I was ordering some parts recently and needed get the order to $50.00 to take advantage of free shipping. I noticed a metal flame trap insert for $4.00 so I went ahead and ordered it.

It arrived and fits nicely into my spare flame trap nipple, but I was holding off on installing it until I get some opinions on these things.

The insert itself is brass and looks sorta like a cross section of a loose bundle of paper or perhaps like the tobacco in a quality rolled cigar.

Is there any advantage to using a metal versus a plastic filter? I regularly remove and clean my trap (ever since a clogged trap blew my rear main seal in fall '04) I'm guessing that a metal filter will clean up better and last longer.

Any Pros or Cons with these things?
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1967 P220 Amazon, 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 DL, 1986 745 GLE, 1990 745 GL, 1995 945....
You mean to tell me that Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?
1971 P1800E... Not a wagon, but it's just a donor car for the Amazon..

The metal coil style was the original design. If there was a lot of crankcase vapour condensation it easily plugged and needed to be checked/cleaned/replaced regularly. The plastic one with the holes is the upgraded design. It doesn't plug up as easily and is easily cleaned with a drill bit if you don't have a replacement handy. I didn't think Volvo was still selling the old metal kind. For whatever reason, I've lately been seeing the metal design advertised a lot in the aftermarket. If you change/Clean the flame trap element regularly it doesn't matter which style you use. Turbo engines do not use a flame trap element. Many people happily run non-turbos without the flame trap element.
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Dave -940's, prev 740/240/140/120 Never overestimate what little I know.

My 90 740 had a wire mesh screen as original equipment. I can't seem to find them anywhere - only the plastic ones. I kinda wish I hadn't tossed the metal one.

My local independant Volvo shop tells me they just leave the screen out all together now-a-days. I know this defeats the purpose of the thing, but on the other hand, I can sorta see their point. How many Volvo crank cases have you seen blow up from a back-fire?
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Chris - 1990 740, 1973 1800ES (Non-running), 1993 Dodge Dakota (Still has a little paint left on it)

When that bit of information hit the board a couple years ago I checked with the service bulletins at my dealer and found that they had never been taken out of the 960 or '90s.
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'96 965, 16' wheels, Michelin Pilot Sports, rear 18mm bar + Koni, 201 HP cams, 134K. Put 200K on '85 745 TD.

You can be sure it's not something that Volvo is going to openly approve of. They don't want the liability if something bad happens. Besides, if the flame traps don't plug up from time to time, they can't sell very many main seal replacements.
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Chris - 1990 740, 1973 1800ES (Non-running), 1993 Dodge Dakota (Still has a little paint left on it)