1994 940GLE. The future daily

Thanks all

I work as a clinical technician so I have access to plenty of syringes and needles to glue the steering wheel. I was wondering about what type of glue to use but if superglue does the trick then I'll use that. But I am concerned about the top of the rim being smooth and whether it might be an issue come roadworthy time. Anyone know - particularly in Queensland?

I played around in the engine bay last night and removed and cleaned the throttle body, idle valve and breather system. Everything was reasonably clean although there was no filter thingy in the flame trap housing. I had a spare but I broke the housing when I tried to insert it. Age and heat made it brittle. I thought I had a spare housing somewhere but I couldn't find it last night. I'll have another look tonight.

Checked the spark plugs and they were a little worn. But they had the usual carbon deposits on them so at least it seems the engine burns pretty clean.

I was disappointed to find someone had screwed the rear rego plate straight through the decor panel and into the metal of the boot lid instead of using the car's existing plate mounting. The decor plate is broken through but it should be fixable but the crack will still be obvious. They did the same to the rego plate on the front and the bumper has about half-dozen holes all over the place so it looks like several attempts have been made to mount rego plates there. Annoying as hell but not the end of the world I suppose.

carnut222

That rego plate mounting thing annoys me too! In the US they (Volvos) all used to come with a metal frame (see pic) that mounted to the 2 original central holes on the bumper (or boot lid), then the number plate mounted to that over the 4 studs - IIRC all the US number plates had those same 4 stud holes/spacing. I haven't seen anything like that for the Aussie number plates so it seems the only option to use the factory central mounting holes is to drill thru the number plate (may not be technically legal?) or come up with your own mounting bracket. Unfortunately the US-style bracket doesn't really work as the US plates are taller than the Aussie plates...EDIT: I made a custom mount similar to the one below to mount the club plate on the rear of my 1800ES...used some thin aluminium extrusions about 20 mm wide IIRC.

https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/320/JCROEM8RTYR2.jpeg

QLD Transport says holes can be drilled in the rego plates to mount them to the car as long as the plate isn't defaced and doesn't interfere with the readability of the characters....

Sound kind of contradictory to me. I thought drilling holes would be defacing.....

Whatever, I drilled holes in the personalised plates I put on my blue 940 about 20 years ago. I've never been picked up on it.

Did some more poking around tonight. I still can't find the spare flame trap housing I thought I had so maybe I don't have one...

I put the throttle body, idle valve and breather system back together - just need that darn flame trap. Anyway I can still drive out of the garage to wash it on the weekend.

I removed the battery to have a closer look at some corrosion I could see around the battery tray. Turned out to be worse than first appearances suggested (typical cars). The photos below show it after I used a wire brush to remove the loose flaking metal.

The holes in the next 2 photos go through to the wheel arch:

I need some advice about the most appropriate way to tackle this. Hit it with some rust converter, bog up the holes and paint over it and hope for the best? My preference would be to get a body shop to fix it properly but I'm certainly open to suggestions from anyone who has dealt with this problem before.

Hopefully this is the only corrosion problem I will find. I hate body work. I'd much rather do mechanical stuff instead. ?

Thanks Ledfoot.

I'm planning to remove the seats and carpets and some stage to give them a clean so I'll check the entire floor while I'm in there.

Thanks Ian,

I'll give it a try.

My bodywork skills are pretty woeful. The boot needs painting anyway so I thought I'll just give to a shop to fix up. Yeah it'll cost more but it will (hopefully) be a better job than I can do.

I haven't tested the stereo yet to see if the CD part works but the AM radio does :)

I replaced the worn inner tie rod this morning so that's one job off the list.

I've got the new engine mounts and timing belt so I can tackle those too.

Yesterday I took off the scuttle panel in front of the windscreen and reglued the mesh under the fresh air intake back in place. The was a reasonable amount of foliage trapped in the plenum area so that's all been cleaned out too. Need to get some new wiper rubbers.

I went to replace the blown light bulb under the trans selector yesterday. The Brickboard instructions made it sound pretty easy which I guess it is if you have the right tools. I need to get some torx keys to remove this screw from the bracket that's preventing me from lifting up the shifter far enough to get at the bulb:

On my 91 940 this is a simple hex head screw that can be removed with a ring spanner. Bugger me why Volvo changed it to a torx head screw...

I've got the crank holder tool. I bought it from IPD a few years when the exchange rate was in our favour. It's paid for itself several times over.

I finally got the trans shifter out in hopes of replacing the failed bulb but some Volvo engineer had other ideas. There is length of plastic right under the bulb holder making it impossible to remove it.

The only option I can see is to remove those two round metal clips at either end and hope that allows the assembly where the light is housed to be removed so I can get at the bulb. Anyone have any other suggestions? I am tempted to leave it but since I've come this far I might as well complete the job and I believe a working light is also required for QLD roadworthy unless I'm misinterpreting the rules.