Hi - I have found a 97 960, beautiful inside and out, but browsing the forums has me scared on this model. Many of the concerning issues are around <95 models. Do these apply to the 97? What do I need to look out for? Is this a good model to to pursue, or should I be patient and wait for the right 740 or 940 to come along? I am interested in 93-97 vintage and a RWD model, so 850 is out. Thanks.

There are very few scary problems with the later 960's/S90's.
As long as there are service records and the car has been taken care of you should have no more problems than a B230 940. The only things I could find that are annoying on going is the lifting leather panels on the tops of the door panels (bad glue) and PNP switches on the transmissions like to die occasionally.
As long as you do the services on the car as Volvo recommends it should give you many years of service. I have heard horror stories on almost every car out there. Just remember the 960 has a lot more electrical toys that can break more often than manual units.

Thanks Al. I think I'm going to go for it. After further review, I found a few more optimists out there than I originally thought. That and a thorough mechanical review prior to purchase should ease my mind.

Thanks,
Pat

I have a 97 wagon 210k miles and going strong with the same engine and tranny. These are some of the better built cars that Volvo ever made.

You should make sure the timing belt and pullies are in good shape when you buy this car even if you have to do it yourself, good insurance, it's the main thing that can really go wrong with the engine is having the timing belt go out.

These cars do well on syn motor oil and syn tranny fluid, if they haven't been changed out you should do so.
Start this buy putting in some Auto rx in both the tranny and motor and follow the instructions for doing so, this will clean out the systems and make way for the syn fluids to perform.

As I said if the car is in good condition you have found yourself a great find.

Good Luck
Poolman

Thanks. I fell into another 900 thread out there and found the 960 may not be as scary as I previously thought. I'm still going to have someone give it a once over before I buy.

If I go the synthetic route, do I maintain the same maintenance schedule as regular oil/fluid?

Thanks again,
Pat

If you are following the advice to use Auto-RX (Good Advice) they will require the use of regular dino oil until the treatment is complete.

I say once the treatment is finished continue driving on dino oil until the next regularly scheduled change, and switch to synthetic and make sure that any oil filter you use is from MANN. FRAM is just not going to cut it unless you are in a pinch. The FAQ contains a discussion on oil.

http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/EngineLubrication.htm

I would follow the advice in the FAQ and change the filter only after 30 days, then change the fluid and filter after 3K then see how it does with a 5K interval making sure that the level is within tolerable limits.

This does not represent original thought and is fairly close to outright plaguerism (sp) but it is good advice nonetheless.
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1993 960 194K

Thanks. Now you've got me thinking... Can I ask a non-brick question here? (I'm going to anyway). I also drive a 2000 Toyota Avalon with about 85K. Would the Auto-Rx treatment and/or switching to synth be something I should think about with that vehicle?

Pat

Hi Pat,

Sure! Any car with a healthy engine can benefit from a good engine flush and quality synthetic oil. Since your Avalon is relatively new with relatively low mileage it would be an excellent time to switch to synthetic. Good brands are Amsoil (that's what I use), Redline, Mobil 1, among others. Once you know that the old oil is out and the engine is clean you can extend the drain intervals. 5-7K mi intervals would probably be fine in your Avalon, and others may recommend going longer. I change the Amsoil in my 745T every ~5K mi because it's turbo and I like to use the little service light. I wouldn't run the same oil filter for much more then 6K mi though, so just be aware of that. I plan on switching our '03 Pathfinder to synthetic once the warranty is up. We'll probably use a 5-6K mi (8-10K km) interval. The Nissan dealer offers Mobil 1 under warranty, but they won't allow us to extend the drain interval past it's 6K km (~3750 mi) interval, so we're sticking with non-syn for now.
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '91 745Ti, 291K km and '91 745 NA, 389K km.