Dear Allrounderco,

Hope you're well and stay so. Congratulations on your new ride!! Glad you have the service records.

Volvo brand coolant hoses - radiator and heater - have a service life of about 15 years, depending on where the car lived. So, if the service records don't show a hose change, make that job one. Also replace the heater control valve: do not reuse an aged part. Plastic gets brittle with heat and time. a heater hose/control valve failure brings coolant loss in a minute or so. That can mean headgasket failure: sooner or later. If the water pump is factory-original, get a spare (Volvo brand or HEPU).

If service records don't show a fuel filter change, get that done.

You should acquire the following spares: fuel pump relay (blue, cube-shaped; main relay block behind front center console); fuel injection relay (on passenger side, engine bay, on inner fender wall; very dark brown); bulb burn-out relay (red-orange cylinder; main relay block); fuel pump (single, in-tank).

I'd buy a 20-ounce bottle of fuel system cleaner, use it before a fill-up and let the fresh-gas-with-cleaner sit in the system for a few days. Gasoline is a witch's brew of hydro-carbons, some of which are paraffins (waxes). Over time, waxes coat fuel system surfaces. The fuel system clear will dissolve them. That helps to keep the fuel gauge send unit in good order. Inside the send unit's tube are two wire-wrapped rods, along which a float slides. If the rods are coated with waxes, the float gets stuck and the gas gauge ceases to read accurately.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook