1994 945T 85k miles

I recently changed the majority of the hoses on my 940T, the oil cooler lines were on the brink of failure and one of the heater hoses looked original so I figured I'd invest the $25 for a new one.

Had my fair share of fixing the coolant leaks after the change, the connection under the intake manifold wasn't tight enough and was leaking a reservoir tank every five days. Replaced the clamp, no more leak...at least from there...

Found the other one at the firewall, top hose, clamps seemed tight enough but once I grabbed the hose and jiggled the coolant would spew out which soaked the foam insulation at the firwall. But wait! There weren't any puddles of coolant under the car anymore...where could the coolant be?...that's right, my driver's side floor was (relatively) flooded with the green stuff. I'm just glad Volvo put more foam padding in the carpet than their other models, it soaked everything right up.

Pulled the top hose off to look at the connection and noticed that when I cut the old hose off with a razor blade I gouged the top surface of the connector. Figured it might be part of the reason for the leak so I sanded it down to the point where I couldn't feel the ridge, re-installed, tightened (new) clamp with the 8mm box, took her for a drive with high heat on and afterwards checked the connection again. No more leak. (Please let the coolant leak gods be with me!)

Some questions for you Bricksters out there...
* How tight are your clamps at the heater hoses? There doesn't seem to be much danger of breaking the metal connectors (unlike the plastic radiator) so do you really crank it on?

* Is the gouge in the metal, almost the length of the connector, a probably reason for at least part of the leak?

* What does the brass (or copper?) connector really look like as a unit? Is it one molded piece or is it soldered/welded at some points? I'm afraid that by tugging at the baked on hose I may have disturbed something. Just for information's sake...Any experience removing the beast? Can it be done from the engine compartment?

* What's on the other side of the connector? Is there anything that can fail?

Thanks for your comments.
Zuda

1990 244DL that seems to need everything (and will get it)
1994 945T who just lost it's driver's side blinker (the whole thing) somewhere between Boston and Providence! Thank God for fcpgroton...going there tomorrow...IN PERSON!