Hi, I am David Riedle, and I am a new 760 Turbo owner.

The car I have is a 1987, and it only has 40,000 miles on it. North Carolina car, shipped to Michigan, stored in a heated garage for 15 years.

I am addressing a couple of issues.

First, the climate control system is not working correctly. The AC pump looks OK, and the clutch comes seems to work, turns on and off. The issue is that nothing really comes out of any of the vents, and when I switch the slider, nothing appears to happen. I can hear a small vacuum leak under the dash, and assume that that is at least part of the issue. I don't think that any of the vacuum vents are working.

The second issue is that the radio work, and the cassette player works fine. The equalizer works as well.

Unfortunately, I only get a small amount of sound out the two front-door speakers. I get no sound at all out of the rear-door speakers, or the speaker on the rear deck, behind the rear seat. I am assuming the amplifier is not working at all. When I use the fader, and go from front to rear, the sound totally goes away. Goes from left to right perfectly...just only the front two speakers.

There is no static when I use the fader, so I am assuming the radio is fine, and the controls work OK.

The third thing, of course, is the headliner. Looking for someone in Michigan that has experience with doing these on a 760.

Anyone have any hints on the climate control or radio?

Many thanks! Looks like I have found a home here!

David Riedle

 

Welcome, David. Glad for you and your new acquisition

I'm a 960 person, but I recognize some of the complaints you mention...

First, vacuum leaks in the climate control apparatus will cause flaky plenum behavior. Your car may also have a vacuum canister mounted somewhere outside the driver's compartment; and, therefore, my have been subject for road damage or corrosion. Get a vacuum gauge (the Actron CP7803 is a good value) and start tracing about.

I can relate to the sound system issues you mention. With at least some of the 960 line, the speaker magnets were literally glued onto the frames, resulting in a predictable outcome with age. Very, very cheesy...

Quick tips: Flush your transmission and set up a good remote filter mount. There's probably nothing stopping an endless accumulation of wear matter circulating throughout your fluid, eating things alive as you go about your business. Also check your diff fluid for level/quality. If you change out, Bel-Ray makes some fantastic (and pricey) hypoid oil which will never let you down

So, happy motoring; and I yield the floor to more learned 760 minds for the rest...

Cheers!

 

Cubic Curiosity:

Thanks for the information!

I know that the failure is related to, or most likely after the vacuum canister, since I can hear the vacuum leak while the car is running, and it takes about 5 or 6 seconds for the leak to go away after you shut the car down. Unfortunately, apparently you have to go in through the glovebox to find it, so it heads to the dealer Thursday morning. I don't have any time right now, and it should be easy for their technician (who loves 760's!) to find.

Once he takes care of the leak, we will see how freon is holding up...

I am going to take the amplifier out, and probably send it out to be repaired, if it is the problem. I can find more modern Volvo/Alpine amplifiers, but the harness has to be modified. I personally suspect that modern speakers, minus the subwoofers, are in my future over the winter...

Thanks for the tip on the auto gearbox! This is on my to-do list, along with flushing the brake system with new ATE blue Dot 4.

Do you have any suggestions on the ATF? I have had racers suggest Mobil 1 and Royal Purple synthetics, but wanted to get some forum feedback from people who have forgotten more than I will probably ever know...

My last experience with Volvos were a '68 144, '66 P1800S, and a '72 P1800ES, which were all wonderful cars.

There was also a 262GL in there, but I still have terrible nightmares about that car, and it was so bad I swore off of Volvos until this one.

I have used Redline MT90 with great success in the Puma in the past. I have heard great things about Bel-Ray in the past, and may try it based on your suggestion. When the car goes in for service on Thursday, I am going to have them check the diff out.

One guy who looked at it said that it was a limited-slip diff, the other guy said it was a standard open diff. Not certain I trust either of them...

I am also planning to replace the springs, and replace the Nivomats in back.

I really don't care for the way they work. I had a BMW R75 motorcycle equipped with Nivomats new from the dealer. Didn't care for those either...

Many thanks again for the suggestions!


Dave Riedle

 

Glad to hear about your TLC approach: Should be able to get another couple of decades' use from the old box

Bel-Ray takes in limited slip; and Castrol Transmax Import Multi-vehicle is spec'd for all Volvo (per label). Both @ Amazon; Transmax $4. per quart with free Prime shipping. Just did this myself on my Aisin-Warner...