Some episodes from the life of my 480

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Van
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Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Sat May 29, 2010 8:49 pm

Yesterday I visited friends, when I left and said goodbye in the parking lot, a little boy approached, watched us and the car, and when asked by my friend said the Volvo was a cool car.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:43 pm

In the weekend, made a 250 miles round trip. Fueled up the day before and reset the info center. Abiding the speed limits resulted in an average of about 42mpg.
On the 2nd day, it rained. Made some pictures of the Volvo in the wet:

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after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Sun Oct 10, 2010 8:15 am

The past weeks, my Volvo has been heavily abused as load carrier: Image
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
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Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
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Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:09 pm

My Volvo is another year road legal, today passed the APK (MOT)!
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:50 pm

I had to transport a pair of speakers that would just not fit in. I was unable to put rear seat backrests down because I needed the rear seats for my puppy. The solution: removed the trim from the boot and got those few extra centimeters.

Image


Image
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:49 pm

As an added safety feature, I've fitted airbags to my car:

Image
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:40 pm

The Volvo had a major service today: brake pads, middle exhaust muffler, oil and some small things. Now good for some more kilometers. I found a very kind workshop in my new hometown. They had put the car in the shade with a window slightly opened because they new I would come with my doggie top pick it up. (It's warm in Holland right now)
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:46 pm

Bad luck. There's a problem with the air conditioning. When I turn it on fuel consumption rises 4l/100km or more. It does cool but it seems to me the compressor went bad. So I have it in a workshop again to get it fixed.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Fri Apr 22, 2011 6:22 pm

Good luck. Turns out it was not the compressor but some electrical problems. While I was in the area, I had my car serviced by Auto Rima and they did a great job finding the real cause of the problem and saving me a lot of money.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon May 02, 2011 4:41 pm

Yesterday for the first time been able to legally drive 130kph (80mph) in Holland. So any Dutch guy will know where I have been driving. On the way back saw in the rear view mirror the clouds of smoke from the dune fire in Schoorl...
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:51 pm

The beautiful color of my car isn't so beautiful at the moment. Due to parking outside it's fading, particularly on the bonnet. Seems to me that the paint on the plastic is different. I'm amazed how quick the oxidation comes up. Problem is, where I live now I have no good location to work on the paint. I have no garage anymore and I don't really like working outside. I would have my car in the garage and do several shifts to polish and wax it thoroughly. Now that it's overdue I plan to use the next visit to my parents and work in their underground parking space. It's not ideal but at least there's no direct sunlight or rain.

Glasgowjim is sending me a set of plastic clips for the door cards. I hope these will be tight with them.

After replacing the middle part of the exhaust the car had a little 'turbo-whistle'. This became pretty annoying after a while and it turned out the parts of the exhaust pipe weren't 100% fitting. I went back and had the workshop seal it.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Wed Aug 24, 2011 6:36 am

Even when I do not listen to it, I do have a Radio/Cassette player in the car. It's a very special cassette player: when a tape is played, it is also erased...
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Wed Aug 31, 2011 5:43 pm

The seal for the exhaust didn't hold and I became fed up with the hammering under the floor. The 480 isn't a silent car really and this was even worse. So I returned it to the workshop to get it fixed and now they did make serious work of it. Put an extra pipe over the bad connection and the Volvo now sounds as it used to.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:45 am

Yesterday when I washed the car the right headlamp snapped or was already broken off?! I didn't have the feeling really I broke it off, more like it was loose and while touching with the brush toppled over.

At home I investigated and it turned out the two hinges were broken.
Image
Well it's plastic and it's on a Volvo but from just touching with the brush this broke off? There was a lot of greasy dirt on the headlamp cover and I am suspicious someone may have hit the light and hid the fact it happened. It has happened before on the left headlight. When I drove the car to the workshop the lights were ok since I flashed to my neighbor. But well these are all suspicions no hard evidence.
The plastic hinges I am afraid will be no longer available from Volvo.

While I wanted to clean off the grease from the headlight it wasn't easy and I wanted to use my Scratch-X. Well can't find it. An almost new tube worth 16 euro and where have I put it? I remember using it in the house for polishing something and obviously it didn't return in the usual and also not in the unusual places. So I cleaned it with paint cleaner and polish. That also made the paint look much better. Maybe if I do the car with just paint cleaner and polish and skip the Scratch-X? Will save me a lot of time and work.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Sun Oct 23, 2011 6:38 am

Friday had a big trip and when returning at night noticed the right daytime bulb went out and also both keyhole lights in the doors are out. So got some work to do.

About the current fashion of daytime running lights, I think the 480 has a very good solution for them. Volvo was 15 years ahead of fashion and they are fully integrated into the lights cluster and not obtrusive. The cheap china tuning looking solutions from e.g. Audi or Mercedes are really painful in my eyes.
They only ad up to the Christmas tree of fog lights and hazard lights that are mostly abused. Who benefits from these are the lights manufacturers. They have the best marketing engine being able to pursue governments to have things fitted to cars that add weight, use energy and are barely never legally allowed for use. Think how much fuel the world would have saved without these features!
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Mon Nov 14, 2011 5:55 pm

Finally have taken up the job of working on the paint. Started with the bonnet, treating it with paint cleaner, then polish, then Carnauba wax. On the really bad spots used Scratch-X. So far the front is done.
I also polished the right tail light with Scratch-X and paint cleaner. It's the bad looking light of the two, now a little bit less bad looking.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:52 pm

Yesterday did the bottom half of the right side. Today was all wet, couldn't work on the paint.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:10 pm

Today finished off my 'quick-and-dirty' detailing job with the roof and pillars. I was at the bottom of my Deep Crystal Paint Polish and had to cut open the flask to get the last of it. It was dry but fog came up and already the roof was getting damp so I had to wipe that of first, with every step I did. The car looks reasonable now and sometime soon I will detail the interior.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

Re: Some episodes from the life of my 480

Post by Van » Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:29 pm

I'm happy the Volvo once again passed the APK (MOT) and we're another year street legal. :hopping:
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

User avatar
Van
480 Connoisseur
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:27 am
Location: Ich bin ein Berliner!

I've seen the light.

Post by Van » Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:59 pm

Today worked on the dash. As mentioned in the electronics section, the halogen bulb has burned out, so it had to be fixed. I had a spare form the original dashboard. Replaced the bulb and yes, I saw the light again.
Then I tried to replace the computer with the original computer because it was a little more accurate on fuel average. However I got no display at all. I also wanted to swap the display unit, but the screws were so tight I couldn't loose them. I didn't push it just accepted it. At least I have an illuminated info center now.
after over 10 years parted with the 1995 Volvo 480 ES 2.0

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