My daughters helped me with maintenance last weekend by filling the wiper fluid and coolant. I took some pics and make an animated gif.

I came to a stop in traffic Saturday and noticed the guy behind me swerve to avoid hitting my rear. Idiot tailgater, I thought. It was only later that I realized my brake lights were out. Argh! I checked the fuses and they seemed fine, but I replaced the brake light one anyway. Voila! Hopefully now I can avoid getting rear ended… and arrested.

I just took delivery on some parts from FCP Groton and am trying to figure out if I got the right catalytic converter. I photographed the new and old part together and it looks like the new one is different. I’m not sure if it’s just a different design or a totally different part.

I have a 1992 245 non-california. It’s Davico DV008, ref #8551608. Part listing here.

I’m cross-posting on the Brickboard for input.

UPDATE: I just installed and it fits perfectly, better than the old one. I’m afraid my problem may be the O2 sensor though since the check engine light is still on and it still lags on acceleration. I’m heading out for inspection.

Today the Times documents the trend of drivers keeping their cars past the 100k mile mark. The article feature photos of a clean and mean 1990 Volvo 745 with over 300k. Citing technological changes in piston rings, catalytic converters and rust proofing, engineers explain how recent cars can be expected to last much longer than vehicles from previous generations. And if you take proper care of it your car may even outlast you.

I shot these pictures when taking delivery of Girl Scout Cookies last year. Ours was one of 5-6 cars picking up for our troop; my daughters did not sell all of these cookies.

I think we got about 55 cases in the back with seats folded down. If they had all been Thin Mints I calculate we would have almost 18,500 cookies in there.

I had 100% visibility out of all my windows, even loaded with all those cookies.

My driver side heated seat hasn’t worked since I bought the car, even though the light illuminates. All of the electrical connections seemed OK so rather than trying my luck with the donor heating element I decided to just swap the thermostat. Once installed it took a couple of whacks of the center console to get the button to work but, sure enough, I started to notice a nice warm sensation in my nether regions.

While the seat was out I took a look at the lumbar support and noticed this little I-shaped rod had detached from its mechanism. I crimped it a bit, snapped it into place and now the lumbar support works. Overall the seat is more comfortable and looks better since I also grabbed a fitted seat cover from the junk-yard.

Now if I can just get the damn headrest out I can put the top of the seat cover on. Working by myself I could not get that damn head rest off, even with my hands up inside the seat pushing the levers. I wrestled with that thing for like 15 minutes but it wouldn’t budge. I can only imagine what I looked like, slumped over the seat, humping away in frustration. Maybe I need to hire an assistant.

I don’t know what this guy is saying about his hot rod turbo 240, but it probably involves eating M3s for lunch, with a side of sauerkraut.