(05-03-2024, 10:15 PM)CCoburn Wrote: It's a good car and fun to drive at 354lbs of torque, and I drive it a lot. Been exploring the backroads of Maine a lot for the past few years, and kind of took up backyard mechanic along with the driving as a hobby.
Been having a lot of mishaps lately though. Ignored the scheduled spark plug change and had one fail and fried an ignition coil and it took two separate tows from AAA to get the car home. Replaced one ignition coil and all six plugs side gapped to .037 and all was good again - maybe even better.
Went out this afternoon for a ride and on my way back the TPMS lit up and I got out and saw that the front left tire was losing air. I carry a bicycle pump with a gauge with me just for this reason. I was able to get 20lbs in it which lasted for a few miles and I'm about 20 miles from the house.
Stopped at a quick stop and they happened to have a can of Fix-A-Flat and then I was able to get 36lbs in it which lasted for a few more miles. I noticed at this point that there was a puncture on the inner wall. Tried to get some more air in it and went for a couple more miles but the tire was getting chewed up pretty close to the rim so I had to stop and call AAA with about six more miles to go.
This is my third flat tire in the past year. The protocol lately is to take the wheel to Town Fair Tire for a remount and balance it myself with a bubble balancer I bought at Harbor Freight. Most places don't do a good job balancing so I started doing it myself.
Glad you ended up home, safe and a little wiser having been so prepared for the events. I personally have one of those tyre filler aerosols in my car but hate the fact that they make a mess inside the tyre which is nasty for tyre changes.
Sounds like a fun car and nice to hear someone having that fun with a Volvo.
I'm interested in the "bubble balancer". How does that work?
You reminded me of a car I had in my youth, a 1964 Morris Minor (UK) that I took in for new tyres. The mechanic took me to look at my tyre which was the older type with an inner tube. It was bulging like a bubble on the inner side like a tennis ball where the tube had gone through the sidewall. "That was a close call" he said. I looked at him with my jaw dropped.
Your car sounds great and more modern than anything I could afford. What colour is it and does it have a name?
Safe driving eh..
Wisdom knocks quietly, always listen carefully. And never hit "SEND" or "REPLY" without engaging brain first.
