Hello All:

1967 Volvo 122S Wagon. Again.

Some of you might recall my burnt valves - I freshened the head and recently bolted it back on.

I then chased a knocking sound - including removing the timing gear case cover - and found nothing.

I decided to drive the beast home from my friend's garage (a few blocks) and take it to a guy in Westchester who works on these old beasts when guess what - more comedy. The temperature needle never stopped going up. I shut off the engine and pushed it back to my friend's garage.

Okay, what did I touch? The temperature sensor, when I removed the head, but I was careful, it seems to be reading, and the radiator was cool to the touch so I am fairly certain that the thermostat is not opening. I did remove it as well when I removed the head but I was very careful with it. Other than the 'heat in water to see if it opens at the specified temperature' test, what else should I be investigating? Is there any chance that the knocking could be related to this? It seems to start knocking right around the time the thermostat would open. I never removed the 90-degree radiator hose so I know I put it on the way it came off, and we removed the fan belt and ran the engine for a bit to see if the knocking might be coming from the water pump. No change in conditions.

I am keeping a sense of humor about all this but I really thought this car would be running two weeks ago and my family needs it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Jeff Pucillo