960 questions for BillofDurham

[ppcgm]

Bill,

I was fascinated, and encouraged, to see in another thread that you said your '91 960 was one of the best cars you've ever owned.

Having just bought a '94 960 I've been disheartened to read about; self-destructing interference engines, porous engine blocks, oil leaks, expensive engine rebuilds and troublesome electronics.

My car came with an impressive stack of maintenance records showing fairly recent replacement of the timing belt and tensioner within the previous 10,000 miles and other maintenance that showed the original owner's dedication to keeping the car in top condition. One of the things it has not had is a recorded cooling system flush. Is it necessary to buy antifreeze from the Volvo dealer to get this "blue type C" coolant ? And I intend replacing the clean but of unknown origin content with a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water. Is there anything else I can do to avoid the dreaded porous engine block ?

This car has 185,000 miles on the clock. Can I reasonably expect that any factory defects would have shown up by now and just keep the maintenance up for a long happy life with this gorgeous, comfortable and fun to drive automobile ? My '90 240 DL has 189,000 on the clock and feels like it's just getting settled in for a long run. How long are well cared for 960's likely to go ?

Any tips or advice will be greatly appreciated. And you know of course that we current 960 owners will be dying to know what became of your 960 and how many miles it clocked before its demise.

thanks much,

Dale

[billofdurham]

As I said in the earlier post my 960 was a very early model which Volvo rushed into production to compete in the luxury car market with BMW, Mercedes and some of the Japanese marques.

They did not get everything right but what they got wrong was not going to bring about the end of the world.

Most engines nowadays are interference engines which will self destruct if the timing belt snaps. The pistons slam into the valves when they stop moving. It is certainly not a quirk of the 960. The porous engine blocks were few and far between. My friendly Volvo tech (28 years Volvo experience) has only seen one.

If you have a service record like that then the car has been looked after. It will not have a record of a coolant flush as Volvo do not require it. They advise checking the coolant strength and, if it is up to spec, top up with a 50-50 mixture.

How long are well cared for 960's likely to go ?

How long is a piece of string? They should, in theory, go forever but preventative maintenance is essential.

I sold my 960 in 1998 with 130,700 or thereabouts on the clock. I put it in part exchange so i did not know who bought it from the dealer, but I do know it was sold within 2 days. In one of those strange twists of fate my son was travelling South on the M5 motorway two years ago and the old ovloV, as he always called it, went past him. He reckoned it was doing about 100mph. I did not know cars went that fast!! He pulled into a motorway service area and saw it being refuelled. Being the shy retiring type, just like his father, he went to talk to the driver. The car had been bought by a luxury taxi type service and, at that time, had in excess of 280,000 miles on the clock and had been virtually trouble free. The rust around the windscreen had been cleaned up but kept coming back.
What has finally happened to it - Who knows.

Good luck with your 960. I am looking at a '96 estate and will buy it if I can get him to take a reasonable price.

Bill.