My Black Brick

I finally brought the brick in for service after giving up on diagnosing the emissions problem. Turns out I had a bad air mass meter and I had it replaced. I thought the diagnostics box was broken but it turns out that it just needed to be reset with a bunch of button holds and clicks. D-oh! Would have been good to know that before.

Once fixed the car doesn’t lag, gets good mileage and passed NJ inspection. I took the opportunity this weekend to replace the plugs, cap and rotor. Above are the old plugs. They didn’t look too bad after 36k miles.

My daughters helped me with maintenance last weekend by filling the wiper fluid and coolant. I took some pics and make an animated gif.

The weather was pleasant this weekend for checking out my oily crank. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to enjoy a leisurely cruise down the boulevard because of the mega oil leak.

I await a call from DB Volvo on my minor catastrophe. I drove the brick cautiously along the inner loop of the beltway from Braddock Rd. to Route 66 and Don Beyer Volvo, belching plumes of smoke whenever I went over 40 MPH or 2000 RPM. After a short wait I was told none of the mechanics who worked Saturday would be able to service and I’d need to wait till Monday. I was fortunate enough to get a ride from my mother back up to NJ w/ the kids.

Here are shots of some of the work I did. I got plenty of “before” shots but was so beat at the end that I didn’t get a good pic of the new seals and timing belt. I did get one of the old and new covers though.

Here’s a view of how the seals looked when I took the pulleys off, then after I’d removed the seals and cleaned the front end. At least I’ve got a new tension roller.

After a day of rope tricks and greasy fingers I finally changed the front seals, timing belt, covers and V belts, only to have what looks to be a worse leak than before. I drove the brick for about 5 minutes then opened the hood. There was a trickle of oil leaking out of the timing belt cover and upon opening it up I saw all the work I did basking in hot oil.

I figured I’d give it another run, so this time I drove on a higher speed boulevard until I started smelling something burning. I looked in the rear view and there was a cloud of smoke trailing me. I was driving in a loop and pulled the car back into the driveway and checked the dipstick. It looks like I went through a 1/2 quart in about 4 miles. Wonderful.

I’ve got an appointment at Don Beyer Volvo, Falls Church, VA for 8AM tomorrow. I just can’t go through this crap again, especially since I can’t tell where the leak is coming from. They’re offering 15% off service for cars over 120k miles. Lucky me.

This is cross-posted on the Brickboard

I’m replacing the cam/int/crankshaft seals because of a slow oil leak I’ve had for a while. When I put the smaller seals in they went in fine and I have them in about 1/16″ from the outside.

The crankshaft seal went in a little too easily and when I slid it in one side went in about 1/4″ from the edge. I was able to even it out by lightly tapping with a piece of wood but I’m concerned it went in so easily and am afraid it might be in too far. I lubed it on the inside rim w/ vasoline and outside w/ 10w30. Did I screw up? Did it go past the housing? It’s an orange colored seal from FCP.

Click image for larger view. I’ll be shoving my face in here over the next couple weeks. There’s an oil leak somewhere in front of the engine, possibly busted seals on the crank or cam shaft. Oils been spraying over the engine bay for about a year. I’ve been using Castrol high mileage and I’m not losing too much oil anymore. But I’m gonna bust in and install new seals, gaskets, belts and covers. I may even throw in a new horn.

Last year I totalled my expenses and found I averaged $2177 a year to buy and maintain the brick, not including gas and insurance. This year, things are looking better.

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Three circumstances worked against me this week:

1. Cold weather in NJ.

2. Oily alternator belt.

3. Ye olde battery.

I needed a jump start twice. The first was from parking in front of my apartment with the hazards on. I was away from the car for only 20 minutes and it wouldn’t start up. I looked under the hood at the Volvo logo on the battery and figured it was probably an 18 year old original. After losing the charge when I moved my car for a street sweeper, I figured I needed a new battery. Got a $100 Bosch at Pep Boys and now we start like a champ.

Below is a sketch documenting how I checked the over-drive relay after I lost the use of over-drive last winter. It follows a technique I’d seen posted on the Brick Board, probably by Dave Barton. It took a while to troubleshoot but I eventually sucked it up and got the $40 Over-drive Solenoid Bypass kit from IPD and it’s worked great since then.

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I have a confession to make. I let the car go over 11k miles between oil changes. The first time I did the job I had gotten so fed up with an overtightened filter that I’ve had garages to do the job since then. I’ve been wanting to do the job myself lately since I’ve been nursing some oil leaks. I just procrastinated.

Back when I had my 740T I used to do my own oil changes. I made a few mistakes out of inexperience (and lack of internet resources in 1994), including opening the plug over my bare hand while the oil was still scalding hot, and dropping my wagon over the end of the ramps. Since I got the black brick I’ve been using jacks and stands to work under the car. This makes sense for suspension work but adds extra labor to what should be a quick job. So last week I finally got a new set of ramps and it made the oil change a breeze. No Dukes of Hazzard jumps off the end this time. Just a quick twist of the plug, a twirl of the filter and 4 quarts of Castrol GTX high-mileage at 10W30 and in 20 minutes it’s over. I’ll easily be able to do that 3-4 times a year.

I recommend oil filter pliers over the universal or strap type. There’s just not a lot of room to maneuver so it’s easier to just claw the thing and twist. After trips to AutoZone I was unable to get a new drain plug washer so I flipped the old one and have no problems. Now I’ve got to get a case of  drain plug washers.