Since my Volvo is effectively locked into my driveway by my other cars I don’t worry to much about it being stolen. As such I don’t often both to lock it. Recently after taking the front door panels off in an effort to fix the passenger side door switch and lubricate the window mechanisms I noticed that the driver side central locking switch, part 3540135 which I had previously fixed up, didn’t look right. Specifically the plastic part that connects to the door lock had fallen off. Closer examination showed that not only had it fallen off but it had come apart. Some bad wiring routing on my part had caused that side of the mechanism to get caught on the window as it rolled down, breaking it.
Continue readingMonth: April 2020
All Back Together… Kinda
The stainless steel butt joint pipe clamp and donut gasket I ordered arrived in the mail in time for the weekend, so at the earliest opportunity I climbed under the car to put things to rights.
Continue readingTales From The Loop
I’m a few episodes into Amazon’s Tales From The Loop, a science fiction series based in part on the art of Swedish painter Simon Stålenhag. It’s surreal and dreamlike and, like Stålenhag’s art, full of 200 series Volvos. I’m enjoying it for the stories, the atmosphere, and, of course, the Volvos. Consider it a BbG official recommendation.
New Exhaust Plus Complications
After a few weeks of waiting there was finally an alignment of decent weather and the weekend. That meant as soon as a got done with a few household chores I was able to start the process of taking out the old exhaust and putting in the new one. This system includes the resonator, a muffler, and the various pipes that connect them.
First a quick note of resonators vs mufflers. They are similar to each other in that they are responsible for mitigating exhaust noise. The main difference is that the resonator does not quiet the exhaust sound. Rather it “tunes” the exhaust sound in a way that makes the muffler’s job easier. That way the muffler can be designed to muffle a much narrower set of frequencies which means a quieter ride with less of a hit on performance.
Removal
The whole process starts by jacking up the rear of the car onto jack stands. Next I had to remove the clamp that connects the resonator to the catalytic converter pipe. This clamp was hideously rusted and was almost just a clamp shaped lump of corrosion. I blasted it with WD-40 and used a breaker bar with a 14mm deep socket to get the nut turning. It took some muscle, and boy did that nut scream as it turned, but eventually I got both sides off far enough to be able to move it out of the way. I then got out the rotary tool and used a cut off disc to finish it off. I wasn’t going to reuse them, so this was the much faster and easier method.
Uncooperative Weather
The last couple of weekends around here have featured some pretty uncooperative weather, so I haven’t had a chance to do anything with the muffler. Once things line up I’ll be right on it. In the meantime I’ve noticed a strange electrical issue. When I push the brakes my license plate lights turn off and the center brake light does not turn on. I’m guessing there’s a short somewhere. That’ll require some looking into.