Hi folks...
Been awhile since I posted here, but I have a fresh volvo ownership story I wanted to share. Couple of years ago, I bought my 89 245 as a daily driver, and I liked it so much that we decided to get my wife a redblock brick. We ended up choosing a 1994 945t, which, unlike it's 200 series brother, has been a bit of a headache. After suffering a blown cooling hose (turbo coolant line), and figuring out a high idle problem (maladjusted tps), and replacing various and sundry parts like the oil trap, she was running like a top. Then, last night, on the final 20 miles of a 200 mile trip, something terrible happened. Driving down the freeway with the cruise set on 70, the car suddenly lost power dramatically. Fearing the worst, I pulled over to the side of the road. I found that the car would run, but barely, and would only make about 25-30 miles per hour.

So, I limped along the shoulder and up to the next off ramp, and headed up to the surface street. At which point a carload of young women pulled up, frantically waving, and notified me that flames were shooting out of the tailpipe. That was that. I shut it down, phoned AAA, and settled in for a frigid two hour wait for the tow home. Once there, I rolled the car into the garage, shut the door, and went to bed to try to salvage some sleep before heading to work early the next day.

All day at work, I tried to figure out what the problem could be. Slipped timing belt? Failed sensor? In the end, I decided to wait until I got home to take a closer look. Going into the garage, I started my kerosene heater, settled in for a long afternoon of wrenching, and popped the hood...there, staring me in the face, was the end of the hose running rom the intercooler to the hard pipe upstream from the throttle body. Thats right, ater replacing the oil trap, I had reassempled all the plumbing, but in my haste to go for a spin, had neglected to tighten this clamp. And it had held on for the eitire trip, only letting loose after a quick dip into the boost to get onto the freeway. With all that air coming in upstream of the mass air meter, the engine management system went completely nuts.

Moral of the story? Take your time! Check your work carefully, and you'll never end up taking a flatbed ride home for no good reason ;)

Adam
89 245 330k (summer DD)
94 945T 196k (family hauler)