960 1996 CEL

Jessi · Post by **Jessi** » 03 Apr 2009, 13:07

I just bought my first Volvo! I love the car...but within two hours of purchase the check engine light came on. My friend looked at it, checked the fuses etc..I got an oil change. The light went off and stayed off for two days. It's back on and I'm a bit worried. It seems to be running fine. What can I do to find out what the problem is? I don't want to get taken advantage of, I am a female..know a little about cars..but not too much about Volvos.

Any help is much appreciated! - jess

Post by **billofdurham** » 03 Apr 2009, 15:14

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

The Check Engine Light (CEL) indicates that a diagnostic trouble code (DTC) has been set. On the '96 model you need to have the DTCs read by a scan tool. Autozone and similar places will read the DTCs free of charge. Have the codes read, make a note of what they are and post back for help.

Don't let them persuade you to have a repair done by them until you find out from here what the codes mean and what is needed to sort things out.

Bill.

Jessi · Post by **Jessi** » 03 Apr 2009, 20:04

Will do and post info tomorrow. I am so glad that I stumbled across this site! I don't feel so alone in the world

!

Jessi · Post by **Jessi** » 04 Apr 2009, 10:24

OK. I ran the computer test these are the codes:
P0304 - Cylinder 4 misfire detected
P0300 - Random / Mulitiple misfire detected.

As a note the car does not seem to be running bad, it is not shaking when I drive. I want to learn how to make the repairs on the car ,myself. I do have someone who can help me. Any information that you can give me is appreciated!

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 04 Apr 2009, 11:28

Jessi,
one of the best investments I've made with my Volvo so far was the purchasing the repair manual. Try to find the Haynes or Chilton's repair manual for your 960. Any of the local auto stores will have it and if they don't then they can order it for you.

As for the engine misfire issue, have you any idea of the last time the spark plugs were changed on the car?

Darrell

Post by **billofdurham** » 04 Apr 2009, 11:33

I don't feel so alone in the world

Volvo owners are never alone. We may not be able to answer everything but we give it a darned good try.

The codes are linked and probably both apply to the same cylinder #4 as my book says that P0300 is a misfire on at least one cylinder. A misfire could be a bad spark plug or the ignition coil which sits on top of the plug. One thing that may be a little more of a problem is that P0304 also points to possible damage to the three way catalytic converter. However, that doesn't necessarly mean there is damage as the computer can often read more into a situation than is there.

As you have just bought the car you probably don't know when the plugs were last changed, unless the previous owner has given you a service record. If you don't know then, for the cost of them, it may pay to change all six as a first step. When you have done that have the DTCs erased and see if they come back. Doing it this way keeps costs to a minimum as you aren't repairing something that may not be broken.

I hope this makes sense.

Keep us posted.

Bill.