Hi guys. Thanks for all the quick replys. I am a little confused by psfred"s reply though. You said your volvo turns about 2700 at 70, and the 87 300 D turns about 2500 at 70. as i said, mine turns about 3200 at 70. So far the concensus seems to be that this is normal for my car, so i'm gonna go ahead and drive it. thanks again, Pete