The Joy Of 240's, with issues...

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

Last parcel of bits arrived today courtesy of PartsforVolvos, and dropped by Parcelforce whilst keeping to social distancing rules.
Not much time on my hands at the minute, but a spare hour this afternoon and I used it to have a look at the rear arches.
Lots of mud and muck under the lips cleared out, quite a bit of flaking paint and metal removed. I've seen worse, so short term Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 applied to stem the spread. Long term I'll wave my welding wand and replace, but that's 5 + years away before they are a real issue.

I had a look at the brake/clutch fluid which looks a bit old and thin, so I have a Gunson Eezibleed on route with some brake fluid, have to order everything online now as I'm grounded and the shops are shut anyway.

Please research the forum BEFORE doing any 240 brake bleeding. There are unusual issues.

1. The EXACT sequence of nipples to bleed.
2. Having I think it is the rear end of the car, axle stand stood / hoisted up high, to avoid air bubble(s) in a junction block / valve.
3. Avoid disturbing the master cylinder and/or servo.
4. Possibly other stuff.

Enjoy the research.


.

[Clifford Pope]

My advice where you merely want to replace fluid rather than do any work involving disconnection is to make sure that you don't actually need to "bleed" as such.
Connect a clear pipe to one bleed nipple at a time, dipped into a jar of fluid, loosen the nipple half a turn, and then gently depress the pedal forcing fluid into the jar. Watch the colour until the new fluid comes through, then tighten and move on to the next.
Warnings:
NEVER press the pedal down further than you do in ordinary hard braking. The number of people reporting new master cylinder problems arising after bleeding the brakes is legion. Sliding the non-return seal in the MC over an unused part of the bore will damage it and cause new internal leakage.

Take care never to run out of fluid, or all your efforts will be wasted.

If a bleed nipple will not turn, DO NOT force it, or it will snap and cause even more problems.
Clean around the threads
Run a few drops of brake fluid around the threads
Leave it overnight
Try again very gently
Put a well-fitting ring spanner round the nipple and apply quite a lot of force. It's a matter of difficult judgement how much (!)
While exerting the force, hit the nipple end-on with a hammer. NOT sideways.
When you get any movement at all, run more fluid round, and work the spanner to and fro a tiny bit, not forcing, but gradually increasing the movement until it seems free. Then proceed with the sequence.

Good luck. You ought to produce a system that has been entirely flushed out and replaced with new fluid, without any real bleeding (and risks) involved at all.

[CosmicBike]

An hour this afternoon has not gone well. A simple plan, make sure I can undo the drain and fill plugs on the gearbox.
Drain plug, yep no problem, nipped back up.
Fill plug. No. When I get round to it I'll be welding a nut on and trying again.

Just before coming in I thought I'd try and undo the oil filter by hand. No. So need to dig out the chain tool from somewhere, probably buried behind the Capri as most tools seem to be....

[Bob Meadows]

Done the same job some time back: ~ I think Volvo originally used a thread locking fluid on these plugs and they can be a real pain to remove. If you have a plumbing/hobby gas torch then try some heat- it should break the bond without using a great deal of heat.

A long blunt chisel carefully placed at the right angle on one of the hex sides then a sharp blow also starts them off.
Welding a nut onto the removed plugs is a good idea as you say.

[Clifford Pope]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

no problem, nipped back up.
.

Very wise.

I once had a drain plug that defied all efforts, and after breaking a socket extension bar and mangling the flats I put a 3' stillson wrench on the remains and it snapped the plug flush with casing. I was resigned to syphoning the oil with a thin tube but touched the remains of the plug and found it was now only finger-tight. Presumably the shock from snapping it had also broken the bond holding it.
If I hadn't happened to test it it would probably have vibrated out while driving.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

Last parcel of bits arrived today courtesy of PartsforVolvos, and dropped by Parcelforce whilst keeping to social distancing rules.
Not much time on my hands at the minute, but a spare hour this afternoon and I used it to have a look at the rear arches.
Lots of mud and muck under the lips cleared out, quite a bit of flaking paint and metal removed. I've seen worse, so short term Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 applied to stem the spread. Long term I'll wave my welding wand and replace, but that's 5 + years away before they are a real issue.

I had a look at the brake/clutch fluid which looks a bit old and thin, so I have a Gunson Eezibleed on route with some brake fluid, have to order everything online now as I'm grounded and the shops are shut anyway.

Re: replacing brake and clutch fluid. What I do on older bikes and cars (well, most of my bikes and cars) is to test the fluid for water content, and as long as it is below 2% then just top the reservoir and leave it well alone. DOT 4 doesn’t really wear out (and the brake circuits hardly move much), it just absorbs water over time, so it’s age isn’t really relevant (manufactures just say it should be changed frequently as a profit line for franchised dealers).

Snapping off a bleed nipple, or doing some other damage trying to disassemble older bikes and cars is generally too much of a risk unless absolutely necessary (and most the time it is not necessary- I tested the Royal Barge’s brake fluid when I bought the car and found it to be less than 1% contaminated).

What I do sometimes if the water contamination is say between 1 and 2% is empty just the reservoir (easy on a bike) without moving the lever at all, then refill it, the reservoir probably accounts for around A third of the volume of fluid so it will gradually mix and dilute the contamination.

Just an idea - in my experience with older bikes (particularly) and cars it it always better to avoid taking them apart if possible. Sometimes that results in a value decision, weighing up the advantages of internal maintenance against the demerits of mechanical surgery. for example, one of my bikes is a 14 year old Suzuki SV650S (4 stroke, water cooled V twin) with 136,000 miles (a lot for a bike). I’ve done lots of jobs to improve it and the bike runs and rides very well, doesn’t use any oil and is mechanically quiet. It is probably overdue a valve clearance check and adjust by 50,000 miles, but I’ve made a conscious decision to leave the chain driven OHCs (4 of them) alone. The risk of stripping a thread or breaking a stud, thus making the bike beyond economic repair, is too great to make the maintenance job worthwhile - I’ll just keep changing the oil every 3,000 miles and enjoy the bike whilst managing its obsolescence.

Just my thoughts - I will certainly not be offended if you disagree.

Good thread - many thanks.

Alan

[CosmicBike]

Arguably a better day today?
Plans of nut/spanner welding out the window as my welding mask batteries are flat, new ones ordered now. So no gearbox work.
Since I don't need the car for a while, I started stripping the front of the engine. Alternator and power steering adjusters were all free, so getting those belts off was easy. Removing the top half of the cambelt cover slightly less so, since some spanner monkey had already rounded a couple of bolt heads for me. Ho hum, perseverance and they are all out.
Drained the coolant, even the stuff from the Capri wasn't that bad, looked like coffee! Water pump easily removed and system back flushed until clear. Rather pleasingly I managed to save the fan mounting studs and install them on the new pump.
Whilst she had her nose up I slid under to test the sump plug. Another challenge, largely because I didn't have the right size socket. No idea what it is, 24mm is too small and the next I have is 27mm. 18" adjustable and a thump cracked it, so I know I can get that out when the time comes.
Dropped the front and jacked the back up to clear the most of the fluid from the block.
That crank pulley nut is properly on. My lad on the end of a 30" bar, car in gear and me on brakes wouldn't shift it. I know I can cut the lower cover off, but I'm going to throw an impact wrench at it first.

[CosmicBike]

I nearly forgot. BIG success of the day, I replaced the engine coolant temperature sensor without removing the inlet manifold. Turns out a 19mm ring spanner and some skinned knuckles does it just fine.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

Arguably a better day today?
Plans of nut/spanner welding out the window as my welding mask batteries are flat, new ones ordered now. So no gearbox work.
Since I don't need the car for a while, I started stripping the front of the engine. Alternator and power steering adjusters were all free, so getting those belts off was easy. Removing the top half of the cambelt cover slightly less so, since some spanner monkey had already rounded a couple of bolt heads for me. Ho hum, perseverance and they are all out.
Drained the coolant, even the stuff from the Capri wasn't that bad, looked like coffee! Water pump easily removed and system back flushed until clear. Rather pleasingly I managed to save the fan mounting studs and install them on the new pump.
Whilst she had her nose up I slid under to test the sump plug. Another challenge, largely because I didn't have the right size socket. No idea what it is, 24mm is too small and the next I have is 27mm. 18" adjustable and a thump cracked it, so I know I can get that out when the time comes.
Dropped the front and jacked the back up to clear the most of the fluid from the block.
That crank pulley nut is properly on. My lad on the end of a 30" bar, car in gear and me on brakes wouldn't shift it. I know I can cut the lower cover off, but I'm going to throw an impact wrench at it first.

The sump bolt is 25mm or 1” (yes, I know, everyone has one of those!).

[Othen]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

I nearly forgot. BIG success of the day, I replaced the engine coolant temperature sensor without removing the inlet manifold. Turns out a 19mm ring spanner and some skinned knuckles does it just fine.

Well done. I thought that was one of the easier jobs, I think a long imperial socket (probably 3/4” or 11/16”) fitted well and saved the skinned knuckles.

Alan