240 sump plug

Hi Les,

Better believe it! and since you use the term "sump", it's a "ring spanner" you want, if I remember the term correctly after many years exiled in "oil pan", "box-end wrench" country......................

Good Luck. Andy I.

It prolly is metric, but I use a 1" ring spanner on mine. 1" = 25.4mm;

0.4 mm hardly makes a difference at that size.

So would you err on the side of 25 or 26mm if you only had access to metric? seeing as I have oilway flush fluid in the engine already it's a long walk to the nearest imperial supplier whilst metric tools are to be had

5 mins away.

Brackenburn, you remind me of a phrase I think used by Churchill ( I could be wrong ) on the UK and the US as "two countries seperated by a common language".

Les ( keeping his ring spanners in the boot and head under the bonnet! )

Thinking on, I may have been wrong to suggest it might be metric, since a 25mm spanner is a rare thing, standard sizes going in 2mm steps at that size.

26mm will obviously be a loose fit, but should do the job. But it's a pretty big and possibly odd-sized spanner to be on the shelf of many tool shops - I'd say a 1" was a more likely option to find anywhere.

What about a decent Stilson's wrench? A particularly useful addition to anyone's toolbag, anyway.

The American use of 'box' wrench puzzled me for a long time before I realised they were what we call a 'ring' spanner. In the UK a box spanner is the sort of thing found in Volvo tool kits; a short tube with hex ends, and a couple of holes to put a jimmy bar through.

It is mainly used for bending screwdrivers when the jimmy bar is lost.

And they are called 'box' spanners, because when I was six, my dad kept them in a wooden box.

You're right,Les. It was Churchill. Re using a metric tool: 25mm if it will fit. Not 26mm if it is loose. (You don't want to "round off" that drain plug.) You may have to get on your bike and get that 1" ring spanner from the Imperial supplier. (While you're there don't let any "grub screw" your "big end"..............

Andy I.

Having played motorbikes and cars of metric and imperial nuts etc I invested in a set of "Metrinch" tools. Just as expensive as Sidcrome but they drive on the wall of nuts and not the corners. This gives a seemingly loose fit, which is its advantage - one size spanner or socket may fit a few sizes of nuts either/both metric and imperial, with out the possibility of ever damaging them. Because it drives on the side walls and not the points it will never stuff your nuts, and when someone has been before you and stuffed them up good and proper, these spanners still work perfectly on them. IMHO they are as useful as easy outs when nothing else will work.

There is a disadvantage (so don't throw away your other spanners) there are times when you can only move a nut in a tight space a couple of degrees at a time and then you turn the spanner around and use its other angle and back and forth. With Metrinch the extra slack around the nut makes this sort of manouvering hard and occassionally not possible.

They are very good quality and lifetime guarantee, you can't beat them. No I don't sell them, but once you have used them they sell themselves.

Jeff Check out the website

The Difference that counts

A nut or a bolt has flats and corners. The corners are more easily damaged and do not offer the optimum grip for a tool. In developing the Metrinch tool system Jozef Ruzicka had the aim to design sockets and spanners, which would not only have longer effective life, but would also ensure minimal damage to the fasteners on which they are used. The patented Metrinch Wall Drive profile drives only on the flats and not on the corners. The dimensions of Metrinch sockets and spanners have been precisely calculated, so that a single Metrinch tool will operate on both

Ok, so i'm laying next to the left hand side of the car ( drivers side US, passenger side UK ) with the 1" ring on the sump plug, the handle of the spanner pointing pointing centre rear. Do I push or pull the handle? This may seem an odd question to experienced spanner pilots, but when I tried yesterday with a "nearly" right sized spanner there seemed no "give" either way. I don't want to mash the head up by tightening the damn thing any more!

Lady Astor to Churchill : "Good god man, you're drunk!"

Churchill to Lady Astor : "Yes madam, and you're ugly. but in the morning I shall be sober!"

Les

Anticlockwise. Pull.

How'd you get your computer under there at the same time?

Do you mean those tapered left hand thread jobbies that are meant to remove sheared off bolts? Gad! You imply that they have some sort of use!

The number of times they don't work, or break in situ, divided by the number of times they do what they claim, gives a very high uselessness rating.

The number of times they break off embedded in the hole you have drilled makes them a goddamn liability - the problem of removing a sheared Easyout is far greater than the problem of removing a sheared bolt by a factor close to infinity.

Just MHO.

I am actually at my computer indoors, I use astral travel for working on the car.

Les

Hmmmmm, yes. I call those volvo "tube" screwdriver benders box spanners too. I thought the name was from the general "boxiness" of the things.

Les

You are so right, the spanners are far better, that was a terrible comparison. Sorry.

Jeff

Actually it is not metric. The correct wrench (spanner) size is 1", and the threads are 3/4 - 16 (UNF), believe it or not, the same as the threads on the spin on oil filters. So you could screw your drain plug into your oil filter! Also, on 240s the wheel lugs are always imperial,

1/2 - 20 (UNF), and the driveshaft bolts on 240s were a late conversion to metric.

thanks all! much apreciated... now, about those manifold burns nobody told me about!!!

Oh, and what's the aluminium corrugated tube that runs past the oil filter and attaches to the manifold. it seems very poorly sealed / bad joint etc. Any ideas what it does? vacuum device of some kind I think, does it need to be gas tight?

les

Les & Claire wrote:

Hi, Les - - -

That's your supply line for heated air to raise intake charge temperature during the warm-up phase of operation. Most particularly in colder climates, it makes for better idle after starting the engine, though it's of at least some value anywhere. There's a thermostat in the air filter housing that closes it off when things beginning to get up to operating temp.

Bottom Line: It's integrity is of value for both general operation and smog control. It's also subject to damage, being basically pretty flimsy. "ipd" and others have replacement tubing, as does your friendly Volvo Dealer.

bob noble Reno, NV, USA

Nice one Bob, looks like at the very least i'll cut a new "end" and reseat it. Flimsy is right though! I remember driving around London one night about 200 miles ahead of me to get home when an awful grating noise started when I turned the steering wheel. A check under the bonnet reveald nothing amiss ( in the dark ) so I drove back VERY carefully expecting it to seize or worse. Next morning, I went out to find out exactly what piece of the steering was kaput and how expensive it was going to be.... only to find said aluminium tube rubbing against the steering column. An awful drive, I thought the thing was going to veer alarmingly off the road any minute all the way back.

Les

Hi Les,

That happened because your Volvo isn't designed to be driven on the RIGHT side of the road :-)

Andy I.

Flimsy is right though! I remember driving around London one night

It usually falls apart, it's the preheat tube which supposedly helps the engine warm up a bit faster, if the thermostat in the airbox fails you can kill your expensive air mass meter though. I always just rip out that hose and throw it away, I've never noticed any difference at all in how long it takes the car to warm up, even in the winter but then the climate is fairly mild in Seattle.