240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I've just checked the metal pipes and they are 8mm OD. It like to keep them so the installation looks as near to the original as possible, so I'm thinking I could cut the ends off neatly with a plumber's pipe cutter, then jubilee clip some flexible pipe over them.

Is the flexible pipe that comes with the kit 10mm ID or OD? If it is OD it might just stretch snugly over the existing 8mm pipes. If ID I'd need some sort of reducer (I think the one you showed is for flexible to flexible pipe).

The size is just about right - there is about 500mm transverse space and plenty of height behind the grille without getting in the way of the horns.

I'll rough this out this eve and maybe get the bits ordered.

Stay safe,

Alan

The rubber hose with the kit is 10mm bore Alan to fit the 10mm stubs on the cooler. Do you have a brake pipe flaring kit? You could make swages in the steel pipe, one near the end to serve as a hose barb and the other about 3/4" along to serve as a stop for the hose.
On the basis that Jubilee clips are ~10mm wide, the clip would sit almost perfectly between the two swages that way.

Failing that, make hose tails from the 10mm hose in the kit to fit on the cooler then reduce to 8mm bore with the reducers and a couple of lengths of 8mm rubber hose.

There are other reducers (metal) available but the plastic ones are good for 140C so should be fine on the ATF cooler circuit. Mine runs at about 80-85C after a long, hot hard run on a hot day so is certainly ok for the 827 and i suspect if you have a look at the other products in the same nature from the same seller, there might be some with 8mm hose stubs so the reducers wouldn't be necessary.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Forgot to mention the thermoswitch in my last post - good work! Chances are it's been sat in the stock room for donkeys and gave up the ghost all too easily. Might be under warranty though which might be worth a try?

... Yes, the 50050 switch was a caught just in time, if we had a really hot day it may have caused some damage.

You are right, the original had just been sitting in the stock room for decades. It was fortunate that I'd seen another being sold cheaply a few weeks ago and got it for my 'might need one day' box. The system works perfectly now.

Stay safe,

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The rubber hose with the kit is 10mm bore Alan to fit the 10mm stubs on the cooler. Do you have a brake pipe flaring kit? You could make swages in the steel pipe, one near the end to serve as a hose barb and the other about 3/4" along to serve as a stop for the hose.
On the basis that Jubilee clips are ~10mm wide, the clip would sit almost perfectly between the two swages that way.

Failing that, make hose tails from the 10mm hose in the kit to fit on the cooler then reduce to 8mm bore with the reducers and a couple of lengths of 8mm rubber hose.

There are other reducers (metal) available but the plastic ones are good for 140C so should be fine on the ATF cooler circuit. Mine runs at about 80-85C after a long, hot hard run on a hot day so is certainly ok for the 827 and i suspect if you have a look at the other products in the same nature from the same seller, there might be some with 8mm hose stubs so the reducers wouldn't be necessary.

No, I don't have a flaring kit. I'll give it some thought and come up with a scheme to connect the pipes.

I like this idea, it will suit the RB well.

Stay safe,

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

No, I don't have a flaring kit. I'll give it some thought and come up with a scheme to connect the pipes.

I like this idea, it will suit the RB well.

Stay safe,

Alan

Not to worry, Jubilee or similar clips will give it enough grip, after all there's precious little pressure in it.

Alternatively if you look at the two cooling pipes on the ATF, you'll probably find that not too far back from the rad, the two rubber pipes from the box are crimped onto the metal pipes. Cut the rubber hoses an inch or so bac from the crump and just fit the reducers followed by the 10mm hose. Might pay to buy some extra 10mm bore hose, just in case there isn't enough in the length provided.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Not to worry, Jubilee or similar clips will give it enough grip, after all there's precious little pressure in it.

Alternatively if you look at the two cooling pipes on the ATF, you'll probably find that not too far back from the rad, the two rubber pipes from the box are crimped onto the metal pipes. Cut the rubber hoses an inch or so bac from the crump and just fit the reducers followed by the 10mm hose. Might pay to buy some extra 10mm bore hose, just in case there isn't enough in the length provided.

Good morn Dave,

I'll put the RB up on some ramps so I can have a look today. I'd rather like a robust solution - I'm thinking there is a company here in Corby that manufactures hydraulic lines, I may see if they could make two proper lines to go from the cooler either straight on to the metal pipes or right back to the transmission.

I'm guessing these are the connectors that go onto the gearbox:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-240...4365%7Ciid%3A1

...I'm not suggesting buying them, but getting the company to crimp the right metal threaded connection on the end of two 8' long 3/8" (10mm) hoses so I could run them neatly to the area behind the grille.

Stay safe,

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Good morn Dave,

I'll put the RB up on some ramps so I can have a look today. I'd rather like a robust solution - I'm thinking there is a company here in Corby that manufactures hydraulic lines, I may see if they could make two proper lines to go from the cooler either straight on to the metal pipes or right back to the transmission.

I'm guessing these are the connectors that go onto the gearbox:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-240...4365%7Ciid%3A1

...I'm not suggesting buying them, but getting the company to crimp the right metal threaded connection on the end of two 8' long 3/8" (10mm) hoses so I could run them neatly to the area behind the grille.

Stay safe,

Alan

That would be anther way round it Alan, chances are that company will need your existing pipes to ensure the correct thread though.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

That would be anther way round it Alan, chances are that company will need your existing pipes to ensure the correct thread though.

Good morn Dave,

I thought of that - so I just put the car up on ramps to see how difficult it would be to take one off. The first thing I noticed is that the lines are steel all the way through to the auto box:



The next was that everything is in really good order, quite amazing for a 40 year old I think:



So, this means:

1. There is no option to join rubber to rubber anywhere along the lines.
2. It would be really difficult to take one of the rigid lines off the car for Corby Hose and Hydraulics to check the thread.
3. As the lines are in really good condition it would be a good idea to keep as much of them as is possible.

In that case it would be best to join the lines close to the original radiator, so I've emailed Corby Hose and Hydraulics to see if it could supply or manufacture some sort of compression joint that would fit onto a 8mm OD steel line and connect to a 10mm bore flexible pipe that I could supply.

I suspect the answer will be yes, but at a price. I think that is probably acceptable though, I'm happy to invest in a robust solution that is going to see the Royal Barge through the rest of its natural life (and probably mine).

Stay safe,

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

That's certainly a possibility Alan, might be more cost effective to invest in a brake pipe flaring kit and make your own swages on the pipe though - one less join on each pipe that way so one less chance of a leak.

Alternatively buy two of these female 1/4"BSP x 10mm hose barbs and two of these 8mm compression to male 1/4"BSP fittings.

Cut your steel lines near the radiator, ensuring you know which is flow and which is return (if in doubt, temporarily fit some 8mm rubber hose on each and feed each into a bucket, start the engine and let it run a few seconds then switch off - the bucket with ATF in is the flow) so you can feed the flow into the top of the ATF cooler.

Fit the compression fittings and hose barbs, fit your 10mm bore hoses and ATF cooler, top up the box, run the engine to check for leaks and check/top up the level and when it's all good, pack everything away and relax!

[Stephen Edwin]

Worth considering would be:

Buy a spare set of the aforementioned pipes. Various forum members, and or breakers, could supply.

Take pipes and the proposed new cooler to your chosen hydraulic pipe engineers. Outline the task and agree a good way forward.

Meanwhile, apply your chosen penetrant to the unions daily to ease removal.

On re-assembly consider e.g. ceramic grease to avoid dissimilar metals corrosion.

At the end of the job you still have a st of pipes in case you or a subsequent owner of the punt, needs to re-instate.


Comrade Stephen Edwin



.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

Worth considering would be:

Buy a spare set of the aforementioned pipes. Various forum members, and or breakers, could supply.

Take pipes and the proposed new cooler to your chosen hydraulic pipe engineers. Outline the task and agree a good way forward.

Meanwhile, apply your chosen penetrant to the unions daily to ease removal.

On re-assembly consider e.g. ceramic grease to avoid dissimilar metals corrosion.

At the end of the job you still have a st of pipes in case you or a subsequent owner of the punt, needs to re-instate.


Comrade Stephen Edwin


.

None of the above is applicable to this particular job.

Read through and click the link to the potential new ATF cooler, it uses simple push on and clamp rubber hoses, there is virtually no pressure at all in the cooler circuit so that is more than adequate.

Ditto on the 8mm compression fittings and hose barbs, no need for an independent hydraulic shop to upsell Alan into something way over the top for the job in hand.

Reinstatement of the OE spec ATF cooler would not be desirable at any point, the only reason manufacturers went for the combined cooler/radiator is because it was cheaper and more convenient to manufacture and also meant if the ATF cooler failed, a new gearbox as well as radiator was needed - more parts revenue/profit.