240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by CosmicBike

I like the interior light fix, have to say it's one of those annoying little things that just doesn't happen on modern cars, so I think I'll do the same.
Also loving the dog ball launcher, on the shopping list to keep my pair occupied.

Excellent :-)

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

They should be identical Alan, the acid test is remove the likely one (B21A) from the packaging and lay it on top of the less likely one. If there are no discrepancies or some that won't make any difference or could be amputated with a scalpel if necessary then they'll both fit.

Don't over-tighten the cover and before you fit the new gasket (after removing the old one) check the rocker cover isn't distorted by laying it on top of the head. It appears that you have the pressed steel rocker cover so any distortion can be reduced with your panel beating skills.

Some people suggest a thin bead of RTV on the mating face of the rocker cover and another on the head, fit the cover and let it sit purely on its own weight for 10 minutes or so then add the nuts, tightening them evenly and progressively to the recommended torque (no tighter as that distorts the cover) and it should give you leak-free service.

Obviously the surfaces need to be clean and degreased for it to work best but should keep you busy for half an hour and a nice excuse to take Bob for an extended walk after as you can now only give him one walk a day.

All done Dave, thank you for the help.

I couldn't find a torque setting in the Book of Haynes, so I took a SWAG and did them up very carefully and evenly to 60 lbf.in (my small torque wrench is quite an old one!). If anyone knows any better then tell me - but it seems to have nipped everything up nicely and more importantly - the oil leak seems to be fixed. I always put a smear of grease around the edge of gaskets - it gives a good indication that everything has mated properly when I can see it pushed out (a motorbike trick - particularly useful on air cooled aluminium engines where torque settings are really low).

I found the reason it was leaking straight away (I nearly always find something odd that a PO has done on this car), instead of having one gasket, the Royal Barge had two:



As you may see, instead of changing the gasket (I'm guessing when the cam belt was changed at 100,000 miles) a PO put another one on top. I don't know why (everything seems to be straight and level), I hope some underlying issue doesn't appear. Anyway, if you look at the top of the photo you will see that the lower of the two gaskets did not line up with the top one, leaving a gap, which was exactly where the oil leak appeared.

I ran the car up to temperature (until the electric fan kicked in, just to make sure it was all working) and there didn't appear to be any oil leaking now. The underneath was given a good clean up while it was up on the ramps and I've put an oil tray under to see if the problem is solved for good. Unfortunately I will not be able to give it a proper test until I next go food shopping, but I think this is fixed.

Many thanks,

Alan

[Othen]

I had a thought whilst looking through the spares box the PO gave me today: I have needed quite a few of the bits he gave me (thermostat, drop links, this gasket, bulb holders... probably more), and I found an oil pan gasket. I became a bit concerned that the auto box might be leaking - so I gave it a good check over while it was up on the ramps.

My theory is that the PO had intended to change the ATF (it certainly needed doing) and was going to do so by dropping the pan (which works of course, but is really messy). I hope I'm right!

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I couldn't find a torque setting in the Book of Haynes, so I took a SWAG and did them up very carefully and evenly to 60 lbf.in (my small torque wrench is quite an old one!).

Something in the back of my mind says 7 or 8 lb/ft for the fastenings on the rocker cover gasket. Tightening them to 60lb/in is 5lb/ft so perhaps a smidge loose but if it settles, you have some leeway to tighten them a smidge.

Just had a look in my Haynes, nothing for the B23/230 for the torque figure on the rocker cover gaskets either but on the B2828/280, they quote a figure of 11lb/ft but that's a V6 with alloy rocker covers.
You're certainly in the ball park, even with a SWAG on it.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Something in the back of my mind says 7 or 8 lb/ft for the fastenings on the rocker cover gasket. Tightening them to 60lb/in is 5lb/ft so perhaps a smidge loose but if it settles, you have some leeway to tighten them a smidge.

Just had a look in my Haynes, nothing for the B23/230 for the torque figure on the rocker cover gaskets either but on the B2828/280, they quote a figure of 11lb/ft but that's a V6 with alloy rocker covers.
You're certainly in the ball park, even with a SWAG on it.

Many thanks - yes 5 lb.ft (not lb/ft of course) was what I took a guess at. 7 lbf.ft is 84 lbf.in, I think that would be safe, so I'll tighten them up a bit in the morn. The only advice I could find online was from a chap that said 'snug them up hand tight with a 1/4"drive'.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Many thanks - yes 5 lb.ft (not lb/ft of course) was what I took a guess at. 7 lbf.ft is 84 lbf.in, I think that would be safe, so I'll tighten them up a bit in the morn. The only advice I could find online was from a chap that said 'snug them up hand tight with a 1/4"drive'.

Alan

Using a short 1/4 drive ratchet or even screwdriver, 7-8 lb/ft (or lbf.ft if you prefer, both are valid, depends what you're used to) is about the "normal" tightness you achieve.

If they're not leaking, i'd leave them be for now, only tighten them a wee bit if and when it seeps a little.

Chances are with only one gasket on there it won't leak until you need to remove the rocker cover for something anyway.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Using a short 1/4 drive ratchet or even screwdriver, 7-8 lb/ft (or lbf.ft if you prefer, both are valid, depends what you're used to) is about the "normal" tightness you achieve.

If they're not leaking, i'd leave them be for now, only tighten them a wee bit if and when it seeps a little.

Chances are with only one gasket on there it won't leak until you need to remove the rocker cover for something anyway.

Thank you Dave,
I nipped up the nuts to 80 lbf.in today, that seems fine and the oil leak seems to be sorted.

I wonder what the story was about the two gaskets - we will never know!

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Thank you Dave,
I nipped up the nuts to 80 lbf.in today, that seems fine and the oil leak seems to be sorted.

I wonder what the story was about the two gaskets - we will never know!

Alan

Anybodys guess on the two gaskets Alan, maybe a previous owner thought it needed an etra one because they can compress and be difficult to see in certain light or if someones eyes are a bit ......................... "not quite right" shall we say?

Hopefully that's your leak sorted!

[Othen]

... and today's big news is: both headlamp washers and wipers are working (well, 90% true).

I don't think these had worked for many years (particularly the washers as the jets were missing). It was a nice day and I had nowhere to go, so I thought I'd find out what was wrong with these. The driver's side wiper more or less worked, the passenger side one had been intermittent, but stopped a few weeks ago.

I pulled the passenger side motor out (took about 3 minutes, just plastic clips hold the grille and headlamp trim on to the Royal Barge). There was clearly something wrong because the wiper spindle turned with no resistance. It was obvious someone had tried a repair in the past because the plastic back to the enclosure had been prised off and not replaced properly, so the little metal hockey stick con-rod that converts rotary to reciprocating motion had fallen out (hence no resistance at the shaft). I gave everything a clean up, put the con-rod back properly lubricated with grease and replaced the enclosure better than it had been previously (pretty firmly with a couple of zip ties).

Once reassembled, much to my amazement, the left side wiper worked (except it parks where it likes), but the driver's side one had stopped. The fault turned out to be the 40 year old electrical connectors by the expansion tank. Once taken apart, sprayed, scraped and pushed back together a bit more firmly both units joined in.

More good news was that the washer modification (bodge using two cheap Chinese windscreen washer jets) works fine as well. They just needed a new T junction/valve to make them operate properly.

I think this is as good as I can make it. I suspect I could make the left hand unit park properly - it is probably just some little leaf switch that needs cleaning up or bending back into place - but I don't think the enclosure would take being disassembled again, the plastic is quite brittle. So, I'll live with a 90% solution: with clean headlamps, and accept that one of the wipers parking wherever it likes is part of the 40 year old 'patina' for the Royal Barge.

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

My left headlight wiper salutes you for your efforts Alan!

Joking aside, a very productive day! Well done! Another little "tidy and make good" job that will improve the car overall ticked off the list!