This is the beloved 960........ Christine.....

Been mis-firing a little bit, cleaned up the spark plugs and re-fixed the harness.... AGAIN.... last week.

Today, leaving work 45 minutes ago.... started REAL ROUGH. Goosed the throttle, it didn't like that too well.

As it got warm, it laid down a HUGE billowing cloud of blue oil smoke, then it sputtered and barely made it to a parkling lot and died.

Looked at the dipstick. I'm down 2.5 quarts since last week!

Started again in a few minutes.... Smoked like a son of a bitch!

Interestingly, after it got good and hot, the smoke cleared and it ran fine. Haven't checked for codes yet.

Honestly.... this piece of shit will keep me from getting to work, possibly even getting my kids tonight. Wife is working. They are 30 miles apart in rush hour traffic.

Please, either post some advice or say a prayer.

Thanks.

General er Admiral er....

you sounds suspiciously like my old friend Tom Irwin!!! Whats up?

are you him?

Please don't miss your old Toyota, may I suggest non American made Hondas. I think they are still out there. Gotta look for the J in the VIN.

LH:

I have no idea what you are talking about.

Having said that, send me your email address again. I'm just as good at blowing up hard drives, as I am at blowing up cars. I lost your email the last time.

OOOHHh, OK sorry McGyver. Just that I once knew this guy who wrestled with his car the day he took it home. I think the only time he spends with his family is when he could get his car to temporarily runs so that he could pick them up. But he still loves his car. Reminds me of the children's song from the Wiggles "Hot potato hot potato".

The last time I checked classifeds2000.com there was a

volvo 164 with a manual transmission for sale in utah. It's

a 1971 (fuel injection, overdrive) and they want $1500.

If you sell your evil volvo and buy a plane ticket to SLC

and drove the 164 home, I'm sure you'd be worlds happier

with your car. Depending on what you got for your 960 you

might even have money left over for adding air conditioning,

an isky cam, and IPD sway bars.

Mine makes a weird ticking noise at the midrange RPMs, but

still gets about 22mpg and seems to repeatedly beat an audi

TT turbo on hills in acceleration from 70mph to 90mph

(don't ask). And it only has dual SU carbs, not fuel

injection.

chris

Don't know what to say except that prayer works. How on earth could it be sucking that much oil out the back? Valves shot? Compression gone? Or another case of the infamous slightly sticking valves?

I have a GM Master Card with the full $3,500 in rebates, earned over about ten years, just waiting for a weak moment in a GM dealer. Occasionally I rent an Olds Intrigue or even, yes, a Chevy Lumina, and I think back on my GM days where every now and then I took the car to KMart for shocks or tires, and every now and then I changed the oil or the coolant. Not much else until the cars hit 120k, then more things started going, but all of them were dirt cheap and easy to diagnose and fix. Now, I am told, GM cars are even more reliable, and a whole lot cheaper than anything European. I'll stay the Volvo course and transfer these credits to my inlaws, but sometimes temptation holds sway.

OK, heresy alert, but there is something to be said for having a reliable car in the family when you're out running around picking up kids. I vote for a quick fix and sale of Christine, then a purchase of a good 940 B230F with decent miles and a lot more to drive. Or a Chevy Lumina.

Hard luck general.

But please, don't spit on Volvo for this. Your problem is one in a million compared to other makes.

I pray for you..... :)

Come to think of it, i'd be pissed off as you probably are now. A "95 blowing up... Shit, makes my little rattles here and there a lot easier to live with.

Anyway, good luck and hoping there's not that much mileage on the car, get it fixed. No toyota can match that brick. My wife has a 1999 toyota and she keeps on "trying" to borrow my 1990 240....

You have no freaking idea what I've gone through with this wreck.

I blew the head up only one year ago. It took me 3 and a half weeks to fix it. It has now run exactly one year since reassembly.

Just came back from my Son's school.... boy did he look ridiculous.... stuffed into that baby seat on the back of my mountain bike.... real unsteady too. Oh this is NOT GOOD! How the hell am I going to get my daughter?!

BTW.... my wife has a 940. Just piss in the gas tank and GO!

I take a look at the brickboard almost everyday and I must say that this post just got to me. It's not just a machine but an object you need to get life on track. I've had some hard times like you mention and I wish I could help....

Good luck!

Hi G.P

I have been reading your post for quite sometime now and the only word comes to my mind is that I feel so sorry for you. I have a heartache when I first bought my 940GLE 1991 16 valve last year and man... that car gave me a very hard time and nearby made me broke trying to fix it. Not to mentioned my wifes constant nagging. Almost every week I made a visit to the mechanic shop trying to get things fixed. It just made me so damn mad that I could have just burn the damn car.

But now after a year later, the car is running fine. Of course now and then there is still very minor problem that keeps popping up like broken clips or worn rubbers etc but these are quite normal. Otherwise the car as you say just piss into the gas tank and it runs fine. Now I lave my car very much.

i don't know much about car, but we I malaysia, when comes to Volvo, tend to avoid anything that has the digit '6' in the middle. A lot of 940s are on our roads but not many 960 there are here. in fact the second hand value for 940 is greater than 960. Reading at your post (maybe your problem is one in a million) i think I have made the right choice of not buying the cheaper 960.

thank care G.P. try to fix the car. If it causes too much of hussles, then just get rid of the damn thing and get a 940 instead.

I'd like to amend the "never buy a volvo with a 6" rule to

include "unless it is a 164 with a manual transmission"

My 164, with 180k miles, is fast, fun to drive, reliable

as an anvil, and good looking. Plus, it has less rust than

my 144 and is actually running. Even better, it is faster

than 70-80% of the cars on the road today, (unless you are

on a twisty canyon sort of road). Then you might need

better tires and IPD sway bars...

The manual 164 is the best car volvo ever made, and the

least appreciated.

chris

GP:

Didn't you give someone some advice last week that involved five gallons of gasoline and a Zippo?

Thank You.

Well,

Looks like Rom's back! :)

Hi Tom

I'd suggest a Toyota or "other brand X" by now too if I were in your shoes.

-an old friend