Last Thursday I had my daughter's 1996 960 worked on here in Abq (subject of earlier posts). Ended up having to have the Power Steering pump replaced - the source of leaks was a couple of loose hose clamps. On her way to Ouray Colorado they called from Durango and said there was a squealing noise when they accelerated. They put belt dressing on the serpentine belt and bought a new one with the thought of replacing it when they got to Ouray.

Called this morning when leaving and said the noise was still there - no worse no better (had put more belt dressing on it). To make a long story short they ended up leaving the Volvo in Ouray and driving her boyfriends car down to Abq. Dan's (boyfriend) parents have lived in Ouray for quite a while and his father knows a good mechanic who will check the vehicle out tomorrow (Monday). Guess they (okay, maybe I) will go up in the next couple of weeks and retrieve the car, hopefully fixed. From posts responding to mine of Fri Jan 20 21:44 MST I received some really good info. Thanks to BC I did email Bob Wennerstrom and he was quick to reply with a knowledgeable response (thanks BC and Bob). DEWFPO also mentioned a couple of things about tensioners and pulleys relating to the timing belt. The shop (whom I really trust)who did the work here checked out the timing belt and mentioned that it was in good shape (was changed about 25k ago). Of course, hard to check out pulleys when the engine is not running.

Couple of questions. My first guess is the serpentine belt (or perhaps one of the tensioners for that) - any ideas on how to check a tensioner? Second is could it be the new 'used' power steering pump? One post mentioned that if the squealing was louder under an electrical load perhaps it could be the alternator. Any way to check out the internals for the timing belt? Any other thoughts?

I will call the shop here tomorrow and ask questions. I appreciate the fact that from the wealth of experience out here in Brickland I have some really good ideas. Thanks again for all the help.

Ted Kircher in Albuquerque NM
1996 960 - 133,000 miles