Hi Bill - I knew your location, just forgot. We touched on that back in December when you were helping me figure out the best way to improve my headlights without paying up for E codes.

Yeah, that Gates system is interesting, and appears to have merit. I don't have a suitable compressor anyway, so I'm not going to ponder it too much, but in the era of aluminum heat exchangers, I can see why avoiding chemicals would be desirable. I had one aluminum radiator fail on me (2001 Mini Cooper). That same car also had pitting on the machined surface of the cylinder head (where thermostat housing mated). The pitting was so bad, the O-ring for the housing leaked. So there was probably a lack of maintenance, or improper coolant used at some point. That car took $11 a PINT, pre-diluted coolant, so yeah, I can see why someone might have cheaped out on that... I was able to fix the leak by filling the pitting with JB Weld.

Anyway, the cooling system repair to dread on these Volvos seems to be the heater core, or so I hear. I've done three that I can recall (not counting aircooled VW systems): A '73 Plymouth Duster without AC, a 1983 Ford Mustang with aftermarket AC, and a 1999 Dodge Ram 2500. The first two were cake. The Ram was rough, but I survived :-) That last one wasn't even leaking, just so clogged, the heat wasn't very good. Maybe the Gates setup could have helped that one? Ironically, the first two (which were leakers) were brass - granted they were already both old cars at the time. So maybe I'm too harsh on aluminum.

Stay warm,
Wilson


Thanks for the joke. It was totally out of context for me, as, despite vaguely knowing who Santos is, I am completely oblivious to the scandal. A few years ago I decided to take a break from news, etc. I liked that so much, I never went back. I'm not on any social platforms, either. Which, in my case at least, proves none of this has any meaningful impact on my life. The stuff I need to know will make its way to me. Not saying anyone else should try this. For goodness sake, I know my peculiarity would not work for most.