Hopped into my turbo wagon to drive north to the mother-in-law's when I discovered my windshield washer wouldn't pump. And then that my cruise control wouldn't work. Everything worked perfectly three or four days before. Pulled off the road to check and was horrified to discover that all the 5/16th black rubber hoses by the washer reservoir had been eaten away by a rat. You could tell by the millimeter wide teeth marks left on the hoses. The damage to the lines was extensive. The rat ate through the lines, drank the methanol laced washer fluid, and died about ten feet from my compost pit behind my house, out in the open. At the time I found him I thought the neighbor's cat had killed it and left it there, but now I know it was the methanol in the washer fluid that did it in.

I repaired the rubber lines and got my washer going, but I have not the faintest clue which rubber vacuum line that rat sampled that disabled my cruise control. I checked with my "reliable" Haynes manual hoping to find a diagram or photo, but there was only one little section on cruise control, saying they didn't have any information at time of publication, and to check with your Volvo dealer or service garage. How the hell those people ever made it into print is beyond me. Can somebody please tell me where to start looking in the engine compartment for the cruise control module and the vacuum control lines that the rat undoubtedly got into. I've checked and can't see anything. Oh for the accessibility and simplicity of my 240 wagon. Dick