Learn me Volvo 850

Nice 96 850 GLT Sports wagon 5 speed in my sights, 200M with excellent body, mid $2s It's been on the market a few weeks -- I'm guessing because it's a 5 speed, which I like! Please, teach me the rights and wrongs and problems, if any, with this model.

In reply to motomad1:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/learn-me-volvo-850s/38356/page1/

'96 GLT is NOT turbo, GLT wasn't turbo until '97 and even then it was the "low pressure" turbo. I have a '95 GLT auto, it's slow, but is pretty dang reliable. The manual will be more fun.

• Lee

I had the '95 850 wagon w/ 5 speed. Being a manual it will then be a NA car as well since turbo only got automatic. I had mine from 106k miles to 165k miles and now my brother is driving it with little fanfare or issues. Not fast but the 5 speed does make it spirited and fun-ish. The utility was great and with all the seats folded you can stuff a lot back there. I typically got 24mpg for combined driving and could get as high as 27 mpg if just low speed highway. The seats and the solid-ness of the car make it a really nice highway cruiser. I took mine from Ohio to St. Louis once and Ohio to Alabama. We had other cars that were newer to take but the Volvo was just made for the highway!
AC is the killer, the evaporator is well behind the dash and requires removal of dash, wheel and some engine side hardware to replace it. Here is the 23 page DIY guide. http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/VolvoEvapReplace.pdf
My AC required a shot of 134a at the begining of summer and another mid year which at $10 per shot was much cheaper than removing the whole dash.
Part are readily available and ordering online save money. For the few things I needed I ordered through www.fcpgroton.com
Here are some links to typical repairs:
http://www.volvospeed.com/maintenance.shtml

I loved mine. In these years, I think the dark colored leather seating is much more durable than the tan seating. The tan seems to crack and wear through quicker so I would avoid a tan interior if possible.

I found that mine ran better on genuine volvo brand spark plugs which are gapped properly right out of the box. When ordered online the extra cost was insignificant.

Thanks 'bigdaddylee82, you didn't turn up on my search probably my fault. I'd like to add some HP and handling. Comments?

The interior cover on the rear hatch will rattle. There is a replacement plastic clip set that will help some but I personally really found the answer was a drill through the plastic and add sheet metal screws. This keeps the plastic in place and makes removal easy as well (if needed.)

In reply to motomad1:

HP. Not really, throttle response, a little. Swap the throttle blade (butterfly, or whatever you call it) from a 960 into the 850 throttle body. The 850 throttle body has a plastic baffle in it, to help keep soccer moms from spinning their tires when they mash the go peddle.

There's a baffle/thermostat in the air filter box that directs where the engine get's it's fresh air from. It's choices are a very restrictive corrugated tube attached to a heat shield on the exhaust manifold (it's more of a headder), or a ram-air style intake above the radiator. If the thermostat fails, which is common, the baffle closes off the fresh air side, and will only be able to intake hot air from the small tube attached to the exhaust. It's supposed to help with engine warm up and prevent throttle body icing in colder climates. Most wedge the baffle to the fresh air side. My air box is completely modded, entire baffle assembly removed and gutted. Some scoff at it and claim they've had icing issues with just the baffle wedged to the fresh side, I've spent a winter in OH with it now with no problems.

Otherwise, "Stage 0" is what all the Volvo nerds call it. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc. The consensus is that there is no cost effective way of making serious power gains with a N/A Volvo. If you want power/speed buy a turbo. There's a guy who built a sweet N/A 850 track rat, ITBs, head work, gutted interior, stand-alone ecm, etc. He claimed it to be about as fast as a stock T5.

Now handling YES there's plenty you can do. IPD will be your source for a lot of it, or at least part numbers. IPD front and rear sway bars, I wouldn't waste money on HD sway bar links, but that's my opinion. Konki Yellows or FSD, with some Eibach or H&R springs. Use XC90 spring seats, and the IPD HD strut mounts have good reviews. I've got the cheap OBX strut tower brace they sell on eBay, it's got great reviews considering how cheap it is, but I have no other supporting components to really justify having it.

There're recipes for fitting S60R and Porsche 993TT and 928GTS calipers with 302mm rotors on Volvospeed.com You gotta go with a 17" wheel though, and possibly spacers too.

• Lee

jrw1621 wrote: I had the '95 850 wagon w/ 5 speed. Being a manual it will then be a NA car as well since turbo only got automatic. I had mine from 106k miles to 165k miles and now my brother is driving it with little fanfare or issues. Not fast but the 5 speed does make it spirited and fun-ish. The utility was great and with all the seats folded you can stuff a lot back there. I typically got 24mpg for combined driving and could get as high as 27 mpg if just low speed highway. The seats and the solid-ness of the car make it a really nice highway cruiser. I took mine from Ohio to St. Louis once and Ohio to Alabama. We had other cars that were newer to take but the Volvo was just made for the highway! AC is the killer, the evaporator is well behind the dash and requires removal of dash, wheel and some engine side hardware to replace it. Here is the 23 page DIY guide. http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/VolvoEvapReplace.pdf My AC required a shot of 134a at the begining of summer and another mid year which at $10 per shot was much cheaper than removing the whole dash. Part are readily available and ordering online save money. For the few things I needed I ordered through www.fcpgroton.com Here are some links to typical repairs: http://www.volvospeed.com/maintenance.shtml I loved mine. In these years, I think the dark colored leather seating is much more durable than the tan seating. The tan seems to crack and wear through quicker so I would avoid a tan interior if possible. I found that mine ran better on genuine volvo brand spark plugs which are gapped properly right out of the box. When ordered online the extra cost was insignificant.

Many thanks

In reply to bigdaddylee82:

I like

jrw1621 wrote: Being a manual it will then be a NA car as well since turbo only got automatic.

Only true in the US - not that the OP is here but in Canada we got turbos and 5 spd.'s!

There were 850 & V/S70 turbo manuals in the US, the T5, T5-R, and R were all available with a stick.

Seriously don't get your hopes up power wise. Yes the manual will make for more spirited driving, but it just won't be fast. I know speed is relative, but a N/A 850 is not the best platform if you're goals are performance, anything is possible if you've got the money though.

I've got a 960 throttle plate, gutted (baffle/thermostat removed) air box, Amsoil Ea filter, de-screened MAF, E3 plugs (waste of money), Blue (don't recall the brand) plug wires (pretty but also a waste), and I've even got a functional retrofitted Volvo Variable Induction System VVIS ('94 head/intake with huge square intake ports, and rpm reactive intake runners). My girl's bone stock '09 TDI Jetta blows it away.

There are no "bolt-ons," the stock N/A cams already have the highest lift/duration, of stock cams, otherwise it's $$$ custom grinds, and the stock valves are larger than any other factory source. If your goal is performance; without major machine work, or adding a some form of forced induction, you aren't likely to be happy.

Now if you want a reliable, easy to work on, semi-efficient, unique-ish, safe, cheap to insure, beater, commuter, then the N/A 850 is right up your alley.

• Lee

Just out of curiosity, how difficult is it to turbo a non-turbo? Does the turbo manifold/turbo bolt up?

bigdaddylee82 wrote: Seriously don't get your hopes up power wise. Yes the manual will make for more spirited driving, but it just won't be fast.

I always said that my 850 NA felt like a big 4cyl or a small 6cyl which is about right considering it is a 5 cyl.

In reply to Run_Away:

It's been done, the hive mind of Volvospeed instantly jumps on the "waste of time, waste of money, N/A should only be used for body parts, intakes, throttle bodies, and cams to put on their turbo models" bandwagon.

There's enough salvage parts these days that it wouldn't be terribly difficult or extremely expensive, if you were so inclined. Exhaust manifold would bolt on, use a low pressure turbo and injectors off of any of the 2.4l turbos i.e. S70 GLT, the space for the intercooler is still there on the N/A models. I don't know what turbo ECM you'd want to use, would probably want a factory turbo ECM with a custom tune, but you'll need the turbo model engine wiring harness to go with it. I always thought if I ever did it, I'd "piggy back" a Split Second PSC1 or something similar with the stock N/A ECM, a wide band to tune it, then all the other necessary bits, tube, bov, etc. Again the "know-it-alls" all seem to think you'll destroy the N/A 2.4l but I believe it's all primarily typical regurgitated teenager forum speak, if ya know what I mean. It's not been done enough and documented in the States for me to forum a conclusion towards reliability, and power "return on investment" and my Swedish ain't so good.

• Lee

I'll just echo what's already been said. My current DD is a '96 850 GLT wagon, but it's an auto. I bought it in April with 110k on it, now has 117k. I really like it. Awesome seats, very comfy cruiser. Tons of utility. Fuel mileage is not bad for a mid-size wagon. Has all the luxury dohickies of you're into that stuff. They're not a must have for me, but since they're there, what the hell. It's a great all around DD.

Power? Not really. I wouldn't even bother trying to make it faster, wouldn't be worth the money. It's not as slow as an automatic Hyundai Accent, but it's not fast. If you want to put the bucks into handling, you can. I personally think mine handles pretty well in stock form for a 15 year old station wagon. Steering is light, but it handles well. I have no plans to race it, so I'm happy with what I have.