Purchased a Volvo 242DL
 

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased an automatic 242DL from my friend and I am very excited to start working on it. There's a lot of things that need to be done with it, and I can post pictures of it later.

The car right now overheats very frequently and can't run without the heater being cranked to full. I suspect there may be a leak in the radiator, or the radiator has lost some functionality as the water tank constantly has to be refilled every few drives or so. All the belts are fine as there is no squeeling when the car starts, but Im not sure if the radiator fan is functional. Currently this is not a problem as I only need for short drives, but I can only drive it for 2 or 3 miles before the temperature gauge starts to skyrocket.

I am wondering where I can pick up literature on maintenance/repairs on the car... and if there is any advice on how to start working on the car and other places to look into (I eventually hope to start modifying the car for more power). I have not had the experience of working with cars previously...

the Bentley 240 book is the bible.

water leaks should be easy enough to find. start it when its cold, let it idle, and when the temp needle starts to go up, feel if the upper radiator hose is hot, and if so, is the other side of the radiator getting warm too ? if it is, then water is going through the radiator, if no, then perhaps the thermostat is stuck, or the water pump is dead.

Or you can just Google ANYTHING you need to do and all relevant information will pop up. Paper guides have become quite unnecessary, even the Bentley as good as it is. Forget about Chilton, Haynes, etc.