Conference terri::cars_uk

    >any pointers to what to watch out for 
    
    Coments about "bloody Volvo drivers"   :-)
    
    Jc 

    
    Well, I've owned and serviced 140 and 240 Volvos for 18 years so I just
    ignore those comments! Unfortunately I wrote our 1982 240 off just
    before Xmas, hence the need for a replacement and as its predominantly
    driven by my wife, like all people, we are downsizing!
    
    Richard

    Try the 400 series, they are still shoddy build compared to the 200, 
    700, 800, and 900 series, but they are at least not DAF's...
    
    Paul

    My wife has had a 360gle for the past three months and she's had no
    problems with it so far.The body work is in good nic,and underneath it
    is rust free due to the good undersealing.The interior is clean and 
    tidy and the seats show no signs of wear or tear even after 80,000
    miles.The switches,dails etc last a long time but the blower switch
    is prone to operating only in one position[full on].
    The engine compartment has plenty room to work in, and the struts,
    mounts etc are solid with no sign of rust.The damper on the carb needs
    to be checked ever week but that is about the only oil that the car
    uses.   
    As this car is a 2litre it tends to be greedy for petrol in and around
    town[about 27]but it starts first time in all weathers.If she had the 
    choice she would have went for the 1.7l but seeing that it's me who
    puts the petrol in it why worry about it.

    
    My wife had a 340 (1400) biggest problem was cost of Volvo parts, think
    of a reasonable price, double it to get what most main dealers would
    charge, double it again and you come close to the Volvo price!
    
    Example: my wifes had a Weber carb, I needed a new Idle solenoid, Volvo
    wanted #47 I went to weber and got one from them for #16 (and they were
    a lot more helpful and knowledgeable)
    
    Also parts which I would expect to be able to get pattern parts for
    most makes were only available as original Volvo parts, forcing me to
    go back and get robbed again.
    
    Only thing I could say I didn't like was the engine mounts, it had 2
    conventional rubber blocks at the rear of the engine and the front just
    rested on 2 smallmounts about the size of a 10p piece, basically these
    front ones don't last because the surface area is too small for
    successful metal-rubber bonding, and they break away but you can't
    easily see they've gone so the front of the engine swings about in use
    until one of the back ones break.....then you find out they've broken
    cos at this stage the engine REALLY stars to move about and its time to
    buy a set of 4, available from Volvo only at a price in the region of
    #50     If its the same arrangement check them carefully before buying
    ( the only way to find out if the fronts have gone is to lever up the
    front of the engine) 
    
    Otherwise it was a nice little car though the 1400 was a bit
    underpowered.
    
    Richard

    
    Thanks for the comments. Reluctantly we've gone for a Fiesta mainly on
    the merits of cheap parts, labour etc etc.
    
    Re -.2 on the subject of losing dashpot oil. My last 240 (which I
    understand has the same basic engine as the 360) had the same problem.
    This was eventually traced to the engine breather filter (goes from
    block through a gauze filter and then back into the air intake of the
    carb) being blocked. This was causing some strange back pressure which
    somehow sucked the dashpot oil out. I never did understand how.
    Nevertheless replacing the filter (and pipes for good measure) solved
    the problem. Note, this was after discovering an oil leak under the
    bell housing which was due to engine pressure build up and engine oil being
    forced out of a crankcase seal, into the bell housing and out through a
    drain hole. This was due to the same problem. Lack of maintenance of
    engine breather mechanism. As you can imagine, this ran out very
    expensive (needed a new clutch as well).
    
    Note also, I was put on the right  track by the a phone call at 9-00pm
    one Friday night to the Volvo owners club tech support people! Lex
    Brooklands had been singularly unable to diagnose the real cause of
    these problems with the dashpot oil. If you do your own maintenance
    join the Volvo Owners Club. It can be well worth it.
    
    
    	Richard