240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[360beast]

Originally Posted by Othen

You know what Luke, for just a fiver I may get myself some of those - just because they look really cool.

Alan

PS. I couldn't stop myself Luke: they are ordered - cool.

You won't regret it! Go from underneath and you'll have no trouble undoing it.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by 360beast

I've never found a redblock tight for access tbh Dave, if you go from underneath there is loads of room.

Originally Posted by 360beast

You won't regret it! Go from underneath and you'll have no trouble undoing it.

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I know when i once tried removing the filter from underneath, the words "never again" crossed my lips with a varied and vehement selection of suitable Anglo-Saxon derived words as well!

I ended up wearing a fair amount of hot engine oil Luke! Didn't fancy trying it a second time!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by 360beast

I've never found a redblock tight for access tbh Dave, if you go from underneath there is loads of room.

Well, that is true enough Luke. I'd even put the RB up on some ramps, but I was just being a bit lazy and thought: 'I can do that from up here'...

the rest is history :-)

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I ended up wearing a fair amount of hot engine oil Luke! Didn't fancy trying it a second time!

Where is the photograph please ??????



.

[360beast]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I ended up wearing a fair amount of hot engine oil Luke! Didn't fancy trying it a second time!

Haha, I've always just slackened them off so they drain with a drip tray underneath and let them finish draining before removing fully.

With those pliers you might be able to slacken it off enough from above with a drip tray underneath.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by 360beast

Haha, I've always just slackened them off so they drain with a drip tray underneath and let them finish draining before removing fully.

With those pliers you might be able to slacken it off enough from above with a drip tray underneath.

But the problem letting it drain Luke, is that (on the RB) the engine mount is directly below the filter (so it would get soaked) and below that is the under-engine tray. I could remove the cover of course (only seven small bolts), but then a 5 minute job starts becoming a half hour job.

On the RB I think the answer is (and I'll try to remember this next spring when I do it again): put the car on ramps, isolate the battery, empty the oil via the drain plug, get underneath the car, loosen the filter half a turn with the cool pliers, wrap the filter in a Tesco bag, undo the filter by hand and pull it backwards through the gap between the downpipe and the engine mount, have a 2 gallon washing up bowl placed strategically just behind the under-car tray to catch any drips, stuff a rag into the gap just below the filter aperture to catch any drips from there before fitting the new filter.

... I've underlined the bits I forgot to do so as to remind myself this time next year :-)

PS. One more note to myself for next year: the Mann W917 filter only costs £3.80 (delivered) via Amazon, remember to buy another for the spares box some time in the next year.

[Othen]

We seem to be emerging from a very mild winter very early this year - I just looked at next week's forecast and can see the median temperature is around 10C. It is always nice when spring comes.

It hardly seems a moment ago that I was swapping to the RB's Pholus wheels and winter tyres, now I'm thinking it is almost time to get the Virgo wheels out of the bike shed and cleaned. That plan (having a spare set of wheels and tyres for the winter) worked quite superbly. Maybe swap them back when BST begins on the 28th.

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

We seem to be emerging from a very mild winter very early this year - I just looked at next week's forecast and can see the median temperature is around 10C. It is always nice when spring comes.

It hardly seems a moment ago that I was swapping to the RB's Pholus wheels and winter tyres, now I'm thinking it is almost time to get the Virgo wheels out of the bike shed and cleaned. That plan (having a spare set of wheels and tyres for the winter) worked quite superbly. Maybe swap them back when BST begins on the 28th.

:-)

It all depends which measure of the seasons you observe Alan. There is the "Meteorological Seasons" which broadly speaking are 1st March, 1st June, 1st September and 1st December being the first days of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter respectively.

Then you have what i consider to be the "Natural Seasons" with 21st March, 21st June, 21st September and 21st December being the mid-season points of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter respectively.

That means roughly speaking that 6th February, 6th May, 6th August and 6th November would be the first day of the respective seasons and of course, the mid-points of each align with the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and summer and winter solstices. Not to be forgotten that 21st June and 21st December are known as MidSummers and MidWinters Days and also the longest and shortest days, i think there's a strong case for the "Natural Seasons" and have always preferred that method.

Back to your original point though, i'd argue that it wasn't that mild a winter! There was a time of almost 3 weeks where temperatures didn't get above freezing even during the day. Yes, we'd had some mild days through the preceding times of winter but we also had some seriously cold temperatures through last summer!

Also i heard some reports of it being one of the wettest winters on record which overall would pull the average temperature down - not as far as snow and ice would have done admittedly. Either way, roll on summer! Or at least much warmer and dryer times!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

It all depends which measure of the seasons you observe Alan. There is the "Meteorological Seasons" which broadly speaking are 1st March, 1st June, 1st September and 1st December being the first days of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter respectively.

Then you have what i consider to be the "Natural Seasons" with 21st March, 21st June, 21st September and 21st December being the mid-season points of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter respectively.

That means roughly speaking that 6th February, 6th May, 6th August and 6th November would be the first day of the respective seasons and of course, the mid-points of each align with the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and summer and winter solstices. Not to be forgotten that 21st June and 21st December are known as MidSummers and MidWinters Days and also the longest and shortest days, i think there's a strong case for the "Natural Seasons" and have always preferred that method.

Back to your original point though, i'd argue that it wasn't that mild a winter! There was a time of almost 3 weeks where temperatures didn't get above freezing even during the day. Yes, we'd had some mild days through the preceding times of winter but we also had some seriously cold temperatures through last summer!

Also i heard some reports of it being one of the wettest winters on record which overall would pull the average temperature down - not as far as snow and ice would have done admittedly. Either way, roll on summer! Or at least much warmer and dryer times!

Yes Dave, there are lots of ways of defining spring - mine wasn't meant to be very precise, more a 'I think it is nearly warm enough' way. If we don't get a late cold snap I'll probably aim for the end of GMT, but it is a really quick job, so it won't matter if that goes backwards a bit.

Fortunately I like the look of the Pholus wheels, and the winter tyres work very well indeed. I like the Virgo wheels as well, and it will be nice to change to the slightly more sporty look for the nicer weather. Changing wheels has two advantages (apart from winter tyres being safer in the cold weather):

1. My two sets of (new) tyres will last twice as long.

2. It is a good opportunity to give the wheels, suspension, brakes and arches a good clean and inspection twice per year.

So: win, win, win... :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Definitely a win-win-win situation Alan!