Hi guys,

Well, here's the story: I've been having a problem with my '94 964 lately where after driving it to work (~25 min mostly hwy commute) the throttle gets stuck after I get off the hwy and the engine blows oil out from the oil cap. It has only happened a few times when it was very cold (like -18C or colder). This is the ONLY time the engine has leaked oil. Otherwise it's dry. My mechanic claims the oil pressure sensor was leaking, so he replaced it. I'm not sure it was, but it was hard to tell with all the oil that had run down the block. Anyway, the other day it was about -20C and when I pulled off the hwy the throttle stuck pretty good and it took a fair amount of braking power to stop the car. I only drove it like this for a few minutes as I work near the hwy exit. Of couse when I finally got in the parking lot and shifted to neutral the revs went up to around 5K RPM before I turned the engine off. I opened the hood (of course there was oil around the oil cap) and pulled the cruise control cable a bit to try to free up the throttle plate. I was mildly sucessful and got the idle calmed enough to safely park the car. At lunch the car started and idled fine and didn't seem to leak any more oil. My major problem started when I was driving home in the evening: The idle had returned to normal, but the I started having transmission problems. In over 20K mi of ownership the ONLY problem can recall having with the transmission was the PNP switch which I had replaced with a new OE one. So, on my way home, the transmission had all kinds of shifting problems. It refused to shift into 4th, and shifted between 2nd and 3rd as it pleased. The lockup function didn't seem to be working properly either. When I was almost home I finally got the tranny to shift into 4th by revving it to about 5K RPM and then letting my foot off the gas. As soon as I induced more throttle the tranny would downshift again. It didn't act normal with downshifting turning into streets and stuff either. Eventually the malfunction arrow and W/S/E light began to flash. I took the car to my mechanic's and used his scanner to check the codes (he has an OBD-I connector). First it said it had like 12 tranny codes and then it timed out before it could tell me what the codes were. When I finally did get it to read codes it gave me 4 that apparently don't exist because they said "unknown code" and my mechanic, the Volvo dealer and I don't know what they mean. It's like the computer just made up some codes on it's own. Even after resetting the computer or disconnecting the battery, the trans computer still gives codes and they seem to be pretty random. My mechanic thinks it needs a TCM, but I wanted to test some other things before I went and replaced that. Anyone have any ideas?!?!? As for the throttle problem I think it was due to me eliminating the hot air function and thermostat in the airbox. Plus I had drilled some holes in the front of the snorkle to get some more air into the box that maybe allowed some water in which proceeded to mix with the oil vapor from the PCV. That combined with the very cold temps probably lead to the throttle plate sticking and maybe PCV problem as well. I think I've fixed that problem and I cleaned the throttle body well. So, now I just need to figure out what the heck happened to the transmission and I'm wondering if it has something to do with the sticking throttle plate issue. Any HELP would be GREATLY appreciated as I need to get the car working properly again soon...

PS- The transmission fluid is Mobil 1 ATF which appears to be at the proper level, a bit dirty but doesn't smell bad. The engine has been running on Amsoil for the last ~20K mi and this is the first time I've had a PCV issue. The car has a bit over 101K mi on it and is in great shape.

--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 206K km, '94 964 > 100K mi, '97 855 GLT > 265K km. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).

You are in the wrong section. May want to go to the 900 section.

For the later 960s all the S/V90 stuff is relavent. In the 900 section there is a mix of 960 & 940 stuff. I feel he is fine in this area!
--
'96 965, 16' wheels, Michelin Pilot Sports, rear 18mm bar + Koni, 201 HP cams, 142K. Put 200K on '85 745 TD.

Yep, I thought I'd get more help here then in the 900 forum which I find often has mostly 940 info. Here it's all about the 960/S/V90 with the B6304. Anyway, so far so good with the replacement TPS. The car is working great :) Nearly sold it in favor of a very rare 855R 5-speed the other day, but the 855 just couldn't compare in condition to my 964. Man, I wish I could get some more agressive suspension for ths thing. I have an OE European lower chassis brace on the way from Volvo and I think I have a line on a set of E-code headlights, so that should keep me happy for now I guess. My V90 on the other hand, I LOVE that car, except for the fact that it needs an evap core, haha.
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 206K km, '94 964 > 100K mi, '97 855 GLT > 265K km. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).

Sorry Chris, just could not resist this:

My V90 on the other hand, I LOVE that car, except for the fact that it needs an evap core, haha.


How many hours a year do you need the a/c??

Down here (Houston, TX) it has a priority barely lower than food and shelter.

Regards,

Bob

:>)

Hi Bob,

We only really need A/C here from June until Sept and not every day. I still want it fixed though as I don't like it when things don't work the way they should (climate control). I also don't like a burning hot car in the middle of the summer! The car is in winter storage right now and I've been thinking about starting to take the dash out soon. I'm not sure I want to pay someone to do this job, but we'll see. The A/C failed on both my Volvos this past summer. The evap core in the V90 and the 960's compressor :( Agh, why can't Volvo make better A/C systems?!? Dad's Acura is a '93 with 260K km, we've never touched the A/C and it still just about freezes you in the middle of the summer...
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 206K km, '94 964 > 100K mi, '97 855 GLT > 265K km. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).

I still want it fixed though as I don't like it when things don't work the way they should (climate control).


Yes, I can relate to that. I spend time getting things shipshape that, in the larger scheme of things, should be let go.


Would you post when you start the evap core job, to "lead the way" for othersm like me, who might face the same job?

Thanks,

Bob

:>)

Hi Bob,

Yep, if I do the job I'll have to make sure to post some pics and stuff. I'm gonna talk to my mechanic though to see how much he'd want to do the job. If it's not too much, I might go for that to save myself some headaches. The thing is; in doing the job yourself, not only do you save money, but you know it was done 'right' as well (well, hopefully, hahaha). Time will tell, I do want this fixed for summer!
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 206K km, '94 964 > 101K mi, '97 855 GLT > 267K km. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).

Ok, on my way home from work tonight (driving my sister's gas drinking Jeep Liberty), I stopped at my mechanic's and tried disconnecting the TPS and taking the 960 for a drive. Well, apart from the check engine light, flashing arrow and W/S/E lights the car seemed to work normally! The trans was a *little* rough shifting, but I figure that's just because the car was cold. I reconnected the TPS again and took the car for another drive: The trans was totally screwed up and if it did upshift it was at high RPM and low load. So, therefore it seems the TPS is faulty. My mechanic said he's going to be in the shop for a short time tomorrow morning, so he's going to see if he can locate me a new TPS. Hopefully that will get my 960 happily back on the road...
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 206K km, '94 964 > 97K mi. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).

Hey CW-Man thats cold weather ya got up up there-the oil coming back from the top of the engine sounds like there's pressure coming back from your oil breather box-with it that cold it may not be flowing fast enough thru there to keep internal engine presure where it sould be. As for the tranny I would unhook the neg side of the battery and then after 5 min or so hook her back up-then try to se if you can make those codes dissapear with your sacnner.
You say that you have unhooked the air valve in the intake box-that means your drawing cold air all the time. That works great here in Va-but as cold as it's getting where you are I would try this-the snorkle that leads to the outside from your airbox-just uhook the snorkle and let the engine get air from inside the engine compartment-be sure to hook it back up when the temps start rising again in the spring. That should give the throttle body a little heat.
Man 20 below's cold.
Hope that helps
Poolman

Hey Poolman, thanks for the advise. We already tried resetting the ECU both with the scanner and by unplugging the battery. Actually, the battery was unplugged for about 30 sec and then again overnight. Both times we were not able to get rid of all the codes according to the scanner. Hopefully my mechanic will get a chance to look at it again this afternoon and maybe use some of the diagnostic info I found for him. If he doesn't figure it out, I'll have to look into it this weekend and see if I can figure anything out. I'm really hopeing it's a bad TPS or something like that, but who knows. Maybe the TCM is bad, they seem pretty set on that, but it's an unusuall problem.
As for the air valve in the intake box, I couldn't reinstall the sensor as I broke part of the setup when I removed it. So, actually my dad looked at it and figured out a easy way to control it manually while I was cleaning the throttle body. I *think* I've got that problem fixed. I too figure the PCV thing has something to do with the really cold temps and maybe the throttle plate issue. If it does it again when it's warmer outside, then we'll have to take the PCV system apart. The flame trap thing is clean, so if there's a prob I guess it would have to be in the box...
Yeah, -20C is pretty cold, especially with windchill. We only usually get those kind of temps for a short time in the middle of the winter though (thankfully).
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 206K km, '94 964 > 100K mi, '97 855 GLT > 265K km. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).

Hi CW.

I hope the TPS solves the problem. My first 'WAG' was going to be the TPS. Good luck and let us know.

DEWFPO
--
1998 S90 077,400 and 1995 964 154,100

Hi Walt,

Well, I couldn't get my hands on a new TPS today, so I decided to take the one off the V90 as it's just sitting in storage. I used it to replace the failed TPS on the 960, cleared all the codes and took the car for a drive. The tranny acted exactly the way it should as was as smooth as ever! Seems like things are back to normal :) Hopefully they'll stay that way. I looked inside the old TPS and found some water drops, which must have leaked in around the throttle plate shaft when the throttle plate was stuck last time :( I think I have that all fixed now. As a bonus, today I found a great deal on a complete set of front struts/mounts/springs and rear shocks/mounts for our 855. The guy I got them from had them sitting around for years and they were off a '99 S70 that was totalled with 700 km on it!!! Yeah, I said 700. Apparently it rolled off a train when it was nearly new or something like that...
--
Chris. Halifax N.S. '98 V90 > 206K km, '94 964 > 101K mi, '97 855 GLT > 267K km. SOLD: '91 745T and '91 745 NA (I miss both of them!).