Just bought my first Volvo, A 91 SW 740 wagon

Bosanova Bill · Post by **Bosanova Bill** » 28 Jun 2010, 20:40

Hi I'm new here and As the title says I just bought a 1991 Volvo. It has a few quirks as of right now. One is an oil leak. I believe it is coming from the cover that is behind the alternator, and ac motor belts etc. Does anyone know what could be causing this? How much it might cost to fix? And should I take care if this now or can I wait?

Second the gear shift seems to not always want to lock into place once in drive should I be worried?

We just got this for my wife's daily commuter and weekend errand runner. I really do not want to have to dump to much money into it asap but if I do so be it.

Thanks for any advise!

Bill

Post by **billofdurham** » 29 Jun 2010, 12:37

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

I always say that Mr. Volvo made his engine with the intention that the oil stayed inside. Once it starts coming outside there is a problem which, in my opinion, should be addressed ASAP.

The cover you refer to is the timing belt cover and if oil is coming out of there you could end up with a contaminated timing belt. Two places behind the cover have seals which sometimes fail. One is the camshaft and the other the intermediate shaft.

How bad is the oil leak and how long is it since the timing belt was changed? The change interval on the 740 is 50,000 miles. If the leak is minimal and the timing belt needs to be changed soon it can be sorted out then.

The gear shift linkage may need adjusting. This is a fairly simple task on the 740 so if you need instructions let us know.

Bill.

Bosanova Bill · Post by **Bosanova Bill** » 30 Jun 2010, 10:17

Thanks for the advise B.O.D I'll be talking to my mechanic today.

jones07 · Post by **jones07** » 01 Jul 2010, 16:00

Report back your mechanics findings.........please

thx

Bosanova Bill · Post by **Bosanova Bill** » 02 Jul 2010, 11:30

Will do. I'm just a bit p'od though. I wish I looked the car over just a bit more cuz he found about $600 worth of front end work that needed to be done to. This made me firmly decide that aIf I ever need to buy another used car I will only do it from a dealer or some one I know personaly. even If It takes me 4 times as long to save up the money.

Post by **30volvos** » 03 Jul 2010, 22:01

Bill

I assume you have an automatic trans and there are some bushings that may need replaced. My guess is that this is a simple problem. I had several 740s and had similar issues that were fairly cheap to replace. I have never seen them but the cost was cheap each time. If you are able to to take this on yourself, you just need the right parts. Good luck and good choice on cars!

Bosanova Bill · Post by **Bosanova Bill** » 05 Jul 2010, 14:23

You wouldn't happen to know which bushings they are would you?

Post by **boosted5cyl** » 05 Jul 2010, 15:18

Bosanova Bill wrote:Will do. I'm just a bit p'od though. I wish I looked the car over just a bit more cuz he found about $600 worth of front end work that needed to be done to. This made me firmly decide that aIf I ever need to buy another used car I will only do it from a dealer or some one I know personaly. even If It takes me 4 times as long to save up the money.

Its not at all uncommon for car of this age, or younger to need some major suspension work or other expensive (if you aren't doing the workyourself) work. People just dont want to put the money in. For what it's worth, a lot of the dealer cars I looked at in the Twin Cities were in worse shape than the privately owned ones.