Hey guys I got a 95 Volvo 850 Turbo Auto. It seems to run and drive good, turbo boosts good and does not smoke. The problem I am having is when i i press the gas pedal 1/4 of the way or more the check engine light comes on and as soon as I let off the accelerator it goes away? Did anyone have this problem? It also gets bad gas mileage my dash shows 14.7mpg in the city and strictly on the freeway I get 17.3mpg. I am new to volvo, this is my first volvo and I just got it 2 weeks ago so I a not sure what to look at. And another thing I noticed and I don't know if that's normal on a volvo or not but when the car is cold like in freezing temperatures it idles at around 800rpm same as when it's fully warmed up

Any advice would be appreciated

 

Did you read through the MPG and the NEW OWNER links in the 850 section?

The idle is normal. I actually commented to my wife the other day on how smooth the car sounds even when ice cold.

 

It's very rare for the check engine light to come on and go out again on it's own. Especially when it's within a minute of it coming on.
Have you taken it anywhere to see if there are any codes stored in the computer?
Are you sure it's the check engine light you're seeing?

 

Yes I am sure it's the check engine the red picture of the engine light not the service light. It's a obd1 since it's a 95 so the local autoparts stores can't check for codes. I am using regular 87 octane in it as Its recommended in the owners manual but I wonder if I should use premium and if that will help?

 

I thought I recalled when I had my 850 a few years ago that you could get the codes by counting an LED sequence on a small box in the engine bay.

 

You should also have an OBD II port just below your radio. See the coin holder? Take the cover off and there's your port. 95's are both OBD I and OBD II. So you can go get it read if need be. There is a box in the engine bay where you can pull codes from by counting the blinking LED flashes. I think it's near the passenger side. Check around this forum or others. There's a handy PDF listing the fault codes that correlate with the blinking LED flashes.

 

1995 should have both OBDI under the hood located near the windshield washer fluid fill and OBDII connector just above the shifter on the drivers side in the center console. It may have a coin holder sitting on top of it but it's labeled OBDII something on that coin holder.

 

By law all cars sold in the US since something like 1983 has to be able to run on 87 octane. However, your owners manual does NOT recommend 87, it recommends 91+.

 

I believe the red light is the coolant light check your coolant level in your tank. The check engine light should be amber/yellow! Which is next to the coolant light! The sensor is in the front of the bottle, if it's low when you accelerate the coolant shifts to the back of the bottle and sets the low coolant light!

 

The check engine light is usually yellow so I think "we" still aren't sure you're looking at the right idiot light. It would be on the right side of the steering wheel and it's the second one in from the right side, bottom row.

You can read your own OBD I under the hood.
Your 95 should also have an OBD II port as I mentioned previously so the auto parts store can read your codes if you show them where the port is.

Your owners manual does NOT say it's ok to run 87 octane in a turbo UNLESS you have the special one from the factory. All the others definitely say they should be fueled with premium only, 91 octane minimum.

 

The check engine light on my 95 turbo is yellow, and it actually says the words "CHECK ENGINE". If the light you are looking at is red, or doesn't say CHECK ENGINE, you are definitely looking at the wrong light!

 

I did get burnt on identifying the check engine light before as the owner had a European dash board and they use something like a triangle as the symbol for the check engine light.
What does not change is the location. If you open this link and look at the idiot light layout the check engine light is number 21. Is that the light you are seeing?

1994 Volvo 850

 

I still think #19 is what you're looking at check your coolant bottle level and report back!