I have a 1991 940 Turbo, it has 228,000 miles on it and I don’t know how long it will last. It was given to me by my grandfather but before that it had 2 other owners. My grandfather had the top part of the motor rebuilt at 180,000. He was not great at getting it serviced only when he had the time. Besides that I have no idea of what was fixed/serviced before 180,000. Its whole life was spent in the mountains of North Carolina. Now it’s in Florida. It runs a little hard but it does run, the Turbo to my knowledge works, it leaks some oil but doesn’t burn any, the ac still goes cold, and the Exhaust is clear. The tranny is what I’m worried about, it has hard upshifts and I don’t even know the last time it was serviced. I’m 16 and this is my first car, I don’t have to much money so getting a new one is out of the question. I really love this car so if there is anything you might expect to be or going to go wrong soon please share.

look in the 700/900 FAQ about the hard shift
its a bearing

will cost $$ to get it fixed and is prolly not all that worth it
my 940se w 150k shifts like its gonna fall apart

Thanks for the input I can start on all those things next week!

Hard upshift from 1st to 2nd on an automattic tranny is considered normal if it's an AW7x transmission. It's due to some worn valve. Don't worry about it.
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Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

Or at least see if it's noslack at idle. Loosen it a 1/4" and see if it loosens up the upshift.

There have been cases of worn 7mm IIRC check balls in the valve body causing poor shifts. Doesn't require trans removal but you MUST know where the balls go if you remove the valve body/spacer to replace the balls.

To keep it going for a long, long time:
-flush tranny with synthetic fluid ($60)
-use synthetic engine oil ($17)
-add synthetic oil to rear axle ($7)
-use synthetic ATF in the p/s system ($5)
-flush and change the coolant every two years ($10)
-change the radiator, the heater water valve, and the hoses ($270)

I agree with Steve on all the fluid changesfor longivity - but I might throw one thing out there.

You say you have little funds. Well, synthetic is the way to go - but on a car that has not been cared for that well, as for oil changes - you may get a seal leak going to synthetic. This happened to me on a 940 I bought - had to replace front seals.

I am going to synthetic in the crankcase a little at a time on the 745T I just got. I started with all Volvoline Durablend 10w30 - next change will be 3 qts. Mobil 1, one dino. Then the next I will go all Mobil 1.

Good luck,
Andrew in AL

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'91 940T (198K) , '94 940T (145K) , '92 745T (170K)