New-to-me '96 960 Estate / wagon 3L - Question

[tosoutherncars]

Hi all!

I'm about to take possession of the above car; if the ad is still up, it can be seen at http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ499591759

The body has approx. 330k Km on it. I am told that the engine was swapped (professionally) by a local garage at approximately 160K; I think we can safely assume that it was a t-belt failure.

Recent maintenance has apparently been good; t-belt and tensioner done 20k ago, water pump judged OK at that time.

It has just passed the Ontario safety inspection, but for the parking brake (cable snapped) and rear pads (need replacing).

I am trying to start a list of the jobs to do once I get it home (500km, Toronto -> Ottawa). Of course, it will change once I've got my hands on it, but for now;

- Transmission fluids and filter; all at once? Or a couple of partial drain and fill cycles first, so as not to shock it?

- Oil and filter, obviously

- Drain & replace coolant; is there an acceptable replacement for the Volvo stuff?

- Rear diff; check level and top up? Or drain and fill?

- Lube all chassis points per manual

- Air filter

- Inspect accessory belt, replace if necessary

- Spark plugs (reccomendations?) , inspect wires

Also planning to have the bottom professionally undercoated, car will see extensive winter use.

Any other suggestions? All comments welcome. -Duncan

[StanC]

Hi Duncan,

Your list looks pretty comprehensive.

The only other things I can think of, which I do regularly on my 960, are:

1. Check/clean the crankcase breather system, including perhaps fitting a new flame trap and 'O'-ring. This is cheap and easy to do and is important for the longevity of the engine. If you find the breather system is blocked then more work will be involved, including changing/cleaning the oil trap (below the inlet manifold) and possibly new breather hoses.

2. Fuel filter.

As far as I'm aware, there isn't any real substitute for the Volvo blue/green coolant, not without virtually replacing all the cooing system components. As far as all lubes, fluids and components are concerned, I would go for only Volvo products.

Hope this helps . . . . .

Stan.

[tosoutherncars]

Lovely, thanks Stan!

Do you (or the huddled masses) have any thoughts re: transmission fluid change? I understand that the two options are a drain (at train plug) and refill (through dipstick tube) which cycles something like 3.5L; or a full flush, which is something like 8L?

I guess my questions are a) can the pan be dropped and the filter replaced using either method? And b) for a transmission that has very worn, dirty fluid, is one better than the other?

TIA; and thanks for the reminder re: the flame trap. Should have remembered that from my old '82 wagon!

-Duncan

PS - I'll post some pictures tomorrow, for anyone who's curious!

[tosoutherncars]

^^ "drain" plug, obviously; not train plug.

As mentioned, I did 500+ km home today. The car performed relatively well, with a few niggles. The front suspension sounds *very* loose over uneven pavement, to the extent that I'm surprised it passed the safety inspection. New / rebuilt struts are definitely on the horizon.

And, after 15 minutes at a rest stop, I got back in and the car just cranked and cranked, showing no signs of starting. I want to say 60 seconds, but it probably just *felt* like that; maybe two or three 15-20 second tries? Once it fired, it started immediately, and settled into a perfect idle.

I found this: http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/faq/HotS...enceGuide.html

So that gives me something to work through. I guess I'm in section I of their troubleshooting, albeit that mine does eventually fire. I couldn't hear the FP kick over when putting the key in ACC, so my guess is that the FIR is bad. Thankfully my local boneyard has three 960 variants, so I should be able to find some cheap test parts.

Note to self; make to-do list. Try not to second-guess the purchase, or the price paid!

[doingitsideways]

Hi.

The loose suspension you describe is most likely worn strut top mounts.
Over choppy roads with the windows open mine sounds like the car's going to fall apart, really must get around to changing them one of these days!!

Yeah, fuel pump relay sounds like a likely suspect, maybe even give them all a wiggle in the slot or try jumping the contacts so it constantly runs with ignition on and see how that goes.

Good luck, excellent choice of vehicular transport, the 24v white blocks are a lovely engine.
Although I did rip mine out and drop a diseasel lump in... I love the roar of the diesel at full chat, but miss the silky smooth 24v sometimes!

Steve

[tosoutherncars]

OK then, strut mounts move close to the top of the list, after the transmission fluid and safety items. So my to-do list for the next few days is;

- R&R transmission filter, fluid change
- e-brake cables, rear pads, e-brake shoes
(obtain safety certificate)
- strut mounts
- Test & replace FIR / troubleshoot ignition

...and then onto a million other little jobs! Wish me luck.

-Duncan

[spesmea]

Hi Duncan
I would certainly change the Auto Gearbox filter & gasket which
is still available as a package from Volvo & Not very expensive.
Take the vehicle for a run to warm up the oil & then drain all the
oil from the gearbox with the engine ticking over,this will help you remove
most of the oil still sitting in the torque converter. Clean the cover plate of
any residual sludge & re-assemble.
Bill

[StanC]

Originally Posted by tosoutherncars

OK then, strut mounts move close to the top of the list, after the transmission fluid and safety items. So my to-do list for the next few days is;

- R&R transmission filter, fluid change
- e-brake cables, rear pads, e-brake shoes
(obtain safety certificate)
- strut mounts
- Test & replace FIR / troubleshoot ignition

...and then onto a million other little jobs! Wish me luck.

-Duncan

Hi Duncan,

The reluctant start with the engine still hot certainly sounds like a fuel issue and I agree with Steve re starting with the fuel pump relay.

Another possibility is a leaking fuel injector, or injectors. When the engine is switched off pressurised fuel leaks past the leaking injector(s) into the cylinder(s) and they are effectively flooded for a hot re-start. If the engine is left to go cold the cylinders still have fuel in them but, being cold, the rich mixture doesn't necessarily prevent them firing. I had a problem like this a while back and new injectors sorted it - expensive, though.

About the transmission fluid change, I've got to admit to being a wuss and getting my local garage to do it - they disconnect the ATF cooler pipes from the radiator and run the engine to pump the fluid around and change the fluid that way, finally checking the level on the dipstick. I get it done every 30,000 miles (48,000 km) - my 960 has done 157,000 miles (250,000 km) and the transmission filter has never been touched.

Good luck with your new motor . . .

Stan.

[doingitsideways]

Originally Posted by tosoutherncars

Wish me luck.

-Duncan

Good luck!!

Steve

[tosoutherncars]

OK, mixed results on today's work!

Removed the Fram filter (DPO) and dino oil - replaced with fresh Mahle filter and full-synth Mobil1 5-30. The oil was (apparently) fresh, but I wanted to know for sure, and I'm not a fan of Fram (and wanted to switch to synth per Volvo's bulletin for the 6304). All's well there.

Also drained the transmission pan, with the intention to do the 3.5L swap several times over the next little while, to slowly renew the fluids.

Foolishly, I didn't measure the volume of fluid that came out. I simply drained it, then put 3L back in (thinking I would then top it up to the correct measure.

Well, I have re-started the car; the transmission appears to be in limp-home mode (W and E flashing, feels like it's in 3 or 4). It is reading approx. 2cm ABOVE the "hot" line. (I do *not* think this has anything to do with the PNP switch; all was well yesterday, it would be a heck of a coincidence.)

So I suppose my new question is; does over filling the transmission indeed put it in limp-home mode, complete with flashy lights? If I have worked through the gears 5-6 times (10 seconds in each gear) and gone for a 20 km/h drive around the block, should I expect the level to drop further? Or is it time to drain out some fluid?

Oh, and... Is there a particular procedure for taking it *out* of limp-home mode? TIA.