Nice forum you guys got here, I recently purchased a 1997 960 wagon with 150,000 on it. I got a really good deal on the car and most everything that I care about works. No leaks that I have found. The car is in really great shape!

But......
There is one issue, the climate control system is screwed up. I can hear the blower come on and I can feel the bog of the engine when I turn on A/C but, I can only feel it at my feet! Problem is I live in California and it gets very hot here in the summer and I need this car to go to school and work and I would like to arrive without being drenched in sweat!

So my question is, is this a common problem? Easy or hard fix? I turn the **** to change from floor to dash and nothing happens, but heat turns on and so does A/C (I can feel it when I reach down)

Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much

 

Welcome to the forum.

I also have a 1997 960 wagon, but never had any problems with the climate control so I won't be any help on that.

I want to make sure you know about the timing belt. These are interference engines, meaning that if the belt breaks very bad things can happen to your valves and pistons. On that year I think Volvo recommends changing it out at 70,000 miles. If you don't know about the last time it was changed I would have it done. Also consider changing the water pump and tensioner if you have the belt changed.

Good Luck

 

Can you tell if the belt is bad looking at it? I looked at it and it looked ok

 

Usually, someone would post when it has been changed. There is usually a sticker on the cover. Are you sure you checked the timing belt and not just the serpentine belt??? The timing belt can only be seen if you remove the cover from the front of the engine. It has 1 bolt in the center of it and the top pulls forward then up & out of the bottom. Once you get the cover off you can see the timing belt that wraps around the cam gears, tensioner, water pump and pulley. Not really sure what a worn or weak timing belt looks like but it may have a few frays or something.

Normally I would take a risk and let a belt go longer than recommended but not on a older car. Problem is, you may not be sure what was done the last time the belt was replaced. Example; if the belt was replaced and a roller was not, the roller can go bad and cause the belt to wear faster and possibly break it. So, if it's replaced ever 70,000 miles the other parts can be checked for servicability. On my 960, I had the belt replaced at 60,000. I had to replace it again at 85,000 because my roller was almost locked up & water pump was leaking. (The roller was squeeling for about 2 minutes when I first started the car.) I believe the water pump was damaged because of the roller problem and because the roller was almost locked up I'm sure it added stress on the belt. I could have left the belt on it but why risk not replacing a $35 belt when all the parts are already off. I also replced the tensioner roller because it was spinning very freely. Not sure if age (13 years old) or milage would cause those parts to wear like they did but none the less I ended up replacing everything under the cover. So, when I marked the sticker on the cover, I also noted that I replaced the belt, roller, tensioner, tensioner roller, & water pump.

Bottom line is, if you don't know when it was replaced last, plan/budget to have it done asap. I did mine at 60,000 because it was 11 years old. The good thing is that you can do the job youself if you are handy. It's not a hard job.

 

Yea I looked at the timing belt, you just loosen that one bolt and the black cover comes right off. I saw it before the guy sold it too me. It used to be driven by his mother in law and she always took it too the dealer.

Serpentine belt is different, thats the other belt with no cover, it definitely needs to be changed.
The timing belt actually looked pretty easy, lots of room to work. Been a while since I been able to work under the hood of my car

But, the question still remains, how do I get the vents to open up? Im thinking it maybe a vacuum line, but I dunno

 

One thing you might try, is to find out who the previous owner was and call and ask them if the timing belt was recently replaced. I used a company called Autocheck, which is like Carfax only better. It told me the name of the previous owner, so I looked their phone number up on the internet. The lady was really nice and gave me the name of her mechanic who told me what repairs he had performed on the car. I bought my 97 960 last year with a 150K, and determined the belt needed to be replaced. I did the timing belt, serpentine belt, water pump and all the tensioners. The shop charged me $800 but I felt it was better than ruining a great engine. I talso gave me peace of mind.
As for the climate controls, my top ducts shut off during rapid acceleration and the air blows out on the floor. During normal driving everything blows out correctly. My mechanic said it was a problem with one of the vacuum servos under the dash. alot of labor to change it so I live with it.
My guess is you have a vacuum problem also.
Good luck!

 

Yea I only paid 1600 for the car and the previous owner was a cop who was commuting over 150 mi a day in it. He said he didn't know when it was last changed, Im just gonna do it myself this summer.