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Hi Bob.
Those twin valves (called PAIR valves) are the Pulsair system. Pulsair enriches the exhaust with a burst of turbulent air from the airbox during the exhaust stroke to improve efficiency of the cat converter and reduce emissions. It was used on some early '80s 240 B23E and I believe also B23F engines to satisfy California and Canadian emissions requirements with those engines. My brother's Canadian '81 242 GLT with B23E has it, just like your 1981. Volvo apparently also used Pulsair starting in 1985 in the B200E engine that we didn't get in North America. Volvo used Pulsair again in the later 1994-1995 940 B230FD engines like mine, possibly just in Canada and California again, but all later B230FDs may well have it. I just took a look at my B230FD and there is a bigger gap between that rear water pump bolt and the forward Pulsair down pipe than in your picture. I can easily get a 10mm box wrench on the nut, even a fatter ratcheting box wrench, but not a socket. When you first posted, I didn't recall ever having a problem there so I thought to myself I might have needed a special wrench or something, but obviously not.
As you likely know, that B23E engine of yours is something special and much sought after by those in the know, a 10:1 compression ratio and no cat converter, allowing it to use the well proven K-Jet injection to produce a respectable 136 HP. Some have said it's an interference engine, but I've heard Volvo mechanics have say it's not, though I'm not so sure about the 10.3:1 European B23E. The B23E was only available in Canada on the 1981-1982 242 GLTs and 244 GLs (as best I can figure). Our American cousins couldn't have that version of the B23 because of new EPA cat converter requirements that Canada didn't implement until 1983. Instead, the GLTs in the USA got the new, but slightly lower powered and slightly turbo-lagged B21FT, 7.5:1 compression, 126-131 HP. The B23E was first made available in Europe in the 1979-1980 GLs/GLTs, with a slightly higher 10.3:1 compression ratio rated at 140HP. I see a reference to the European 10.3:1 B23E available in Canada again in 1984, but I've never heard of one and cat converters were required here by then, so I suspect that's an incorrect reference.
As for your mechanic friend's success grabbing the water pump return line nut from behind using long needle nose pliers or whatever, another option might have been to use a star lock washer and hold the nut from behind with your finger while tightening from the front until the nut held firm on its own. Volvo probably intended for you to get at that nut with the water pump loosened and pulled forward a bit to be able to properly get an open end wrench on it.
Best of luck with your car.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now
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