Volvo Forums - Volvo Enthusiasts Forum

Hi, Im new here. I bought my first Volvo,a1998 S40 T4 with 89000milesa few days back and are experiencing these problems:

1. The car struggles to start when cold and whenleft to stand for 5min+ after warm, when it starts it gives a decent amount of black smoke and smells like petrol.

2. The instrument doesnt work to well, the range says-blank, the fuel consumption meter doesnt work, the outside temp sensor says -40 degrees celcius, average speed doesnt seem to work right also. The fuel guageis workingperfect though. The dealer where I bought the car from told me that the radio didnt work at first but the fixed it, the problem was due to a blown fuse..can all this be related? I checked the fuses but all look okay.

3. When starting the engine from cold it runs fine but after 30seconds a tapping, clapping noise starts to appear on top of the engine with theplastic cover taken off, almost like something hollow with oil in it...but quiets as the engine heats up but still has a slight misfire when on normal operating temp.The dealer told me that he had done on service on the car, changed the spark plugs,oil etc. I dont know what oil they putted it but feels very thick when rubbing it against my fingers. Luckily the car doesnt smoke when driving. My gut feeling tells me that they threw in 20/50 oil as it a common oil to use in my country..should I change it to Castrolsynthetic 10/40? Should I change the hydrualic lifters asap?

4. It tends to warm up quite quickly in my eyes but this is my first turbo car and I dont know if this is normal as we live in an area where its 20-30degrees celcuis. If I drive for about 15kilometers slow/average driving the car hits 102 degrees celcuis and then the fan kicks in. Is this normal? Sometimes its 87 when in town driving, seem to differ sometimes.

Sorry for the long post but please, any help or info will be much appreciated. Thank u :)