I own a 960 and am about to put my 4th catalytic converter on it. When the orginal pipe went and the cat had to be replaced with it, Volvo said to use a muffler dealer. They said it would be cheaper for us. We did just that but within a few months that cat had broken up. We were forced to get a new one. Well....within a few months that one went also. The next one lasted only a few weeks. In between these, the car passed inspection and was taken to the dealer several times to assure that the engine was working properly, which they insisted it was. Now we have a situation where the manufacturer of the cat says, "not my problem, your car has a problem" and the dealer says, "car is fine cats must be defective". HELP! Our prepair bills to date are in excess of $10,000 and about to climb higher. Does anyone have any suggestions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry to bring up bad memories, but may I ask which repairs $10k bought you for this car?

HI, just thought of a couple of more problems. I've replaced two engine coolant temperature sensors and two transmission gear position sensors. In addition, the trunk lock, intermitent wipers and rear window defroster quit. The brake light housing melted THREE times and the lense several. Wiper relays, seat heater thermostats, many break pads of course, leaky oil drain seal, intake manifold gasket, front shocks, timing and drive belts, rear cam seal and all the required regular maintenance. I think I've got most of the problems now. Thanks again. P.S. Fortunately, many repairs were done while the car was new and still under warranty or my cost would have been worse.

Hi, Our expenses so far have included rear main seal replacement at least twice. Radiator replaced twice. The air conditioner compresser and condenser were replaced. Air mass meter and several O2 sensors were replaced. Several sets of warped rotors. Every piece of plastic in the interior imaginable has cracked (speaker covers, trim, etc.). Door hinge broke. Ignition switch was replaced. The car still only starts intermittently. The radio amplifier was never connected until I found it after owning the car for years, thinking the radio just stunk. The antenna motor went and antenna came back from dealer bent. They finally gave us a straight antenna that doesn't go down all the way. We've had loose exhaust manifold. Loose intake manifold. We've had a slow leak they attributed to the head gasket, but said no rush. We just had that done. The car has never over heated though. While at the dealer, the car was stuck by another vehicle while in the repair bay. They did pay the damages for that and allowed us the keep a loaner while the car was being repaired and painted. The power steering pump is leaking and needs replacing. The seat belt in the center rear cracked resulting in the purchase of an entire new seat belt. The fuel injection system when tested following replacement of ignition by myself in a blizzard at a local supermarket showed no pressure. I have trouble getting the key to turn in the ignition at times. Moon roof doesn't always open. This is just a sample. I don't have records in front of me, but this should give you an idea of the types of problems we're having. I hope this might help give some idea what is causing the catalytic converter consumption problem. Thanks for any suggestions.

Holy Sh@#! I can't believe a piece of machinery can be this bad without a lot of really bad work being done on it.

Your car sounds like the frustrations my wife was having with her BMW before I started dating her and then took over care of her car. The dealer would cause two problems for ever problem they worked on. They eventually went out of business.

While I have a list, I'm guesing it totals less than $1500 in parts and every replacement part from the dealer has been a better design and has looked like it will be a one time repair for at least another 100K miles. (Have a set of new front stabilizer links on the work bench for this weekend and they look much more durable than the original ones.)

Sounds like you need a new repair shop!

I've always said "A car's reputation depends more on the servicing dealer than on any other single thing".
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'96 965 at 89K. Had '85 745 Turbo Diesel for 200K.

Man, I am amazed that you have not taken this car to the South Bronx or someplace equivalent and torched it. The 960s are, with a few exceptions (Shatz, take note!) real expensive to run, with minor and major problems occurring on what seems to be a daily basis. Avalon Irwin finally said goodbye to his and bought a Toyota to go with his reliable Volvo 940. You don't appear to be beyond the envelope, but you are pushing it, and the news from this board is that it doesn't stop. The car just keeps right on soaking up huge dollar investments. See the 700/900 FAQ for a catalog of potential horrors.

Advice? Fix it and sell it.

Over half of the things he listed are just straight up technician stupidity. As is, I'm afraid, the root cause of his cat problem.

I hope to God this isn't a Volvo DEALER. But then, I guess it wouldn't surprise me these days. What a shame. Even my Avalon can't hold a stick to the ride, seating and comfort of my 960.

Whooooo! $10,000 for 4 cats? There must have been other stuff in there????

I always get my exhaust system parts from Volvo because they come with a lifetime guarantee and they fit. I think you got bad advice.

What year is your 960? There are significant differences between early, mid and late engine control systems.
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'96 965 at 89K. Had '85 745 Turbo Diesel for 200K.

"....$10,000....".

Tom Irwin knows about that. You are as lucky as you can get now to be in touch with Tom Irwin and Steve Ringlee. Keep in touch with them. Report back and hopefully they will get you out of the hole. If it is a leaking injector (more than likely), one place to have them cleaned and calibrated for about $10 each is www.cruzinperformance.com Pay attention to Tom because the problem that has destroyed three catalytic convertors could have done other damage even if you do not know it yet. None of us has to tell you that problems with your car can be difficult and expensive to solve. Best of luck.

I was reading your post and sorting through the various diagnostic angles available based on what is known..... Then I got down to this part:

"HELP! Our prepair bills to date are in excess of $10,000 and about to climb higher"

And a stiff chill ran up my spine, stifling further thought on the matter.

If it helps.... I still have you beat in terms of dollars spent... oh! and I did all the work myself, so the $11grand dumped inside of 2.5 years was just for parts..... wholesale parts.

Ringlee summed it up. We need more information. At this point if I had to chase something.... I would be looking for a stuck injector. The distribution rail holds 30-40 psi even when the electrical system is off. A stuck injector will allow raw fuel to pump into one cylinder, down the pipe and into the cat where it will pool and soak the honeycomb. On restart, as the catalyst heats, you will have a hell of a furnace going down there for a minute or so. But then it cleans up and the dealer can't find it.

If you can't find the cause quickly, you are in a stop-loss situation. Dump that piece of shit and move on.

I am sure that Toyota Tom will have some choice opinions for you, but in his absence I have to say that four cats are abnormal and indicative of a problem with your engine. Is it burning oil? Are you having error codes from the "Check Engine" lamp? Is there any indication of a rich mixture? Any loss of coolant over the time during which you ruined the cats? Any of these: oil, raw gas, or leaking coolant, will ruin the converter. Give us more information.

How about cleaning under the hood with silicone based cleaners?

DanR 94 964 192k miles

That would fry the converter only by way of destroying the O2 sensor. An error code would likely have appeared before now.