Maintenance

[unixronin]

The Volvo:  New exhaust system installed.  When the original muffler came off all the way, it turned out the system was in even worse shape than we'd realized; large parts of the muffler outer heatshield had completely rusted away.  We bought all the parts from SwedishAutoParts.com, formerly known as VolvoSite.com.  The rear muffler was an aftermarket part from Starla, the rest of the system OEM Volvo parts.  The local Midas shop installed it for us for an hour's labor.  (I'd have done it myself, but I'm short a few necessary tools — I don't have a welder, and they had to torch-cut the pipe off the old muffler to get it off.) With the disintegrating tailpipe, the Volvo's fuel mileage had dropped abruptly to around 14.5mpg from the 18.5mpg or so we had been averaging; now, with the complete new exhaust system, it's not only recovered, it's better.  I got 22.5mpg calculated average, per the trip computer, driving home from the muffler shop.

There was a shipping SNAFU with the main part of the exhaust system, which is a single piece from the back end of the cat all the way back to the aft muffler, and which includes the forward turbo muffler.  As a result, the (VERY oversize) package arrived at the Laconia post office with $45.80 postage due.  I queried Swedish Auto Parts about whether this was expected, and Tony, the proprietor, immediately replied saying that no, that was not supposed to happen, and he was refunding the additional shipping cost to the card we paid for the parts with.  So, kudos to Swedish Auto Parts, and a recommendation from us.  We'll be shopping there again.  (First up, for new headlight wiper blades, which turn out to be otherwise a dealer-only part.)

As a footnote, the site also offers free technical support from a Volvo-certified master technician.

The washing machine:  God alone knows how, but it took the US Post Office four days to get a 2lb Priority Mail package from Memphis, NY to Gilford, NH.  For cryin' out loud, they could almost have gotten it here via Pony Express in that time.  It took them two entire days just to get it from Syracuse to Nashua.

The good news is, the new pump (which, by the way, was a newer, slightly revised model compared to the original, with a complete waterproof jacket around the motor) is here, it took me about half an hour to install it (most of which I spent fighting with those accursed balky bent-wire hose clamps), and the washing machine is now back in service and working fine.  I just need to put the lower front panel back on — with new, non-rusted screws.  (I had to drill out the head of one of the original screws, because the Philips head had rusted into more or less a conical pit and, being a pan head screw, I couldn't get a grip on it with pliers or Vise Grips to remove it that way.  The other screw's not much better.  Fortunately, I have two nice corrosion-resistant zinc-chromated screws scavenged from the original pump that will do nicely.)

The original pump motor was still working fine, by the way.  It's just that the pump itself doesn't work too well when all the vanes have broken off the impeller.  (And while on the subject, let me mention that it's the most horribly crude impeller I've ever seen.  They pinched every last fraction of a cent.  It's working purely on centrifugal effect; vane shape is contributing nothing.)

This entry was originally posted at http://alaric.dreamwidth.org/12982.html. That post currently has comments.
You may comment there via OpenID even if you do not have a Dreamwidth account.

Comments

[lwj2.livejournal.com]

Good for the folks at Swedish Auto Parts, it's not often a business will cut that much into it's markup, even if it's their fault.

Are you going to hold onto the old pump motor? I gather that the impeller isn't a part one can replace by itself.

Pako and Kodak used to supply pumps with replaceable impellers, which initially were a bitch to change out, because whilst the shaft and screws were 316 stainless, invariably some moron would use a plain steel lockwasher to secure the screw. Not a particularly bright idea in an acid environment. (Bill and I started replacing them with 316 washers on all our new installations.)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, the impeller is permanently molded onto the shaft. So unless I can figure out a way to first remove what remains of the old one, then fabricate and attach a new, better one, I'm guessing there's not a lot of mileage to me in keeping the old pump motor just in case I ever come up with a use for it. You can only reasonably stockpile just so much for potential future salvage, if you don't already have a use in mind for it. I've been trying to gradually get rid of my stockpile of old, obsolete computer spare parts, but most of the time I can't find anyone who actually has a use for them even on Freecycle or the Rescue list.

[lwj2.livejournal.com]

Ah.

The ones I was using were, I guess, "industrial grade" -- mind, this was in the late sixties/early seventies -- so the impellers were attached via a moulded socket with a machine screw going into the end of the drive shaft. I'd thought yours was similarly constructed.

Maintenance's problems with a piece of equipment were taken into account in those times, rather then the simple "low bid" crap that's common to-day when contemplating purchasing new equipment.

One of the best sine-wave processors made at the time started out with off-the-shelf parts and a question: "What process, how many feet per minute and how do you want it configured?" Then they built it to your spec., one-off. Very little of it was proprietary parts. Beaucoup bucks, beaucoup through-put. Very inexpensive in the long run.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

The ones I was using were, I guess, "industrial grade" -- mind, this was in the late sixties/early seventies -- so the impellers were attached via a moulded socket with a machine screw going into the end of the drive shaft. I'd thought yours was similarly constructed.

Nope. This one's definitely "no serviceable parts". Don't repair it or make any provision for repairing it, just throw it away as a unit and install a new one.

[danjite.livejournal.com]

By all the trolls in Mordor is their website shite!

I just wanted to send them an inquiry e-mail, but as my Y/M Volvo isn't on their lists, it was impossible. Finally I used the "praise form" both to let them know about that issue (politely, of course) and to see if they can even get parts for my car.

As for your own 4th paragraph, precisely which god has governance over the US Post Orifice? I need to know the appropriate offerings...

[lwj2.livejournal.com]

You might try propitiating Mercury ...

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

There is a "technical inquiry" form on the front page. But yeah, the site is pretty basic, and their forums have some issues. Still, that's not their core business.