Learn me Volvo 850s?

(search is returning nothing but errors) :(

I'm poking around for a cheap, more practical car that will fit a car seat and (preferably) a dog, and also do a better job of towing a shifter kart trailer (~600-1000lbs) than my RX-8 (which basically won't).

A black '96 Volvo 850 GLT 5-speed wagon has caught my eye. 171k, asking $2400. Looks pretty clean. ~3300lb tow rating.

From what I can tell, they are pretty solid cars. Anything to watch out for? Any parts that are common failure points? Any unobtanium parts?

I had a '95 Turbo Wagon and it was sweet. All sorts of room for your goodies in the back.

The PCV system was already replaced on mine and I heard they can be a pain. A bad system has a habbit of blowing out your oil seals & rear main seal. I replaced the ignition (circular electronic part), water pump and timing belt on mine. Everything was very simple and I still keep my eye out for another nice one.

I recently came across a 850R wagon for $1k that supposedly needs a fuel pump...

I DD a '95 GLT, all GLTs were non turbo until '97. In '97 the GLT got a "low pressure" turbo.

I think if I did a lot of towing I'd want a turbo. The N/A cars are not even remotely quick, though having a manual will improve things a little. For $2400, with that mileage and age I'd expect it to have had the timing, water pump, and related parts changed, before I purchased it.

Timing belt change interval for this model is 70K miles, or ~7 years which ever comes first. They are very reliable cars, but they are interference engines, if you loose the timing belt, water pump (driven by timing belt), tensioner, or idler, you will at the very least be rebuilding the head.

Not trying to scare you, if you take care of it, or the previous owner has treated it like they should, there's nothing to worry bout.

PCV is a "strange" system on these cars, but being N/A it's less prone to plugging up and causing cam and main bearing seals to blow out. It requires completely removing the intake manifold and a lot of other stuff to replace it.

There's really no parts you can't get, and they are really no more expensive than any other similar car, thanks mostly to online retailers like IPD and FCPGroton.

A/C evaporators seem to fail a lot, if there is no cabin filter to prevent crap getting sucked in and piling up on it. If it must be replaced the ENTIRE dash has to come out. Though I've not ever had a cabin filter, and mine works fine. (knocks on wood)

Front upper coil spring seats on the struts seem to wear faster on some models than others. Spring seats from an XC90 are a cheap heavy duty direct swap.

Outer tie rod ends, and lower control arms/ball joints, should be replaced with Volvo/OEM equivalent parts only, nothing else seems to hold up. Same for the heater core, only use the OEM replacement (Behr).

The heater hose coupler on the fire wall to the heater core, is an asinine, design, if you have to replace it, save yourself the head ache, and just buy enough hose and some clamps, and don't bother replacing the coupler.

Hmm, I'm sure I'll think of something else, but that's pretty much he gist of it.

Great cars!

• Lee

One more obvious thing I forgot, the mileage listed may not be accurate. The mechanical odometers on 90% of them broke one of the little plastic gears in the first 10 years of their lives. So a lot are stuck on whatever the odometer says, or were fixed after driving around for a few tens of thousands of miles before fixing them, so they don't show actual mileage.

You can somehow get the real mileage with a scan tool in the OBDII port. Up until '95 they have the blinking LED on board diagnostic and OBDII, so you could just count the blinks, but I don't know how to do it on the newer ones with only the data port.

• Lee

Buzz Killington wrote: (search is returning nothing but errors)

This will help your searching...
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/search-function-workarounds/38293/page1/

Here is some DIY guidance:
http://volvospeed.com/maintenance.shtml#GernalInformation

jrw1621 wrote:

Buzz Killington wrote: (search is returning nothing but errors)

This will help your searching... http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/search-function-workarounds/38293/page1/ Here is some DIY guidance: http://volvospeed.com/maintenance.shtml#GernalInformation

Thank you. I was about to type a rant, and you saved me the trouble. Until everybody started whining, I had no idea that people even bothered with websites' internal searches......Google almost always does a better job.

d'oh!

anyway, thanks Lee. the turbo would be nice (and I also found a manual V70 T5, but have been told to stick to pre-2001), but it's just a shifter kart on a 4x8 trailer to local events. plenty of people tow them with things like civics and shudder Priuses.

Buzz Killington wrote: have been told to stick to pre-2001

Hogwash. I know plenty of folks who say to stick to pre-1994 models. 2001 is when the entire line got the RN engines (updated White Block). If you want to build power the head on a bone stock RN block will out flow all but the most extreme port/polish job on previous models. The P2 cars are Volvo, they were all designed by Volvo before Ford ever got their hands on them.

Don't let hatters scare you away from technological improvements. A V70 T5 manual would be bad ass!

• Lee

< Don't let hatters scare you away from technological improvements. - Lee

I'm with you, Hatters are all MAD I say...

I have an 850 turbo wagon, automatic unfortunately, and just rebuilt the suspension a couple months ago. Dead simple to work on. Not as fast as I expected, though perhaps that might be a repair needed. It handles way better than I expected, though the Bilsteins I put in might have something to do with it. I also ordered a set of IPD sway bars but haven't gotten around to putting them on.

In reply to dculberson: I too just bought an 850 turbo wagon,so far its needed all the things said it'll need.Now thats it got new pcv system,replaced vacuum lines,new timing belt it just blew an intercooler hose so a new silicon set is ordered from fcpgroton. Fingers crossed its now a trustworthy daily driver.

bigdaddylee82 wrote:

Buzz Killington wrote: have been told to stick to pre-2001

Hogwash. I know plenty of folks who say to stick to pre-1994 models. 2001 is when the entire line got the RN engines (updated White Block). If you want to build power the head on a bone stock RN block will out flow all but the most extreme port/polish job on previous models. The P2 cars are Volvo, they were all designed by Volvo before Ford ever got their hands on them. Don't let hatters scare you away from technological improvements. A V70 T5 manual would be bad ass! - Lee

fair enough. i think the rationale was that the cars started to rely "too much" on software at that point, but you're right; could be simply a matter of opinion.

actually, i did find a manual V70 T5 for sale for $2500...perhaps i can get past the lame light bluish-green color and get more info on the "wear and tear on interior."

hmmm...there's also a 1990 Saab 900 SPG for $600.

The lamer the color the greater the sleeper

Between my family and I; I have first hand experience with 850, S70, V70, S80 T6, and soon to be X90 T6.

Most durable interior of the fleet has been the dark grey/black leather in the 850 and V70. The S70 has tan cloth interior, it attracts stains, and has a "cheap" feel, and the padding has really broken down over the years. The most comfortable is the cushy leather in the S80, but we're not concerned with it.

The S/V70 has knobs that seem to attract oils from your hands and then get sticky, cleaning helps, but it seems like you never really completely cure it. The 850 does not have this problem.

The plastic on the rear hatch of the V70s seem prone to developing rattles, never investigated, ride up front and turn the radio up.

The passenger air bag cover on the 850 peeling or "curling" at the corners/edges due to heat is common. Silicone adhesive and a couple bricks will fix it for a while.

Cup holders on all the 850 and S/V70s SUCK. You WILL punch a hole in the bottom of your Route 44 Sonic Strawberry Limeade, causing a deluge of sweet sticky mess all over the center console window switches.

The 850 and S/V70 have a lot in common, there are a few folks that have done complete interior swaps between models. The S/V70 is a little more modern, and I sometimes think I would prefer all my window switches on the driver's door like it provides, but otherwise I have no real complaints about the 850 interior.

The cable that controls reclining on the 850 WILL break, especially the driver seat (used the most) if your lucky someone has already replaced it. Not a hard job to fix, just time consuming, having to completely remove the seat and strip it to it's frame. Mine has been broken for 5+ years, but luckily it's broken in my favorite driving position.

Stick with the leather, and you shouldn't have any problems. I'm the 4th owner of my car, 2 of which were college kids (yeah I was one) and my driver seat shows wear on top of the little side bolster from getting in and out, but other wise is in great shape, with some where around 250K miles on it (I don't know for sure my odometer's broke).

• Lee

My new intercooler hoses haven't even arrived yet and the coolant temp sensor seems to be causing the car to act whacky,something else to fix.

Ok maybe after I change that it'll be good......