It doesn't have a dipstick?
The photos of the broken bits do not look like fiberglass.
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The Hacked Saga: A Tale of Way Too Many Projects (100, 200, 900-series)
- Thread starter fatcatbestcat
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2019
- Location
- Mississauga, ON (Canada)
Oh, it does - it was raining and I did not re-check the dipstick after putting half a quart in. I just assumed it leaks worse than it actually does.
I dunno what they made the 9xx spoilers out of... plastic, maybe?
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2019
- Location
- Mississauga, ON (Canada)
I mean, it did clean all the salt off the valve cover when it vomited oil all over itself. I see that as a win.
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2019
- Location
- Mississauga, ON (Canada)
It's about that time of the year where I've neglected the 940 long enough that I remember to actually work on it and fix things before it's below zero outside (spoiler alert: soon).
This time it's the suspension that's bothering me. The ride suddenly got much worse and it's quite unpleasant to drive over a microbe. I think that's down to blown front struts, the shocks in the back were replaced last winter so I shouldn't be surprised the fronts would eventually give up and die. I have the struts, but I'm waiting on mounts, ball joints, sway bar end links etc to do everything in one go.
The other thing is that there's a pretty irritating grinding/whirring/winding noise at low RPM and low speeds. It's barely audible, quieter than the slap from the B230, but just audible enough to be annoying. I checked out the center support bearing and uh... I will be replacing it when I get the parts.
Oddly, blasting it with Kroil made the noise go away for the rest of the day. So I think that narrows the problem down to the driveshaft area.
Speaking of awful noises, the blower motor squeals on any speed except full and I've just lived with it for the last two years. Not anymore.
I have to say, after doing this on the 245 - it is WAY easier on a 700/900. I think if I knew what I was doing, I could have done it in less than an hour.
I also popped in a new, rebuilt instrument cluster that I hope won't die every 75-80 miles and interrupt my very important EM PEE GEES. Also has 130,000 less miles on it so my car is now worth double.
I also now have a tool to get the center caps off the Gems, so I took them off until it's time for snow tires. It looks a bit ghetto without the caps but at least I can check lug nut torque and y'know - remove the wheels from the car which I haven't done since the middle of last year.
I may be adding another vehicle to the Hacked™ fleet soon? Maybe? Six cylinder power - that isn't a diesel??
Send help.
This time it's the suspension that's bothering me. The ride suddenly got much worse and it's quite unpleasant to drive over a microbe. I think that's down to blown front struts, the shocks in the back were replaced last winter so I shouldn't be surprised the fronts would eventually give up and die. I have the struts, but I'm waiting on mounts, ball joints, sway bar end links etc to do everything in one go.
The other thing is that there's a pretty irritating grinding/whirring/winding noise at low RPM and low speeds. It's barely audible, quieter than the slap from the B230, but just audible enough to be annoying. I checked out the center support bearing and uh... I will be replacing it when I get the parts.
Oddly, blasting it with Kroil made the noise go away for the rest of the day. So I think that narrows the problem down to the driveshaft area.
Speaking of awful noises, the blower motor squeals on any speed except full and I've just lived with it for the last two years. Not anymore.
I have to say, after doing this on the 245 - it is WAY easier on a 700/900. I think if I knew what I was doing, I could have done it in less than an hour.
I also popped in a new, rebuilt instrument cluster that I hope won't die every 75-80 miles and interrupt my very important EM PEE GEES. Also has 130,000 less miles on it so my car is now worth double.
I also now have a tool to get the center caps off the Gems, so I took them off until it's time for snow tires. It looks a bit ghetto without the caps but at least I can check lug nut torque and y'know - remove the wheels from the car which I haven't done since the middle of last year.
I may be adding another vehicle to the Hacked™ fleet soon? Maybe? Six cylinder power - that isn't a diesel??
Send help.
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2019
- Location
- Mississauga, ON (Canada)
Pretty much end of year thread update? I tend to not do a lot of anything during the winter because I'm lazy and it's cold and I don't want to. I'm more of a March-October kinda guy.
I'm glad I got my winter tires on early this year - right at the start of the month, and not one day before the first snowfall of the year. The car does vibrate noticeably more on the snydras (snow hydras) but I'm willing to live with that. I feel a lot safer than I did with the rotten deflating oversized snows I tried last winter before switching back to all seasons. They're 205/50R16s, which basically turn the car's stance from "monster truck" to "skateboard".
They do match the 245 now, though.
Which brings me to the next thing. The 245 has pretty much just been parked since I last drove it during the summer. Every time I'm at the shop I fire it up just to make sure the battery is charged, sometimes I'll drive it around the block but I haven't been super motivated to do anything further with it. I basically just bought it to do a summer cruise up to cottage country, and it's accomplished that. Now it's just at that point where any work I do to it snowballs into it being taken apart and never driving ever again, so I just keep putting it off, waiting for parts to be in stock, finding they're NLA etc etc. Living an hour from the shop doesn't make it any easier.
I toyed with the idea of selling it, but then I would just be looking for another wagon, that I would then need to redo all the work previously done to this car, and getting it safetied.
Let's fast forward to the end of November.
Hacked VII: The Whiteblock Awakens
Some of you may remember this car, it's one of the vehicles that I was flirting with in my initial search for a wagon last year... maybe slightly before. @jmiles scooped it up the first time, got Volvo Rob in Kitchener to do some work to it to get it back on the road, and lets his dad drive around from time to time. His explanation to me as to why he wanted to trade for my 245 (especially knowing everything that goes on in this thread) was just that he wanted something simpler and with better parts availability.
It's a bone stock 1993 960 wagon in 412-21 tropical green. Or tropical blue, I'm not actually sure. It's turquoise. Anyway, it's got 200 horsepower and it sounds like great cruiser material - essentially to do what the 245 did for me during the summer but better and less sketchily and faster and with A/C and ALLLL the fanciest features $36,375 bought you in the early 90s. It has some remote spots of rust but nothing major that I feel the need to patch. Probably the kind where I clean them up, fill them with seam sealer and paint over with undercoating.
So, John and I traded paperwork and now we both own wagons, still. I'll give you three guesses as to what I did first with my new 965...
Oh yeah. That's motivating. It looks low - my thought was that it originally came with Nivomats that have evidently been deleted, and I think replaced with lowering springs. It's not too low though, maybe 30-40mm? If that?
Either this is a stroke of genius or I have lost my damn mind. The electronics seem kinda scary, but most of it seems to be point to point wired on circuit boards, which I am just qualified to reflow, recap and repair as necessary. And the engine? I've worked on a D24, this couldn't possibly be that bad.
I think.
I'm glad I got my winter tires on early this year - right at the start of the month, and not one day before the first snowfall of the year. The car does vibrate noticeably more on the snydras (snow hydras) but I'm willing to live with that. I feel a lot safer than I did with the rotten deflating oversized snows I tried last winter before switching back to all seasons. They're 205/50R16s, which basically turn the car's stance from "monster truck" to "skateboard".
They do match the 245 now, though.
Which brings me to the next thing. The 245 has pretty much just been parked since I last drove it during the summer. Every time I'm at the shop I fire it up just to make sure the battery is charged, sometimes I'll drive it around the block but I haven't been super motivated to do anything further with it. I basically just bought it to do a summer cruise up to cottage country, and it's accomplished that. Now it's just at that point where any work I do to it snowballs into it being taken apart and never driving ever again, so I just keep putting it off, waiting for parts to be in stock, finding they're NLA etc etc. Living an hour from the shop doesn't make it any easier.
I toyed with the idea of selling it, but then I would just be looking for another wagon, that I would then need to redo all the work previously done to this car, and getting it safetied.
Let's fast forward to the end of November.
Hacked VII: The Whiteblock Awakens
Some of you may remember this car, it's one of the vehicles that I was flirting with in my initial search for a wagon last year... maybe slightly before. @jmiles scooped it up the first time, got Volvo Rob in Kitchener to do some work to it to get it back on the road, and lets his dad drive around from time to time. His explanation to me as to why he wanted to trade for my 245 (especially knowing everything that goes on in this thread) was just that he wanted something simpler and with better parts availability.
It's a bone stock 1993 960 wagon in 412-21 tropical green. Or tropical blue, I'm not actually sure. It's turquoise. Anyway, it's got 200 horsepower and it sounds like great cruiser material - essentially to do what the 245 did for me during the summer but better and less sketchily and faster and with A/C and ALLLL the fanciest features $36,375 bought you in the early 90s. It has some remote spots of rust but nothing major that I feel the need to patch. Probably the kind where I clean them up, fill them with seam sealer and paint over with undercoating.
So, John and I traded paperwork and now we both own wagons, still. I'll give you three guesses as to what I did first with my new 965...
Oh yeah. That's motivating. It looks low - my thought was that it originally came with Nivomats that have evidently been deleted, and I think replaced with lowering springs. It's not too low though, maybe 30-40mm? If that?
Either this is a stroke of genius or I have lost my damn mind. The electronics seem kinda scary, but most of it seems to be point to point wired on circuit boards, which I am just qualified to reflow, recap and repair as necessary. And the engine? I've worked on a D24, this couldn't possibly be that bad.
I think.
jmiles
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2004
- Location
- Waterloo, Ontario
The geminis being mounted on it right away made me know I had traded it to the right person.
Scaramanga
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2017
- Location
- Sweden
That´s a nice wagon Have the hood painted in original color and fix those rust spots the right way.
Have the hood painted in original color and fix those rust spots the right way.
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2019
- Location
- Mississauga, ON (Canada)
The worst patch of rust is by the beltline trim on the front passenger door - miraculously the car came with a whole spare door in the right colour, so that will be a "later" project after I figure out what it actually needs for safety.That´s a nice wagon
I know for sure it has squeaky brakes, and the parking brakes are totally non-functional. Weirdly I may need to get new rear hatch glass trim as that might be a safety fail. Oh, and I have to replace one of the lug nuts - for some reason there's a single one that doesn't even tighten down on the stud - it's about a size too big and just pushes on or off. Not driving it until I replace that.
okoye
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2009
- Location
- Connecticut
They’re really easy to do the timing belt on. An hour if you have to do the water pump. I did mine for the first time and I didn’t need any fancy tools. I recommend buying a new tensioner with your timing kit. It’s cake walk
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2019
- Location
- Mississauga, ON (Canada)
I figured that would be something to do before I drive it in the long term. I called a previous owner the other day and he helped fill in a lot of the blanks - he did the majority of the work that had been done to the car since the original owners.
Apparently it's on 740 turbo springs, which would explain the lowness. It seemed to ride fine, so I'll leave them. He mentioned that all the engine service had been done in his ownership, but I don't want to take any risks. He told me the cylinder head is a replacement because the belt had snapped during one of the 11 POs ownerships.
I'm kind of excited but also terrified to learn all the new wacky 6-cylinder 9-series things. In the long run I'm contemplating swapping all the IPD suspension parts over from the red 940 - and possibly the engine and M90.
okoye
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2009
- Location
- Connecticut
The 6 cylinder gets better mpg surprisingly and it’s much smoother. I also suggest doing the water pump for peace of mind. 93 should have a better timing interval vs a 92. You should be able to swap all the timing stuff from a newer 960 to get longer belt interval
Alan29
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2019
- Location
- Jax Adjacent, FL
This is your gateway to P2 ownership.
jmiles
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2004
- Location
- Waterloo, Ontario
I've been suggesting for awhile for awhile, my V70 is so comfy lol
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2019
- Location
- Mississauga, ON (Canada)
Hacked VII or VIII or who cares what number it is anymore - the 960 has been just sitting since the end of November, as per usual. Bad winter weather of course meant I didn't feel like driving an hour to the shop and then unburying it from the snow, so I figured I would leave things until the spring. With the 245, my formula of only doing what it needs to move down the road and working from there seemed reasonable, so I got temporary plates and threw them on the 960 for an extended test period.
Well, actually it needed a new battery because the old one was certifiably dead, and four years old so I threw in an AGM I got from work. I won't let this battery die, that's for sure. Please ignore the hole in the shock tower bulge, it's not there. Please don't look.
First thing that scares me and gives me flashbacks to early on in my 940 ownership - the SRS light was on for about 20 minutes after hooking up the new battery. It went away and didn't come back so I didn't think to check codes just yet.
Anyway, here she is in the light - finally!
And yes, 80L fuel tank. Good to know at 1/5 on the gauge, there's still 20 litres left
This should last me a good while.
So, first impressions? I think it scares me about as much as the 245 did when I first drove it. The engine, not so bad. The brakes, pretty bad - they're definitely a little warped but they stop the car. New pads and rotors will definitely be happening. The transmission is the standout problem with the car right now, making it borderline undriveable at times. It has no issues starting or going into park, neutral, reverse or even drive. In first gear at slow speeds, it's fine. However, it likes to downshift randomly for no apparent reason at part throttle - that combined with a horrendously leaky exhaust makes it sound like a straight piped VQ when it decides to run the car at 4,000 rpm to go ~40 mph. It's not cool.
The gas pedal is very sensitive. I'm used to an AW70/71 kickdown, which happens at the very end of the pedal travel, but that seems to happen on this car around halfway down the pedal which makes it SUPER ANNOYING to try and operate in traffic. The one upside is you always have passing power... but getting back home was a bit of an ordeal. Trying to pick up speed and merge onto an on-ramp on the 401 (the most dangerous highway in the country), I had it floored, redlining the engine and hitting fuel cut and it would not shift up. I had to let completely off the throttle for it to get into gear so I could go the speed limit. Then it had no problems maintaining that speed. Hell, it was quiet cruising at 130 km/h, which is where it seemed happy and not trying to shift up or get in/out of lockup.
I really hope this isn't a deeper transmission problem - it may just be a TPS issue as indicated on some other forums. Otherwise, this may be getting an M90 after I safety it.
Less irritating but equally dangerous problem is that sometimes the headlights just don't work. I was about to drive home in the dark on a country road with no street lights, and realized I could not see the road anymore, so I pulled into the shop to investigate. I ended up fiddling with the headlight switch, fogs, indicators, hazards and then high beams in a weird dance routine and eventually made the low beams come back. I think it's a grounding issue, had this problem briefly on my 940.
Well, I guess there you go. Another moderately dangerous car I probably should not be driving. Looks cool though, doesn't it?
Right about now I'm thinking that the 245 was already safetied and I could just drive it but at least this thing has rockers and passing power. And a radio that doesn't fall out or overheat.
Well, actually it needed a new battery because the old one was certifiably dead, and four years old so I threw in an AGM I got from work. I won't let this battery die, that's for sure. Please ignore the hole in the shock tower bulge, it's not there. Please don't look.
First thing that scares me and gives me flashbacks to early on in my 940 ownership - the SRS light was on for about 20 minutes after hooking up the new battery. It went away and didn't come back so I didn't think to check codes just yet.
Anyway, here she is in the light - finally!
And yes, 80L fuel tank. Good to know at 1/5 on the gauge, there's still 20 litres left
This should last me a good while.
So, first impressions? I think it scares me about as much as the 245 did when I first drove it. The engine, not so bad. The brakes, pretty bad - they're definitely a little warped but they stop the car. New pads and rotors will definitely be happening. The transmission is the standout problem with the car right now, making it borderline undriveable at times. It has no issues starting or going into park, neutral, reverse or even drive. In first gear at slow speeds, it's fine. However, it likes to downshift randomly for no apparent reason at part throttle - that combined with a horrendously leaky exhaust makes it sound like a straight piped VQ when it decides to run the car at 4,000 rpm to go ~40 mph. It's not cool.
The gas pedal is very sensitive. I'm used to an AW70/71 kickdown, which happens at the very end of the pedal travel, but that seems to happen on this car around halfway down the pedal which makes it SUPER ANNOYING to try and operate in traffic. The one upside is you always have passing power... but getting back home was a bit of an ordeal. Trying to pick up speed and merge onto an on-ramp on the 401 (the most dangerous highway in the country), I had it floored, redlining the engine and hitting fuel cut and it would not shift up. I had to let completely off the throttle for it to get into gear so I could go the speed limit. Then it had no problems maintaining that speed. Hell, it was quiet cruising at 130 km/h, which is where it seemed happy and not trying to shift up or get in/out of lockup.
I really hope this isn't a deeper transmission problem - it may just be a TPS issue as indicated on some other forums. Otherwise, this may be getting an M90 after I safety it.
Less irritating but equally dangerous problem is that sometimes the headlights just don't work. I was about to drive home in the dark on a country road with no street lights, and realized I could not see the road anymore, so I pulled into the shop to investigate. I ended up fiddling with the headlight switch, fogs, indicators, hazards and then high beams in a weird dance routine and eventually made the low beams come back. I think it's a grounding issue, had this problem briefly on my 940.
Well, I guess there you go. Another moderately dangerous car I probably should not be driving. Looks cool though, doesn't it?
Right about now I'm thinking that the 245 was already safetied and I could just drive it but at least this thing has rockers and passing power. And a radio that doesn't fall out or overheat.
leecatd8209
The Fourfather
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2015
- Location
- Reading, PA
The 960 life is pretty great. Good work.
jmiles
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2004
- Location
- Waterloo, Ontario
You have discovered why I had cracked open the interior trim - I found that moving the relays in behind the radio would ‘fix’ the headlights.
My Dad loved driving it in the snow - brought back memories of his 1984 Toyota Cressida.
The previous owners and Volvo Rob have went over quite a bit of its foibles and it is certainly worth it.
It represent the first fusion of the red block era and the whiteblock era.
It looks stunning with the Geminis on it.
It sounds kinda nuts, but I hope you keep the auto transmission in it, as it’s a real Grand Tourer / hauler - sorta like a Bentley that can tow rally cars, snowmobiles and motorcycles.
Cheers!
John
My Dad loved driving it in the snow - brought back memories of his 1984 Toyota Cressida.
The previous owners and Volvo Rob have went over quite a bit of its foibles and it is certainly worth it.
It represent the first fusion of the red block era and the whiteblock era.
It looks stunning with the Geminis on it.
It sounds kinda nuts, but I hope you keep the auto transmission in it, as it’s a real Grand Tourer / hauler - sorta like a Bentley that can tow rally cars, snowmobiles and motorcycles.
Cheers!
John
Hacked VII or VIII or who cares what number it is anymore - the 960 has been just sitting since the end of November, as per usual. Bad winter weather of course meant I didn't feel like driving an hour to the shop and then unburying it from the snow, so I figured I would leave things until the spring. With the 245, my formula of only doing what it needs to move down the road and working from there seemed reasonable, so I got temporary plates and threw them on the 960 for an extended test period.
Well, actually it needed a new battery because the old one was certifiably dead, and four years old so I threw in an AGM I got from work. I won't let this battery die, that's for sure. Please ignore the hole in the shock tower bulge, it's not there. Please don't look.
First thing that scares me and gives me flashbacks to early on in my 940 ownership - the SRS light was on for about 20 minutes after hooking up the new battery. It went away and didn't come back so I didn't think to check codes just yet.
Anyway, here she is in the light - finally!
And yes, 80L fuel tank. Good to know at 1/5 on the gauge, there's still 20 litres left
So, first impressions? I think it scares me about as much as the 245 did when I first drove it. The engine, not so bad. The brakes, pretty bad - they're definitely a little warped but they stop the car. New pads and rotors will definitely be happening. The transmission is the standout problem with the car right now, making it borderline undriveable at times. It has no issues starting or going into park, neutral, reverse or even drive. In first gear at slow speeds, it's fine. However, it likes to downshift randomly for no apparent reason at part throttle - that combined with a horrendously leaky exhaust makes it sound like a straight piped VQ when it decides to run the car at 4,000 rpm to go ~40 mph. It's not cool.
The gas pedal is very sensitive. I'm used to an AW70/71 kickdown, which happens at the very end of the pedal travel, but that seems to happen on this car around halfway down the pedal which makes it SUPER ANNOYING to try and operate in traffic. The one upside is you always have passing power... but getting back home was a bit of an ordeal. Trying to pick up speed and merge onto an on-ramp on the 401 (the most dangerous highway in the country), I had it floored, redlining the engine and hitting fuel cut and it would not shift up. I had to let completely off the throttle for it to get into gear so I could go the speed limit. Then it had no problems maintaining that speed. Hell, it was quiet cruising at 130 km/h, which is where it seemed happy and not trying to shift up or get in/out of lockup.
I really hope this isn't a deeper transmission problem - it may just be a TPS issue as indicated on some other forums. Otherwise, this may be getting an M90 after I safety it.
Less irritating but equally dangerous problem is that sometimes the headlights just don't work. I was about to drive home in the dark on a country road with no street lights, and realized I could not see the road anymore, so I pulled into the shop to investigate. I ended up fiddling with the headlight switch, fogs, indicators, hazards and then high beams in a weird dance routine and eventually made the low beams come back. I think it's a grounding issue, had this problem briefly on my 940.
Well, I guess there you go. Another moderately dangerous car I probably should not be driving. Looks cool though, doesn't it?
Right about now I'm thinking that the 245 was already safetied and I could just drive it but at least this thing has rockers and passing power. And a radio that doesn't fall out or overheat.