960 Project Pt. 2 - I built it one piece at a time...

Section 1 - Repairs

Its almost the end of November and we are swiftly approaching the holidays. As such, my work on the 960 has slowed down a bit in relation to the cold weather. I still wanted to give an update and also talk about some of the things I have learned along the way working on this car.

I have done a lot of maintenance work on the 960, and acquired quite a few junkyard parts and spares to keep it going. One of the biggest fixes was solving the misfiring issue. I ended up taking the car to my local shop here in Greensboro for some more expert diagnostics. They found that the intake manifold gasket had gone bad, and that the wiring to many of the coils was severely damaged from the heat and wear of 22 years of driving. That little repair cost me close to $400 when all said and done, but I am glad I didnt have to pull the entire intake system myself.

The first shipment from IPD was a pretty small, basic order with a few easy to replace parts like a new intake filter, as well as a new gasket for the oil cap. Both of these were very easy to install and cost less than $20 in total. The gasket on the oil cap, as I may have previously mentioned in another write up, slowly hardens due to the engine heat and allows oil to escape out onto the top of the engine. After replacing the gasket I did not see any more oil in or around the oil cap or on the top of the block.

Previous filter, vs a brand new one.

The serpentine belt was a major replacement that needed to be done. I ordered a new belt, shifter bushings, and new front rotors from FCP Euro, all which made a considerable difference on the car. My first attempt at replacing the serpentine did not go as planned. The socket size used on the tensioner for the belt is a non, standard size and requires some creative tool usage to turn. The first step was removing the fan, this step is easy on the 960 since it uses an electronic fan which can be easily unscrewed and moved out of the way. The harder part is finding the right drive socket to physically move the tensioner to release pressure on the belt. For this I ended up using a 1/2 in. to 3/4 in from this harbor freight socket adapter set this allowed me to easily use a standard wrench to turn the tensioner and slide a small screwdriver into the locking hole.

The tensioner doesn’t take to much force to move, just remember to take a picture of your belt before it comes off to help you properly feed the new belt on. This was definitely an intimidating job for someone who has never done belts before, but it was surprisingly very easy!

As previously mentioned, I also bought new shifter bushings from FCP Euro. For two, I think I paid a whole 90c. These small rubber O shaped bushings go into each end of the short linkage connecting the shifter inside the car to the transmission. The original bushings had fallen out long ago, meaning there was a large amount of forward and backward play in the shifter even when in gear. It also had the side effect of making a nasty clanking sound when shifting out of park. The bushings are very simple to install, and you will only need a 13mm wrench, a 15mm wrench and a pair of needle nose pliers. I didnt take many pictures, but the process of locating and installing these new bushings is extremely straight forward and took maybe 15 minutes total to do. The pay off however, well worth the time and money. The car now shifts into gear like its brand new, and drastically changed the feeling on the shifter in operation. It also completely eliminated any play that it previously had.

Section 2 - Cosmetics

In addition to the many small mechanical repairs I have made on the car, I was able to recruit my long time friend, and former 850R co-owner Steve to help me with really giving the car a good cosmetic make over. If I am being honest, the car will never be perfect, because at the end of the day its still a 22 year old Volvo that I bought for $800. We were able to rent a wet vacuum from Home Depot, as well as pick up a few heavy duty cleaners and de-greasers to really give the interior of the car a good makeover. Most of the work was done at night, but I can attest to the fact that Steves elbow grease on the door cars and carpet made a huge difference in removing the smokey, stale smell from the car.

A mixture of Simple Green and a Magic Eraser being used to remove the built up tar and grime from each door card. Note all the cigarette burn holes…

Now this may controversial, but here it goes:

I.

HATE.

PINSTRIPING.

The 960 was no exception. It had to go. Using a rubber wheel on a drill, I slowly worked down one side of the car removing the painted on pinstripe. It must have been originally installed by the first owner since it was severely faded and chipping away in some places. I feel like that stripe gone it gives the side profile of the car a much cleaner appearance. Unfortunately the paint still need a lot of attention at the moment so its not perfect, but from afar (or when wet) it really brings out the clean lines of the wagon.

Drivers side after pinstripe removal and a quick 2 bucket wash.

That’s it for this installment. There is still a lot that needs to be done to the 960 before its really ready to be a daily driver in any sort of way. I have yet to tackle the brakes, or suspension. It also has a mysterious fluid leak near the front wheels I have yet to diagnose, as well as a new fuel rail that needs to be installed. I hope to start working on it a bit in my local shop where I can get it up on a lift, but as it sits currently, I am happy with the progress. As usual, feel free to drop a comment or suggestion for the project, there is not much information out there on the 960 series cars so I am always looking for any information I can get my hands on!

As a bonus, I have a picture of the final missing trim piece installed. The owner I bought it from finally found it after 2 months of searching!

This photo really shows the true damage to the paint, hoping a wet sand, buff, and polish may be able to bring back that original shine!

960 Project Pt. 1 - Diving In

So as a I previously mentioned in my first post, the 960 needs a lot of work. Currently it is driving on 5 out of its 6 cylinders and has oil and grime all over the engine bay. One of the first things I did was check the Idle Air Module. This piece regulates the air when the car is idling (as the name suggests) to give the engine a smooth idle at the low RPMs. Unfortunately, their design means that over time they can become filled with oil and grime which causes them to stop working. Checking the full intake system made sense as the parts are easy to access and can usually benefit from a cleanup on any car.

Most of the intake system comes off with a simple screw driver. Most of the system is actually tool-less removal and uses latches to attach everything together. The intake filter seemed to be in decent shape, however the main concern was around the throttle body. Due to the old gasket on the oil cap, oil leaks from the top of the engine down onto a lot of components. I suspect this oil is also the reason for the misfire on cylinder 3. I made sure to clean the throttle body, as well as check the Idle Air Module, as well as inspected the MAF for any buildup.

The gasket of the oil cap can go bad on the 6cyl motor, leading to oil build up around the cap and pooling along areas of the head. The oil from the cap has been leaking significantly, there is buildup around the intake and even the throttle body.

Additionally, while I was in the engine bay I made sure to check the belts. The motor on the 960 series cars use an interference design, meaning that the timing belt is crucial to the operation of the engine. Without the belt, the pistons will rise on the combustion stroke and collide with the stuck open valves since the belt controls when the valves open and close. Unfortunately, the sticker for the last timing belt replacement on this car dates back to 2006 when the car had significantly less miles. I assume that it has been replaced since then since the service interval for the belt is around 40-50k miles.

Not the information you want to see on a car in 2019 with 190k miles on the ODO.

While the timing belt may not look terrible upon my brief inspection, I would HIGHLY recommend that any new 960 owner do the maintenance on it. I plan on using IPDs kit with a new belt, pulleys, and tensioner as any of these components going bad can cause a catastrophic failure of the motor.

The last fix I did in my initial dive into the car was physically checking the connections around the intake system. Upon my inspection the MAF was very clean and the connectors seemed to be in solid shape. However, on the Idle Airflow Module, I found nasty corrosion that could have been causing issues. I used a can of electrical contact cleaning to remove the corrosion as well as a small pick to clean out any stubborn bits. The female end of the plug on the IACM was also cleaned for good measure.

I apologize that this write up was a bit short, I am writing it many days after I have done the work. For much of my writing, I find it easier to explain my work and processes when it is fresh in my mind and I can dive deeper into the repairs. In part 2 I will be covering the diagnosis of the misfire, and my continued work to resolve it.

1997 Volvo 960 Project Pt. 0 - $800 Worth of Headaches

If anyone who reads this follows me on social media, you will know that I recently picked up a 1997 Volvo 960 wagon off of Marketplace. The body is in pretty good condition, but its definitely a little rough around the edges. The car itself has over 190k on the clock, and all of its history up to this point is a mystery to me. Surprisingly I am only the 3rd owner of the car, and I intend, or at least hope to, get the car back into a running / driving condition.

While I was able to drive the car home, it definitely needs a lot of work before I would consider actually driving it anywhere. As it stands it needs (in no particular order):

1. Timing Belt and Serpentine Belt

2. Oil Change and Fluid Flush

3. Oil Cap Gasket

4. New Spark Plugs and Ignition Coil (Misfire on Cylinder 3)

5. New Idle Air Module

6. Headlight Bulbs

7. New Taillight Assembly and Bulbs

8. New Brakes

9. New Front Suspension

10. Fix Seat Rail Motors

11. Interior and Exterior Deep Clean Detail

There is likely other stuff, but these are the items I would consider to be the ‘bare minimum’ of what needs to be done to at least get it running and driving around. There is a good list of cosmetic items that I also have planned like fixing the missing trim and fuel door. Thankfully this car, and its parts, are dirt cheap and will allow me to experience the world of RWD Volvos. I’m hoping to do some videos and a lot of write ups on this car. Much like the P3s, there arent a ton of enthusiasts around the 900 series cars, much less the inline 6 versions. So stay tuned, and if you have any recommendations or tips for me please feel free to send a comment below!

VDASH Pt. 2 - Cloud Based Car Tuning

So I finally got around to getting the laptop and DICE unit out for creating pt. 2 of this series. I have had so many responses to the blog and I am glad it has been a help to so many people!

When we left off, we had just gone through the process of cracking the CEM, no we can go through the features!

For these examples I will be going over the 3 features that I added, however the process is the same for any modification you want to add. The first page you will see after loading is the homescreen, here you will see a basic readout from the car and your information.

From here you will hit Connect, and make sure your car is in Ignition Position 2, if it is and you continue to get an error, just click ignore. The VDASH program can do it for you when it does any CEM changes. Keep in mind, you should have the car still connected to the battery tender for this.

Now we will be on the full detail page, on this page you will get a readout of all the CEMs information and codes. Don’t worry, these are stored codes and may not be active codes in the system. On this page, you will go to Advanced, this is where we can make all the changes we want.

1. Automatic Headlights

The first mod that I did was activate the auto headlights for my car. For the 2012MY, the cars were equipt with light sensors, but only used them for the gauge and interior dimming. With a 2013MY+ headlight switch, we can add auto headlights to the car!

The part I ordered was 30739428, and the installation is as simple as taking off the side panel of the dash and pushing the old one out, and plugging the new one in. Now that the part is in, we need to able the feature in VDASH. This option can be found under Lighting > Dipped Beam.

Once you have selected the configuration you want, click the green Add button. This adds this modification to the cart. Its worth noting that once you purchase a modification, you can select any option within that group at a later time and change it for free.

2. Window Key Controls

The second modification I did was the Global Open / Close, which is the option to open and close the windows with the PCC key. Many Volvos, pre P3, have this option from the factory however it was removed for the US market. This option is found under Mirrors and Doors > Global Open / Close (via Remote). I set mine to only do the windows, without the sunroof, but this can be changed later for free if I wanted.

3. Remote Start

The last option I added was remote start. This allows you to use the PCC key to start the car remotely. After it is activated in VDASH, you must lock the car and then press and hold the Lightbulb button on the key for 10 seconds or once you see the lights start to flash. If the car is too low on gas it will not work!

4. Removing the Speed Limiter

Now this isn’t an option I used since the Polestar tune removes the speed limiter. However I realize that this will be a popular reason that people use VDASH.

The option to change the limiter is located under the main tab of Market Related Settings > Speed Limiter. There are a few options to choose from, with an option to try the beta Unlimited feature.

VDASH Pt 2. is coming....

I have been getting a lot of messages from people asking about VDASH Pt. 2.

I apologize for the delay, currently in the process of starting a new job after graduation. As such, I dont have much time recently to get time to make the second part of the write up. An issue I have is that I do not have much space to do work due to my current living in an appt. complex. (No outlet to connect to trickle charger).

I actually have a big modification coming soon that I hope will help get me back into writing on this blog.

Stay tuned - Jack