ground to swappys back.

[Shirley Knott]

Aye, properly joyful times.

 

Will check it again tonight when I get in from work this evening to see if it's spaffed incognito whilst I've been out, but as mentioned initial results are encouraging.

[Shirley Knott]

Day 5 in the big Eunos house and there is still no leaking!

 

That's right, after using the 940 during numerous trips for work, pleasure and otherwise including a 60 mile motorway run the newly installed heater valve remains dry. It seems the only failing part in this saga is the plank that didn't tighten the hose clamps as snugly as he should have *blushes*

 

As a reward for not being broken I thought I'd treat the cooling system by installing a fresh expansion tank and cap on the basis that despite cleaning the old one quite successfully it still looked pretty opaque and tired after 25 years of doing various Volvo things. 

 

Hella branded tank and cap as opposed to genuine Volvo on the basis that I want good things but also haven't achieved Rockerfeller financial status yet...

 

 

 

Followed by a wipe over of the engine bay using my secret weapon (WD40) to keep things rust free and presentable...

 

 

 

 

Plans for the car as follows...

 

* Buy and fit an extended bowden heater control cable to enable the Mk1 Golf valve to operate from the HVAC panel (Original cable too short)

* Remove the rest of the carpets and re-install seats to run the car in a carpet-less state in preparation for phase 2.

* Phase 2. Begin to repair the bodged shut/silicone sealed sunroof. Unfortunately the seals for the glass moonroof are no-longer available from Volvo (Shock!) As a result I've spent the winter collecting 940/960 glass sunroof stuff from breaker cars (Yes really) and now have amassed 2 good -ish glass panels including the seals and also a whole setup including the sunroof 'cassette'. Running without carpets will allow me to test these in a 'safe' environment in which I can see any leaks that occur and where from in a live and hands on format.

 

Alas, all of this will have to wait. Tomorrow both of the daily cars (You know, the ones that do some work for a living and for which buying replacement parts is actually possible) need a decent service so I shall have to crack on with that stuff first.

[Broadsword]

Hurrah on fixing the Volvo. I fondly remember a dark green M-reg 940 turbo we had back in the day. Very sturdy, and proper rocking horse action as you drove through the turbo lag and hit the power band. Great car.

[danthecapriman]

Great news the heater valve has stopped leaking. Annoying but at least it seems to have been something simple and easily fixed.

 

Your engine bay looks lovely btw!

[Shirley Knott]

Hurrah on fixing the Volvo. I fondly remember a dark green M-reg 940 turbo we had back in the day. Very sturdy, and proper rocking horse action as you drove through the turbo lag and hit the power band. Great car.

 

Yeah, despite this one being the low pressure turbo model (The same 13C turbo as the HPT version but with a different actuator IIRC) it's set up is quite old fashioned and a bit of a blunt tool in the way it works. The turbo's either on or off, in no way linear or seamless and comes 'on boost' in a very noticeable way. The rocking horse action you describe rings true!

 

Hope the Lupo's treating you well BTW?

 

 

Great news the heater valve has stopped leaking. Annoying but at least it seems to have been something simple and easily fixed.

 

Your engine bay looks lovely btw!

 

 

WD40 is the key. It's all I ever use it for TBH,

 

Spray it about the metal panels in the bay, wipe them over and then tyre gel for the rubber gubbins. Needs doing every couple of months but as mentioned stuff never rusts and it keeps it all looking well.

[Broadsword]

Hope the Lupo's treating you well BTW?

 

It’s doing really well thanks. It drove Yorkshire to London and back this week and did the job surprisingly well. It only used about £30 to do the job and held up pretty well on the A1 and M1 when the A1 was closed.

[Shirley Knott]

Good stuff, glad to hear it.

[The Moog]

Huzzah for the lack of moist

[Shirley Knott]

Today the Golf had its 'major' service...

 

 

 

 

After 20k miles the air filter had a decent shadow so was probably about right in terms of change time....

 

 

 

 

The fuel filter was changed too as again the old one was 20k miles deep. I'm always super careful to prime these properly having been in a position of a no start after rushing a change once (The VAG derv engines are a bugger to bleed if you get it wrong!)

 

 

 

 

She got 4.5l of Quantum Platinum 5W40 and a fresh MANN filter too, whilst the Pela did it's work it allowed me time to check brakes/tyres/bushes etc. After this I moved on to the C1. It's had an oil and filter change as well as a coolant flush and refresh in the last fortnight so not wanting for much really but I thought I might as well chuck a new air filter on...

 

 

 

Service records suggest this was changed just over 5k back but looking at the old filter I'm not convinced. Either way I'm glad I had a look as it was pretty grubby...

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow I might change the gearbox oil as other than plugs that's pretty much the only thing that hasn't been changed. 

 

Once done with that little lot the 940 made the first step to redeeming itself after the latest bout of troubles by collecting a new freezer and then  ferrying the old one to the tip...

 

 

 

 

I've got a bit of a love hate relationship with the Volvo at present but credit where it's due, when it comes to shifting stuff it's very useful. I'm always taken aback by what I can fit in it, the boot space is immense.

[Shirley Knott]

We're just over a month in with the C1 so I thought now would be decent enough time to tot up what the car owes and also for a brief summary.

 

 

 

 

 

Statement Of Accounts

 

C1 on 95k with FSH- £660

Rev Counter/gauge- £20

5l red antifreeze- £11

Mann air filter- £8

5l Shell 5W30 C£- £19

Mann oil filter- £5

Sump plug- £3

ECP special wheel trims- £13

Bosch wiper blade- £18

 

 

TOTAL= £757

 

Admittedly I haven't spent a great deal of time actually driving the car (It belongs to Mrs Eunos really) Pros and cons are as follows...

 

Pros: It's simple to work on and easy to get parts for. Maintenance is straightforward and they boast a chain engine so no belt change interval. To drive it's somewhat uneventful but quiet and fairly frugal having managed an average of 45 mpg over the 500 miles it's covered. Also it's bargainous to tax at £20 for the year and was reasonably inexpensive to buy too, but that did involve some legwork/commitment with saved searches across all of the major online selling platforms and religiously kept half hourly checks over a period of a fortnight.

 

Cons: Build quality is poor, interior plastics are cheap and it shows. Panels are paper thin, driving in one of these in heavy rain or hail is like camping it a tent made of corrugated iron, driving over freshly salted roads creates the same effect only from below, it seems soundproofing is all but non-existent. The seats aren't particularly comfortable and again feel cheap. Compared to the Lupo that it replaced you quickly become painfully aware that you're driving a car that was very much built to a budget. It also uses some oil and has a slightly notchy first gear although some perusing of marque specific forums suggests TADTS which is reassuring (Or is it?)

 

In short it's not bad, but not wonderful either. As a car for 'er indoors' to poodle eight miles to work and then eight miles back each day it serves it's purpose I suppose and perhaps my love for it will grow/develop with time only to blossom like a beautiful flower later on as the months progress, who knows? It'll be staying on the books for a year at any rate providing nothing disastrous occurs as frankly I can't be chewed with looking at more cars/changing insurance.

[gm]

 

 

Panels are paper thin, driving in one of these in heavy rain or hail is like camping it a tent made of corrugated iron, driving over freshly salted roads creates the same effect only from below, it seems soundproofing is all but non-existent.

 

I took mine through one of those conveyor belt car washes last week - it was bloody terrifying

[Shirley Knott]

It's mad isn't it.

 

I used to have a Ford Ka, they were also a hugely cheap/budget car and yet I don't remember them being like that... Maybe as I was young/foolish I didn't notice.

[theshadow]

notchy 1st gear,adjust it easy fix,ive done this yesterday on 176000 mile one,

[Shirley Knott]

notchy 1st gear,adjust it easy fix,ive done this yesterday on 176000 mile one,

 

 

Re adjustment, I assume you mean adjusting the clutch? If so then I've had at it and it did make a decent improvement. TBF it's not terrible, just not as slick as I'd like really.

 

Also original list updated with some extra expenses I'd forgotten to include!

[Shirley Knott]

Meanwhile this weekend the Volvo has been continuing to earn it's keep ferrying interior doors back from B&Q and then subsequently shuttling the old ones to the tip...

 

 

 

 

 

Also I've had a another small win/step towards sorting the cables out to the new heater valve, as mentioned the old valve had two cables running to it, this caused me massive confusion.

 

I could see one of them opened and closed the valve allowing hot coolant to run through the matrix, the second cable I couldn't work out.... I've now cracked it! The second cable opens/closes an air recirculation flap and after some mucking about I've discovered that the heater works in both hot and cold functions whilst the recirc cable is in the 'open' position.... This makes life much more simple and means only one cable needs extending and bracketing in to the new (Golf) valve provided I'm prepared to live without air recirculation mode (I am). The net is slowly closing in and this sucker will be working from the dash controls sooner rather than later, my days of reaching under the dash and moving the valve by hand to control temperature in the cabin are numbered.

[Shirley Knott]

Time to bite the bullet!

I bought the 940 with a bodged shut sunroof just over a year ago now, since then I've procrastinated constantly about what to do with it.

It's a bit of a tricky one as replacement seals are no longer available from Volvo, and despite being ugly, the bodge works and it doesn't seem to leak... I've decided that I can live with it no longer, having spent the winter collecting mostly no-longer available sunroof parts from breaker cars, now is the time to get stuck in and start opening some packages/grasping some nettles.

The situation...

 

 

Closer Clarice...

 

 

Yup, it's properly bad isn't it.

Mojo regained, I've now dragged the good used 960 glass 'moonroof' from the shed and released it from the bubble wrap coffin in which it's sat for many months...

 

 

Part numbers seem to match, WCPGW?

I'll complete this task in stages over the coming weeks as it'll involve removing all carpets, dropping the headliner, cleaning and checking mechanisms as well as trying to deal with the excess of sikaflex/silicone type wob that currently besmirches the good character of the cars roof somehow, all of which could result in making a car that doesn't leak leak again....

It's going to be emotional...

 

 

[Shirley Knott]

EDIT: Fixed underlined text issue from the above post. New forum= weird teething issues .

[The Moog]

Looking forward to see this done, I think I would be bricking it at this point.  Fearing I would be left with just a massive hole in the roof.

[Shirley Knott]

45 minutes ago, snagglepuss said:

Looking forward to see this done, I think I would be bricking it at this point.  Fearing I would be left with just a massive hole in the roof.

 

Everyone I've spoken to about it has told me in no uncertain terms not to mess about with it... My bodyshop guy said in his opinion the only realistic way to fix things would be to pay a third party company to fit a slightly oversize aftermarket sunroof to rectify/replace the mess that's there. Rather than listen to the advice I've had, I've taken a 'Challenge accepted' attitude to it.

It's either going to be perfect, or tragic. 

Either way it's only a car/nuts and bolts at the end of the day, I've spent way too much time umming and ahhing. It's time to just get stuck in. 

 

[Shirley Knott]

Right, sunroof capers resume...

This morning during an uncharacteristic moment of clarity/insight I realised the glass panel of the sunroof is only held onto the cassette by four small 8mm bolts! As far as I'm aware there's not much wrong with the mechanism that's already fitted to the car so changing the whole kit and caboodle might be completely unnecessary provided I can simply replace the glass panel. 

Dropping the headliner was a task I was dreading so anything that facilitates me avoiding it has to be worth a try.

Sunroof detached from cassette and sat looking pretty sexy after a good cleanup...

 

And the cassette with the glass panel removed, clear to see how the drainage system works when looking at it from above...

 

 

Next step, carpet and seats were removed (Again) Not strictly required, but getting the whole lot stripped out takes under half an hour and it will allow me to see the source of any leaks straight away after the new roof is fitted....

 

 

After this, deep breath, the silicone was cut out and the sunroof lifted out of the car. No turning back now...

 

 

Things looked pretty grim...

 

 

After (literally) three hours of constant mither with a drill mounted toffee wheel, stanley blades, panel wipe and rags I resigned to the fact that there really isn't a quick or easy way to remove silicone/sikaflex from bodywork. By late afternoon I was just about there with 99% of the wob having been rubbed off...

 

 

Take note anyone who might feel like it's a good idea to seal up a sunroof like this, put the silicone down!

 

 

 

 

 

[Sir Snipes]

I like a glass sun/moon roof but they really are a pain in the arse once they start to fail. Many Opel Mantas ruined by the dodgy factory sunroof.