I've had my Volvo for almost a year and a half and I've always had my brother in law and one of his very savvy mechanic friends work on it whenever it had a problem. But now, my mechanic friend has a new job and my brother in law is way too busy with his job and his wife and daughter to be worrying about my silly Volvo car. I understand that.

So, I'm deciding to learn on my own how to do the little things. Problem is, I have no idea where to start.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can start learning how to repair certain problems in my car? I've been wanting to learn all I can about it since I bought it but haven't had the means or the time to. Any kind of advice or knowledge on the 940 turbos from the 90's would suffice.

 

well, sadly, there's no decent repair book on 940's, nothing like the Bentley book for 240's.

there's a bunch of stuff here,
Volvo Maintenance Hints for 700 900 S90 V90 Models

and, if you get the VCOA 940/960 DVD, its got all the factory service manuals, which include things like fuel injection and ignition troubleshooting, wiring diagrams, etc.

otherwise, it really depends onw hat you're doing. 5000 mile oil and filter changes are pretty simple, as are basic 'tuneup' services, which consist mostly of changing the spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap and rotor every 30K miles... other maintenance things like belts, brakes, etc, each need some bits of volvo specific knowlege, but are mostly pretty generic jobs. past that, its fix what breaks. oh, timing belt every 60k miles, thats an intermediate difficulty job. replace hoses and stuff when they are looking old, before they crack.

 

Best way to start is by doing!
Have a task--research it, (the internet is great for that and there is all you need there), then acquire the tools and get to it. Volvos are easy and forgiving (within reason). Ask if you need info, you'll get advice (some of it wrong), but in the end you'll acquire skills. I still remember every job I have done and refer to that knowledge as I go along. Start small, with oil changes, routine maintenance, etc, before you know it you'll be building 500hp engines... may be not. Or may be you'll discover it's not for you. With the prices shops are charging these days, it may be a necessity to learn DIY...

 

Youtube is a wonderful thing...just sayin'

 

can't go wrong with the interwebs