Hello all. I just got my first Volvo. 1997 960 black sedan. Very nice! So first of all, what kind of gas should I use? The previous owner said he used 89 octane, but manual says 91/92. Also, anyone know of a good Volvo shop in the Northern Virginia area? I would love to get this looked at. The engine sounds fine while driving, but sounds like a diesel when it first starts. Not sure if that's valve tapping or just normal. Also, when I drive at highway speed and the sunroof is open, I hear a clank sound from sunroof. It still opens and closes, but I read review there are a lot of sunroof issues with this model. Thanks!

 

Hey brother. Congrats on your new car. In SEVA so your climate is like mine.

About the tapping - check your oil level and oil quality, the filter is important!! - use only the MANN W917 filter (fcpeuro and rockauto sell them cheap). If "olympus/olympic auto parts" is still open they will have the filter too. I'm using rotella T5 10w30 from walmart and trying to figure out a good change interval - 6k miles is too short, thinking about sending a sample for analysis as we're coming up on 10k.

89 seems to be fine, we tested fuel consumption with several tanks of each grade available. we didn't find 93 to be worth the cost but mileage is poor with 87. It's got knock sensors so you won't kill the engine with it.

Went over the car, cleaned intake & throttle body & flame trap, installed proper plugs, o2 sensors, new battery (i'm using a thread on the S90 forum here as a blog) now we get ~22mpg city and can get 29mpg on roadtrips.

I've got issues with the sunroof rattling on my car too but haven't had time to get into it yet.

You have to do a smog test up there, will be curious to know how that goes.

 

'trying to figure out a good change interval - 6k miles is too short, thinking about sending a sample for analysis as we're coming up on 10k.'

10k is WAY too long to go even on full synthetic oil! I wouldn't go more than 6,500 miles!

The "tapping" is directly oil related--dirty oil will do exactly that diesel sound! The manual says that that sound is normal for 20 minutes but who needs it?
Oil change and filter will most likely cure the valve chatter.

 

FWIW if non-synthetic is your game, the bobistheoilguy forum recognizes the Mobil Super 5,000 mile (MS5K on the forum) stuff as really good; you can find it @ WallyWorld for a song ;o)

I use the NAPA Gold filter with no complaints in my '95...

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the tips guys! I was kinda thinking oil because it looked a little dirty to me, but wasn't sure. I actually have an Olympus auto parts just a couple of miles from work so will have to stop by and get that Mann filter. If the oil change clears up that tapping, that would be great! Any valve adjustment on these guys? I know certain types of cars do really well with an adjustment but I really don't know a lot about Volvo's yet.

I read some reviews online about the brakes going very quickly on these cars too. They seem fine to me, but I do hear some noise when backing out of the driveway. I'll try and get in there this weekend to take a look, but from what I've seen the rotors look fine.

I know enough about cars to be dangerous, but not terribly technical. I've changed a radiator, alternator, fuel filter, and pads and rotors but that is about it. Looking under the hood of the Volvo looks slightly more complicated, but I hope I can do some of my own work. The car came with a Chilton's book.

Sounds like I may have an exhaust issue too, but anything requiring a lift will need to be done by an experienced mechanic. I'm guessing that's where the "P0422 main catalyst deficiency below threshold on bank 1" engine light error is coming from. Previous owner told me he replaced cat back, but I wonder if there is a leak somewhere else. It's just a tad loud.

I was very surprised by the premium sound. It almost sounds like there is a subwoofer in the back (almost). The bass is very clean, and the mid and high ranges our in the front and come together for a really nice sound system!

Really enjoying my new commuter so far, so hopefully I can keep it well maintained and get it to at least 200k. It only has 135k on it now.

 

I would agree with you on this point if this were an average car with small sump and small filter. I also did not mention that we are 90% highway miles in our Volvo and short trips are very rare, and I should have pointed this out. If we had a lot of short trips or sat in traffic jams every day then I would have changed oil long before now, and anyone who operates in conditions like that should definitely change oil more frequently than I am doing right now. I chose the diesel engine oil, while it's a synthetic blend, it should be fairly resistant against shearing down, it should have a high capacity to hold soot etc. in suspension, and it is known to have a whole lot of zinc in it.

We'll see what the oil lab says. I'm expecting TBN to be reasonable because of the relatively large volume of oil in the crankcase and also because I have added almost 2 qts of new oil since last drain. If not I'll eat my words and adjust my habits

I changed the oil when we got the car and then 5600 miles later when the service light came on. I cut open the filter: Mann W917 - Album on Imgur This filter has high capacity and I think it can go 4x as long. Also it has a really high quality anti-drain flap. At least for this time, replacing the filter was a waste of $4 (swarf in my photos came from using a sawzall, I have a different technique for opening filters now)

At least we agree the noisy startups are some non-optimal condition with the oil or filter, lev

I think that with the 10k miles/15kkm oil change interval advice, Volvo had to be assuming that synthetic oil would be used. Not all engines are made for this - my father in law ran 12k miles in his focus and the result is disgusting: neglected oil filter - Album on Imgur ... the white block is a lot different.

 

Great! When I lived in Nova Olympus were real good to me and had real nice prices.

No valve adjustment on this engine, it's got hydraulic lifters.

Dealer is supplying Roulunds friction now, and china rotors. I'm going to get my next set of brakes somewhere else.

About the P0422 code, first thing I would do is eyeball the oxygen sensors and see if they look as old as the rest of the car. You may be able to see the date code on the sensors with a mirror if you are lucky: the date code for Bosch parts is explained here: Gosler.de - Junkers-Kennzahlen

To simplify it, this code is triggered because the rear o2 sensor is reading rich. If your front o2 sensor is old, (and 100k is plenty old) it will have a 'lean' bias to it, causing the motor to run rich. Replacing a front o2 sensor that is doing this may bring it back into "compliance"

If you DO have to replace the cat, you can do it with the front end on ramps, and I bet you could handle it. You don't want a new cat with old o2 sensor dumping rich exhaust in it, it will shorten the lifetime of your new expensive part.

BOSAL sell a nice copy of the funny "spherical joint" clamp between the cat and resonator, but it's not listed in the catalogs I tried! The BOSAL part number for this clamp is 254702. I had to cut the factory clamp off mine.

The premium sound surprised me today too! Drivers side tweeter in the dash wasn't working, took it out and found the magnet fell off. If you ever touch these, they're real fragile, do not touch the cone. I hope yours stays nice

Almost forgot, if you do not know the history of the timing belt, you better put it on the top of the list. The interval is 70k and if it breaks it will practically destroy your head.

 

...and I'd add to the "coffee talk" here by putting in a plug for changing the old dreck out of your trans, if there's no evidence of this having been done recently. Volvo didn't want you to even think about this, but, as with any AT-equipped car, simple physics requires it on a periodic basis.

Check your head ground strap, too: If this goes hi-ohm, bimetallic cancer will begin if you're running anything but straight distilled H2O through an immaculate cooling system (which, drawing from my race bike background, I personally would try out if I lived anywhere with warm Winters).

Finally, give some thought to the rear-end (the car's; not yours: this isn't a modern ChinAmerican product ). I'll be looking into some PM here, too; and will probably need to tinker a bit to flush and fill without taking everything totally apart...

In short, these are tough, well-made cars, but require more than a small amount of "outside the box" thought and care to keep them economical. Being one of this sort, I'd much rather have the tinker-level chores than a disposable tin box handgrenade (been there, done that). The fantastic corrosion proofing alone makes this car a blessing to those of us exiled in the lands of salt-whitened freeway shrubbery!

BTW, welcome to the forum

Cheers!

 

So I went out and got my Mann W917 filter, 6 quarts of Mobile Super 5000 10W-30, and got to work this morning. Oil change went smoothly until about 5 seconds after I started the engine. I heard a clicking sound, and then ticking sound, and oil all over. Unfortunately instead of shutting off immediately, I took a quick peak to see what the issue was. Probably cost me about 5 seconds of running dry I didn’t need before I shut it off. After a mild panic attack, I called someone who knows better than I do and they suggested looking at the old filter for the gasket. Sure enough it was gone. I double gasket the dang thing! I must have lost 5 quarts, there was oil all over the driveway. I had to bust the filter to take it off, but after replacing filter and refilling oil it was fine. The only problem is, I’m not sure if it’s the same valve tapping, diesel sounding as before, or if it’s worse. You can’t really hear it with the hood closed, but you can hear the valve tapping when it’s open. I wish I took a before video for comparison! Anyway, are these engines generally a little noisy? The oil was filthy so maybe the damage was already done. Or, maybe it’s normal. Don’t know.

 

Yes the injectors on this car are really noisy. During the cases where oil pressure takes a 5-10 seconds to build after starting, you'll definitely hear it turning quiet. My partner who is not a mechanically inclined woman notices this when it happens (she does not check the oil level when she adds fuel, our engine has 195k now and consumes a bit of oil) but with the hood closed we can hear the injectors ticking if we get close and listen.

Sorry to hear about the filter mishap. Even though we would prefer it to not have happened, I would not worry about engine damage from this. I would frequently check the bottom of the engine for a while, because stress on the oil pump mount (which is actually an oil cooler) (you said you had to bust the filter) sometimes causes oil to leak from a gasket here. Oil on those water hoses will ruin them.

I think the best filter removal tool here is the '3 jaw type' that goes on a 3/8 ratchet and grips as you turn it. I got mine from a napa dealer. You can also use a strap wrench. The appropriate size one will have a range that includes 3.5 - 3.75 inches, and I think I saw them at walmart. I got a Lisle 61510 93 mm/45 flute end cap wrench and it does not fit very well, it's a hair too small and I have to bang it on to the filters which I don't want to do because it might cause the cooler to leak.

If the oil pressure or water level warnings appear on the dash, or if the temperature gauge goes over 3/4, pull over and stop the car immediately, even if you are very close to your destination. This engine ain't going to handle being run that way. During the lamp test before starting the car I find it easy to remember that from left to right, there's one lit light, a blank spot, then groups of 2, 3, 4 lights with a blank spot between. 1, 2, 3, 4. This is how I check that all the warning lamps are working. If I watch it closely I will see an arrow flash (it was designed to tell you to shift to a higher gear, but on our cars it's a fault with the auto transmission.)

 

What VDonkey said.

If it was just for a few seconds, you probably racked up nothing more than a few cold starts (at worst). Remember, there's no significant load @ idle; and the ferocious ticking you probably heard was coming from the lifters having been fed aerated below-normal oil flow. These lifters will bitch about anything; but something like this is a valid (but relatively harmless) complaint You can bet there still was some oil flow for most if not all of this episode.

Now, if this was something like a 3800 series II, things would probably be different; as GM has that engine set up to slam the bearings and skirts as hard as possible during cold starts. "Straight to the moon, Alice" goes the tach. Great for business when they give the business. But truly, I digress...

BTW, the injectors in this car are noisy as possible. This, from what I understand, is normal, too

Again, congrats; and glad to have you here with us!

Have a great East Coast Sunday.