I have a 96 960 and I'm a little confused about which procedure to use. My brake pedal is still soft after bleeding the system 3 times. I'll pump the brakes once and they're soft the second stroke is more firm. The MC was replaced last fall. I bench bled it and then bled the brake lines. I used the sequence RR,LR,RF,LF. After reading the FAQ section I see the following. Am I following the right procedure and would it make any difference if the car was running while I bled the system? I ask this because the pedal seems fine after bleeding and when I put the wheels on and take it for a ride it goes back to being a soft pedal.

On last thing: Should the engine be running when checking or adding trans fluid?


Brake Bleeding Sequences. [Editor's Note: These sequences apply to all cars per the Volvo manual]
Bleed the brake lines in this order:

Cars without ABS and 1988 or later models with ABS:
LR, RR, RF, LF.
Cars with ABS up to and including 1987:
use the reverse sequence: LF, RF, LR, RR.
On Volvo models with 2 bleeder screws (upper and lower) on the front calipers, use upper nipple.
On Volvo models with 3 bleeder screws on the front calipers, open all bleeder screws simultaneously.