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.

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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!).