I think I’m a pretty good car owner: I dutifully perform all of all the regular maintenance, track down, trouble shoot and fix each little noise, flicker or stutter that comes along, and even frequent a website devoted to Volvo car repair.

We got along famously in the early years, me fresh out of a roller coaster relationship with a Toyota 4Runner with a blown head gasket, and her, abandoned at a used car lot by some Sweedish guy. Those were happy times: the weekend road trips, holidays and months of inexpensive and painless preventative maintenance and smooth, reliable driving. But, there have been times, especially recently, when I have had serious doubts about my commitment to this union.

Things took a downward turn last January with the low whine of a worn-out driveshaft hanger bearing ($250) followed a week later by the need for new outer tie rod ends ($115), but these things happen. In April. I replaced the timing belt and 3 front oil seals to fix an oil leak, TWICE ($120), the first time using cheaper, leaky, after-market oil seals, but made up for it with more expensive and laborious Viton seals the second time. I even replaced the floor mats as sort of an apology, but I guess the damage was done. No sooner did I congratulate myself on a non-spotty driveway, than black smoke billowed out of the tail pipe. I checked the O2 sensor, replaced the intake manifold gasket ($35), fuel pressure regulator ($100) cleaned / replaced the PCV, oil trap ($70) and intake hoses and we seemed like the old ‘us’. A week later, more black smoke which a smoke test ($90) finally diagnosed as an intake leak at the throttle body ($110). Oh, but on the way to pick up the new throttle body, I ended up repairing a broken alternator ground wire in the middle of lunch time traffic.

At the end of May the upper stem of the radiator snapped off and blew all of the coolant ($260), and in early June, the window regulator bracket AND the power window switch both broke ($10).

Apparently, those events were just a prelude to the late June crisis while returning from a kayaking trip in northern Quebec, where I found that I had no 1st, 2nd or reverse gears. A few hours farther into the 8 hour drive home, thick black smoke and a falling fuel gauge needle occurred. Expecting that my used throttle body had failed, I learned that the O2 sensor with only 50 000 km on it had totally failed and flooded the intake and crankcase with gas ($490). After many, many hours of ‘transmission wrestling’, I learned that the linkage rod from the gearshift to the front of the tranny had a single broken weld, but still, a ($530) bill for diagnosis and re-sealing. Thankful of not having a total tranny failure, I dutifully replaced the rear main oil seal and gasket ($42), pilot bearing ($5), clutch ($220) and got the flywheel resurfaced ($110).

In the home stretch, financially, physically and mentally exhausted, I have reassembled everything, and at last only needed to bleed the clutch, before the aluminum bleeder valve on the slave cylinder seized and of course, snapped off. A used slave ($65) was also seized, and the old slave cylinder was fused by ‘natural aluminum welding’ to the tranny. I managed to get it off but now, and a small stone chip on the windshield has just become a huge, care-wide crack.

So, I wonder: When did this car begin to hate me so much?? Was it that time when I took a ride in a friend’s younger and fancier new Cross Country? I thought we had worked through all of that. Like I said, it was just a bit of fun, didn’t mean anything, and I even used a plastic seat cover.

The future is uncertain, but watch for the ad: “1991 740 Turbo wagon, somewhat bitter, but more or less rebuilt with new parts.”

People reading this forum might get the idea that all Volvos are trouble and mine was initially no exception! My wife and the neighbors thought I was crazy for buying a 10yr old car that took months, no , more like a year and a half to get it in reliable traveling condition. I sweated bullets on the first trip from Memphis to Columbus OH. My wife was visiting her daughter who just had ACL surgery! A breakdown here would have been a bit more than marital discord!

Anyway I kept after the problems, which included an out of chassis overhaul with a sleeved block, other than sleeves the only internal new parts it got were rings, bearings and gaskets.

I'm fortunate to be a retired mechanic(29 yrs) and no one else has ever touched any of the mechanicals or electrical components.(tires only!)

This weekend she rolled up 433,000 total miles with 298,000 on the "schlock" rebuild. I know it's using a little oil but I couldn't say how much since I keep topping it off. Probably less than 1 qt/2000?

I sure hope I haven't jinxed her for this weekends Ohio trip which is likely to be close to 1800-2000 miles?

It's an '87 745T and been a good one! My friends used to say I drive like an "old man" and now I am! Although I turned a 63 mph average while returning from a WW kayaking trip in east TN.

I suppose 10 years in the South is a huge benefit to longevity too! Up north corrosion finished off many a vehicle before it was actually worn out.

I've got similar, but nowhere near as serious problems.
I suppose it started when I refused to report the bent hood I received one day after my classes at the local JC (maybe it hated being within 1 mile of the JC).
Two weeks later, my brother drove through my rear door. I replaced it with a similarly colored stock painted door - even swapped all the doors' clear and tinted glass. My car has aftermarket paint due to a boo-boo from 01.
Speaking of which, I hate Maaco, but moving on.
The trouble continued when a week later, my front corner light fell apart at 90 on the freeway. That was the first time I hit 90 in over 6 months.

Throughout all this, my smog test and OBD told me that my EGR system had failed and I started my neverending EGR temp. Sensor quest.

Additionally, my passenger running lights blew more and more fuses as time went by, my overdrive solenoid wire had come loose and rubbed clear through to ground on the driveshaft, temporarily robbing me of my 4th gear.

Let, see... I took the car to have its valves adjusted at $130, and they told me a bunch of things I needed to do (I've done most, need to have the diff. fluid changed). It turns out, the whole problem was my TPS, but I didn't discover this until a year later. The problem with my car bucking and choking turned out to be a very blown intake boot from the intercooler to the intake hose, I was happy to fix this as I'd been previously told the Catalytic converter would need to be replaced as it was probably plugged.

Then there was that day a police officer noticed my tags were expired (car was still in my parents name), pulled me over, looked at my hair and said "excuse my ma'am did you know your tags.... oh.. uh, excuse me sir..." :|


Ah, last fall it was both shocks, top strut bearings, all the associated hoopdee parts, and then once those were all installed, the popping noise was determined to be my ball joints (a mere $37 apiece, while the shocks were 120 apiece and the total for the shocks came to over $600. Springs are not something I wanted to learn on my own.)

This winter went okay... I tried and tried to find and solve my tail-light issue, I even crosswired my rear fog light (discontinued on both sides starting in 91) to the other side to be legally okay and then those mysteriously stopped working. The car's going to the shop and the lights WILL be fixed before November.

This spring, I realized I needed to repair the leak in the radiator since it was only $65 for Rod/resolder. I did, then I decided to replace the water pump, that went okay, only took me most of one night, only to discover I had mis-seated the heater hose and the radiator wouldn't even hold water. Another night and I was done with that.

Every paycheck, I promised myself I would buy the wheel bearings and rotors that are causing a hideous front-end shudder on my car, but another few issues came up.

The voltage regulator died on me and the alternator stopped charging (I drove for over 5 hours on a battery getting 0 charge) and I left my buddy on the road overnight. $65 later I was fine.
Exactly 7 days later, the main fuel pump, which had been a hornet's nest under my car croaked, leaving me stranded again.
$450, new in-tank and under-car pumps, shipping, cursing, etc. later I was rolling again.

Since then, things have been okay... knock on wood.

The wheel bearings (SKF OEM) are in the mail (I started a second job to buy all the stupid parts! actually because I'd had several job offers fall through and this other was a sure thing, I took the job), as are new rotors and stainless steel front brake lines and new fluid and caliper guide pins.

Right now... right now.... [whisper] everthing is working okay [/whisper] but don't tell Virgil I said so.
He might find something else to break.

It's comforting to know I'm not the only one whose car hates him. I'm sorry it's so friggin expensive, but it's good to know.

-William
--
1990 740 Turbo, on its way to stock specs, maybe beyond