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Hey guys,
I posted this as a response in my thread titled: "Is 1994 a good model year for the 960?" that I posted on the 900 forum. Anyway, I haven't gotten any response and thought maybe you guys could give me your thoughts/advise;
The T-belt; the guy I bought the 964 ('94, 80K mi) from said that he asked if the t-belt had been changed when he bought the car ('94s have a 50K mi interval). The Volvo dealer he bought it from called the previous owner and the answer was 'yes'. There was no paper documentation to prove the t-belt change. I was going to have the t-belt and tensioners changed right away but my Vo mechanic recommended we have a look under the t-belt cover first. I removed the cover and although there was no printing on the outside of the belt it looked fine and had no cracking between the teeth (I was told that's where old t-belts crack). The cams are marked with whiteout and my mechanic said this is a pretty strong sign that the belt was changed as there is no evidence of engine work that would require removal of the t-belt. So, it seems as though the belt was changed at the proper time. There is other evidence of proper maintenance on the car so I would say it's been relatively well maintained. So, I don't know if I should just leave the t-belt until 100K mi (it's at 81K mi now) or do one of several things; 1. Replace just the belt and then not worry about the tensioner, idler and water pump for another 20-50K mi. 2. Replace the belt, idler and/or tensioner and leave the water pump for another 20-50K. 3. Replace the belt, tensioner, idler and water pump and change the belt again in another 50K.... My budget and the indications of service tell me to leave it alone, but my paranoid side is telling me that maybe I should replace the belt, idler and tensioner just to be absolutely sure. What do ya think? When do the tensioner, idler and water pumps generally fail? The cam seals? What about the crank seal? The serpentine belt and tensioner look great. The tensioner isn't off center and other then a little belt noise when it's cold (sometimes) it appears fine. I was going to leave all that until at least 100K mi (checking periodically of course). The recirc problem turned out to be a wired shut recirc door. I got annoyed when I couldn't find a problem under the dash so I removed the cowl and found a screw in the pan with a wire around it and though the door. Why someone would do this is beyond me, but I promptly removed it and everything seems fine now :) As for the cooling system; I was going to replace the rad as it appears to have a minor leak at the upper neck (haven't noticed any coolant loss) and just because of it's age. Along with that I was going to replace the t-stat, coolant (volvo of course), and maybe the lower rad hose and expansion tank hose. Therefore if I decided to replace the other coolant hoses before the next coolant change (~2 years) I wouldn't loose a lot of coolant. All of the hoses look great; they don't crack when squeezed and there are no buldges or anything like that. Given the low mileage and the climate here in Nova Scotia, I thought they might be fine for a while yet. I am familiar with the heater valve problem. Do you think one would fail at this relatively low mileage? I guess age is really what matters....... It's just the money and my Volvo mechanic will tell me I'm crazy if I start replacing all this stuff "for no reason". I flushed the tranny last week. I used the cooler line method (out of the top of the rad and into a bucket. I flushed 2L at a time, putting 9L of normal dex-III ATF though and then 8L of Mobil 1 ATF. The fluid was fairly dirty, but looks great now. The tranny shifts well (a bit smoother then before), but it still doesn't seem to be as smooth as the V90's tranny (which I also flushed with Mobil 1 ATF). I read somewhere that the shifting was improved in later cars so I thought that accounted for the slight difference. I just changed the T-stat (broken) and coolant (Volvo coolant/deionized water) in the V90 (195K km = 122K mi). I figured I'll renew the cooling system (new rad, hoses, heater valve) at the next coolant change as everything seems fine and it's only a '98. Right now the V90 is under cover in the garage (hibernation) while the poor 960 fights the salt :( Anyway, thanks for all the help! :)
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 195K km, '94 964 > 80K mi. SOLD: '91 745T > 301K km (and no, I don't know why I sold it.) and '91 745 NA > 411K km (I miss her).
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The T-belt interval is 50k mi or 5yrs, so the car now at 11-12 yrs should be on it's 3rd. The tensioner bearings have a habit of going bad around 60-100k mi so do it as a preventative. While in there, do the all the front seals.
The radiator is a must, hot climate like FLA is going to stress it more, although corrosion usually is more for cold climates. If it is leaking get a new Volvo one.
I had a '94 965 and it shifter quite differently than a '96 960 I had. They are different tranny's. The '96 uses different elect controlled shift points and the '94 will be a little more pronounced than the later one.
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'89 245 sportwagon, destroyed by hit & run driver, RIP. '04 V70 2.5 T Sportwagon, 12k mi and '91 245 5-speed, 209k mi, replaced the '89
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If it were me, depending on resources, I would replace the radiator first since you have a leak...... RED LIGHT...(they can fail catastophically at the upper neck and ruin your engine), then I would replace the Timing belt only. Check the pulleys for vibration, roughness, noise and the tensioner for leaking. Those parts and the water pump should easily last until the 150K changeout as long as inspection shows they are fine.
The coolant hoses on these engines last a long time, as always prudent inspection is key.
I would flush the trans again in about 8-10K and you will be surprised how dirty the 'new' fluid has become from cleaning things out.
DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100
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Hi Walt,
Thanks very much for the advise! It goes right along with what I was thinking. The thing that scared me was a '95 964 that my mechanic services. Two years ago it's idler let go and sawed a hole though the T-belt cover. The car had about 172K km (~108K mi) on it at the time. My mechanic ended up with the car as the owner didn't want to pay to fix it. It sat around for a while and is now back on the road with new owners and a rebuilt head. I believe my mechanic services about 8 or 10 B6304s regularly and that's the only one that has had a t-belt problem. Anyway, I'll order a new rad, t-stat and T-belt tomorrow, install them next week with my mechanic's help (I'll have him check the pullys with me) and then not worry about that stuff for a while. One note about the rad hoses; as I said they look great, but should I take into consideration that this was a Florida car up until last spring? Would the hotter climate shorten the life of cooling system components? Should I replace the heater valve now? One other question, would I be well advised to replace the idler pully now regarless of how it feels as that seems to be the one prone to failure? I guess I'll replace the t-belt now and then again around 100-110K mi (so I can get back on the proper maintenance schedule) when I'll probably replace the tensioner, water pump and idler(if I don't now). I'll check the trans fluid at the next oil change and see how it looks. I know what you mean about cleaning out the tranny, I think we flushed my 745T's tranny twice in 15K km when I bought it. After that it stayed clean for a good 50K km (non-syn).
As for my V90; The t-belt was changed at 105K km (~66K mi) according to the maintenance book. The car has 195K km (~122K mi) on it now. I'm planning on replacing the t-belt, idler, and tensioner somewhere between this spring (when it comes out of storage) and 217K km (when the next belt is due) depending on my budget. Should I replace the cam and crank seals at the same time or just check to see if they're leaking and leave them alone if they'er not?
I'll tell ya one thing, and I don't know if you notice this between your '95 and '98, but while both my B6304s seem to run smoothly, the V90's certainly seems oddly more refined. Maybe it's the different fuel management systems or the different cams... It's not the mileage as the V90 has more then the 960. Anyway, I just found that interesting.
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 195K km, '94 964 > 80K mi. SOLD: '91 745T > 301K km (and no, I don't know why I sold it.) and '91 745 NA > 411K km (I miss her).
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I've installed the older 204 HP rated cams in my car and didn't notice any change in what I would call "refinement". I'm guessing the major differences are associated with the versions of the ECUs. (Motronic 1.8 versus 4.4)
The engine lost torque in the lower RPM range but gained it in the upper range. I'm very happy with the extra peak HP availabe from about 3500 RPM all the way up to the WOT shift points at 6200.
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'96 965, 16' wheels, Michelin Pilot Sports, rear 18mm bar + Koni, 201 HP cams, 132K. Put 200K on '85 745 TD.
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Hi Chris,
When it comes to T-belts on this engine.... I ONLY use Volvo OE tensioners, pulleys, etc.... They can still go bad but I like the stoutness of the Volvo OE parts and it's not worth saving a few bucks to me if I can increase my odds of having a reliable part in such a critical area.
We bought a 95 960 (Florida car) with 109K miles on the clock 6 years ago. It now has 154K miles on the clock and the original hoses still look and feel fine. So in our case, the hotter climate and higher mileage has not seemed to shorten the life of the radiator hoses (at least so far).
I don't see any reason to replace the heater control valve unless it's malfunctioning. It's not really a 'maintenance' item and they don't often go bad. It's not any easier to replace it now than it will at a latter date.
If you have the money, replacing the idler pulley may let you sleep better (and that has value to you), althought it may not be necessary. I have also seen situations where someone replaces a part such as this and then the new part isn't installed correctly (loose bolt) or fails on it's own, so there's also a risk with replacing a part that is fuctioning well right now. It's up to you.
The key with these B6304 timing belt systems is to inspect it occasionally looking for pulleys wearing thru the plastic cover, take the cover off and check the alignment of the belt and pulleys, as well as cracks or tears in the belt and don't ignore any noises coming from the front of the engine. If you do this, your B6304 should be fine for many, many enjoyable miles.
I always advise NOT to change the cam and crank seals unless they are leaking badly. Inspect them and decide but don't waste your money if you don't need to.
Yes, our 98 does feel more refined than the 95 and it should. I would expect Volvo to continuously improve their product where they can. Besides, the 95 utilizies the Bosch Motroinic 1.8 engine management system and the 98 utilizes Motronic 4.4
DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100
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I concurr with Dewfpo-the rad is the big thing to make sure of-are you using Mobile 1 syn fluid in the tranny? It's good stuff to have in there, little more expensive but it works better-the water pump in mine was changed at 140 and was still working well.
Hope that helps
Poolman
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Hi Poolman,
Yep, the tranny in both the 964 and V90 have Mobil 1 ATF (syn) in them. I used the cooler line flush method for both flushing 2L at a time. I put 8-9L of regular Dex-III ATF through each tranny first and then 8-9L of Mobil 1 ATF. Seemed to work great in both of them. They both shift smoothly, but the V90s is ultra smooth other then a little jerk when shifting into reverse sometimes, but I suppose that's normal. Thanks for the advise, I appreciate it!
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 195K km, '94 964 > 80K mi. SOLD: '91 745T > 301K km (and no, I don't know why I sold it.) and '91 745 NA > 411K km (I miss her).
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posted by
someone claiming to be David Eisenberg
on
Thu Dec 29 03:57 CST 2005 [ RELATED]
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Can someone explain the cooler line tranny flush method..........one more once for those of us who would like to switch over to Mobil 1 DIY project. Thanks
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Ther is a good write up on this under the 960 faq listing-go to the 700 and 900 faq,click on the 960 listing there and you'll find the how too's.
Hope that helps
Poolman
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