Hello everyone! I just signed up for this forum after recently purchasing a 1993 Volvo 940 Non-turbo Automatic. It’s my first car and I have to say I’m quickly falling in love with it. Although it has a few problems that need to be taken care of and I was hoping you guys could help me. Here is a list of problems:

1) The signal Indicator does not function properly. When I attempt to turn on the right blinker I have to literally hold the indicator up for it to blink, otherwise it will return to the off position. Although when turning left it works fine.

2) The car antenna does not function property. I’m not sure if it is because of poor wiring or the mast not working or just the antenna itself. I’m trying to narrow down the problem and while the antenna is plugged into the radio I do hear the stations clearer but the radio stations fade in and out depending on where I am located (sounds like interference). When I flip the antenna switch I do not hear any noises coming from the antenna and turning the antenna on or off does not affect any of the radio stations.

3) When I purchased the car I drove it for 2 days and then I looked into the radiator and the reservoir was empty! I quickly bought a giant jug of coolant and used 70%-80% of the bottle and it was a little below the MAX line. I looked inside the reservoir and I saw no air bubbles. After two days I checked it again and the reservoir was completely empty. I looked around where I parked my car and I don’t smell any coolant, and my heat gauge shows it almost always in the middle.

4) I live in South Florida and it’s known for notorious bad drivers and to make matters worse, my horn doesn’t work! Now anyone know the cheapest place (besides the junk yard) to get a new horn? I was thinking about getting an air horn kit that’s 135DB for 20 bucks on ebay. Sound like a good or bad idea? Could this be rigged up to my steering wheel?

5) The power driver’s side seat work almost fine. It can tilt, move up and down, and do everything it was made to do except move forward or backwards. I noticed that the right rail motor does not work! Any clue on where I could get a replacement one?

6) This is my first Volvo and as I stated before I’m quickly falling in love, but, I noticed while driving that I have my AC on 0 but I if put my hands near the vent I can feel ice cold air seeping through. If I push the AC OFF button this resolves the problem, but is that normal behavior?

7a.) When making sharp turns, the car moans. The moaning noise sounds exactly like a car with little to no power-steering fluid, but when I checked it there was more than plenty.

7b.) I’m not sure if this is related to the above problem but I figured I should group them together. The car itself is a little hard to steer into tight places. For example I could never park perfectly into a parking space that’s on my right side, since it’s a tight turn. I usually have to back out and straighten up.

8) When QUICKLY accelerating I noticed that before the car switches one of the gears there is a brief pause (like 1-3 seconds) and the RPM’s will go down slightly and then it will catch the gear and the car will slightly jerk forward. My friend says this could be a transmission problem, I hope he is wrong, what do you think?

9) When idling after driving around for a while I noticed that the RPM’s Slightly move up and down and the engine started to vibrate a little more, almost putter. It’s time for an oil change on the car, could this be a related problem?

9) I’ve looked around and I can’t seem to find an Intake Kit for my car. Does anyone know where I can find one for a good price? Google, doesn’t seem to yield me good results.

10) I’ve had my car for less than 1 month and someone stole my front indicator lenses! I’ve looked around and to completely replace it is around 50 bucks but I don’t need to completely replace it, all I need are the front lenses.

11) What is the lug nut pattern for my car? I want to replace the rims with some nice looking ones but I can’t seem to find them.

12) Normally, when you open any of the doors the inside light will come on, but on the front passenger side door is the only exception. All the other doors work fine, but when I open the door the light does not come on, But when I open any other door the light will come on and then I open the front passenger door and shut the original door and the light will stay on until I shut the front passenger door! Any clue on how this can be resolved?



Anyway I guess that’s it for now, I appreciate any help you can give me. When I fix up the car I’ll be sure to post pictures. =D

 

Hey Hotshot, I too, have a 93 940 but i have had several of them. Let me see if i can answer some of the issues you have. The turn signal issue. Is the steering wheel off center. if it is then the indicator may not be past the canceler. The horn will work just fine but JC Whitney has them for alot less. I suspect the wiring is still good just the horns are bad. They are located under the bumper on the drivers side. The transmission should have a fluid and filter change. It's a simple job if you are at all mechanically inclined. One thing you should do is buy a service manual like Haynes or Chiltons. You can learn an awful lot from that. The idle problem I had the same problem. The guys on here told me what to do and it was an "idle air stabilizer" Advance has that for about $120. It's just under the throttle body. Ebay has indicator lenses for your car. Get some of these mechanical problems resolved and then the minor ones will be a piece of cake. I hope you enjoy your car. They are amazing cars and once you get the basics they are not too hard to work on.

 

I forgot something. Volvo puts a interior light switch in the doors that if you push them in slightly and turn them the light will stay off. They are supposed to go back to normal when you shut the door but yours may not.

 

1. If the steering wheel is off the switch may not be setting properly or the switch is bad.

2.If you do not hear anything check for power at the motor and relay.Sometimes the relays on the antenna motor assembly goes bad.If not then the motor is bad.

3.You need to find a coolant pressure tester and pressurize the system and look for leaks.They are known to leak in many places.

4.Is your horn part of the Air bag or does it have the switches on the sides? Did you check for power at the horn yet?

5.You might have a bad cable or a jammed track.Sometimes when not moved for a while they jam.If you play with the switch it might come loose.

6.That is normal it is like a vent system to keep fresh air coming in.

7.The pump might be worn and the tie rods might not be centered giving you a better left turn then right turn.

8.Change the fluid and filter and make sure the kick down cable isn't seized.

9.Clean the throttle body and idle motor and run cleaner in the gas.

10.If the crome peice and bulb are still there then no one stole it they fall off.They get weak and fall off.

11.I forget the exact numbers but the Ford Taurus and Thunderbird turbo coupe rims have the same lug pattern.

12.Unscrew the switch from the door jam and clean the connections on the back side of it.

 

WELL DONE, Tech. Nice.

 

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. My friend and I will be looking over these problems with your suggestions and if anything comes up i'll keep you updated.

 

11.I forget the exact numbers but the Ford Taurus and Thunderbird turbo coupe rims have the same lug pattern.

the bolt pattern is 5x108