Hello,

I took my 94 Volvo 960 back to the shop who worked on the breaks because they started squeaking after a week of driving and they were not effective. The shop owner said that he'll replace the pads and called me back saying the hoses need to be replaced for an additional charge of $200. I was upset that the hoses all of a sudden now need to be changed.
He replaced the pads and the breaks feel better the problem now is that the car used to start fine, now when I start it cold, I hear this weird scary noise coming from the engine, like dieseling and coarse ticking then it goes away few minutes later when the car is warmed up.
Could you please tell me what is this noise and how can I take the car back to redo the breaks and end up with this noise. Please help.

 

Did you check the oil level!? You might wanna start there.

 

Yes, we check the oil level frequently and we just replaced the oil and it is full. It is this noise that we hear only when cold then it goes away few minutes later. It sounds like valves noise, but I'm not sure.

 

Front or rear? Any vibrations? The mechanic should have cleaned and lubed the calipers. Did he? Hoses are about $ 10 each for each wheel. The front ones usually go bad. The rears not so much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by volvoofsocal

the problem now is that the car used to start fine, now when I start it cold, I hear this weird scary noise coming from the engine, like dieseling and coarse ticking then it goes away few minutes later when the car is warmed up.

I think your cars is possessed with all these noises and smells that no mechanic can identify. On the noise -- do you have an air pump? Does the noise come from the engine or from other corners of the engine compartment?

 

The noise comes from the engine either the front or the driver side of the engine. It is clearly heard for few minutes when the car starts cold then it is gone.

 

Could be a roller in the timing belt path.

Timing belt replacement instructions on a 1997 Volvo 960

I had my timing belt replaced 23 months ago (about 27,000 miles ago). The reason I decided to do it again is that my idler was squealing. A couple of months ago it was only squealing when I started the car, lately it has been making noise even after the car was warm. I found out that the tensioner roller or idler roller can break or come apart, causing the same damage as if the belt breaks. I guess the mechanic I paid to do the belt last time did not replace the tensioner roller or idler roller. Not sure if I asked them not to or if they took it upon themselves not to. The tensioner roller spun very freely and felt like it had no grease in it. The idler roller was just about frozen, it was very hard for me to turn it with one hand. Both of these rollers should turn very smoothly and not spin by hand. I believe these bad rollers caused my water pump to leak.

 

This is from the Owner's Book:

"This engine features hydraulic valve lifters which means that valve clearance is adjusted automatically. It is possible that the valve lifters will produce a ticking sound for the first few seconds after the engine is started, while the oil pressure is increasing. If the car as not been used for a long period of time, this ticking sound may last for up to 15 minutes. This is entirely normal.

NOTE: Do not exceed 3000rpm until the ticking sound disappears".

Someone needs to listen to it, even use a stethoscope and find where the noise is coming from.

 

I was not very happy with the work of the shop that did the timing belt so may be it is the timing belt. I took it today to another mechanic. He is a senior master technician who worked on our Japaneese cars. He's not a Volvo guy but I can trust him very much. He'll check both the exhaust and the ticking noise. I'll let you know the outcome. Thank you.

 

This noise like I mentioned in my previous email, this noise showed up suddenly, after I took the car back to redo the break job. Something happened when they changed the break hoses. So I lean more towards the timing belt if as you said the valves are adjusted automaticly.
I took the car in today to a senior master technician who worked on our Japaneese cars, I can trust him very much. I thought he can just diagnose it and hopefully he'll figure things out. I'll let you know the outcome. Thank you.

 

How long ago was the timing belt done? When they replaced the belt did they also replace the rollers?

 

The timing belt was done in July at 102k miles. Now it has 105k miles. The following items were replaced with the timing belt:
Idler pulley, hydraulic tensioner and water pump.
I took the car today to a different shop, family owned for 30 years and the service advisor has been working on Volvos over there for 19 years. He thinks that the noise is from the valves and he'll keep it overnight to start it cold and be able to listen to the noise as soon as it happens.