I'm going to look at an 89' 745T 4-speed man. It has a 189xxx on it, overdrive doesn't work, and of course the headliner is sagging, Has a rebuilt engine and apparently the turbo is ok. I think I can get it for close to a $1000. What should I be looking out for when I go to take a look? I'm somewhat mechanicall inclined, but would love some advice on things to watch out for on these models specifically. Getting it for only $1000 I do plan on spending a bit to get it back to tip top shape. I just want to make sure i'm not buying a complete money pit. Any advice on quetions to ask or things to look for would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

A manual turbo wagon for the 89 year is pretty rare in America. Nice find. I would check the turbo for shaft play and make sure that compressor and turbine wheels do not make contact with the housing. Also, see what records they have on the car. Maybe the turbo was rebuilt recently. That will tell you a bit more about the worth of the turbo.

Overdrive does not work, it probably a bad relay or chaffed wires in the shift lever. It could be low oil in the the OD or a bad solenoid, but I would suspect the first two first. My car has 223k on the original clutch and transmission (M46 4 seed +OD, same as yours). The only trouble we've had is the chaffing wires in the lever and the relay.

If the tires have a fair amount of use on them, see if they are wearing normally. My personal opinion is to try and get it for under $1000 if it's in working order, but maybe not so pretty, like sagging headliner and worn out seats.

Of course, test drive it. Start it up from cold and when it's warm run it through all the gears up to full speed giving liberal amounts of throttle. It should behave pretty normal. To test the clutch start out in like 3rd gear up a slight grade. The clutch should grab hard when it's let out all the way (just do that test once and it won't get the clutch hot enough to hurt it, it should be a few seconds to get the car going and the clutch locked down). Also, you can ask if the clutch has ever been replaced. If it has the original clutch and 180k on it, it really makes a big difference how it been driven.

Last I would check the suspension. Hop on the bumpers near each corner and listen for hissy-squirty noises from the dampeners. Also the car should settle from oscillation really fast. Like it should come up and then come back down very little and then be pretty much settled after a test.

That's my two cents.

 

Thanks for the fast response. What is shaft play on a turbo? Are the compressor and turbine wheels situated outside the turbo housing? Can I look at these things without taking the turbo off or are these things I should check if I do indeed purchase the car? I forgot to mention that the engine was rebuilt at sometime although the owner doesn't know when? He states it is clearly visible though. I 've heard that these engines are synonmous with the turbo engines of the early 90's with only a couple differences. One I can remeber is that the 89 has 6mm rods and after 1990 they put 9mm rods in it. Is this true? I admit I just got into researching volvo's, but I'm pretty enthusiastic about learning. Thanks again!

 

Well, I looked up a turbocharger on how stuff works. Sorry if I seemed a little daft, just never really looked closely at a turbo before. So the things you mention to check on the turbo I can only assume would need to be done after purchase as I'll have to disassemble the turbo to check for shaft play etc. Should I walk away if there is any smoke coming out the exhaust or are there cases in which this would only require a more minor fix like leaky seals on a turbo etc? I read that smoke upon deceleration is a cause for too much shaft play, is that correct?