New 850 n/a wagon owner in Michigan
 

Hello all, I am a long time 'car guy' and have just bent to the will of the children. My two boys wanted the 3rd row seat in a bad way and so we looked at a variety of cars and landed on this Volvo.
It's a 1994 850 n/a wagon with a/t. It shows 184k miles but was told the odometer 'just stopped' working a few months ago. The oil change sticker in the window says it has been broken at least 16 months, but I am a glutten for automotive resurrections so we bought it.
This is not a race car people-not anywhere close.
It was cheap, but it needs a ton of work: Heater core, water pump and Timing belt, both control arms, wheels and tires are all shot, glove box assembly broken, radio shot, headlight cracked, grill fell out, hatch struts shot, one hatch hinge loose, 3rd brake light assembly broken, both outside mirrors broken, all outer door moldings broken or missing, wiper arms bent and rear wiper inop, a/c not cold, heater control seized and broken, hood release cable snapped, check engine light on, small exhaust leak and worn out drivers seat.
Then I gotta do the maintenance items. There is no timing belt record, brakes pull to the left and squeal when backing up, service engine and check engine lights blink on and off somewhat randomly, all the fluids are dirty etc.
But I love the color!
The car starts right up and drives well, all the windows and sunroof function correctly, cruise works and there is not a spot of rust on it, and there are very few small dings in the body.
My plans are to address every item mentioned, plus-and make it look faster than it is.
This site has already been very helpful in answering questions and offering the experiences and success of other owners.
I hope to continue to utilize this asset and repay by contributing my share of ups and downs with photographic evidence.
[IMG]https://volvoforums.com/forum/<a href=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/2potrocco/media/Volvo850.jpg.html target=_blank>Attachment 16831[/IMG]
file://Attachment 16831

One of my favorite colors as well!

Project cars can certainly be fun when you have the time and money.

Hope you enjoy it and the boys like that 3rd row

Hey I'm in Michigan too! I've owned my Volvo S40 for a couple years now and I also have problems with mine too but I must say I still like it. Plus the color is a nice blue.
I also have a deep blue color to my Volvo too, but good luck to you!

Body work and paint look to be in general quite good condition.
Sad the previous owners did not maintain her a little better.
Great project car and will reward you when you've completed the long list.
Wish you well with the project.

Project Driver: Samus
 

Well I may as well continue the information stream right here.
The boys have named the car Samus" after some video game I think.
Since buying the car 3 weeks ago I have performed the following services:
Replaced heater core, control arms and sway bar links, wheels and tires. The heater controls were broken and I was able to make one from several broken ones I found at the salvage yard and make it work. The rear wiper was toast so I removed it along with the non-working CD changer from the rear.
Just when things started looking good, I was sitting at a traffic light when the yellow arrow began to flash in the dash and the trans was suddenly stuck in 3rd gear. After little research here and confirming via blink codes I found the S1 solenoid was bad. I started by 4 trans fluid drain and fills but to no avail, so 3 days and $130.00 later I was replacing the solenoid. This job was not as hard as I believed from reading others posts oher than the torx head bolts are way too shallow.
You can see the new (shiny) solenoid here:
Attachment 16808
The swap went smooth (although time consuming) and problem fixed.
I spent a day removing stickers and buffing the pint with compound but have not yet done any touchup or wax.
Attachment 16809

Hi and welcome to the forum.

From that laundry list of things wrong I hope you got the car for free. Surely the rehab cost exceeded the value. The good thing is you are a mechanic, that is the only way you will survive that car.

You can get the actual mileage from the car's built in trouble code system, most refer to as OBD-1. Under the hood near the passenger side head light.

Have fun and I hope things come together for you.

Thank you RSPI! With your help ( the link) I was delighted to find out the car had only 5K miles more than what shows on the odo. I also reviewed the "what to know before buying a Volvo 850" video and surely wish I had seen it before purchase.
The trans is still working great but the power steering has just begun working in a very strange way- Suddenly it is stiff off center and goes from easy to hard during each revolution. I drained and filled the reservoir twice and lubed the steering shaft u joints and it seems to be getting better, although occasionally gets very stiff again then eases.
I drive the car 100 miles a day so if fluid is going to work we shall see.

Mod, perhaps you could move this to a project thread?