Tim's Fleet - just not towing the line!

[rob88h 806]

I love a good Volvo, and that looks a good Volvo. 

[danthecapriman 13446]

17 hours ago, jon.k said:

What's the refinement like on the motorway? Would these make a good motorway car considering that no-one seems to go much more than 80 these days anyway?

They are very good for motorway use, they’ll do 70+ easy enough but quick they aren’t. They’re more suited to long distance cruising in comfort. Remember, these Volvo’s sold very very well in the USA where long hauls are commonplace and there’s a good reason they became popular. 
The down side is the fuel economy isn’t great. It’s not V8 levels of bad but for a mid sized 4 cylinder it’s not great!

I had a 2.3GLE auto saloon before my current estate and I did some long runs in that up and down the country and it handled it all with ease, tbh there’s few better ways to do it imho, providing you don’t mind paying more for fuel. Even now most 700’s are 30 years old and they can still do the job well, says a lot about how good these cars are.

[eddyramrod 17351]

When I had my 740 GLE estate, 2.3 auto, I was commuting 27 miles each way, some of which was on a Private Test Track* where three-figure cruising was the norm.  I also had to fight my way through Preston.  Trust me, an older Volvo with some subtle scarring is an excellent tool for both jobs!  In 2013 I bought a 940 turbo estate from here, again a 2.3 auto, but somehow it didn't have the same magic.  It was ridiculously fast in the mid-sized range though.

Now I have a girly Volvo, an 850 estate, 2.5 auto.  It's certainly fast enough round town and is still a pretty acceptable load carrier, but FWD just feels wrong in a car this size.  It's also not as capacious as the 7/9 body.  But, it's a bit shabby and lightly scarred, which is how I like an old Volvo to look.

Conclusion: I need another 740 in my life, same spec as the one I had before.  A 740 is so near a perfect car I (a serial Cadillac owner, remember) still maintain an enduring love  for them.

[Tim_E 2742]

Right, engine shots.

There's daylight and ground visible either side of it! Old cars...

[Tim_E 2742]

Been for a family ride out.

Living the dream I think!

And back home.

[danthecapriman 13446]

Nice! Quite an early face lift 700, with a B200E engine by the looks of it. Nice and easy to work on and pretty bulletproof mechanically. Give your flame trap a clean and a new filter element as I bet it’s dirty. If they plug up it over pressurises the crankcase and starts causing leaks etc. 

[Tim_E 2742]

55 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Nice! Quite an early face lift 700, with a B200E engine by the looks of it. Nice and easy to work on and pretty bulletproof mechanically. Give your flame trap a clean and a new filter element as I bet it’s dirty. If they plug up it over pressurises the crankcase and starts causing leaks etc. 

I think it's the B200E, it's the 2.0 red block by common parlance. And it's the my90 face 'update' so it's got some nice features like extra galvanisation and slightly tidier styling of the front and rear.

You'll have to explain the mechanical thingamy... What and where is the flame trap? By filter element do you mean air filter? There's a slight oil leak on the mot and underneath when I park, I think it's the rocker cover gasket? you can see a shiny area around the gasket anyway. Mechanically it seems fine, I'm told it's fine. I know it's had hgf and front brake seizure c/w boiling brake fluid, and the relevant repairs along with enthusiastic servicing in recent history.  Power steering seems a bit lumpy but everything in the engine bay seems to work well.

I'm very glad of advice and as this is a keeper I'm keen to do what's necessary, even by myself even though I've discovered in not mechanically inclined... I can do jazz, folk and mediaeval music and theorise about engineering but actually doing mechanicing doesn't go as well as I like it to 😅

 

[danthecapriman 13446]

The flame trap is a little breather element in-line with the engines crankcase breather system, it basically stops lumps of oily crud and liquid oil residue etc from getting drawn into the engine as it recycles its own dirty oily air. 
It’s located directly beneath the inlet manifold on the B2xxE engines, it’s hard to see and a bit of a pig to get to sometimes but does often need doing. There’s a few rubber hoses coming out/into it and it’s a little black plastic case that separates into two halves with a breather filter element inside. A new element costs pence from volvo specialists and I think you can get them on eBay too.

I covered it on my thread about mine. A little Over half way down the page. 

If it blocks it stops the excess pressure inside the engines crankcase venting, the over pressurising starts oil leaks and can even damage gaskets. On one of my previous cars it actually used to cause the oil dipstick to pop out of its tube when you revved the engine!

[Tim_E 2742]

5 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

The flame trap is a little breather element in-line with the engines crankcase breather system, it basically stops lumps of oily crud and liquid oil residue etc from getting drawn into the engine as it recycles its own dirty oily air. 
It’s located directly beneath the inlet manifold on the B2xxE engines, it’s hard to see and a bit of a pig to get to sometimes but does often need doing. There’s a few rubber hoses coming out/into it and it’s a little black plastic case that separates into two halves with a breather filter element inside. A new element costs pence from volvo specialists and I think you can get them on eBay too.

I covered it on my thread about mine. A little Over half way down the page. 

If it blocks it stops the excess pressure inside the engines crankcase venting, the over pressurising starts oil leaks and can even damage gaskets. On one of my previous cars it actually used to cause the oil dipstick to pop out of its tube when you revved the engine!

Great stuff, good to know.

I'll get rummaging when I can! I'll have read your thread a few times by then though 👍

[danthecapriman 13446]

Here’s the filter element: https://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/product_info.php?cPath=105_919_922&products_id=5277&osCsid=8565022f8d45f9d49b4a1ea3ee82f252

[juular 1870]

Good swap. There is just that special something about an old Volvo! You'll have this for a while.

[Tim_E 2742]

32 minutes ago, juular said:

Good swap. There is just that special something about an old Volvo! You'll have this for a while.

I will, this is a keeper for sure! I have full 6 year old daughter approval too 👍

[Tim_E 2742]

Snag list so far. Nothing that stops me driving in comfort fortunately just yet, but I'd like to get it bettered over my tenure.

However I have one question to all the Volvo lickers:

Is the hot air meant to be really hot or mild?

I've only used the car in artic conditions so far. The engine temperature reads good, I just wonder if I have a block in the heater matrix or if older heating just doesn't cope with subzero  temperatures and wind chill?

 

 

[eddyramrod 17351]

You should be driving a 740 in your T-shirt!  I think you need to look at that heater, something isn't right.

[captain_70s 12695]

Heater should be very hot, because Swedish.

Bonus groin vent under the dash too.

[Tim_E 2742]

7 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

You should be driving a 740 in your T-shirt!  I think you need to look at that heater, something isn't right.

 

5 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Heater should be very hot, because Swedish.

Bonus groin vent under the dash too.

Yes that's what I thought.

It's pleasantly warm when it's bitter out at least.

Goteburg, we have a problem.

[rob88h 806]

With the heater, is it that all vents are cold or just the top centre vents? I can't find reference to this (so it may be fiction), but I'm sure I remember reading in the 340 manual that these vents blow cold when re-circ is off, despite what the heater is doing. It was to keep you feeling fresh as part of the "Volvo warm Heater cool Head" initiative or some buzz words like that. I presume if the 300's had it the 700's probably would too.

[Tim_E 2742]

8 minutes ago, rob88h said:

With the heater, is it that all vents are cold or just the top centre vents? I can't find reference to this (so it may be fiction), but I'm sure I remember reading in the 340 manual that these vents blow cold when re-circ is off, despite what the heater is doing. It was to keep you feeling fresh as part of the "Volvo warm Heater cool Head" initiative or some buzz words like that. I presume if the 300's had it the 700's probably would too.

I think there is a difference between vents, the demister vents had warm air, I was wearing my jumper and absolutely freezing balls every time I got out and soon became pleasantly warm again pretty quick once in. 

 

[Tim_E 2742]

19 minutes ago, rob88h said:

...I'm sure I remember reading in the 340 manual...

I got one of those, I might just go and read it!

[Tim_E 2742]

Ok this is going to get scienced today.

Yes I worded 'science' as a verb.

[Shirley Knott 2145]

Yep, the centre vents stayed cool in some settings on my 940 whilst the rest blew hot IIRC- I think they're designed to do that, but I could be wrong...

[Tim_E 2742]

I have tested the book's recommended settings, and it's true the centre vents are fresh air. Close them off and have fan at 3, floor heating setting the car gets warm. Whoop!

[MondeoBlues 122]

The damp in the boot may be because I accidentally poured in a bit of snow off the bootlid when I cleared it out last week. Sorry. 

I did have a look at the oil leak last time I took it for a service, and me and my tame mechanic deduced that it's either the rocker cover gasket, the oil filler cap seal, or possibly from an o ring around the distributor. Not big jobs but a bit fiddly. 

[Tim_E 2742]

3 hours ago, MondeoBlues said:

The damp in the boot may be because I accidentally poured in a bit of snow off the bootlid when I cleared it out last week. Sorry. 

I did have a look at the oil leak last time I took it for a service, and me and my tame mechanic deduced that it's either the rocker cover gasket, the oil filler cap seal, or possibly from an o ring around the distributor. Not big jobs but a bit fiddly. 

It looks like spillage, I'll get it dry and see anyway. I did look under the carpet and it's brand new under there.

Most of my cars have had 'slight oil leak', my BMW was doing oil like teenagers do vaping so it's really not much to me. I might get it sorted one day.

Room for gentle and gradual improvement 🙂

I managed to spray carpet glue up into the holes in the headlining (there are more today than yesterday thanks to children!) And it's now very torn but at least stuck to the roof.

One day I'll get a whole new headlining in there, but these are all little things.

Car works. Loving it 👍

[Tim_E 2742]

Oh and I went at the centre console with a screwdriver, and made it marginally less wonky.

[Tim_E 2742]

Ok my first pez shot (I have put fuel in before now with fuel cans just because I had then there with fuel in) and a wash after all the gritty icy sludge recently.

I have verified the fact that the boot doesn't leak, but water pours in if you open it when there's surface water on it! 

[Tim_E 2742]

I quite like this pic. More family outings.

[Tim_E 2742]

And back to reality. Today me and the 6 year old daughter went to get our winter tyres fitted to Mondeo for the cold snowy weather we are having.

Volvo is parked up for a while now 😔

[juular 1870]

On 1/5/2021 at 9:52 AM, Tim_E said:

I have verified the fact that the boot doesn't leak, but water pours in if you open it when there's surface water on it! 

What a handsome looking thing. I recently went through the same water-in-boot-wtf head scratching process with my 240. Always a wet bit right in the middle where there's nothing that could possibly leak in that manner. Until I opened it with snow on it..

I wonder if there's a bit of trim missing from our cars as that unthoughtfulness seems distinctly un-volvo like. From the company that gives you headlamp washers and a light under the bonnet to work with!

[Amishtat 6464]

There's a channel along the bottom of the rear screen which needed clearing out of sludgy shit when I got mine. Haven't got the car in front of me so can't remember exactly but I seem to remember that it helped when I opened the boot with rainwater on it. Connects with the drain channels either side of the bootlid opening, I just used a bit of coat hanger wire.