Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - Rainwater leaks

eeedelli · Dec 2nd, 2021, 17:25

I managed to have another look today. I didn't have a chance to get the hosepipe on it but neither did I find any tell-tale signs of leakage around the bulkhead and sides.

However ... when I sat on the driver's seat, I spotted a couple of drips hanging from where the headlining (if it had still been there!) would have been clipped to the top of the screen. I also then realised that the side of the driver's seat nearest the centre was quite soggy, corresponding with the position of the drip, above.

As there's no sunroof on this one, it looks as though it must be getting in somewhere along the top of the screen so I think the next move will be to take the top screen trim off again and use some brushable seam sealer along there.

Meanwhile, I had a look at the heater valve. It actually looks original - no sign of doctoring or anything. It also appears to operate from almost one end-stop to almost the other end-stop, which I would have thought should be sufficient to allow a decent amount of water through at the open position and still be adequate to stem the flow at the other, neither of which appear to be the case in practice.

I've put a wide view (and a close-up using a Borescope) on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM48noMNjvY and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wtv5nULC_0 respectively. (YouTube appears to be defaulting to the worst screen resolution on both of those for some reason, so you might have to use the little gearwheel in the bottom RH corner to correct that.)

My suspicion, therefore, is that the operating spindle has somehow become detached from the actual flap inside the valve (perhaps snapped internally) and the flap merely floats in the flow, slightly opening when the lever is in the 'hot' position and restricting the movement (to some extent) when in the 'cold' position.

Given the difficulty of replacement, the length of time I've already put up with it and the lack of decent weather to work in, I'm tempted to leave it alone for now! However, given the amount of damp in there owing to the leak, it took nearly 20 minutes to dry the screen yesterday, which is not exactly useful. <sigh>

Dec 2nd, 2021, 17:25	#25
eeedelli Member Last Online: Mar 12th, 2024 14:10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Liverpool	I managed to have another look today. I didn't have a chance to get the hosepipe on it but neither did I find any tell-tale signs of leakage around the bulkhead and sides. However ... when I sat on the driver's seat, I spotted a couple of drips hanging from where the headlining (if it had still been there!) would have been clipped to the top of the screen. I also then realised that the side of the driver's seat nearest the centre was quite soggy, corresponding with the position of the drip, above. As there's no sunroof on this one, it looks as though it must be getting in somewhere along the top of the screen so I think the next move will be to take the top screen trim off again and use some brushable seam sealer along there. Meanwhile, I had a look at the heater valve. It actually looks original - no sign of doctoring or anything. It also appears to operate from almost one end-stop to almost the other end-stop, which I would have thought should be sufficient to allow a decent amount of water through at the open position and still be adequate to stem the flow at the other, neither of which appear to be the case in practice. I've put a wide view (and a close-up using a Borescope) on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM48noMNjvY and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wtv5nULC_0 respectively. (YouTube appears to be defaulting to the worst screen resolution on both of those for some reason, so you might have to use the little gearwheel in the bottom RH corner to correct that.) My suspicion, therefore, is that the operating spindle has somehow become detached from the actual flap inside the valve (perhaps snapped internally) and the flap merely floats in the flow, slightly opening when the lever is in the 'hot' position and restricting the movement (to some extent) when in the 'cold' position. Given the difficulty of replacement, the length of time I've already put up with it and the lack of decent weather to work in, I'm tempted to leave it alone for now! However, given the amount of damp in there owing to the leak, it took nearly 20 minutes to dry the screen yesterday, which is not exactly useful. <sigh> __________________ 740 GL Est '89 (pre-f’lift, daily 'shed') 740 SE Est '89 (post-f’lift, laid-up) 940 Celebration Est ‘98 2.3 LPT (for 'best') 440 Xi '93 (barely run-in!)