240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

I'm getting down to niff-naff and trivia jobs of the Barge now. I had a bit of time spare this morn to I pulled the fascia out to fix the little luminaires behind. It turned out just one bulb was blown - but the three are in series so 'one out, all out'... pretty poor design there Mr Volvo.

Whilst I had the fascia off I pulled out the genuine Volvo bodge for making a 2 channel radio/cassette output look like it had 4 channels:



I suppose it wasn't doing any harm where it was, bit it irritated me because it was no longer needed (and was a bodge in the first place). I've stored it in the radiogram box - just in case originality becomes more important than common sense for a future owner. It is much tidier without all those wires.

The second hand horns I'd bought for a fiver showed up with the postie. I only needed the downstream one, so I removed the grille and fitted that (the horns are back to sounding the way they should be now). I gave the battery tray a coat of silver Hammerite whilst working around there.

Finally I changed the windscreen wipers for a new set (only £7.31 delivered - we do live in the best of all possible worlds).

After Bob's walk I'll collect that new speaker for GAM and see if I can get it fitted this sunny afternoon.

:-)

PS. The speaker has been delayed, RS Components will have to tomorrow, so I'll fit it then.

[Othen]

I'd been looking for a trip to test out the Barge's fuel consumption, the Trent Valley meeting was coming up so I topped up yesterday, then again today.

The Barge covered 127 miles (a bit of running around yesterday, then the round trip to Calverton today on just 20 l of Morrison's very cheapest. I make that 127/4.4 = 28.9 MPG. I'm very happy with that - it was better than I ever achieved with the RB (I think the best was 27 MPG) and I'd say we were generally driving quite a bit faster than we would have in the RB (cruising at 70 on the A46 and generally 50-60MPH most other roads.

We had a really nice morn at the Trent Valley meeting - excellent company. Many thanks to Jaki.

Alan & Bob

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by Othen

I'd been looking for a trip to test out the Barge's fuel consumption, the Trent Valley meeting was coming up so I topped up yesterday, then again today.

The Barge covered 127 miles (a bit of running around yesterday, then the round trip to Calverton today on just 20 l of Morrison's very cheapest. I make that 127/4.4 = 28.9 MPG. I'm very happy with that - it was better than I ever achieved with the RB (I think the best was 27 MPG) and I'd say we were generally driving quite a bit faster than we would have in the RB (cruising at 70 on the A46 and generally 50-60MPH most other roads.

We had a really nice morn at the Trent Valley meeting - excellent company. Many thanks to Jaki.

Alan & Bob

No more, and certainly no less, than I would expect, Alan. As we were saying this morning, that sort of driving (long distances at constant speeds) is exactly what these cars were built for and where they perform at their best.

It was a pleasure to meet up with you again and be acquainted with Bob. What a good natured animal and so quiet - he's very easy to like.

Thanks also for the link to Robert Malthus - a very interesting chap. Every day is indeed a school day - even at 70 plus.

Regards, John (and Linda).

P.S. We stopped off at the Unicorn at Gunthorpe Bridge for lunch on the way home. Recommended! J.

[360beast]

Originally Posted by Othen

I'd been looking for a trip to test out the Barge's fuel consumption, the Trent Valley meeting was coming up so I topped up yesterday, then again today.

The Barge covered 127 miles (a bit of running around yesterday, then the round trip to Calverton today on just 20 l of Morrison's very cheapest. I make that 127/4.4 = 28.9 MPG. I'm very happy with that - it was better than I ever achieved with the RB (I think the best was 27 MPG) and I'd say we were generally driving quite a bit faster than we would have in the RB (cruising at 70 on the A46 and generally 50-60MPH most other roads.

We had a really nice morn at the Trent Valley meeting - excellent company. Many thanks to Jaki.

Alan & Bob

Good old Bob

Are you going to fit 940 rear arch liners to this one like you did with the RB?

[Laird Scooby]

Sounds like the Barge is running very well Alan - long may it continue!

[Othen]

I thought I might change the Barge's gearbox oil, it will have a M46 box plus OD. The BofH says it should take ATF type F or G. Is that still the recommendation or should I use something more modern?

:-)

PS. Answering my own question: the original handbook says ATF type G, so that is what I'll use - if it is good enough for Mr Volvo...

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I thought I might change the Barge's gearbox oil, it will have a M46 box plus OD. The BofH says it should take ATF type F or G. Is that still the recommendation or should I use something more modern?

:-)

PS. Answering my own question: the original handbook says ATF type G, so that is what I'll use - if it is good enough for Mr Volvo...

:-)

Good luck finding Type G Alan, i can't recall last time i saw that for sale anywhere!

Carlube ATF-U covers Type G recommendations if it's any help and is likely to be a better oil for your application.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Good luck finding Type G Alan, i can't recall last time i saw that for sale anywhere!

Carlube ATF-U covers Type G recommendations if it's any help and is likely to be a better oil for your application.

Here Dave:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111953019439

... it should be here tomorrow. I used the same in the RB.

Alan

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Othen

I thought I might change the Barge's gearbox oil, it will have a M46 box plus OD. The BofH says it should take ATF type F or G. Is that still the recommendation or should I use something more modern?

:-)

PS. Answering my own question: the original handbook says ATF type G, so that is what I'll use - if it is good enough for Mr Volvo...

:-)

ATF in a manual box, obviously the correct stuff, it’s just so much thinner than EP gear oils.
Mind you , we put engine oil in Land Rover gear boxes.

I’m rambling!🤔

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

ATF in a manual box, obviously the correct stuff, it’s just so much thinner than EP gear oils.
Mind you , we put engine oil in Land Rover gear boxes.

I’m rambling!🤔

I'm not 100% certain on Type G Andrew but i know Carlube ATF-U is ~SAE32 on the viscosity scale. This is similar to Dexron II-D and no doubt similar to Types F and G (themselves developments of ATF before Dexron came along with Type G being the closest to Dexron which was a GM product, Type F for Ford being the Ford equivalent) but in ~1981, Austin-Rover Group (the rebranded BL) specified Dexron II-D as the fluid to use in the LT77 manual gearbox, then fitted to SD1 Rovers and some Land Rover models.

The auto box in my Rover (Honda PL5 box) is a thinly disguised, hydraulically shifted, electronically controlled manual box using clutch packs in place of the synchro rings to select the different ratios but that used originally Honda ATF Z-1, now replaced with Carlube ATF-U, later Land Rovers used as you say, 10W40 engine oil (the original spec for the LT77 box on SD1s) and later still, a "manual transmission fluid" that wasn't dissimilar to ATF but i suspect rebranded as "special manual gearbox oil" to calm those panicking about putting ATF into a manual box.

The thing is, often ATFs have better lube properties than engine oil and with some, friction modifiers to help reduce friction. Certainly adding a small amount of ATF to the engine oil can help many engines and is something i do at each oil/filter change.

I suspect there is a lot of smoke'n'mirrors in the oil world to seduce customers into thinking their is only ONE product suitable for a particular application, for some applications there are reasons NOT to use certain fluids and there are also design considerations to be taken into account but on the whole, many fluids are often as good, if not better, than the so-called recommended.