Danish embassy 940

[Steve 940]

Good luck with picking the new car up, hope it’s as good in the ‘flesh’.👍

Just need to get a box of the ambassador’s favourite chocolates to pop on the rear shelf😀😀

Look forward to your post with first impressions after a hopefully uneventful return journey.

Cheers
Steve

[Simmy]

Originally Posted by RollingThunder

Well thats the first of the 940 parts deliveries hidden in the garage

Valvoline MaxLife 10W40
NGK 6BPRES spark plugs

I already have a Mann oil filter in the garage, along with the sump plug washers, and I think I have a Mann air filter in a drawer there as well. I knew I'd be getting another 940 at some point, so I kept my spares lol.

Insurance arranged and train ticket bought, so I'm set. Just hope it is as good as it looks!!!

i hope the rail strike dose not scupper your travel arrangement. have you checked if it affects your trip ? looking forward to see your latest project. and maybe an entrant in the northen BKV ?

[RollingThunder]

Thanks, yes I'm hoping that it is as good as it looks, its always hard to tell from the photographs. The seller is a private collector and it has been stored indoors during his ownership (since 2015?) so it should be good...

I'm collecting it next Tuesday as I have a family do this weekend. Hopefully there won't be any transport issues by then! Coincidentally, I saw a brand new Fiat 500 in almost the identical colour last night, and it looked absolutely gorgeous! Can't wait to get the 940 home and machine polished I'll also give the plastic trim a going over with Wurth's plastic dye, so it should be looking almost as-new.

Northern BKV? Hopefully! The 850R isn't good enough yet, but I'm hoping the 940 will be of a suitably high standard. I'm going to contact the embassy to see if they can give me any further info too - always good to learn about a car's background especially if its as unusual as this one.

[RollingThunder]

Yesterday was VC-Day. Volvo Collection Day

It took 3 trains to get there, but eventually I arrived at the sellers premises to see the 940 sitting in the car park ready for me. It gleamed and looked absolutely gorgeous. The panels are sooo straight - not a single dint in sight, just the crease in the front bumper that had been disclosed in the advert. The interior is equally exceptional - virtually no marks or wear to the upholstery, and for a change the leather is quite supple!

So, after doing the deal I set off for the drive home - this one journey would be further than the car has travelled in the last year First thing - fill up with petrol... £105's worth! Unleaded was £1.95 down there (Sevenoaks), even in Tescos!

Initial impressions were that the car is exceptionally taut - it drives like a brand new car and I can't remember having a 940 that had suspension so good. Beautifully supple, no noises whatsoever - its a wonderful ride and I wafted along it typical 940 comfort.

The engine looks to be in superb condition - the cam lobes are like new, and inside the rocker cover the head is lightly golden with no sludging whatsoever. The seller said that he has always used Mobil 1 in it, and I found nothing to dispute that. The oil filter was a Mann one, which is my preference too.

Its not all roses though. The engine is flat. Utterly gutless and I'm wondering whether the turbo is functioning at all - hopefully its just a vacuum hose that has broken off. The idle is a bit lumpy as well, so that could also point to a vacuum issue. The accelerator cable has the usual sheath corrosion resulting in a very stiff accelerator pedal - the only part of me aching when I got home was my ankle!

The sunroof doesn't close fully - its about 3-4mm out of adjustment so there is quite a lot of buffeting noise. Luckily, the drain tubes seem to be unobstructed, as last nights heavy rainfall didn't result in a soggy cabin! I have to admit to checking the interior at 05:00 this morning as I was quite worried about it! Nevertheless, I'll need to attend to that asap. The car has been stored inside a barn as part of a private collection for many years, so I'll excuse the seller for not declaring that - its been a sunny day cruiser for one weekend a year by the sounds of it. (The seller also had various older Volvos to play with - 140s, 240s etc).

The bonnet has some stone chips and a small scratch, so that will need repainting next year, and I'll probably get the boot lid done as well, as there is some bubbling near the rear number plate. There is also the usual rusty hole in the corner of the battery tray, and I assume the same will be present under the washer fluid reservoir - I expected to find these, so no biggie really.

Some instrument and switch lamps aren't working, along with the auto transmission selector lamp which I remember very well as being a royal PITA to replace. One headlamp reflector is badly corroded, so I'll either replace it or get it re-chromed. The tyres, while new, are UniRoyal RainExpert3s (not RainSport) and are surprisingly noisy. I'm not sure what to do about those at the moment, but they may get replaced with some all seasons ready for the winter. They are very supple though, and of course they'll be very good in the rain.

There is no record of the cambelt being changed, so that'll need to be done, along with the other drive belts as they look out of adjustment and aged. In fact, if it hadn't been a redblock car (so a non interference engine) I wouldn't have driven it home - it would have been trailered back. But with there being no chance of destroying the engine if the cambelt snapped I decided to collect it and drive it home.

On the plus side, the brakes are stunning - better than the 850R. Very sharp bite and loads of power, so thats one area I won't need to attend to. Everything electrical seems to work ok apart from the aftermarket radio, which is fine as I'm either going to fit an original one (with a Pure DAB add on unit), or a Blaupunkt DAB.

The documentation includes a lot of service history, including some main dealer stuff, so I'll get a print out of it all from my local dealer. There is also some interesting Danish Embassy documents, and the important Special Delivery & Diplomatic Sales document folder and keyfob Sadly no Diplomatic Sales sticker on the car - I assume it was to keep it discrete.

The journey home was exactly 300km (its an all metric instrument cluster remember) which equates to around 185 miles, and the fuel gauge indicates a 1/3 tank depletion which is amazing. A rough calculation makes this around 29mpg, but I'll top up the tank at the weekend to get a more accurate figure.

So, overall I'm happy with the car. Disappointed about the sunroof as that is quite an involved job (need to drop the headliner a bit), but the rest is pretty much what I expected. I'm still loving the colour, and how comfortable a long distance cruiser it is!

In the meantime, I'll be ordering a lot of parts to get all the work done before winter - I have a few (cosmetic) jobs to do on the 850R as well, so they'll be fighting for attention lol. I just have to negotiate with SWMBO to get some free time to do it all...

[360beast]

Glad the trip home went well and another 940 is back on the road, they do not like to sit around!

Sounds like it needs some love and has been a bit neglected on the service front but nothing you can't sort out.

For the turbo I would check the actuator arm hasn't fallen off the wastegate pin, there is a clip that falls out allowing the arm to fall off so it makes no boost. If it is a LPT and coupled with a slushbox then it isn't going to be a quick car anyway but it should have some decent torque behind it.

I would check the plugs are NGK BPR6ES and gapped correctly to 0.7mm, the idle could be perished vacuum hoses, also check for splits in the hoses going in to the idle control valve which will probably need a good clean out too so two birds one stone.

It will probably want the fuel filter changing too as if it has been sat a long time between uses the fuel could have quite a bit of contamination in it. I used a genuine Volvo one in mine that also had Meyle branding on it so it might be worth using one of those if they're cheaper.

Check for oil inside the distributor too as the oil seal might be leaking and getting oil on the contact points.

All I all it sounds like a great car that just needs to be cared for again, nice to see another saloon too

Please keep us updated with the work you do on it with photos.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks 360beast, yes I'm writing up a shopping list right now Already got some new BPR6ES plugs to go in.

List is currently -

cambelt
aux belts x2
accelerator cable
headlamp driver side
air filter
HT leads
throttle body gasket
thermostat
bluecol coolant
mudflaps front & rear
gearbox lever selector lamp
distributor cap
rotor arm
fuel filter
GPS speedo! Used an app on my phone for the journey home, but something more convenient would be good

Already have oil, oil filter, various bulbs and several metres of 4mm ID silicon hose. IIRC I have an autobox selector bulb somewhere too - I remember that being stupidly expensive.

Will check the actuator arm at the weekend thanks. Pics of the car to follow, and I'll definitely be documenting all the work here.

One thing I forgot to mention is that it also has a working remote alarm fob! Remote locking at last, talk about mod cons!!!

[Steve 940]

As Luke said, great to here the collection went well and it’s as good in the flesh as hoped.
Pity about sunroof, just build a garage to store it, save having to fiddle with the roof😀
Cheers
Steve

[volvo always]

Great to hear the journey went well, and on the whole pleased with it.

My 1996 estate is an LPT Auto too, and I enjoy driving it too. Comfy, roomy and nice to work on.

Need to fit my rear summer tyres as nearside rear winter tyre has gone flat. Suspect rim leaking, as swapped out fronts to my summer tyres as nearside front Winter tyre was going flat too and was leaking on the inside rim. Needs a new tyre as worn on edge.

Mine needs a bit of welding on the offside rear jacking point for MOT in November. 10mm x 40mm hole. Plus cambelt and drive belts changing.

Sunroof on mine leaks like a sieve, not looked at drain holes yet, just taped shut with clear gorilla tape. Must also one day have another go at the leaking AC. Be nice to get it going again but already cost £350 so far!

Be nice to see your progress and updates. Nice to have another 940 on the road.

James.

[RollingThunder]

Had a quick look at the sunroof again this lunchtime, and was staggered to find it (the glass) was actually a bit loose!

Ten minutes of adjustment and tightening up the bolts, and viola! A sunroof that looks like its correctly positioned, and opens and closes fully Wow is that a relief, I really wasn't looking forward to dropping the headlining - they're so brittle these days.

I hope this Volvo will continue to treat me so well!

[Moomoo]

Excrement! I mean Excellent! 👍👍👍