pothole volvo killers.

My v40 finally sucumbed to the dastardly roads here in tooting,London. massive crater sized holes everywhere - impossible to avoid...........playing merry hell with my front suspension and steering.
Took it for the MOT and the damage was pretty expensive to repair..................sadly got rid of it and bought a ford ka( ! ? ! ) which held the road like a rubber ball, the Ka seems to be too light on the front end although I suspect I am over-steering after years in heavier power steered cars.

Finally had enough and went back to Swedish But with a Saab 93 sport.......................great car.

END of Current Volvo Chapter

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Rat Bike Rat car

I know some enthusiasts will think....'Sacrilege' but as one of the wheel trim discs was missing I decided to scrap em all and am going to 'satin' black the steel rims instead.
Yeah it will make the car look mean but kinda suits me as a biker.
Gonna be selling the 3 hubs on ebay or on the Volvo forums

Well, after the hassle and rip off that is EUROSTAR Garage in Tooting SW17 - the good news is that the outcome was sucessful once they were given the Elbow.
Thanks to the efficiency of EURO CAR PARTS( Mitcham Branch)

The new HT leads were fitted (Good price too – Eurocarparts), The old BKR6EKUB plugs which were on the car when purchased worked well but there was still some ‘weakness’(mixture ?). With nothing to lose and working on the reverse logic that as I couldn’t afford the expense of a proper’tune-up’ I needed to try to replicate the set-up that worked with the current carb (fuel/air) Settings. Euro Car parts offered the Denso Plug K20TXR at £10.29 inc vat.

Bought – Fitted- ………………….heaven………..Job done !

Car now runs well and the grin factor is even there.

SUMMARY : - Volvo V40.

EUROSTAR GARAGE TOOTING – CRAP ! Cowboys. AVOID AT ALL COST.

EURO CAR PARTS (BRANCHES) – EXCELLENT ! USE AT EVERY

OPPORTUNITY !

VOLVO FORUMS – EXCELLENT – USE AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY

Crap Garages ! Nothing ever Changes.

A cautionary tale,

I Bought V40 1996 estate.2.0i which Ran like a pig even after usual ‘cold’start should have passed.

Based on previous experience with same problem on other Volvos I Changed HT leads. From the Spec cards in HALFORDS……… and Routinely changed the plugs from the NGK BKR6EKUB on there to new NGK BKR6ETUC recommended by my local Auto factors.

Still running badly and at times lacking power I called several garages and opted for a local garage which does MOT’s Services and claims diagnostics and tuning.

The ‘Garage’- EUROSTAR , of TOOTING,LONDON , told me (at a cost of a £ 88 Diagnostic !) that he thought they were the wrong HT leads (no certainty there !) and that the BKR6ETUC plugs I had fitted to replace the BKR6EKUB on the car when I got it were the wrong plugs. He was very disgruntled at my informing him I could change the plugs and HT leads myself (rather than pay him the £75 +vat p/h), and handed me a piece of paper with NGK BCPR6ET written on it telling me these are the plugs I need.

I changed the HT leads but replaced the old BKR6EKUB plugs as they were visibly in reasonable condition. Problem Solved.

Luckily before I returned to the Autofactor shop to raise hell or bought the ‘Correct’plugs as per the Eurostar Garage Tooting I visited the NGK product website and did a cross reference check on all the plugs mentioned (including Eurostars erroneous type).

OK it confirmed that the BKR6ETUC is the correct Plug for the car model,/year/engine size and offered the BKR6EKUB as an alternative.

Incidently, on the NGK Web site it returns the following vehicles for the NGK BCPR6ET Spark Plug.

ALFA ROMEO33 1.706/90,CITROENAX 1.408/91 –> 05/,CITROENXM 3.0n/ , CITROENXM 3.0n/,FIATPUNTO 1 (94-->10/99) 1.403/94 –> 00,
FIATUNO 1.490 –>,MZ1000S 100004 –> Std Copper Core, SENATOR 3.0 –> 84

PEUGEOT405 1.901/90 –> 07/92,PEUGEOT605 3.009/90 –> 09/97

PEUGEOT605 3.009/90 –> 01/94,PORSCHE968 3.091 –> 96,RENAULTESPACE 3 / GRAND ESPACE 3.004/97 –> 09/98,RENAULTSAFRANE 3.092 –> 10/96

SKODAFAVORIT 1.393 –> 95,VAUXHALL/OPELCARLTON 3.0 –> 07/92

VAUXHALL/OPELSENATOR 3.0

NOT A MENTION OF THE VOLVO V40 2.0.i 1996…!!

If I can find out the correct stuff from the Net, Vardis etc how come the ‘professionals’ at Eurostar Tooting couldn’t get even close ?………….does this garage not have a clue or was it a surefire way of getting me back for more diagnostic charges ?