Hello,
I recently picked a 1989 Volvo 740 GL as a second car. I got it pretty cheap and it's in overall great shape. Only things wrong with it are some minor cosmetic blems and the left rear taillight lens is cracked and the right front turn signal is missing - both of which have already been ordered. It has a little over 181,000 on the clock. It runs perfect, so I picked it up as a steady commuter. So, onto my questions. What weight oil should you run in these 4 bangers, given the mileage? Also, what problems or gremlins are these cars prone to? I am taking it in for an alignment and new tires soon also, so are there any other little known maintanaince issues with these cars I should know about?

Thanks, Chef

 

welcome home, I'm a chef too, soon you will be a mechanic also.
Mine is a 1990 740 wagon. Had it 2 yrs now, 200K miles.
First, buy some tools. Metric sockets and wrenches.
They are VERY simple to work on.
Volvo's are great quality cars but they have to be maintained.!
Get a haynes manual .

Knownpotential areas are ;
the japanese made speedo, $50 on ebay.
fuel pump relay $25
Fuel injector relay $25
ceiling fabric comes loose due to faulty glue.
RPM sensor (on top of bellhousing) suffers heat damage, ez $29 fix.

Oil breather system must be maintained to prevent crankshaft main oil seal blowout.
If you have oil blowby on top of the valve cover the oil trap and flame trap system needs attention pronto or the main oil seal can pop. Heres a diagram, its located beneath the intake manifold.
http://www.fcpgroton.com/volvo700900oiltrap.htm

Timing belt ought to be changed every 40K miles, simple $12 job.
Like any other car, balljoints, fuel pumps etc will all wear out.

Good cheap parts source is FCP.
http://www.fcpgroton.com/volvo.htm#740

Read the FAQ on oil trap, the throttle body must also be cleaned out to keep the butterfly free of gunk.
FAQ home is located here;
http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/FAQSummary1.htm

 

This is a great list for the 740. Is this list similar for the 940 (91 Turbo)?

Thanks for the details.

 

Timing belt "simple $12 job"? I don't know about that...

 

Yeh I think all the rear wheel drives are similarly simple,
the turbo is the same with lower compression and a blower.

The FWD volvo's aren't as user freindly ,
I think I read they use a renault design 5 cyl engine.

I test drove a 5 cyl volvo turbo, goes like sh%t off a shovel.

 

Ted, whats hard about changing the timing belt,
I'm a cook and I can do it in less than a hr.
First time took longer simply because everything was stiff and needed spraying.
My mechanic wanted $300+ , they said they have to remove the radiator, thats bunk.

Unless you're planning to do other work besides the belt theres no need to make a nasa project out of it, I got very simple directions from an english mechanic, MUCh simpler than what I've read anywhere else.
No need to bring the engine to TDC.
Just pop the crank bolt with a ratchet wrench resting on the frame, ignition disconnected,
a one second blip of the starter and its finger loose.
Pull all the belts and covers, fan etc.
Pull on old belt and peg tensioner,
Cut the old belt off.
install new belt from the top keeping it tight.
Release tensioner.
Install lower belt cover,
Bolt crank pulley on and test run it for a few seconds, if its right you'll know.
Ifgood reinstall everything else.
Retension after running it for a while to take the stretch out by way of the access hole in the cover.

Who was it who said they know a good mechanic who can pull the tranny and replace the main rear seal in less than 1 hr, was it here or another website, I believe it.

The Haynes manual is correct when it says replace the 4 nuts holding the fan, I didn't and threw the fan off.
10mm nuts are available anywhere, I used loctite the next time. The volvo nuts are kinda soft, I don't know why.

 

Thanks for all the input. The engine looks incredibly simple to work on. I love how the fuel injectors sit right on top of the engine, the plugs are right there within reach and the dist sits right on top of the valve cover. I know how to turn a wrench, so I'mlooking forward to doing a little work on it. I still need to know, what weight oil is recommended for these cars once they get up into the high mileage? Also, I noticed the car has a small electrical fan in front of the radiator as well as the fan behind it. Did these cars come from the factory with a dual fan setup? That would certainly contribute to explaining their longevity.

Iown a 1990 Mustang LX 5.0 I bought new for my 18th birthday, and when the engine hit 200,000 I had it rebuilt. At my mechanic's advice I installed a bigger radiator with an external stacked plateoil cooler, and also later onI added a 7 quart oil pan. Collectively the oil cooler, the lines, and thelarger oil pan bumped my oil capacity up to just under nine quarts. This did wonders for the longevity of the engine. I also added an air / oil separator to the pcv system as a secondary precaution, as it contributes to a much cleaner detonation and permits me to go over twice as long between tune ups without sacrificing my mileage. I can flog the car all day and it never gets remotely hot. I drove the car back and forth from Alabama to Daytona twice a month for over fifteen years, and several cross country trips in between. I made three road trips from Alabama down to Key West then up to Maine and back to Alabama. Since the rebuild at 200,000 I have put over 232,000 more miles on top of that, with minor replacements and repairs in between. I am less that 68,000 away from that magical 500,000 number. The drivetrain didn't fare as well as the engine after 200,000 miles, but such is to be expected on a car with such regular use. I use Valvoline Dura Blend 10w40 oil almost religiously, although sometimes I have to substitute Valvoline High Mileage Synthetic blend since the Dura Blend is sometimes hard to find in that weight.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning more about the old Volvo and getting every possible mile out of the old girl. Thanks for all the input and ideas.

Chef

 

"...what weight oil is recommended for these cars once they get up into the high mileage?"

I still use 10W-30 as per the owner's manual. But there are many opinions and, with some folks, it's kind of a religion. So I will step back and let the fur fly.

 

10W30as specified in manual should suffice. perform a compression test, if all is well either stick with the 10w30 or if things are a bit noisy try 10w40.