r/VolvoRWD

I found a cheap (<$3000) 1995 960 with 270k miles on Facebook marketplace. I want a Volvo wagon for road trip purposes, I was actually looking for 850s because late-model RWD Volvos are pretty hard to find, when I found this one.

The body seems pretty clean and the pictures show there's no serious leaks or anything. I'm of two minds, on one hand that's a lot of miles (and I'm familiar with high mileage cars, I have a 250k Accord daily driver and 240k turboed miata). On the other hand, a car that's lasted that long has clearly been cared for at least, and the whiteblock seems to have a good reputation.

The only issues listed are the fuel gauge not working (broken fuel sending units seem to be a common issue, and are unfortunately unobtanium?), the A/C not working very well (I'm willing to bite the bullet and just replace the entire system if it comes down to it), and the heat being not very good (could just be a heater valve, but also could indicate greater cooling system issues?).

I'm looking at it this weekend, is there anything I should look out for? Is the 960 more comfortable than an 850? The better fuel mileage of the 850 is tempting.

Greetings!

I recently made a post about a non-turbo 740 from 1991 not passing smog due to high NOx at 25 mph, all other tests were fine. My latest test was 701 ppm, needs to be below 507 ppm.

Since then, I've replaced the O2 sensor, replaced the fuel filter, fixed an exhaust leak at the flange between the manifold and the pipe, and fixed a minor leak in the intake. Additionally, I addressed the heated air intake - the thermostat was indeed stuck open, causing the main intake to be permanently closed and the car only operating on hot air. Lastly, I ran a bottle of GTP in just for good measure. Before the test, I filled it with 91 octane, aired up the rear tires, and drove for about 20 min to heat up the cat.

All of those actions dropped my NOx to 600 ppm, which is still quite a bit above the limit. I hope that it will pass on my 4th attempt :( Do any of you have suggestions for what else to check? The last things that come to mind are fuel pumps and maybe the cat, though it was replaced in 2015 so I was hoping it would be good as it easily passed 2 years ago.

Thanks for being part of this awesome community!

https://preview.redd.it/a1sy91ruyq0h1.png?width=3000&format=png&auto=webp&s=e1df61bdae6cfba46908d5ff9a2f9f7f9d7099e2

As the title says, I´m looking for some ideas for those additional cooler grill badges, like the original Lambda Sond badge. What was usually put on by owners, preferably 900 series?