I have a 95 960 and it sounds like one lifter ticks. Cold or hot. I do not know what kind of oil it has. I am getting ready to change it. I was goint to use Redline 10-30W. Anybody out there been able to get rid of ticking valves with a particular type of oil?

I was about to post a question on the board when I came across this thread. My '97 965 is very quiet, UNLESS it sits at idle for a bit, then I can get a pronounced click. Goes away after I drive for a bit. A couple folks mentioned that if the Volvo's sit they will make noise-I assume they mean at idle. So is this a relatively normal phenomena? One mentioned most would "eventually pump the oil out of its lifters if it sits long enough"-does that mean that at idle oil is not getting pumped back to the lifters as well?

I have only had the car for a bit-coming up on its first oil change under new management. I thought I might try the Amsoil, then shift to synthetic oil treatment to see if it might help. Any other suggestions or is it simply normal and live with it...


Thanks,

Eric Maurer

97 965, 103K

By "sitting" everyone means not running.

having owned a vw polo with hyd. lifters they do it as well...np they do it from new pretty much, gets worse if allowed to sit, goes away quickly as the engine warms and oil presure rises...there is as simple cure for volvo's im told...

sell the one with 2 spare pots and buy a proper 4 syclinder one...

win960,

I've got two of these 'tickers'. The 95 ticks much worse (louder, longer, hot or cold) than the 98. I've been running M1 in the 98 since 25,000 miles. Don't know if it will make a difference in the ticking in the long haul. It is currently quieter than the 95 but the 98 has 62,900 miles whereas the 95 has 145,000.

We bought the 95 with 109,000 miles on the clock. No telling what the previous owner used in it but he did change the oil every 5K according to the records. When we got it, it had a REAL BAD loud tick in one lifter. It got quieter (relatively speaking) on it's own after driving it a couple of days. I have tried all sorts of oils, etc... to get the 95 to quiet down. The best so far has been Castrol Syntec 5w50 with one blue bottle of STP added. I know that sounds bad but it is noticeably quieter especially on cold starts and runs great. (p.s. I always use a Mann W917 filter).
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1998 S90 062,700 1995 964 142,100

Mine doesn't usually tick but one cold morning, it really clattered and then got quiet again. I'm running Mobil 1 10W-30. It's supposed to be normal, as long as it stops.

My V70 will clatter a little and then settle down.

You might want to run some AMSOIL engine cleaner through it before your next oil change. Read the directions, you let it idle for 15 mins and then change the oil. NO driving allowed.
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Warren Bain - '86 744Ti M46 >290Kmi, '99 V70Glt > 45K mi, '96 965 >100Kmi Wifemobile near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu.

I will confess to being unfamiliar with the 960 engine design. About six years ago I had a VW Quantum. It seized the cam tensioner one day and after the cam belt burnt in half, it bent two exhaust valves. I pulled the head and had it gone through properly at a good machine shop. It took a couple of miles of driving to get rid of the valve clatter after I put it back together. I wonder if the OHC engines and their necessarily short hydraulic lifters are more prone tho this than the old in block cam engines with lots of room for the lifters and their internals. I never had a V8 engine take that long to pump the lifters up.

John, these are direct acting 'lifters', more like pushers, and sometimes they do take a while to pump up. I suspect, a replacement set would be in order. the only problem is that the top of the engine clamps the cams between the next section of the head. So the TB must be removed, the cams removed and the offending lifter/pusher replaced. That's too much of a PITA for me to even think about.

I chacked my spark plugs the other day and saw some junk down in there. I blew the holes out and removed the plugs, checked them and replaced them. When I started the car it really clattered and I don't know why. Weird.

BTW, the 740 is off to bigger and better things today.
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Warren Bain - '99 V70GLT G-Valve > 70K mi, '96 965 >110Kmi Wifemobile near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu.

Seems like the longer they sit, the worse they get. I drove a car (99 V70GLT) a month ago that went for CHEAP in an auction because of the valve noise. We put 2 quarts of 15W40 in it and drove it an hour home. It shut up an hasn't made a tick since. I thought it REALLY had something wrong with it and apparently so did everyone at the auction lot. If it DID have a problem Volvo has two choices for you (same for V90/960)- either a new head for $1200 or so, or a lifter kit for about $400. Every one I've seen will eventually pump the oil out of its lifters if it sits long enough.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total