940 Journey.

[volvo always]

In the early hours of Sunday morning I got back from my holiday from the west coast of Ireland. I have a 1996 Volvo 940 LPT auto estate.

It performed brilliantly and had no issues on the 16 day trip and 1,300 mile round trip.

I hadn't ever gone on a long journey in it and had only ever driven it 30 miles and back to visit grandparents, so was apprehensive about reliability and couldn't get European cover due to age or the price was crazy, Ie 3x the purchase price!
It was a 350 mile drive back and it worked out roughly £80-100 in petrol so not bad.

I'm back at work and going to give myself Friday off as self employed and hope to fit the ac condenser and used ac compressor. Then get it gassed when I can. It will need some new rear disks and pads at some point and handbrake adjusting as doesn't work before the MOT end of November. Also reseal and lubricate sunroof seal.

It is very comfy, I can assure you. James

[deeman940]

Nice...good to know you can rely on the old girl when you need to. there was a time when I wouldn't go too far in mine due to oil leaks etc but that has changed! need to get my air con gassed asap!!!

[volvo always]

Originally Posted by deeman940

Nice...good to know you can rely on the old girl when you need to. there was a time when I wouldn't go too far in mine due to oil leaks etc but that has changed! need to get my air con gassed asap!!!

I had to top up the oil for my return journey as had dropped down a quarter on the dipstick from full, must either burn it slightly or a leak somewhere. Can't see as parked on grass.
The turbo may be wearing as sometimes if I boot it really hard I get a mild bit of blue looking smoke out the exhaust for a minute while the turbo is spooling. AC is definitely needed and hopefully get mine working!

Several months ago I followed a late 940 on the Tyburn Road, Birmingham with what looked like banded steels, lowered and big bore exhaust. Everytime he changed gear and accelerated, a big plume of blue smoke billowed from the exhaust. He was driving highly spirited!

James

[Rversteeg]

If you only do short rides, the engine will never have a chance to thoroughly warm up. This causes condensate water to accumulate in the lubricating oil. Now you have thoroughly warmed up the engine on a longer journey, it could very well be that you now have "boiled" out all the water out of the lube oil. You think you have used oil, but in fact a lot of it could have been water.
Loosing quarter from full (about 1/4 ltr) from leaking alone is a lot and will leave quite an oily mess underneath.

[Laird Scooby]

Something that can cause an oil leak such as this is the oil pressure switch. They have a habit of cracking and leaking - best to check it now before it goes pop on you! The oil warning light will start playing silly games as well, not coming on with ignition only and sometimes coming on during driving but most of all a constant jet of oil (it starts as a dribble though) with the engine running.

You'll probably also notice an "oily" smell through the ventilation system.

It's not a bank breaker if it is the oil pressure switch :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-FOCUS...gAAOSwPCVX6XLQ

The Volvo number is 1347003 but i noticed while looking it up it's dependent on VIN number so double check somewhere before ordering. Your local Volvo dealer will probably confirm whether that is the one you need as they work from your reg number and can conjure up all sorts of magical details from that.

None of the above is meant in any way to discount what our Dutch friend said, condensate in the oil could contribute to a false reading unless you did an oil change immediately before your holiday?

As for the blue smoke, that is oil mixing with the combustion charge so potentially valve guide oil seals, especially if it's a fairly short lived puff of blue smoke after a period of gentle driving. Usually if the turbo is worn it will throw white smoke out the back.

You could try a proprietary seal conditioner such as Wynns Stop Leak or you could cheat and add half a litre to a litre of ATF to the engine oil. This will help revive the oil seals and also gently clean the inside of your engine - works wonders on hydraulic tappets!
I use it regularly in all my engines (with or without hydraulic tappets) to help keep them clean and the seals in good condition. An example of how well it works on hydraulic tappets was my old Jeep Cherokee 4.0L - when i first got it although the oil was clean, it sounded as if there was a team of blacksmiths on acid banging away inside the engine!
One oil and filter change later and i substituted the last 1.78L (it took 6.78L!) of engine oil for ATF and less than 1000 miles later the engine was very quiet, silky smooth, more powerful and a lot more economical!

Glad to hear that other than the oil it performed as it should!

[Jebus]

Nice to see the old girl made it without any problems, helps inspire me to fix mine faster, been waiting on parts and found that strangely you need to check the standard the hose is made to since it is entirely possible to order twin wire reinforced hose, 5000psi hose that you cant use with push on fittings and have to order something else.....always read those item descriptions!

Plan on a good road trip in mine when its behaving....

[volvo always]

I haven't until the holiday driven the car at times with a heavy right foot and this was the 2nd time it blew a bit of smoke out the exhaust.
The car had done hardly any miles between Mot's and was stood still for many years hardly used. I have booted it around since and no smoke!
I must park it on a non grass space and see if there is any oil leaks. Possibly near the filter housing.
When parked at clients for the day never noticed oil leaks as don't like parking on customers block paved drives just in case.
I changed the oil around 2,500 miles ago, now nearly on 187,000 miles. I use 10w40 semi synthetic, hope that's ok?

James

[Laird Scooby]

That oil is just about perfect for the car. From the potted history you've just given, a puff of blue smoke now and then is pretty normal, i'd definitely be inclined to add some synthetic ATF to the engine oil next time it needs a top up just to gently clean things inside and to help revive the seals.