Volvo 940 Turbo

Dale gets a ‘metal on metal’ noise when he hits the brakes. Out with the socket set, then…

Imentioned in my last report that the 940’s brakes were on their last legs. It tuns out that this was a bit of an understatement – I was beginning to get a distinct ‘metal-on-metal’ vibe from the front anchors so I knew that fresh discs and pads were way overdue. A quick browse online and replacements were winging their way to my door, ready to be fitted.

Having lived with the Volvo for a few months now, I’m starting to discover just how wellengineered and easy to work on these cars are. The front brake calipers are a case in point – by removing just one bolt, the caliper can be easily pivoted out of the way of the disc to facilitate the replacement of the pads without having to remove the entire caliper and bracket arrangement from the car.

The extent of the wear became starkly evident when I removed the old pads and saw that the nearside ones had barely any meat left on them and one of the offside pads had no material whatsoever left on it. The discs were in an equally parlous state, so with another couple of bolts – which were surprisingly compliant– removed, the discs were off and shiny new ones fi tted in their place. I treated the calipers and brackets to a bit of wire brush love while I was at it, too.

All-in-all, a simple job, with even the most meagre of socket sets. I gave the rears a full inspection, too, but these have obviously been renewed recently because they are still in top condition.

With the brakes done, it was on to more general service items. Having perused the history fi le that came with the car, I was pleased to learn that the engine oil and filter had been replaced in the not too distant past, so it was spark plugs, HT leads and fresh coolant that were next up. Well, they would have been had I not discovered that the Volvo’s battery was dead, so I begrudgingly added it to my list, borrowed a car and went shopping.

With a new battery installed,

I set about replacing the spark plugs and leads. Having owned high-performance Japanese cars and modern BMWs in the past, I feel a little spoiled when it comes to engine access on the Volvo because there’s plenty of real estate for the fourcylinder motor in the expansive engine bay. It’s a joy to work on because everything is pretty easy to get to – apart from the coil lead connector on the distributor cap, which Volvo, in its wisdom, placed on the bottom of the distributor cap, right up against the bulkhead.

The four plugs and leads were replaced in a matter of minutes but that irksome connection took a little while longer to get to grips with. Once removed, closer scrutiny revaled that one of the leads had a split end but the plugs themselves looked healthy.

Next up was the coolant flush. Draining the 940 involves not only emptying the radiator but also undoing a drain plug on the block to make sure that all of the old coolant leaks away. What came out looked like plain water, but it was clean, which leads me to believe that the system is in good shape. I flushed the block and radiator through with clean water as a matter of course then re-fi lled it with the correct coolant, mixed to the required ratio.

Speaking of water, I discovered that the Volvo’s sunroof is leaking when the dome light that sits in the middle of the rooflining filled with water after a particularly heavy downpour. And, as we all know, water and electricity do not make good bedfellows.

This will be the next job to tick off my list, then, as we head into the more inclement winter weather that the Met Offi ce is forecasting.