I've had my '98 S90 for a year and a half now (literally the same car as the 960, just renamed). It's my first Volvo, and probably the favorite of any car I've ever had...very comfortable and dependable. 265k miles
In my family we had two times a 760 sedan (first and second model) and then a 960 sedan restyling (like the S90). Great cars, very roomy, comfortable and great to drive! I learn driving in the 90s with the 760 and had a lot of fun with it!
I really love your videos. The olden days definitely had more of a focus on being practical and reliable. Nowadays, everything that used to be durable feels gimmicky -- from cars to houses. I love saabs! If you could cover one of those, I'd love that!
Wow, amazing video - impressive! Thank you for posting this. I posted this wording on another 960 video because that's how passionate I am about this car. I for one am sad to see that these cars are getting more and more rare. I cannot speak about the estate version but I am the owner of a 1992 Volvo 960 Sedan up here in Montreal, Canada with the exact same engine as the one in this video and mine has the exact same wheels. I bought this car in 2017 for 500$ Canadian. The car has never seen winter, has zero rust and still has a beautiful paint job - I guess because the car was kept in a garage its entire life. The individual that sold me the car was the original owner. Nobody wanted to buy it because of a few minor mechanical issues. I am an engineer by trade and a former mechanic so I was not afraid to make this purchase. The car only had 154,000km when I bought it. Some facts about the 1st generation Volvo 960s like this one I would like to share based on my experience with this car: First, I made a modification to the weak, undersized, anemic timing belt. The car now uses the same timing belt as a 1997 Volvo 850 - a much stronger belt than the original and lasts roughly 60,000km (the original would last roughly 35,000km) easily before having to replace it. By the way, replacing the timing belt on these cars is a snap. It takes me 45 minutes to one hour. Second, the air box on these 1st generation 960s is very restrictive. I had the exact same air box as shown in this car in the video. My check engine light kept coming on indicating a problem with the mass airflow sensor. I kept cleaning the mass airflow sensor and reset the engine code but after 50km or so of driving, the check engine light would come back on with the same problem. The problem with these restrictive air boxes is that they would cause the car to run rich because not enough air made its way to the intake. What I did is, I went to the scrapyard and got an air box, intake hose and idle control valve from a 1997 Volvo 960 and replaced mine with that. Problem gone!! In fact, the car feels more powerful now and certainly more responsive!! Third, many of these 960s (the sedans did anyway) came with self-leveling rear suspension called Nivomat shock absorbers. When I got the car, the Nivomat shocks were leaking and the rear end was always sagging. When I checked it out, not only were the shocks leaking, the coil springs were broken on both sides as well. I bought from IPD USA a conversion kit and converted the rear suspension to a regular suspension kit. The car now drives like a dream! Finally, a last bit of relevant information I want to share... ever since I switched to AMSOIL 5W40 European motor oil, I noticed the car ran even smoother and saw an impressive improvement in gas mileage - something like 4% to 5% improvement. I thought at first there must be something wrong, but no... AMSOIL i the real deal - coupled with a MANN W917 oil filter. When I store the car for the winter, I have to open the gauge cluster because the speedometer and odometer stopped working this summer. These usually need to be resoldered but I will see once I open it up. Anyhow, sorry for the rant, I just wanted to share my experience with this car. It is such a delight to drive from the handling, the power. the feel of a rear-wheel drive and sound the engine makes. Thanks again for sharing your video, great work!! Cheers!
Great video! You speak very clearly and the sound is also crystal clear. High-sub UA-camr quality if you ask me… keep it up! Btw I’ve got a 93 960 sedan
@@americanchallenger You can find them from 1995 and later (V90). But the first ones (91-94) are gone. I suppose there are several reasons. They were fairly expensive cars to buy brand new. So only rich Swedes and companies could buy them. Therefore they did not sell nearly as well as the 940s. And they are also more fuel consuming and got more expensive parts. This made them decrease in value faster than less fuel consuming cars. When they got older they ended up in the wrong hands. Teenagers and young people bought them and treated them badly. We also got road salts in the southern half of the countries roads, taking their toll on older cars.
@@americanchallenger i live in russia, and pre-facelift 960 estates are rather rare here too. I guess it's the price when new, they were proper expensive, and since this is the least reliable (and the most expensive to run) combo - 30/43, 6304, nivomats and all, fewer survived than, say, 940s.
@@JagMan78 True. I have a pristine and low mileage 1991 model standing on my driveway, extremely rare but imported from Switzerland. Price new was about €61.500 back then, which was serious money.
I picked up a 98 960 a few months back myself. Looking forward to mating that 2.9 to the road! Ive got the parts just waiting for my license! Great video, not enough love for the 960/S90!
I have my Mom's 97 960 Wagon with 71,000 miles, I will have to check the owners manual again, but pretty sure it stated recommended timing belt change interval in the 70,000 mile range. As far as Volvo Tanks go, in 1975 I bought a new for 75 242 with the B-20 engine. When I say new for 75 the front suspension was changed to strut type. The B-20 was probably the best engine Volvo made. My Mom and Dad bought a 265 wagon with the PRV V-6, and what a disappointment the engine was. At around 50,000 miles both camshafts had to be replaced, the options were to remove the cylinder heads or drill holes in the firewall, as the cams had to be removed from the rear of the engine.
I have a 1998 V90 - a slightly improved 1960. One change is the balancing on the crankshaft, which enables the cambelt to last longer thatn previously.
You forgot the 140-series in your history lesson. The sedan came out in 1965 if i remember correctly. We hada 1973 145 when i was growingup. Had that car until 2009. Then it had 300k miles on the clock. An excellent car. We had lon caravan vacatins every year and dad drove it daily. He were a b smith so he could ix it himself. He fixed rust by adding stainless steel which he shaped with an hammer and anvil to the correct shape. So maybe 40% or so of that car were stainless steel in the end. Now i gota 97 S90 though. The penultimate 900-series car. Its for sale now with only 100k miles and damn its smooth and nota speck of rust. Im seeling that and keeping my 1996 Cadillac Deville. Itsa tough choice and i suspect the sane thing wouldbe to keep the Volvo but wel....
I bought a 940 as my first car and i love it. In the UK where i live they're fairly expensive to run, especially with fuel prices being so high and terrible MPG they give out but i'm also saving money on maintenance bills as they're just so solidly built. even when problems (rarely) occur, they're so simple to work on. its never let me down apart from when the alternator burnt out, but i wouldn't even consider it a problem as that alternator had lasted 30 whole years and was easy to replace. I also love the looks i get driving through town, people don't expect someone so young to drive a 30 year old volvo 🤣
Corrections to the video. Redblock is interference engine. It depends what the redblock engine type is. Earlier redblocks are not and later are interfierence. Early white engines had the cambelt issue but from 1995 it was not only balancer but the belt is wider and it can stand easily the same change interval that the redblock has.
The interference redblocks are the 230K and the 16V. The 16Vs didn't last all that long (88 to about 94, i think), the 230gk/fk/gt/ft were the last ones in production, and these don't bend valves.
nice seeing a video of a 960 i have a volvo 760GLE. It's sad that all the teenagers almost killed all the nice volvo's so there's only the clapped ones left im pretty lucky to get a 760 because there are about 800~ left of the same model (v6) in sweden
I bought a 98 V90 a while back..for $200, he said it needed a head gasket. It looked almost like a new car 120k miles I think. Ran great, no issues. However, I think it needed new shocks, just kind floated around like a boat. They are quite heavy, so rather pedestrian performance. My plan is to swap the drivetrain into my 73 1800es.
I think the tank era for volvo ended in 2008 when they came out with the P3 XC70s. I drive a 2004 P2 and it feels just as much as a tank as the old 240 I used to have. I still see a lot of them running around. They hold up to the northeast winters really well.
Yes you're absolutely right! Also, 2005 they were purchased by Ford, so technically the end of true Volvo. The early v70s and xc70s are incredibly well built and resistant to rust!
There is a 1997 s90 sedan for sale with 75k miles nearby me. It was a grandpa car and they're only asking $3k. It has been sitting for 2 years though, not sure if I should commit. I'm sure I will have to change all the fluids and belt/pulleys. What do you think?
My '98 960 is 25 years old and runs great, but is throwing a code for "torque converter won't lock up" (0741) and another for "trans temp sensor bad" (which can cause the torque converter to not lock up because of the lost trans fluid temp signal). Problem is that the trans fluid temp sensor's not available, so I can't replace it. Can't justify $5k in trans rebuild/converter work on a $1.5k car, so the trans temp sensor's a car killer. The car will be fine even w/o the torque converter lockup so long as I stay off the freeway. Longer runs w/o lock up will back the trans fluid, though. A shame, because the car's still great.
@@TurboWorld Well then i do hope you have them by having brought about pregnancy in an adult female, and that you will not be returning them to the school for using inappropriate language in front of their mother, like in that fry&laurie sketch.
just sorta proved how much worse the 960 is compared to its redblock counterpart. the unreliable whiteblock and the silly IRS suspension make it the ugly duckling of the range.
Depends how you look at it. The 960 definitely broke the mold of the simple, yet dependable red block cars, but along with it came lots of innovation that helped Volvo progress. The white block engine is far from unreliable and the only difference in the rear suspension is the nivomat self-leveling struts. The 960s still has a solid rear axle, and regular struts can be swapped in if the owner so desires. No, they are not the utilitarian workhorses of the lineup, but they still bring lots to the table.
saw the title, paused vid just to dislike it and leave this comment. NOT the pinnacle at all. Sincirely a REAL NON whiteblock motor volvo owner. 3 240s and a 740. White mielage is only impressive to those who arent familiar with the REAL volvos. the whole reason why they have the reputation of being bulletproof, unlike the motors they have...
@dreamsun69 the 960/S90 is a real Volvo. The white blocks are easily as reliable as the red blocks. I've seen plenty white block cars with mileage in excess of 250k miles running perfectly fine (including my own). People in the Volvo community romanticize the redblock too much.
@@dreamsun69 We have owned red blocks and white blocks since 1990. And still own them I mean. The red block is stronger, I agree with that, and the white block needs more care and maintenance. However, the white block was developed when Volvo was still Volvo, with engineers common to both engines. It's a more refined unit. If you want to tow a boat, get a red block. If you want to cruise on the motorway at 100 mph, get a white block. Both great engines. Though I do quite like my Saabs too..
"all the bricks that come before it"😄
I've had my '98 S90 for a year and a half now (literally the same car as the 960, just renamed). It's my first Volvo, and probably the favorite of any car I've ever had...very comfortable and dependable. 265k miles
Just bought one of these yesterday 👍
In my family we had two times a 760 sedan (first and second model) and then a 960 sedan restyling (like the S90).
Great cars, very roomy, comfortable and great to drive!
I learn driving in the 90s with the 760 and had a lot of fun with it!
I really love your videos.
The olden days definitely had more of a focus on being practical and reliable. Nowadays, everything that used to be durable feels gimmicky -- from cars to houses.
I love saabs! If you could cover one of those, I'd love that!
I will have a video coming up very soon featuring a Saab. Stay tuned.
Wow, amazing video - impressive! Thank you for posting this. I posted this wording on another 960 video because that's how passionate I am about this car. I for one am sad to see that these cars are getting more and more rare. I cannot speak about the estate version but I am the owner of a 1992 Volvo 960 Sedan up here in Montreal, Canada with the exact same engine as the one in this video and mine has the exact same wheels. I bought this car in 2017 for 500$ Canadian. The car has never seen winter, has zero rust and still has a beautiful paint job - I guess because the car was kept in a garage its entire life. The individual that sold me the car was the original owner. Nobody wanted to buy it because of a few minor mechanical issues. I am an engineer by trade and a former mechanic so I was not afraid to make this purchase. The car only had 154,000km when I bought it.
Some facts about the 1st generation Volvo 960s like this one I would like to share based on my experience with this car:
First, I made a modification to the weak, undersized, anemic timing belt. The car now uses the same timing belt as a 1997 Volvo 850 - a much stronger belt than the original and lasts roughly 60,000km (the original would last roughly 35,000km) easily before having to replace it. By the way, replacing the timing belt on these cars is a snap. It takes me 45 minutes to one hour.
Second, the air box on these 1st generation 960s is very restrictive. I had the exact same air box as shown in this car in the video. My check engine light kept coming on indicating a problem with the mass airflow sensor. I kept cleaning the mass airflow sensor and reset the engine code but after 50km or so of driving, the check engine light would come back on with the same problem. The problem with these restrictive air boxes is that they would cause the car to run rich because not enough air made its way to the intake. What I did is, I went to the scrapyard and got an air box, intake hose and idle control valve from a 1997 Volvo 960 and replaced mine with that. Problem gone!! In fact, the car feels more powerful now and certainly more responsive!!
Third, many of these 960s (the sedans did anyway) came with self-leveling rear suspension called Nivomat shock absorbers. When I got the car, the Nivomat shocks were leaking and the rear end was always sagging. When I checked it out, not only were the shocks leaking, the coil springs were broken on both sides as well. I bought from IPD USA a conversion kit and converted the rear suspension to a regular suspension kit. The car now drives like a dream!
Finally, a last bit of relevant information I want to share... ever since I switched to AMSOIL 5W40 European motor oil, I noticed the car ran even smoother and saw an impressive improvement in gas mileage - something like 4% to 5% improvement. I thought at first there must be something wrong, but no... AMSOIL i the real deal - coupled with a MANN W917 oil filter.
When I store the car for the winter, I have to open the gauge cluster because the speedometer and odometer stopped working this summer. These usually need to be resoldered but I will see once I open it up.
Anyhow, sorry for the rant, I just wanted to share my experience with this car. It is such a delight to drive from the handling, the power. the feel of a rear-wheel drive and sound the engine makes.
Thanks again for sharing your video, great work!!
Cheers!
Thank you for sharing.
I just want you to know that I was the 200th like. Fitting since I have 4 240s and only 2 960s ;-)
Great video! You speak very clearly and the sound is also crystal clear. High-sub UA-camr quality if you ask me… keep it up! Btw I’ve got a 93 960 sedan
My dream car! Unfortunately impossible to find a 960 Station Wagon in Sweden anymore.
Really? Why is that? I'm surprised as I figured they would be common. Same as finding an f-150 in America
@@americanchallenger You can find them from 1995 and later (V90). But the first ones (91-94) are gone. I suppose there are several reasons. They were fairly expensive cars to buy brand new. So only rich Swedes and companies could buy them. Therefore they did not sell nearly as well as the 940s. And they are also more fuel consuming and got more expensive parts. This made them decrease in value faster than less fuel consuming cars. When they got older they ended up in the wrong hands. Teenagers and young people bought them and treated them badly. We also got road salts in the southern half of the countries roads, taking their toll on older cars.
@@americanchallenger i live in russia, and pre-facelift 960 estates are rather rare here too. I guess it's the price when new, they were proper expensive, and since this is the least reliable (and the most expensive to run) combo - 30/43, 6304, nivomats and all, fewer survived than, say, 940s.
@@JagMan78 True. I have a pristine and low mileage 1991 model standing on my driveway, extremely rare but imported from Switzerland. Price new was about €61.500 back then, which was serious money.
I picked up a 98 960 a few months back myself. Looking forward to mating that 2.9 to the road! Ive got the parts just waiting for my license!
Great video, not enough love for the 960/S90!
Good luck with the 960!
I have my Mom's 97 960 Wagon with 71,000 miles, I will have to check the owners manual again, but pretty sure it stated recommended timing belt change interval in the 70,000 mile range. As far as Volvo Tanks go, in 1975 I bought a new for 75 242 with the B-20 engine. When I say new for 75 the front suspension was changed to strut type. The B-20 was probably the best engine Volvo made. My Mom and Dad bought a 265 wagon with the PRV V-6, and what a disappointment the engine was. At around 50,000 miles both camshafts had to be replaced, the options were to remove the cylinder heads or drill holes in the firewall, as the cams had to be removed from the rear of the engine.
Damn only 71k miles that things pretty much new mine is at 205k and still running like a champ you can get many years out of that car
940 turbo with some slight modifications, best winter car ever and also fast enough to have fun in summer
I have a 1998 V90 - a slightly improved 1960. One change is the balancing on the crankshaft, which enables the cambelt to last longer thatn previously.
You forgot the 140-series in your history lesson. The sedan came out in 1965 if i remember correctly. We hada 1973 145 when i was growingup. Had that car until 2009. Then it had 300k miles on the clock. An excellent car. We had lon caravan vacatins every year and dad drove it daily. He were a b smith so he could ix it himself. He fixed rust by adding stainless steel which he shaped with an hammer and anvil to the correct shape. So maybe 40% or so of that car were stainless steel in the end. Now i gota 97 S90 though. The penultimate 900-series car. Its for sale now with only 100k miles and damn its smooth and nota speck of rust. Im seeling that and keeping my 1996 Cadillac Deville. Itsa tough choice and i suspect the sane thing wouldbe to keep the Volvo but wel....
I bought a 940 as my first car and i love it. In the UK where i live they're fairly expensive to run, especially with fuel prices being so high and terrible MPG they give out but i'm also saving money on maintenance bills as they're just so solidly built. even when problems (rarely) occur, they're so simple to work on. its never let me down apart from when the alternator burnt out, but i wouldn't even consider it a problem as that alternator had lasted 30 whole years and was easy to replace. I also love the looks i get driving through town, people don't expect someone so young to drive a 30 year old volvo 🤣
Little correction, the 200 series kept up production until 1994, it outlived the 700 series.
Yeah I know but the 700 series was the intended successor to the 200
Corrections to the video. Redblock is interference engine. It depends what the redblock engine type is. Earlier redblocks are not and later are interfierence. Early white engines had the cambelt issue but from 1995 it was not only balancer but the belt is wider and it can stand easily the same change interval that the redblock has.
The interference redblocks are the 230K and the 16V. The 16Vs didn't last all that long (88 to about 94, i think), the 230gk/fk/gt/ft were the last ones in production, and these don't bend valves.
"I wouldve still been in Maine, to this day!" Lmfao
The timing belts on later models like my s90 were quite thicker and have an interval of 120,000km
Early blocks suffered from poor quality aluminum tho
Agreed with this. I had to do a double take when he said later cars were only good to 30k miles 😂
nice seeing a video of a 960 i have a volvo 760GLE. It's sad that all the teenagers almost killed all the nice volvo's so there's only the clapped ones left im pretty lucky to get a 760 because there are about 800~ left of the same model (v6) in sweden
underrated keep it up!!!
Thanks man! More to come.
I bought a 98 V90 a while back..for $200, he said it needed a head gasket. It looked almost like a new car 120k miles I think. Ran great, no issues. However, I think it needed new shocks, just kind floated around like a boat. They are quite heavy, so rather pedestrian performance.
My plan is to swap the drivetrain into my 73 1800es.
Great video :)
Love the video mate!
I think the tank era for volvo ended in 2008 when they came out with the P3 XC70s. I drive a 2004 P2 and it feels just as much as a tank as the old 240 I used to have. I still see a lot of them running around. They hold up to the northeast winters really well.
Yes you're absolutely right! Also, 2005 they were purchased by Ford, so technically the end of true Volvo. The early v70s and xc70s are incredibly well built and resistant to rust!
@@americanchallenger so I have the newest possible real Volvo! 320,000 miles on the original engine as far as I know.
@@coolbluelights sounds about right! Enjoy it
There is a 1997 s90 sedan for sale with 75k miles nearby me. It was a grandpa car and they're only asking $3k. It has been sitting for 2 years though, not sure if I should commit. I'm sure I will have to change all the fluids and belt/pulleys. What do you think?
like your style man
Thanks!!
I love my 965🤌🏼
It started long before the 240, just take a look at the 140 and 120/130 before that.
Back to Volvos, like!
You know it!
Oh yeah, greets from Finland , sir! :) My daily driver, a Volvo 940 wagon, yes it is a brick by all good means ;
Note that the 960 was available with a redblock, the Turbo flavor, and even the 16v version of it.
Not in U.S.
You may be referring to different engine types offered for the 900 series as a whole
Is the 2.9 N/A a reliable, and what would it need to be reliable
Yes, just routine maintenance and timing belt changes
My '98 960 is 25 years old and runs great, but is throwing a code for "torque converter won't lock up" (0741) and another for "trans temp sensor bad" (which can cause the torque converter to not lock up because of the lost trans fluid temp signal). Problem is that the trans fluid temp sensor's not available, so I can't replace it. Can't justify $5k in trans rebuild/converter work on a $1.5k car, so the trans temp sensor's a car killer. The car will be fine even w/o the torque converter lockup so long as I stay off the freeway. Longer runs w/o lock up will back the trans fluid, though. A shame, because the car's still great.
I pushed that 30k timing belt interval on my 93 960 and learned the hard way how to kill my beloved car. I really miss that car
AISIN transmissions are comfortable but I agree they are not so quick
Can we say how cute he is god :) ❤
What's a Vulva?
I wish you to find out one day. Some of them are very nice.
@@zloychechen5150 let me ask my kids if they know what it is. Ha ha.
@@TurboWorld Well then i do hope you have them by having brought about pregnancy in an adult female, and that you will not be returning them to the school for using inappropriate language in front of their mother, like in that fry&laurie sketch.
just sorta proved how much worse the 960 is compared to its redblock counterpart. the unreliable whiteblock and the silly IRS suspension make it the ugly duckling of the range.
Depends how you look at it. The 960 definitely broke the mold of the simple, yet dependable red block cars, but along with it came lots of innovation that helped Volvo progress. The white block engine is far from unreliable and the only difference in the rear suspension is the nivomat self-leveling struts. The 960s still has a solid rear axle, and regular struts can be swapped in if the owner so desires. No, they are not the utilitarian workhorses of the lineup, but they still bring lots to the table.
saw the title, paused vid just to dislike it and leave this comment. NOT the pinnacle at all.
Sincirely a REAL NON whiteblock motor volvo owner. 3 240s and a 740.
White mielage is only impressive to those who arent familiar with the REAL volvos. the whole reason why they have the reputation of being bulletproof, unlike the motors they have...
Hahaha
@dreamsun69 the 960/S90 is a real Volvo. The white blocks are easily as reliable as the red blocks. I've seen plenty white block cars with mileage in excess of 250k miles running perfectly fine (including my own). People in the Volvo community romanticize the redblock too much.
@@Aleiza_49 BUUUURRRRRRR WRONG, redblock best motor ever dont lie to yourself.
@@dreamsun69 We have owned red blocks and white blocks since 1990. And still own them I mean. The red block is stronger, I agree with that, and the white block needs more care and maintenance. However, the white block was developed when Volvo was still Volvo, with engineers common to both engines. It's a more refined unit. If you want to tow a boat, get a red block. If you want to cruise on the motorway at 100 mph, get a white block. Both great engines. Though I do quite like my Saabs too..
What's with the habd movements? Lol