Hi,

I have a 1990 740 GLE 16 Valve Station wagon with almost 250.000 miles. I wanted a Volvo since I was young and am driving my dream car. I bought the wagon in February 2003.

I recently took it to a shop I have never been to before. They only service Volvo's. I had the following problems to fix:
- air noise at front passenger side door window
Note: I had the window-regulator replaced right after I bought the wagon in 2003 for the same reason.
- with A/C on engine runs very low RPM's at stop lights and sometimes stalls
- the ABS service light comes on intermittently and ABS engages randomly at low speeds.

I asked the mechanic at that new shop before the checkup about my problems, specifically about he air noise - because a Volvo dealership recently told me that this problem cannot be fixed and is a known issue with 740's. I learned he has been factory trained by Volvo and got the impression that he will be able to fix the air problem.

When the wagon was at the shop I was told that they can fix my problems. They checked the wagon top to bottom, pressure washed the engine and found some other issues:
- the head-gasket is leaking
- water-pump is leaking
- transmission is leaking and needs to be resealed
- the rear shocks are leaking and need to be replaced
- the pinion seal is leaking
- heater control valve is worn and needs to be replaced
- etc.

These were totally unexpected issues that would cost me almost $3000.-
I was also never told by any of the other Volvo shops that the wagon had these problems.

I decided to make repairs in stages and had them fix the
- leaking head-gasket
- leaking water-pump

The new shop also fixed one of my original problems - they cleaned the throttle plate and the engine runs at higher RPM's now at stoplights when the A/C is on and does not stall. The engine also runs smoother and at lower RPM when I drive 65mph - probably due to the head-gasket not leaking anymore?

I still need to fix:
- transmission is leaking and needs to be resealed
- the rear shocks are leaking and need to be replaced
- the pinion seal is leaking
- heater control valve is worn and needs to be replaced
- etc.

After talking with the mechanic he suggested the following repairs next:
- replace rear shocks
- replace heater control valve
- replace ABS sensors with new ones
The mechanic told me there are known issues with the old sandwich type sensors.

He also indicated that the leaking transmission does not need to be fixed right away as long as I check the Transmission fluid level regularly.

I would like to get a second opinion and also avoid high repair costs. I am wondering:
1) Could I use a Transmission Fluid additive to take care of the leaking transmission problem? If yes - which one would be good ?

2) I don't see anything leaking on the rear shock's - would it be save to drive with them for a little longer - maybe another year?

This mechanic told me that 16 Valve engines with that many miles are rare and said it could be converted to an 8 valve engine for $2000. I thought Volvo's last a very long time and was hoping to be able to drive my wagon for another few years at least.

Will the engine last if I take care of her (timing belt was serviced at about 240.000) ?

Thank you,
Robert Wagner
- I love to drive Volvo -