Yesterday I replaced the spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor with original Volvo items - eye wateringly expensive (from FRF Volvo) but at least I know I have the best quality fitted. The old dizzy cap didn't look bad at all inside, it was fitted about 35,000 miles ago but the plugs were surprisingly fouled, lots of white crusty deposits. I do a LOT of short journeys unfortunately, so that's probably the main reason.
Also noticed a recent loss of coolant. Having looked around the engine bay it seemed to be coming from around the top hose area on the rad, so I replaced both top and bottom hoses. However, sadly this hasn't fixed it, after a short journey to bring it all up to temperature there is still visible coolant dripping from the bottom of the radiator on the right hand side (same side as the top hose connection). So given where the coolant is dripping from, I can only conclude that it's a crack in the radiator at that end. There doesn't appear to be any oil/coolant mixing in either direction, so at least I'm lucky that it's a straightforward leak and I won't have to flush the oil or coolant to clean it up.
So if it's dripping from the radiator and it's not the hoses, it must be the radiator, right? Just checking in case I've forgotten anything stupid.
Was I tempted to just chuck some stop-leak in there? You bet I was, but temptation resisted, I know it probably wouldn't last and I'd be forever worried that it's going to dump its coolant on the motorway or in a traffic jam, and I don't need that stress.
A bit disappointed with this, as it had a new radiator a few years ago (that time it WAS engine oil and coolant mixing) and I'm a bit miffed that the radiator didn't last longer than that. However, it should be a relatively straightforward job as a) I've done it before and b) due to having done it before, I know the two main mounting bolts will come out easily, which is the normal PITA with this job. I had that trauma last time, ended up smashing the old radiator mounting lugs off, cutting the old bolts out with a grinder and welding new nuts on to the body bracket which was painful and probably doubled the time the job took. I reassembled using stainless bolts and some grease on the threads, thinking that the next person to take this apart will thank me, I didn't think it would be me though! Anyone who has changed a radiator on one of these will know what I'm on about.
Ordered a new radiator from PFV online (very expensive) and will fit it in the next few days when it's arrived. Also ordered a pair of front disks and OEM Volvo pads, as the brakes are quite poor, (I mean even poorer than usual) probably due to the inside faces of the disks (where you can't see it!) have corroded quite badly and the pads on the inside are probably sweeping only about half of the area they are supposed to. I'll probably do that job too while it's off the road, and also fit the new steering stops onto the wishbones, that have been sitting on my bench waiting to be fitted.
Altogether a bit of a pain, but I suppose I don't begrudge the old girl some expense and love from time to time, it's such a great car the rest of the time and at 27 years old and 190,000 miles I can't complain.
Cheers all!
