I have recently become the proud second owner of a 1993 944T with 95K. Prior to purchase, I had the car inspected by a Volvo-only shop. There are a couple of "priority" fixes that they identified that I need help understanding (I am a newbie at both Volvo ownership and personal car repair; I'm looking forward to acquiring some new skills). I'm trying to learn what I can do myself and what must be done in the shop.

1) "Oil filter pedestal cooling hoses weak." Where are these hoses? Do they have a different name that I would recognize in the FAQ? (a search of "oil filter pedestal" returns no posts). Most of the hoses in the car are nearly new (the 90K service is marked in the book; would they have been replaced at that time?). What would cause these hoses to fail, and how can I prevent it from happening in the future? Is this a fix I can handle?

2) Marked as "Needs attention": "Breather box and turbo return tube." Being a newbie, I don't know what these components are nor how to fix them. The shop said the the turbo is fine. Can someone point me in the right direction? The Chilton manual I checked out from the library is no help (is there a source for better repair info, with good indexed exploded diagrams?).

Sorry for the barrage of questions, thanks for any help.
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Steve Van Steenhuyse ('95 944T, 95K)

The "oil filter pedestal hoses" are the short cooling hoses to the oil cooler in front of the filter. These rot due to oil drips and are a must-replace item.
Get them from the dealer.

The breather box is beneath the flame trap and is either clogged or leaking. See the 700/900 FAQ for illustrated instructions. Change this to prevent crankcase overpressure from blowing out your oil seals. Clean the entire falme trap system as well.

The turbo return tube could be the vacuum tube from the air intake hose in front of the turbo to the intake manifold. This can crack because of heat or work on the engine. They may also be referring to a turbo intake hose, which can crack due to heat and oil.

Sounds as though they know what they are doing. You might have them to the work, which is not expensive. The worst will be the parts.

Hi Steve -

Sounds like a nice "new to you" car. If those are the only problems, you should be in pretty good shape... they're all basic maintenance items, and pretty simple DIY.

+ Oil filter pedestal cooling hoses - these are the 2 short rubber hoses in the photo below:


Those hoses carry coolant through the oil filter extension. To change the hoses, you need to drain the coolant - from the brass nipple in the photo. Might not be a bad idea to completely renew the coolant at the same time, by also draining the radiator. See the FAQ for full details. You can get those hoses from your local dealer, or from Borton Volvo (www.borton.com) or Swedish Engineering (www.swedishengineering.com) for about $22 shipped.

+ turbo return tube - I'm guessing this is the oil return line from the turbo to the block... have them specify so you know for sure. The o-ring where the tube enters the block can get leaky. In the photo above, this is the metal tube that crosses in front of the oil filter... you can see the damp oil spot on the block. To replace the o-ring, you need to disonnect the turbo wastegate actuator rod, and remove the return line from the bottom of the turbo:



When you do this, also replace the paper gasket at the top end of the oil return line... you can get these bits from your dealer or favorite parts house (either of the above, or FCP Groton... www.fcpgroton.com). This job is kind of a PITA, but not too bad... once again, check out the FAQ for details.

+ breather box - AKA oil separator - is a black plastic box under the intake manifold. It can get mucked up with oily crud and contribute to high crankcase pressure, or leak oil from the bottom. You can replace it with a new one, or clean it (by soaking in solvent) and just replace the o-ring on the bottom. This is another job that's not too hard, just kind of a PITA. Some people recommend removing the intake manifold for easier access... I got the box out OK with the manifold in place. If your car has EGR, you've got a whole 'nother bag of chips on your hands... search recent posts in the 900 forum for info. Otherwise... you guessed it - check out the FAQ.

- Brian '93 945T

"If your car has EGR, you've got a whole 'nother bag of chips on your hands... "

Thanks, Brian, for the info and especially the photos. I was able to identify everything on the car as a result. However, you got me scared with the above statement. Are you saying that if the car has EGR (I think it does, it was originally purchased in Chicago, which is a non-attainment metro with emission control requirements), then the cleaning or replacement of the breather box is different from the procedure you outlined? Or are you saying the EGR is another problem area that will need my attention? Thanks again for the info, this is a great forum.
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Steve Van Steenhuyse ('95 944T, 95K)

As John mentioned, the presence of the EGR system adds a few more steps to the breather box R/R procedure... shouldn't be too much more complicated.

Here's a recent thread that includes comprehensive directions for doing the breather box on an EGR car:

Oil Breather Box & EGR R&R Procedure - 940 - Long Post

- Brian

The EGR valve is mounted with the two bolts which hold the oil trap in place, and it has two SS tubes connecting it to the exhaust and intake manifolds. Its presense just makes removing the oil trap much more difficult.
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john