Engine: 2.3 F/Inj B23E/B230F: What makes coolant go around?

[Bob 1967]

I agree with Alan regarding no. 1 cylinder.
Sounds like a fault in the lead or no. 1 terminal on the distributor.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by honestjoe

Thanks Othen...I think Sherlock Holmes said something along thoughs lines..hj...

Exactly HJ. I think I bore people on this forum looking for silver bullets to fix issues with their 40-60 year old Volvos by always telling them to work out what is wrong first. Instead of being methodical, eliminating one thing at a time and doing the cheap and easy things first many folk like to start off by throwing expensive parts at the the problem - quite often with no success. Older Volvos are pretty simple machines, generally there aren't all that many things to eliminate before working out what must be the problem (and only then start buying new parts if necessary).

Good fortune,

A

[Othen]

Originally Posted by morsing

Still battling this:

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=320792



Better than a proper head gasket tester? Probably not.

How would that cause any damage to the system?

I know it's a bit chilly outside, but it was about 11 degrees when I was doing this. Running for 45 minutes without the thermostat opening is not really what I expected.

I'm a bit confused Henrik,

In the final post of your other thread in the link you say:

Spent half an hour filing down the mushroom end on my almost-new genuine Volvo spark plug I had lying in the garage (don't know why there has to be two different kind of HT leads), and it purrs like a kitten now.

... so has the issue returned after changing the plug leads? If so it still sounds like one of the leads is the issue, so I'd suggest:

1. You measure the impedance of each of the leads seperately, if one differs significantly from the others then the issue probably lies there.
2. You swap over the lead that appears to be the problem at the distributor cap with one from another cylinder - see if the issue moves to another cylinder.

If your thermostat still has not opened after 45 minutes of running then it isn't working, so change it (they are not expensive, get a pattern part one that fits - I bought one fairly recently for £11.25 delivered). If you have an IR thermometer like this:



... use it to make sure the thermostat is behaving.

Good fortune,

A

[Bob 1967]

In the final post of your other thread in the link you say:

Spent half an hour filing down the mushroom end on my almost-new genuine Volvo spark plug I had lying in the garage (don't know why there has to be two different kind of HT leads), and it purrs like a kitten now.

Mushroom ends?
Are those the at lead ends of the plugs?
Did you try screwing them off?

[morsing]

Sorry about being quiet for a while, have been lying on the sofa for five days with COVID.

I know people are trying to be helpful, but I do despair reading through comments sometimes.

I started this thread to half rhetorically I suppose, discuss idling a car for 45 minutes without the coolant starting to circulate. I have a proper head-gasket test kit, whether you agree with using it is not my concern, but yes, it does need steam.

Only two comments/questions in this thread related to this post, so I will answer those:

- No, the thermostat isn't broken.
- No, a faulty head-gasket doesn't necessarily mix coolant into the oil.

I will see if I can find the energy to update the original thread about the dead cylinder, but I'm still not feeling 100%.

I think my only option here is to actually drive the car and carefully undo the expansion tank cap.

P.S. I know I am not as active here as I once was, but I have owned this car for 19 years, had a '76 244 before that and have done all my own car work for over 25 years, so I am not unfamiliar with how this car works. I have at least £10k, if not £20k, worth of tools in the garage so not without means to fix things. And I do know the boiling point of water, which incidentally is not the boiling temperature of the coolant mix.