" And it goes a little somethin' like this" (What song is this from? Let me know and we'll get along so fine.)

I didn't know that crossing the Saint Lawrence River qualified as overseas? Oh well, [sm=welcomesign.gif][sm=americanasmiley.gif]

I owned a 1994 Acura Vigor GS and I bought the 1994 Volvo 850 for a winter car, but found that whenI wasinthe 850I was really calm . Really. No kidding. I found that I could go from the Vigor to the Volvo and I didn't feel like I always had to be in front of the line.
Something about the Vigor that brought the "Squee Ha Ha" out in me [sm=badbadbad.gif]. Damn, I miss that car.

I'll post pictures of both the Vigor GS and the 850 in the photo section when I finish here.

I did a whole lotof research on theVolvo before I bought it and apparently found only the good.

Let me tell you great people out there that the maintainance on this car has gone from "that's not so bad' to "cheu gots' to be kidding mang!?!?"[sm=chairshot.gif]

THE LIST...(OUCH)

I have replaced to date a front left drive shaft, front left caliper, all rotors and pads including the e-brake. The blower motor, front and rear struts and shocks plus front and rear mounting hardware. Steering rack and power steering lines. Sway bar links. An A/C compressor.A rear main sealand associated seals. Aproper Volvo radiator and hoses and when I thought I was caught up, I booked a timing belt and associated parts change. I'm sure that I forgot to list something, but oh well.

For anyone that has owned a Volvo, and I now know many,proper maintainanceis one of the most important thing to stay on top of as the neglection of this can cause some serious problems.[sm=shootshoot.gif]

Well, it turns out that on Friday Nov. 16th, I was just about caught up on repairs and put on the brand new snow tires and made the appointment for the t-belt change and mentioned that I could hear what I thought was a bearing squeel from under the front engine cover,(if I only knew then what I know now [sm=sigh.gif]), and while it was a minor squeek, Ididn't think it would turn outto be thatbad.

After taking Mom out Saturday Nov. 17th, forher birthday lunch in Arnprior (ON) and making the trip back to Renfrew (ON) and needing coffee for the Appleton's, I decided to stop at the local No Frills. The squeel that I mentioned earlier became EXTERMELY PRONOUNCED, and then all was quiet and I knew before the car had travelled 10 metre's what had happened. TIMING-BELT-IS-DONE.

Sonofaramalamadingdong [sm=wtf.gif]

The squeel that I heard was a water pump bearing coming to a, no pun intended, screaching chrishendo and then nothing. No, I mean nothing. Radio off. All dash lights on and nothing under the right foot. [sm=smiley29.gif]

After all of the love($$$) that I put into the car, and not really knowing what that squeek was theday before, I knew what had happened before the car even came to a stop.

W/P bearing seized causing the timing belt to snap, causing valves to slap and smack off of pistons causing me to laugh, begrudgingly, because I knew that the sound I heard, after all of the cash I put in, was the only thing I dreaded the most. Engine is toast![sm=smiley6.gif]

Oh, did I mention that I was in need of an exhaust manifold gasket because I could hear it leaking and that tell tale farting sound (best description) was also something I knew was due.

Needless to say, the car has been in the shop since the 19th of November and the finding of a used engine, removal of the old (dead) engine and replacement with the "new to me" engine with all of the things that I needed to do to the old one already donehas, to put it mildly, kicked me so hard in the "boys"[sm=smiley5.gif] that I just wanted to scream. AAAAIIIIIEEE (no Kia's were hurt during this posting)

The cost to date has been moderate but the used engine has given me some things that I really needed, besides a really big bill[sm=smiley7.gif] . I don't have to replace the exhaust gasket as the "new to me" engine came withnew Volvointake and exhaust manifolds, Volvo cap, Volvo plugs, Volvo wires, extremely clean oil and a new Volvo oil filter.

There are a few other things that I can't recall right now, I love the Appleton's, but needless to say I got a whole lot of things kind offor free as they were on the "to do list", just not right now. [sm=smiley35.gif]

As I said, things aren't too cool right now but when the car is finally out of the shop I'll have had that timing belt changed along with every freakin' seal and gasketthat can and needs to be changed and the only things thatI should probably change soon are the coil and a starter!$?!$?!$

I'm not paying dealer prices[sm=headbang.gif] for theseso if anyone has a line on either of these parts, let me know as they WILL need to be done/replaced very soon. [sm=feedback.gif]

Now there are alot of people out there that would say, walk the hell away and get another car!

Nice idea, but when you have as much ($$$) as I do into this sweet but not running right right now ride, I think that the changing to a new car with all of the payments (min. monthly payment of no less than $350, and I don't care what ya say, even the cheap under $18K cars seem to climb to this price no matter what you put down up front) is not something that I need. [sm=sigh.gif]

So, now I'm waiting to get the Brick back and when I do I'll post some pic's of the "new to me" engine in the car and I'll again sing the praises of the "boxy, but nice" ride.

So to all for now, I'm off to post pic's of the Vigor GS with the Pioneer AVIC-N1 Navi + backup camera and hands free wheel controller, (jeeze I miss that car[sm=smiley19.gif] ), and the Volvo 850 with the old factory deck and the new Pioneer DEH-P3900MP.

Yes I know that it's not a Navi system but get this. I spent $1800 on the AVIC-N1 for the Vigor with a 7"screenbefore install cost and the Pioneer DEH-P3900MP cost me $202, aproper dash kit andan Acer Aspire 3100 - 1972 which cost $580 totaland which will allow me to have a 15.4" screen plus Navi, plus in-car audio, video, dvd and the option for rear seat monitors will come no where near the cost of the AVIC for the Vigor.

I'm currently looking for an in car mount for the laptop and when I get it I'll post pic's.

Thanks for letting me on your screens and I'll keep this and all my Volvo repairs and questions up to date and if I can help in any way when viewing posts, I'll chime in and I hope that I can receive the same in return.


Later.[sm=smiley20.gif]

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]