Looking at purchasing a 1996 Volvo 850 GLE wagon here in Toronto.
The car I looked at is very nice, but it is owned by someone who knows NOTHING about cars.

He claims it has been well maintained and the records seem to indicate that, however I
did not go through every detail about it.

I saw the car this saturday and when I started it up, it sent a plume of blue smoke out the tail pipe.
I restarted it a couple of times in sucession and the plume seemed to diminish.

After the car was warmed up, it seemed to be reduced quite a bit, basically gone.

I checked the oil level and it was up, but the dipstick had grit on the end of it!

This car has 130,000 KMs, primarily used for short trips as I understand it from the owner.
They don't drive a lot because everything is very convenient and close by for them.

This car is in nice shape otherwise, I'm worried about the smoke and the gritty dipstick.
Any thoughts, on what I could be in for if I go ahead and purchase this car?

Thanks, Terry

 

Make sure the flame sheild isn't clogged.Look the rest of it over pretty good.How did the oil look was it clean or dirty and thick?

 

Not certain what the flame shield is.
Please elaborate?

I also noted the intake hose (rubber type material next to the air box) was broken.
I guess that would mean the car was ingesting unfiltered air?

The fellow is asking 8500.00 for the car, cert. and e tested.

I was thinking of having it evaluated by an independent garage however if the smoke is indicative of somethin major,
I probably won't bother.

Thanks, for the feedback, Terry

 

Forgot this was a two part question.
The oil was dirty, but it was smooth (other than the grit on the dipstick)
It is due for an oil change.

The service log book has been kept up to date, it has nothing but VOLVO dealer service stamps in it.

This car also has only been in Toronto for 3 years, it was orignally a west coast car (Vancouver BC) before that.

Thanks again.

 

The flame sheild is in the induction hose at the throttle body.
If the hose is rubber then most likely it si sucking unmetered air.If it is a hard plastic hose then it might be as well depending on exactly where it is.

 

Sounds pricey to me. I would suggest looking around a bit for a cheaper car that is in better shape under the hood. If the person knew nothing about cars, and the air intake hose is busted, who knows how long unfiltered unmetered air has been running through it. I think that car is probably only worth about $6500 max. That's my two cents.

 

Had the compression tested on the engine with the following result:

Cylinder:
#1=200
#2=180
#3=200
#4=210
#5=175
(PSI)

As well the drive clean test turned up really low low numbers in all the catagories.

Any thoughts on the above numbers for the compression test?

Thanks, Terry

 

That is good enough to pass for compression test.
They need to be with 25% of each other or something like that.
You are good enough with those #'s

 

OK

It's down to two cars of choice.

I have my eye on the aforementioned 96 850 GLE and now another has come up
to drive me crazy again.

Here are the stats;

96 850 GLE wagon 130,000 KM mint shape, fomer west coast car, only 3 winters in Toronto.
(my wife even likes the colour.)

8500.00 Cdn dollars. cert. etested private sale CARFAX clean.

98 V70 wagon black, with winter tires on wheels and roof rack included. 183,000 km
9800.00 cdn. dollars.
An all Ontario car. Dealer car. cert. e tested.
I've only done a cursory check of the V70 and CARFAX shows a clean title.

I'm going to negotiate but the baseline is the same.

(for US observers, west coast in Canada probably eq. to Oregon, Ontario equivalent to Michigan)

What to do what to do??

TD

 

My opinoin Check the V70 good for rust and etc. if it looks clean then buy that one.Newer and most of the time better.