I just found this page today looking for forums to help me with some diagnostics. I'm very happy with what little I've read here.

I bought a 1990 740 Turbo Sedan AT with 98,000 miles for $2000. We were looking for a family car to replace the dying Caravan. We were looking for a station wagon which is how we began looking at volvo's. We found this sedan at a local dealer and thought it was a good enough deal (and big enough trunk) to buy it.

I don't know much about cars. I might need to learn if maintenance costs are too high.

Here are my symptons:
1. The anti-lock dummy light comes on periodically.
2. Occasionally there is an odor detected when exiting the car. It doesn't smell electrical, I assume it's the brakes.
3. The break pedal went to the floor once a couple of days ago. The pedal feels a little squishy, but the breaks have worked fine since.

Then today I'm worried something major might be wrong. I heard a funny screech when I started the car. The srs light came on (the anti-lock light was also on). The radio didn't work and the interior climate fan (is it called heater blower?) didn't work. And the accelerator pedal seemed harder to push. Those are the things that I noticed. I drove home (1 mile) and when I put the car in "park" it made a loud screeching noise (maybe a belt sound) until I turned off the engine.

I've started the car once since then. I started it in neutral (since it made that sound in "park"). Everything worked (radio, fan) and I put it in park and there was no screeching.

I'd like to try and look at some things myself before taking it to a mechanic, but I don't know what to look for. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.