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Update 21st. September 2009
September 2009
It’s been quite a hectic few months since the last update: the 440 has been doing lots of things as usual, and has continued to travel all over the country without so much as a mumble of complaint. It now has a couple of thousand miles more on it - presently it is at 155,000.
Early September 2009: 155,000 miles reached
August 2009
August: Outside Mrs. Quins Charity Shop, Thurles, @ 3 a.m. With the recession in full swing, I may become a ‘regular’ there !
22nd. August 2009: At Dunsany Castle, Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath. I just saw it on the roadside and stopped. For more information on the Castle itself, see here
July 2009
I actually went on a bit of sightseeing during July ... that took me up to and past 154k.
Above: At the Rock of Cashel, Co. Tipperary ( it dates back to 1200 A.D. ) and was the stronghold of Ireland’s King, Brian Boru. If it wasn’t for those pesky Normans ...
154k. kind of crept up on me this time ...
Update 22nd. June 2009
June 2009
While perusing the special offers motoring – wise in Lidl, I spotted some bulbs for €5.99. Not plants, but headlight bulbs, old boy! For the price – pretty reasonable it has to be said - I decided to take a pair. I’m glad I did.
I’ve never had a problem with main beams, but with the lights on normally my 440 doesn’t exactly throw much light about the place. These new H4 bulbs are pretty good – I would say about 30% brighter, which is well worth the investment. When fitting the nearside one I noticed that the reflector unit is loose. A job for another day …
 
May - June 2009
This probably sounds a bit repetitive, but the 440 just keeps on amazing me. I’ve been all over the country since the last update and as usual, it takes everything in it’s stride. 18 bags of rubbish to bring to the dump? – no problem. 52 battens from the hardware store? – no need to even drop the back seat!
 
 
The car passed 153,000 miles a good while back, and is currently on the verge of 154k. Only one thing about this car annoys me, and it has nothing at all to do with Volvo. It’s the long – running exhaust issue: it bangs and clatters over even medium bumps. Avid readers will know that I repaired the rear exhaust box mount but alas, the problem has returned.
The exhaust was replaced in 2007 by Advance Pitstop in Loughlinstown ( Dublin ). I have been in contact with them / back to them several times about it, but all to no avail. As far as I am concerned, the job should have been re-done instead of endless ‘haggle’ type negotiations with the customer ( me! ).
Someone who believes in quality would let a car out of a workshop making the kind of din mine did ( admittedly it is a lot less bad since – thanks to … oh yes, me … on MY time ). Sometimes recessions are needed, that’s all I can say. You get what you pay for as well, and the next exhaust will be from Volvo.
Since my last update Autoglass really came up trumps. They fitted a new windscreen some time ago and the inside of the car was getting soaked with rain thereafter. Okay, I know Volvo water seals can be dodgy but it was really getting ridiculous. A newspaper in the rear footwell turned to paper mache!
 
To my surprise ( as I am cynical about everyone to do with cars at this stage ) they did a Trojan job – and threw in a free 3 – hour Saturday morning valet too. The moral of the story? – well, sometimes things just don’t work out. It happens. What impressed me about Autoglass is the fact that they dealt with it, unlike Advance pitstop. So, it’s Autoglass 1, Advance pitstop 0.
20th. March 2009
What I wouldn’t give for a flat driveway. I got tired of it all one day and drove to a Nature Reserve nearby to use the lovely flat carpark! - If only I could have brought it with me ( the flat tarmac, that is! )
 
 
OLDER:
Update 14th. March 2009
My latest exploits, in ascending order!
10th. March 2009: Bringing my ‘new’ 400 series wheels to Bray . God knows, with some of what’s been happening lately, I needed something to cheer me up! This is a big update: in fact it begins all the way down there at the 01st. of February, and represents all of 2009 so far. Happy reading / viewing!
01st. March 2009 - attempted theft !!!
I wouldn’t have thought it, but at the beginning of March my 440 became a target of car thieves - almost. They tried the old Micra / Kadett trick: bending down the driver’s door - frame. I think they found the 400 a little more difficult. I was lucky ( but didn’t feel it at the time ) that they didn’t wreck the steering lock or try to hotwire it. Of course no alarm was no doubt a major attraction. It’s getting one soon. In the meantime, I have to hope that my ‘Autolock’ does the trick. I left the car in for the door to be repaired on the 12th., and got a Toyota Avensis. You can find out what I thought about the Avensis in the ‘Odd Screws’ section!
25th. February 2009: Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow
I got some new tyres on the 440 ... this time I decided to plump for Firestone Z200’s, which are supposed to be good all - ‘round tyres. We’ll see how they compare to the Pirelli P4’s ( the Pirelli’s were 30 euro or more dearer, and were good - if a little ‘delicate’ ). In celebration(!) I took the car down to my favourite spot for some photo’s!
23rd. February 2009: A drive up the mountains ( Sugarloaf, Co. Wicklow
This is a favourite spot for car photo’s - not just for me, but the media too! Despite any possible impression to the contrary, it was freezing cold. As is evident in some of the photo’s, the remnants of snow are visible on the mountains in the background. I had still resisted the temptation to wash my 440 :)
20th. February 2009: Awaiting N.C.T. Test
N.C.T. Test - If you Dare!
On the 20th. February it was that time again ... the N.C.T. test. I’m not sure that the tester was actually qualified to drive ...
As strange experiences go, this was right up there with the ‘best’ of them. I arrived at Deansgrange at the appointed time for the N.C.T. ( roadworthiness ) test, and about 30 seconds after this photo was taken, in hops a tester. He stalled the car 4 times as he attempted to drive it into the actual test centre.
It was to get much worse. Apart from revving the car no doubt into the red zone far too many times ( shouldn’t happen at all anyway ) he then tried to put the key to my SAAB - which I also had on the bunch - into the boot lock. When he realized that he had got it wrong, he proceeded to put the right key in and what happened next really took my breath away.
He began lifting the back of the car with the key, and bouncing it up and down! What kind of a moron does this to a car? I wandered out to the yard to meet him when the test was over, and demonstrated how to open a car boot. He was indeed surprised.
Incredibly, the print out - of the test results had my boot down as a failure: ‘Open / close prop. - Middle Rear - FAIL / REFUSAL’. He scribbled over it ‘O.K.’, informing me with authority ( now that I had shown him how to open a boot ) “Zat is okay”. I rang up to complain, but I am not holding my breath. They are “sending me out a form”. Great.
To cut a long story short, the car failed on worn linkages and bushings at the front. Oh, and a blown bulb / inoperative windscreen squirter. There are 7 faults listed, but the car has only done 10,000 miles since the last test 2 years ago. I think it’s time for a second opinion - watch this space. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t trust my cat to put something in the Microwave. Know what I mean? The good news is, the bit I thought would fail passed: the handbrake. It’s possible to push the car back and forth with the handbrake fully on! And it passed!
Wheels, Glorious Wheels!
 
Mid - February I bought these from a fellow Volvo Club member. I didn’t need them, but they do look good on 480’s! I now have more sets of wheels than I can count ... I am the ‘wheels man’ ... literally!
750 miles in a week - without sympathy
The 440 just goes from strength to strength. At the beginning of Feb. it passed the 150,000 mile mark, then went for a quick thrash around Ireland. I think this car is gettting better with age! ...
It began Wednesday evening the 11th. of February: some bad news. A funeral in Cork, the next day. I decided to travel that night rather than possibly get stuck in traffic, as the journey ahead ( from Dublin ) was a long one: half the length of Ireland, roughly. Would my 440 be up to it? - you bet. That night I put another 150 miles on the clock. My plan was to get to Thurles, and that way I would have some of the journey done. It did over 400 miles the next day.
 
Here we are, at 4 a.m. in Thurles. Why so late? I hear you ask, and you know what, it’s a good question. It has a lot to do with being disorganized! Coffee had to be done by this stage. I think the shop assistant was a little disturbed to see me photographing my car in his forecourt at 4 a.m.!
Having finally got to bed around 6 a.m., I awoke an hour late and ended up with less than 2 hours to get to Cork. I already knew it was 1 hour 45 minutes from Cashel, and I was at least 40 minutes from there! Aaargh! Following a rushed coffee which dribbled down my chin, into the 440 I hopped. This car never ceases to amaze me. Through the strangest of backroads to Cashel ( of which there are many ) and all of the dips and bends and bends on dips, it behaved impeccably. A bit of wallow on the bends, but that’s the character of it: however always sure - footed.
Having taken various wrong turns out of Cashel ( I could see a lovely new motorway but couldn’t get on it - the usual in Ireland!) I eventually got onto the right road to Cork - the M8. It would be 120 k.p.h. ( 75 m.p.h. )from now on, for over an hour. This did not feel like a car that had 150,000 + miles on it. I got to Ringaskiddy, Cork, 20 minutes late - and thankfully proceedings were delayed - so I was, by default, ‘on time’.
Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork.
 
To my utter amazement, a friend who recently bought a 2000 model year 1.8 S-40 had made it straight from Dublin in it, and not only that, he was getting out of his car looking remarkably refreshed! He had travelled 150 miles more than me to get there, and had left his house in Dublin 20 minutes later than me! That evening I drove in a convoy of three through Cork city, in rush hour, and it was probably good training for anyone considering going into the Taxi business ( in Bombay ).
My friend’s S-40. Who needs Concorde?
I kept getting red lights, and a bit of derring - doo was required. To be honest, I didn’t like it, and on a good day I would have been livid if I had encountered someone like ... me. To the people of Cork, “sorry”. If I had lost that convoy, I would still be there, driving around aimlessly in circles.We were all meeting up at a house in Co. Limerick that night. I was driving the car until almost midnight in a bid to get there ( quote of the evening: “That turn looks familiar”!).
I also got horribly lost leaving the re-group at this house in Co. Limerick, so I eventually got back to Thurles at 5.30 a.m. on Friday morning. By this time, the 440 had been driven for over 12 out of 24 hours, in a mix of high - speed and demanding roads. Following on from this was another trip Thurles > Limerick and back, then Thurles > Dublin and lots of local trips. I will never own a car this good again - though I don’t intend owning any other car if I can help it, thanks! If I do, it will be a Volvo and nothing less!
February: SNOW!
 February was a pretty horrible month for people who don’t like driving in snow - like me. To make matters worse, I had a hill to contend with. The hill itself didn’t bother me that much, but rather the fact that people in the estate insisted on parking their cars awkwardly at the bottom of it! Our snow in Ireland invariably tends to be slushy, but my God, you would think it was packed ice the way some people were driving! Let’s face it, after a few minutes on main roads, in slushy snow, you realize that 2 k.p.h. is not necessary, you can safely do 20. Some people just don’t get it though. I’m afraid of my incompetence, but more afraid of some other people’s!
150,000 !
01st. February 2009: 440xi reaches 150k.
 On Sunday the 01st. of February my 440xi passed the magic milestone - 150,000 miles. From 73,000 at the beginning of 2001 when I bought it, it’s been quite a journey - and quite an uneventful one too!
At a time like this certain things come to mind, namely “ I wonder if it will do 200,000?” Well, that’s a bit premature right now, but if this car was to blow up tomorrow ( please don’t! ) it would owe me nothing - many times over.
Top: passing the 150,000. Left: in my excitement I also took this picture from inside of the car. Is that green light a good omen?
Archive 2008
12th. November 2008: Quick car clean ( a goal is a goal! )
Things were getting to the point of me having difficulty seeing out of the windows: this is a silly and dangerous state of affairs. I kept putting off washing the car until I’d have time to ‘do it properly’, but guess what? - it’s better to just give the thing a quick going over than nothing. Only took an hour. My God, the amount of cow - dung in the wheel arches! Must do list: put vaseline on the headlight wipers ( kids love playing with them, but don’t like vaseline all over their hands ), top up with oil / coolant. Otherwise, alles gute!
I am surprised that the car is still intact: driving around North Tipperary is like driving on cobble. The roads are exactly the same as a pre - production car test track ( the ones they use to see how long it takes to break the suspension ). To think that we pay for this! There is light at the end of the tunnel though, oops, actually no: car tax has gone up 4 - 5 % in the budget.
23rd October 2008: 148,000 miles reached.
17th. September 2008 - 2:20 a.m., near Kildare - 147,000 miles
Another milestone
07th. September 2008 - Car clean / Oil change / Cool flaps
I decided to change the oil for the first time ever. Yup, I’ve never done my own oil before! It feels like one of those manly things - a step or two down from wrestling a Bear. Well, maybe not but it felt good anyway. The car had only done about 2.5k. miles since the last ‘oil change’ - or whatever the mechanic did ( not much? ). I noticed that he hadn’t changed the filter at all! Black oil after 2.5k. miles or less? I’m glad I learned to do my own oil. I will be doing so for ever more.
Some ‘Oil change’ - I think the mechanic found a cheap way of disposing of oil from other cars - put it in someone else’s.
Incidentally, I was bored the past few days, so I re - painted the ‘Volvo’ script on the rear mudflaps. I couldn’t find my ‘Plasticote’ enamel that I used last time, so I just used gloss house paint. Seemed to do the job just fine. 
Whilst doing the exhaust I noticed some serious surface rust around the rear arches, so there was nothing for it but to treat / paint them. The rear wheel - wells were so clean and almost completely rust - free so I had to ask myself some serious questions, namely: “ are you the kind of guy who looks and says “ great no rust” or are you the kind of guy who says “ great no rust, I must keep it that way””. I realised I’m the latter kind of guy ...
Putting my Lidl ‘W-5’ Anti - Rust spray to good use
I was sneaky and fitted my Volvo Owner’s Club ( V.O.C. ) grille badge too ...
05th. September 2008 - been shopping in Lidl again!
W-5 car products from Lidl - this lot was at least 100 euro cheaper than in a Motor factor’s. The six tubes of wax at the front ... “ahh, but it’s probably rubbish” eh? Well, it’s Carnuba stuff, so there! I went back the next week and bought even more. Low price in this case means better quality.
02nd. September 2008 - Exhaust repair 440xi
Lately I’d been getting really annoyed with the ‘Bang bang bang’ from the back of the car every time I moved forward slowly / reversed. I thought that the exhaust needed adjusting, but no, the ‘cheap and fast’ exhaust centre had pretty well wrecked the bracket. Okay, the mount was rusted but monkey - brain operative sure helped it break.
As it stood, the bracket was actually detached from the body, but moving up and down in the hole the mount broke out of. I’m lucky I didn’t lose it on the road altogether. Not being fond of a/ Going back to the home of monkey - brain, and b/ getting the home of monkey - brain to weld the bracket on, I decided to ‘have a go’ myself.
 
Having cleaned / rustproofed the area ( Kurust ) I cut two identical squares out of a dented 440 front wing which I had lying around. I then bonded them together with U-Pol ‘Tiger Seal’ in order to simulate thicker gauge metal ( which I didn’t have - otherwise I would have used it! ).
I attached the bracket to this, then drilled 4 holes - one in each corner, marked them off the body of the car, and drilled corresponding holes. I then screwed my plate with bracket on with self - tappers. I didn’t have high hopes, but it was rock - solid when I had finished. I gave it all a good two - coats of Hammerite ( hence the dazzling silver! ). So far very good indeed - I now only get a very muted ‘thunk’ over severe bumps.
 
A new suspension rubber might help - speaking of which, getting it both off and on to the bracket was an absolute nightmare. The nighmare of getting it back on was eased somewhat with ‘Wavin Pipe grease’ - yes, the plumber’s friend!
26th. August 2008 - 440 xi hits 146,000 Miles
Just 4,000 more and the High - mileage club beckons. Here’s praying!
17th. August 2008 - Minging so you don’t have to / Doggie car - jack
I went to see a man about a 1976 Renault 6 today. Why? Oh, give over. The upshot of it all was that he wasn’t there, but his dog did take shelter from the rain in my car. Yes, that is driving rain in the foreground! The Renault 6 does have something in common with my 440xi though - they both have a renault engine.
A doggie that don’t want to move
14th. August 2008 - Resealing 440xi rear lights
I had been noticing for a long time that water was making it’s way into the boot. Having sealed around the fuel filler pipe ( this was the problem with the 460 GLE ) and having fitted a new bootseal, I was still finding the boot wet. It eventually dawned on me that the water was coming in around the rear light clusters - and small wonder. When I eventually got the lights off, it transpired that the sealant was like putty.
The shape of the body itself is weird where the lights go on: the metal changes angle. I firstly thought that it had got a ‘knock’ at some stage prior to my ownership, but alas the shape was the very same on the opposite side ( and the paint is original ). How very odd. You’d think that light cluster seals would go on to a flat surface.
23rd. July 2008 - 440xi Car clean day!
 
This is the result of ‘T-Cut’ and Simonez ‘Colour Magic’ ... and a coat of ‘Prestone’ wax to finish. Black re - blacked with ‘Back to Black’.
15th. July 2008 - Building Base
It had to happen. For years I have been messing about with too much to do and nowhere ‘proper’ to do it, so one day I swallowed hard and decided to lay some concrete. Phew! - I’ve gone through about 150 25kg. bags of cement so far, and around 12 tons of sand / gravel mix, God knows how many reinforcement mesh sections ... and countless fags / cups of coffee.
 
Wednesday 14th. May 2008
Well, the time has come. “What, to get rid of some of your junk?” I hear you ask, but no ... anyone who knows me knows that that’d never happen. It’s time for my ‘grass car’ to go to the doctor. I manoeuvered the SAAB into position thinking I’d have to jump start the 440, it having spent so long on the front lawn and having not been started in weeks. It sprang to life!
It originally got left there when I bought the SAAB last July, because it had developed a nasty tendency to stall at low speeds. The SAAB is great but it doesn’t have much space in the interior, despite being such a huge car. Sure, the boot is big, but the parcel shelf arrangement doesn’t lend itself to carrying long things.
I miss the 440 ... it’s a car, van, tractor ... whatever you need really! The space is unreal with those back seats dropped forward.
The 440 is looking very pink indeed. Must ‘T-Cut’ it when it returns.
See also: Vlog - 460 480 SAAB
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