It was pretty easy actually. I thought the IRS would droop too far since I couldn't see any stops for it anywhere. So I jacked the rear up, took off the tire and supported the trailing arm. I took the old one off and put in the new. I attached the top mount but the bottom was tough, since it is new and gas filled it was quite stiff. So I let the trailing arm down. Lo and behold, it went doen far enough for me to easily out the lower mount in with no problem.

These are not the dreaded Nivormats so they were fairly cheap. Aftermarket pats are not available. I tried Gabriels from a local jobber but the lower mounts were too small. Be warned, use Volvo shocks.

The shock code is contained on the plate on top of the radiator, 5th line, 4th character. My 4th line was blank. IE, 031Y35a, 'Y' is the shock code.

It only took about an hour and whie I had the tires off and the car in the air, I tightened all the bolts I could see, size 17mm and 18mm.

That's all for now.

Next task, tie rod ends on the 740T.

Over the years I have used many Koni shock absorbers and have loved them. I found the Koni part number for our non-Nivomat cars, 95 and later 960, S/V90 is 30-1609. There is no stock world wide, so I will have to place an order and wait 6 weeks or more for the next run. I now need to find a dealer to take my order. I have 2 places, both in NY to call.

Looks like a lot of our shock codes are "Y", Non-Nivomat, on these Multi-Link II suspensions. Those composite transverse leafs seem to work well.

Looks like the front struts could be the same part nymber as they have always been on the 700/900 cars. Need to ask my friendly Parts guy to do some checking for me. (Unless someone reading this already knows the answer.)

As I mentioned, the lower mounts are much larger than the regular shocks. Make sure Koni knows this. You can check it by removing the lower mount and measuring the mounting sleve. This will save you a lot of time. I would have prefered Bilsteins, but they are only available up to 1994.

BTW, I think it's great Koni will make up a custom batch for you. Maybe they will produce them and make them available for our cars. That would be nice.

BTW, I had Konis on an Opel Manta way back when. The adjustment procedure was a PITA. Any change?

Hi all,

Do my eyes deceive me, Can a indi. rear end Volvo not have Nivomats????

If so how in the Hell do I get rid of these costly buggers. I've been told that I was stuck with them?? Do I just switch the shocks and springs, or is fabricating involved??? I have a 940 SE AND a 760 TI, both with the

indipendent rear ends. I want to lower the cars, but with the IRS with the Nivomats, I did'nt think it was poss.

Please Help

Alex Pieper

Yes, strange as it seems, I am blessed. I did notice however, there are coil spring seats welded to the chassis over the trailing arm. My car has the green fiberglass leaf spring. I also thought there might be enough room for some auxillary coils attached to the shocks. Some experimentation would be in order though.

Hey Warren:

Well that sounds like it was fairly painless. What made you decide to replace the shocks. Do any of the 96 965s have Nivomats (like, how could I tell if I have Nivomats or not?)

Just as an aside, have you ever tried to replace the differential fluid in the 965? I bought synthetic diff fluid, thinking I would replace the fluid in the 965 as I had done in the 240. But I can't seem to get a wrench on the bolt because the suspension is in the way. Any ideas on what to do?

Okay, just by the way again, I flushed the automatic tranny last night. With 60,000 miles on it the fluid was black, smelly and opague. After draining and refilling three times it made a big difference in how smoothly the tranny shifts. Have you flushed your tranny?

Thanks for the info.

Well the rear shocks had just about no damping left in them. The rear end would waffle up and down, but it was a comfortable ride. Now the rear end sits up a little higher than before. Nivormats are an 'option' on some cars and have a bellows. I don't have them so I can't tell for sure.

I have not tried to replace the diff. fluid. There has to be a way to replace the fluid without taking the car apart.

I had the trans fluid flushed professionally with a machine. It too came out black and awful. The filter needs to be replaced though. One thing I notoced is a small amount of slippage after a stop. This is due to debris in the pan that is sucked up into the filter. This is an area I need to fix. I don't want any trans problems. there aren't too many AW-43's around, unline the AW-71.

BTW, I used s/v 90 in the model since it more accuratly describes the model, unlike the 940.

w

Do you know if there is a real filter or is it just a screen to be cleaned? Have you tried to get a transmission filter/pan gasket kit anywhere? I wonder how difficult it would be to replace the filter?

I don't know. Go to the dealer, get the filter and change it. The fluid will have to be drained, the pan dropped and the filter replaced. Adding new oil is a PITA, it looks like, since the fill tube is so far down and really only accessible from underneath the car. I'm not ready for that. perhaps a call to my fave tech guy.

My car ic getting close to 90Kmi and another major service. I'll have to get the filter changed.

BTW, I like/dislike the oil filter location. Easy to chage it, compared to my 744Ti, easy to get wacked by highway debris.

I did find a "filter kit" at gaba for about $29, which I assume includes the pan gasket. It doesn't look too difficult to get the pan down; since it has a drain plug at least you wouldn't get ATF all over you when you took the pan down. I am thinking about doing the filter change since you mentioned it. Two things I did to make refilling the ATF easier: The filler plug is the right size for a long 1/2" socket extension to snap into the top of it. So get a cheap long extension, fit it into the filler cap, and you can pull it right off. I also went to Lowes (same as Home Depot) and bought a few feet of 1/2" outside diameter vinyl hose and duct taped one end to my funnel and put the other end in the filler neck hole. Then I could refill it with relatively little fuss.

I also like the oil filter location for ease of service (although I wish they had a trap door in the belly pan for it!) but I have the same concern you do about its susceptibility to being knocked off by highway debris. When I bought the car the belly pan was broken so for a while the old oil filter just rode along stuck out there by itself. Always worried the wife might hit something with it and knock it off (she ran over a log once).

Thanks for the reply. My rear shocks are performing about like yours, and there is a little rear end sag. I don't think I have Nivomats, but I'll have to check.

I knew there was a filter in the tranny, but I had hoped to avoid changing it, at least this time. I did drain mine from the pan, rather than the transmission cooler lines, because I had difficulty with the cooler line fittings. It may have been good that I drained from the pan as maybe I got out some of the worst debris. Maybe next time I do this I'll pull the pan and change the filter.

Hope everything is going well up there in NVA. If I get up there this summer to visit my mom (in Falls Church) I'll give you a yell.

Mike

Mike, you should be able to completely flush this tranny through the cooler lines into the radiator, just like a 940 unless I am mistaken. Check the FAQ auto tranny section. Correct me if I am wrong.

Steve:

I think you are correct, and I came prepared to do just that, and had printed off the directions from your 700/900 mantenance tips. But when I tried to get the transmission line fittings off it appeared that they were cross threaded, so I figured the better part of valor at that time was to do the pull the plug, add two quarts, pull the plug, add two quarts, until I ran out of time. I am going to run six more quarts through, but can't until the weekend. Still made a big difference.

I had a dealer check the shocks on our S90 and they were regular shocks he said. I believe beginning with 1996 960 they only had regular shocks.

Jack:

That's good to know. I think mine are regular shocks. A lot less expensive to deal with.