From a point at sea, to the circles of your mind, this is not
hereplease@not here.com:
I have a crack in my 1988 740 Volvo estate washer reservoir.
It looks like I will have to do a repair on it as its an estate so not that
easy to find in a breakers as it has two water pumps, one for the front one
for the rear.
What can the N.G suggest as a means to do a repair.
The crack is around 1 inch long near the front washer pump.
I've had this problem with a couple of vehicles. Unfortunately,
polythene (or polyethylene), which the reservoir is made from, is
notoriously difficult to repair without some sort of plastic welding
equipment. Very little sticks permanently to it, so don't expect
miracles. A small crack like this may not be too bad, but the problem
is exacerbated by the fact that water may eventually ingress into the
repair and cause it to fail.
I have had some success with hot-melt glue (you'll need an appropriate
heated glue gun from your nearest DIY store), forced into the crack
with a stick while it is still molten. I've also patched a hole by
cutting a patch from an old polythene bottle and used this with
hot-melt glue. It lasted a few months, maybe a year. If you can figure
a way to work from inside the reservoir you may increase your chances
of success. Degrease the area thoroughly with spirit, and abrade it to
help things stick. I've seen a patch of GRP used, but the resin is
less flexible than polythene, and it eventually flakes off.
If you look in the Yellow Pages under Plastic Repairs, or some such,
you may find a local firm of plastic welders who can help. This would
be permanent, but expensive for a 1 inch split. Probably still cheaper
than a new reservoir though.
--
Stewart Hargrave
A lot faster than public transport
For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name
