The great P80 Volvo Bloopers - Idiots - Fails thread - June 2023

[Nevada1906]

Life's an adventure right? Would have loved to see those 18inch shifter throws

I was changing the transmission fluid in my xc90 one day. It was the first time on this vehicle as the old fluid was charcoal black and there was only 85,000 on the odometer. I chose the complete fluid exchange method with a buddy holding some vinyl tubing on the radiator exit while I filled new fluid in between running the engine. During the 3rd cycle I noticed no fluid coming out of the pump despite dumping 3 quarts down the funnel. Is was at that time I notice a lot of dripping fluid on the driveway. The funnel had popped out and I had dumped 3 liters of bright red transmission fluid onto the driveway and it spread across a large enough portion that all could see my mistake. I had stained concrete like a scarlett letter for months.

Next time you do that, make sure to have a friend take a picture of you next to the car in an orange hunting cap with a wrench in your hand...

[volvolugnut]

Well thankfully this time it was not my turn to add to the thread through something I did! However this did make me laugh.

So last summer tire season, my wife mentioned that the 'R' had a steering wheel vibration. I forgot about this until it was nearly time to refit (spring in Alberta is still thinking about it!). I called my local repair shop that has fitted and balanced my wheels for over 10 years and only ever one issue with their work which we resolved amicably.

Anyway dropped the rims off on Tuesday morning and asked the boss if they could check the balance and also see if there were any bends in the rims. When I bought the car it came with a similar set of Volvo 17" wheels from a P2 and 2 of them turned out to have pot hole bends in them.

I also spoke to the foreman and reinforced what was needed. They have been hugely busy and got the call today to go get them. I asked if there were any balance issues or bends? There was that awkward silence........... Oops we thought you wanted us to remove the tires from the rims? Not sure where that came from!?

So now they are going to re-fit the rims and re-balance the rims for tomorrow! At least we can laugh about it. The garage is run by a father and son both who I have known for 20+ years and honest good work comes out of there. But at least it was not me!

Neil.

That is funny. Would not be funny if they tossed your tires.
volvolugnut

[volvolugnut]

I'm the first generation in my family to be into cars seriously and none of my friends were really into hot-rodding, so I had to overcome the learning curve all by myself. My lack of knowledge was painfully apparent in some amusing ways. Well, amusing NOW:

1: The first engine I built was a POS Chevy 305 I got from the junkyard to replace the 2.8L V6 in my '85 Firebird that I blew three main bearings out of doing neutral drops. Didn't know you weren't supposed to use an Advance Auto bottle-brush hone to do the cylinders DRY.

2: On that same Firebird, I made a custom wiring harness by using solderless crimp connectors to Frankenstein every scrap of wire I could find into a massive, epileptic fire hazard. I had 5 or 6 different colors and gauges of wiring in each and every circuit in the engine bay, all lashed together with bread ties.

3: The '78 Impala I did a valve job on with 60-grit sandpaper, and was so worn out I had to set the idle so high the car would do 25 mph with no throttle inputs.

4: I swapped a 5-speed from a Mustang GT into my $900 1996 Crown Vic Police Interceptor, fabricated a custom pedal pack and since I didn't know how big a hole to cut in the transmission tunnel for the shifter, proceeded to cut out the entire top and halfway across the passenger floorpan. Better safe than sorry, right? I replaced the floor with a piece of sheet metal and about 300 Home Depot pop rivets. Oh, and the shifter itself? It came out of the floor directly below the heater controls, necessitating cutting it in half and welding in a 6-inch extension. The shift throws were a good 18." Oh, and the First and Third synchros on this $300 eBay box were stripped when I got it.

5: That profile quote I used to use about using the giant zip ties to hold the transmission in the car? Did it on this car. Worked great, too - for a while.

That is a steep learning curve when you have no prior experience or second hand experience.
But you have persevered.
volvolugnut

[ZionXIX]

Next time you do that, make sure to have a friend take a picture of you next to the car in an orange hunting cap with a wrench in your hand...

I'm not familiar with this reference

[Nevada1906]

Next time you do that, make sure to have a friend take a picture of you next to the car in an orange hunting cap with a wrench in your hand...

I'm not familiar with this reference

You know, like a hunter posing with his kill. The wrench standing in for a rifle.

[scot850]

I just fitted the summer tires to the Volvo. Made harder as the repair shop that removed the tires from the rims, also removed my wax crayon marks for the position taken off the car!! When it goes wrong.............!

Neil.

[ZionXIX]

Next time you do that, make sure to have a friend take a picture of you next to the car in an orange hunting cap with a wrench in your hand...

I'm not familiar with this reference

You know, like a hunter posing with his kill. The wrench standing in for a rifle.

Oh I get it now. Red fluid.

[abscate]

Gotta put this one in.

A new throttle body will not repair….an empty gas tank

viewtopic.php?t=100399

DOH !!!!!

[jpb2222]

Drove on this rotor for way too long. Quite unsafe. Being poor is expensive. Two dohs!

doh.jpeg (277.64 KiB) Viewed 9115 times

[abscate]

That is a WORN rotor. Are you done with the good side yet?