Well, of all the Volvos that I've had or worked on, the 86 245 has certainly been the most reliable. We've taken it on 2000 mile outings on the spur of the moment many times and it is my daily driver for the one hour commute to my construction site.

This morning the mechanical temperature guage started its usual climb to about 195 F where the thermostat opens and kept on going. I started looking for a lane in the bumper to bumper traffic where I could pull over to no avail. When I finally got the car parked, the temperature was right at 250F. Thank God for AAA.

It looks as though the thermostat stuck and the heater hoses ruptured from the pressure, although I won't know until I tear it down. Theoil is clean and the car cranked with more coolant added so it lookes like the pistons didn't cook. I will rebuild one of my spare heads and do a complete cooling system overhaul over the next week or so.

Regards,
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Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles