My car is running SO MUCH BETTER after finding that stuck fuel injector. it actually runs pretty normal now so that was a huge relief. I was troubleshooting all sorts of things that were unrelated.

now at idle it still vibrates a bit although the idle is a lot more steady, its not serious but I want it to idle smoothly as it should.


I recently replaced the ( exterior 3 ) belts but I did seem to note some vibration coming from near the AC pump, Its a teeny bit out of alignment but not to a serious extent. I dont know why it would cause vibration. I've changed the rubber mounts lots of times in various cars to improve belt tracking, but usually that relates to the alternator being out of plumb and the belt for that running untrue.

I figured I can probably just remove the belt. Its rare that I need AC and not hard to go put the belt back on. It might improve fuel economy anyway. does anyone do this or is there some reason not to remove it?

at some point I think I backed the tailpipe into a curb a little, so maybe that put some weird stress on how it hangs. Once the weather is better I can take off the rubber hangers and see if they are pulling too hard and maybe transferring some vibration to the body, the vibration seems to sort of shake in time with the muffler system. Its not modified.

the power steering pump might be leaking a little , it's not emptying, just a bit wet . I may have a transmission leak , its a bit hard to tell but something is dripping a bit.

when we get a nice day I'll put some paper under car to see what's dripping and where.

maybe I should swap that PS pump out. If I remove the AC belt at lest Ill know that's not contributing to vibration. . I guess if I change the rack then I might need a wheel alignment? can I just change some seals in the steering rack? Ive never had one actually fail but often they seem to weep a bit. I have a spare.

I took the car in to the college mechanics shop for an oil change, figured its ok for them to do , not complicated, well they stripped the plug on the transmission oil pan thinking it was the oilpan ;-) That was an educated risk ;-)

I made a new gasket and fixed the stripped plug for them. that was a year or two and not many miles ago. I figured ok well, that at least was a tranny flush but maybe there is a lot more in the torque converter so i think it was like 2/3 of an oil change..

in my ford van I could not get the bolts out of the transmission oil pan so I drained the torque converter by removing the transmission brace and here was a plug , its in the bellhousing area. Is there a similar plug in the volvo?

what I did in my van , because the bolts in the pan were seized I stuck a small plastic tube down the dipstick and siphoned most of the oil out and then replaced it the same way. that took time to drain but I found it easy and just had to keep an eye on the siphon hose. I put never seize on the bolts I could extract but I knew if I continued I'd be fighting stripped oil pan bolts from underneath, so I stopped trying to remove those and tried to put bolt loosener and turn them a flat or two if I could without stripping them.

maybe someone used red loctite on the bolts, who knows. I had a motorcycle where someone did something like that and every bolt came out with the aluminum threads and that was a big mess to fix.


It idles about the right speed but if I take my foot off the brake it creeps forward a bit. That didn't really seem abnormal, most cars with auto trans do that, but i was wondering if the transmission is sort of trying to pull the car a bit too much and causing this vibration and maybe there is some transmission adjustment that might help it sort of disengage better when at a light. I dont know if there is a "normal" failure pattern, these volvo automatic transmissions of this era have been pretty trouble free for me. If I pop it in neutral at a light it vibrates a bit less bu the vibration is still there.

Im not familiar with adjusting an automatic transmission but i can look into the service notes about all that.
transmission shops can "flush " the transmission, I've never tried putting solvents or anything but tranny fluid in there, I dont know if I should attempt to "flush it" with something?
I don't normally have mechanics work on my cars. I could spring for a transmission flush. would they remove the oilpan?


I think if I take off the trensmission oilpan there is probably a metal screen there I can clean. maybe on the side of the overdrive. do I need a filter to do a complete job? If it's just a fine screen and I can clean that then I probably dont need to buy a new screen. maybe a pan gasket.


I was thinking that since it's winter I should perhaps just siphon off what's in the pan and renew the fluid, its a bit like doing half a job but then I dont need to crawl under the car in the snow.

i think I should change my oil , that leaky injector was flooding a cylinder and it may have been enough gas in the cylinder over repetitive run cycles, to leak down past the rings and pollute my oil. Its due anyway.

local parts stores seem to want to sell the Fram Oil filter. I think its' PH43 but I have heard from members of the Volvo club that the MANN or the Bosche is better, it was something to do with the oil draining back to the pan during shutdown time, or how quickly it regained oil pressure on startup. I can try to get the correct filter but the Fram PH43 might be ok for now, at least it should have clean oil. normally I buy a few online and get a better price than local. Are others here using the Fram PH43?


Thanks guys,
Amazonphil

When I lost the AC on my '96 855R I actually got a non AC shorter serpentine belt
from IPD. This belt came with a new routing diagram.

This belt and routing is used in cold countries.

I ran the car like this for 8 months before I traded it in - I got a call from Isabel's new owner and he told me that the AC was fine. Not using the compressor for 8 months did not damage it enough to stop it from working.

I am quite sire that the used car lot did not put a great deal of money into this 17 year old car.

BT - the guy that bought the 855R lived on Nantucket Island - where the maximum speed is 35 MPH!

I can't envision a scenario where removing the AC belt would cause an issue. I'm new to redblocks, but not to Volvo, or mechanics in general. I would personally miss having the AC available for defogging the interior glass, even if I didn't care for cooling. That and I feel (as with all systems) it should be used from time to time for the sake of the seals, etc. But to get you by until spring to properly align the pump, or for testing purposes, I would do it.

In fact, I did just that two days ago: I had a weird scraping noise that would come from the front of the engine on my 940 about half a minute after a cold start. So I removed each belt one by one and ran it. I only ran it in the driveway, and very little after removing the most inward (water / PS) belt, but everything is fine after reassembly.

Let me ask you - was it tough getting the AC belt off the sheaves? On my car, with everything loosened up to the point where I could easily move the pump across the range of adjustment, it was still a bear to get the belt off, then back on again. I had to use a bicycle tire lever (plastic). The belts on my car were one of the recent jobs not done at the dealer before I received it, so I'm wondering if the shop put too short of a belt on by mistake. As I type this, I realize I can just cross reference the number on the belt with what's listed. However, I noticed that when my pump was moved all the way inward, there was still about an eighth of an inch of the slot visible, but it was a hard stop (all four nuts very very free - three of them completely removed, in fact). So I guess I'm really wondering if the range of adjustment on my pump is impeded somehow...

As you note, getting the AC belts on/off the B230F engines is often tight even with Genuine Volvo sized belts. Some aftermarket equivalents are a bit looser, some seemingly a bit tighter. I almost always need to turn the crank and walk the belt over the edge of the crankshaft pulley (harmonic balancer). I rarely need a belt tool unless a PO used a non-standard belt.

As you note, with the upper adjusting bolts thoroughly loosened you can only move the compressor in so far. Sometimes loosening the slotted adjusting arms at the mounting bracket and fully removing both lock nuts allows you to push it in a bit closer. Removing the lower mounting bolt can also allow the compressor to be brought in a little tighter if you're desperate, something I often needed to do with my B234F.

There are various belt lengths spec'd for various years and models of B230F/B230FT/B234F engines, from around 760 to 770 mm. I presume it's got do with the compressor used and clearances from the compressor to the chassis. Often times when you check the fitment lists, a belt will be a universal fit for both B230F and B230FT engines. Another belt might only be listed for a B230F. Such single engine belts will normally be a slightly shorter belt and thus more difficult to install. I always use the longer universal belts, especially as I have both engines to service and only need to keep one size on the shelf.

Definitely go for European sized belts from a reputable manufacturer like Continental. The standard A/C belt width for our B230 engines is 13 mm. Some manufacturers, typically North American, only make SAE belts and spec their nearest narrower equivalent, typically 1/2", which is slightly smaller and will ride slightly lower for a looser fit. That makes mounting easier, but I always avoid such narrower SAE belts. They ride lower and as they wear they will start to bottom out in the pulley and more easily squeal. Tightening the belt to get rid of the squeal can lead to belt premature belt failure and deformation of the rubber mounting bushings.

As a tip, when you go to tighten the A/C belt, use a straight edge across the face of the compressor pulley to check if it's in line with the crank pulley groove. Often by tightening the back lock not first and tightening it a little more will bring the pulleys closer into alignment. This will help cut down on wear and squealing. Don't get carried away or you can break the long 10mm adjuster bolt. I'll sometimes use a pry bar against the block to help so I don't strain the adjuster bolt too much.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Oops - I inadvertently hijacked Amazonphil's thread with my question. But thanks so much for both answers. Dave, you definitely shed some light on my issue, and I hope that the alignment process you described helps Phil (I certainly found it useful). The most important bit I got from your post was the confirmation of the appearance of some inward adjustment remaining even with everything slacked. Good to know there isn't something else going on in my situation. As for that, the Monroe muffler shop that did the belts for the previous owner put on a 900mm long belt, which is shorter than the factory belt by 50mm and the Continental by 68mm. I'll be replacing all the belts with Contis - I've used them in the past, and they are half the price. On my car, they are due based on time (receipt for job is 7 years old).
- Wilson

was it tough getting the AC belt off the sheaves?

I found that I needed to slacken the long bolt with a 10 mm socket and it took quite a few turns to get it slack enough. I probably had to sort of coax it on by turning the pulley and helping the belt jump over. I do machinery repair so I'm quite used to replacing belts on machinery.

the easiest way to compare is to another belt or in an auto parts place they will usually have a belt measuring device. the length is usually coded by the part number and there are both metric and standard belts.

the length becomes important when you have a power drive with more than one belt and often then there is only one adjustment so sometimes I'll ask for a matched set when I order them. If not, at the parts counter ask them to bring all the ones that size and try to look at the printing and get two made at the same time by the same machinery. they do vary. the AC is just one belt.

the vibrations at idle are a bit weird. it still does it if I slip into neutral so I dont think it's transmission related. it also seems to continue between about 750 and 1000 RPM or so.. once I'm rolling it goes away and car runs fine.

Some I might attribute to just needing a more perfect tune up and some may be to do with the way the muffler is suspended. it seems to sort of resonate and I can feel it through the floor, steering wheel etc. it sort of seems to repeat this resonation cycle every 1 second or so. maybe that's the "natural frequency" of the muffler or something like that. kind of like how a tree bough bounces at the same speed depending on it's length. maybe if I suspend it a bit differently it will help.

I think the vibrations of the engine are sort of being amplified by the resonance of the muffler system somehow. not exhaust resonance (exhaust sound) but mechanical resonance relating to it's length suspension points etc. the engine shakes a little, they do that, the muffler does too and two natural resonation frequencies can sometimes cross up and add together and influence each other and this can cause amplification. sort of a droning noise. I can hear some frequency patterns.

Its not hitting the body or anything like that. not serious but annoying, I got caught in traffic for an hour yesterday and it was on my mind the whole time ;-) it's not dangerous , just "not quite right" kinda like me LOL ;-)


I'll pull that AC belt for a while , it will eliminate the AC pump from that picture. I wondered if maybe I got a defective belt with a lump in it or something. a bent pulley might do similar. easy to rule out.

The only AW auto trans adjustment is the kickdown cable at the throttle linkage area and the shift lever linkage adjustment. Neither should affect engine/drivetrain vibration. Cable adjustment mosty affects downshifting response, but can also affect upshifting if the cable is broken. Shift linkage adjustment issues are usually first noticeable when reverse lights don't reliably come on when shifting, but rather when the lever is wiggled. Adjustment and notes on both can be found here in the FAQ. A trans flush is recommended if the transmission is a suspect area.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

MODEL/YEAR ALL ALL

"My car is running SO MUCH BETTER..."

What car?
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

sorry Art I should start with that.

1988 Volvo non turbo 740 with auto transmission, Bosche ECU, TDC sensor is a hall effect sensor in the distributor at the back near the firewall.