940se wgn 1991 whir & hum vibration

onejames · Post by **onejames** » 24 Dec 2009, 11:38

Firstly , greetings to all , I am not surprised to find a site like this for volvos. Bought my daughter a 1990 740 turbo inter-cooler for graduation present. I liked it so much I had to get a turbo volvo for myself. So now we are a two volvo car family , great cars.

Anyway , I saved my 940-se wgn (244,000+ miles)from a younger lady that that probably did not know what a dip stick is. I am not trying to be rude , just letting everyone know the condition (neglect) of the car when I bought it.

I literally removed as much of the interior as possible to clean the interior. Replaced gummed up power seat button assemblies , greased rails , and various other cosmetics and little issues , etc. Thee interior is fine now.
Besides worn leather.

As far as under the hood , the following has been done:
replaced:
air filter
plugs
wires
cap
rotor
oil
power steering fluid can
harmonic balancer(bad rubber) thought this was culprit of problem
belts
rebuilt alternator OEM
removed gravel from stuck elec. fan
disconnected A/C compressor elec. wire( dash button light coming on)
degreased
passed smog
new battery
changed coolant

This is what is my concern , there is a whirring noise when the car is parked or neutral from underside of car. Sounds like convertor is low of fluid? the level is in transmission is good when checked cold or hot. When engine is revved in park or when under power at all speeds and gears there is a constant humming vibration. This will decrease when accelerator is released , but still noticeable. The trans has no slips or trouble shifting up or down , even overdrive. I tried them under various conditions , the engine is still very strong for its age and milage.

Just the other day , had to leave in a hurry , no warm up , I know this is bad.
It was a frosty and very cold morning. Partial line freeze? By the time I arrived to my destination in about 15 minutes of driving the engine overheated and steam from fill canister. After cool down and refill with coolant , I noticed a smell of carbon exhaust from canister and grey water coolant. Can this be my noise problem , a failing turbo. Perhaps bad bushings or what?

There is not an over heat problem now. Holding fluid O.K. and running fine.
Not being familiar with turbos , I seek help and am grateful to happen upon this site. Looking forward for the feedback! Thanks for looking!
onejames , of many

Post by **billofdurham** » 24 Dec 2009, 15:54

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

Your car was in a poor state of health but you seem to have covered most of the things that would fix it.

had to leave in a hurry , no warm up , I know this is bad.

This is debatable, but not a discussion for this at the moment.

The part that would worry me is the exhaust smell in the coolant. This is usually a sign that the head gasket is leaking. I have heard of head gaskets that will leak and then seem to seal themselves up but it is only temporary. Did you notice excessive white smoke from the exhaust when you had this problem? You can buy a tester to check for exhaust gases in the coolant or you may know a friendly garage that has one and will do a test for you.

That would be my priority.

Bill.

onejames · Post by **onejames** » 24 Dec 2009, 16:12

Thank you , Bill.
I will see about price of test unit for coolant exhaust detection. If reasonable I will perform the test myself. I do have a compression tester and will post the numbers after the holidays. By the by ,"HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!"