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Hello fellow Volvo enthusiasts.
This is my 1st visit to the Brickboard, and so far, I'm really impressed. Seems as though you will always find a friend if you drive a Volvo. They should put that in the brochures...
I'm lucky enough to have owned a unique/rare Volvo in Australia for the past 18 months - a 1986 760 Turbo Estate which I imported from Hong Kong as a 15 year-old import. Aussies will tell you, Volvo in Australia only sold 740 Turbo Estates from 1987 onwards, and specifications on my car are somewhat different to local cars. As far as I am aware, my car is the only one of it's kind in Australia.
So far, ownership has been very much enjoyable, although some mis-diagnoses by a couple of Volvo specialists have been causes for concern, as they could have proved disasterous to my bank balance! One time there was a miss-fire and stalling problem, the cause of which was almost impossible to find. New Distributor cap - no improvement. Injector flush - no improvement. Injector removal and clean-out - no improvement. Fuel filter replacement - no improvement. By sheer luck, the mechanic, scratching his head one afternoon at being unable to find the fault, saw a small spark shoot out from underneath/inside the brand-new distributor cap. Bingo! A faulty new distributor cap with a hair-line crack was the cause. The manufacturer replaced the cap, but who covers the cost of all the other bits and pieces done? ME!
The other major case was when the transmission played up, not changing when it was supposed to. 2 Volvo specialists diagnosed a full transmission rebuild or replacement -AU$2500+++! Being a bit of a bargain hunter, I decided to shop around for a transmission rebuild. I was lucky enough to find an old fellow who was a transmission specialist. One look at the transmission, and corect diagnosis was on it's way. The car spent a few hours on his hoist, and the culprit was found - faulty govenor! AU$220.00 later, the car drove better than ever! He also fixed the problem of it moving off in second gear - my usual specialist mechanic had been unable to fix this before. I believe it was a minor adjustment...
I'm hoping that some of you out there can help me with a couple of problems that I'm having - nothing major but the kind of problems that stick in your brain.
1) Air Conditioner - works well in the heat, but does not come through front vents - only through demister vents. However, if I drive downhill, the front vents open up to sweet, cold air. Sadly, I cannot drive downhill all day, esspecially in such a relatively flat city (Melbourne). Any answers?
2) Clock - dashboard clock stops working if I do not drive the car over the weekend. If it is driven everyday, the clock works perfectly. But stop for 2 days - dead clock. Any answers?
3) Electric driver's seat - does not always want to work. Motor seems to strain. Any suggestions?
4) Bulb warning light comes on after 1/2 an hour of driving with full lights working. Switch lights off and back on again - buld warning light goes off for 5 minutes. Any suggestions?
5) Heater - does not come on when the car is cold or warm. Could the thermostat have been removed in a previous life, and thus caused the problem? The temp guage on the dash seems to be accurate. Any help?
Thank-you fellow enthusiasts. I hope to sort these problems out with your help.
David.
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