BRAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

Richard’s big Volvo finally gets the big service it so desperately needs – but finding the correct rear brakes is proving to be a proper headache

OWNED SINCE February 2018 MILEAGE SINCE LAST REPORT None TOTAL MILEAGE 153,698 LATEST COSTS £171.87 (so far) ‘The 960’s fuel filter looked like it had never been changed’

1995 VOLVO 960 24v AUTO

My last report on the 960 detailed its cambelt change. With that done, it was time to treat it to a full service – something else that it hadn’t had in quite a while. I felt it was wise to do the service after the cambelt because, given the luck I’ve been having with this car, doing it before and then attempting the timing belt would probably have resulted in the freshly attended-to engine promptly lunching itself.

A service is always a good opportunity to check a car out thoroughly and investigate any potential hidden issues.

That 960s are less well-built than 940s is well-known, and despite being galvanised up to the windows, the rust-proofing in general is less effective – as illustrated by the corrosion blossoming around my car’s front mudflap mountings. I was relieved to find that the underneath of the 960 was in fairly good nick, even if the rear of the exhaust looked like the car had spent most of its life parked over a pool of sulphuric acid. The fuel filter, which sits under the left-hand side of the car, appeared never to have been changed, and despite it being something I wanted doing, mechanic Craig Dawson of Dawson Motors felt that trying to free off its very rusty unions would end up doing more harm than good. Leave well alone. That the Volvo seriously needed servicing was typified by the oil filter being so tightly seized on that attempting to get it off caused it to split. All four brakes

– pads and discs – also needed replacement. And that’s where the fun started. I never had any issues getting parts for my old 940, but Volvo tinkered with the 960 so much that the first lot of brakes that turned up wouldn’t fit. A second attempt produced the right front items and the rear pads – but the discs still wouldn’t fit.

And now the handbrake cable has snapped, too…

The oil filter hadn’t come off in such a long time that it split during replacement.

The very rusty and fragile-looking fuel filter. it was deemed best not to bother it.

Problem-child 960 seems to have spent a lot of time adopting this position.

Nearly six litres of fresh 10w40 semisynthetic was extremely welcome.

Less-than diligent rustproofing has created festering rust around the front mudflaps.