960 - Mystery part under my bonnet! Not connected to anything, what is it?

Hi,

I bought a Volvo 960 3L 24v last week and when I looked under the
bonnet (it's overheating...but I'll come to that in another post) I
noticed that I have a black unit which is disconnected from the
electrics, and looks like it should have a pipe coming from it.

I know virtually nothing about cars (I'm trying to learn fast) so I've
no clue what it would be. What I do know is that photos of other 960s
show the unit connected to something on top of the engine, something
that mine doesn't have.

Here is a picture of another 960 with the part I have, and the other
bits that I don't have, labelled:
http://www.fundamentum.co.uk/volvo/mysterypart.mht

I have tried to buy a Haynes manual but they don't appear to print one
for the 960. Is there another variant which has the same engine, etc?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Simon

 

The motor driven unit is the secondary air pump which pumps fresh air into
the exhaust for upto around 30seconds at cold start to improve emissions and
cat-light up time. The hose ducts the air to the anti-back-fire valve which
is the silver unit ontop of the exhaust manifold.

tim..

 

Thanks a lot for the reply. Is it a major problem that my car doesn't
appear to have the anti-back-fire valve or any plumbing from the
secondary air pump?

Thanks again

Simon