How can I tell for sure if my wagon is an 850R? It is grey in colour, and it has the front air dam under the bumper, and the spoiler on the tail gate. I have had several people remark that it looks like one, my mechanic mentioned the same thing. Thing is it has the 16" rims from the turbo, and grey leather interior, but no alcantara suede inserts. My mechanic thinks its a us spec turbo, but he does wonder if it is an r. I know that with old muscle cars you can get a clue from the vin, does that hold true with Volvos?

The old girl needs some things, I am trying to decide whether or not to fix her, or look for another. Problem is there aren't alot of turbos, and frankly I'm not sure I want a n/aversion. My brother has a n/a v70 and it's not as much fun as my turbo. Basically it looks like the valve guides are becoming an issue, not sure when the timing belt was done, ac needs work and so does the cruise control. My compression is 1-165 2-150 3-150 4-150 5-160. If I do find another wagon this one will make an awesome parts car.

Sorry for the long post.

 

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What kind of mileage is on the car? Really, that isn't too bad for compression numbers, they are within ~10% of each other... I suspect roughly around 175k-185k miles?

Are you actually blowing oil out of the exhaust? When you did the compression test, did you do a leak down test as well?

Hell, the stuff you mention as being wrong with the car is pretty simple to fix if you are mechanically inclined and DIY...I'd say just fix it up and daily drive it IMHO, and look for another if you want an R as a toy...

 

That is definitely an option I am considering as I really like the car, and I like the fact that there is a vibrant online community with lots of good info. The mileage is unknown, the odo is stuck on 96000 miles. I picked it up at an auction cheap, and so far the only thing that has been done is a repair to a leaky oil line when I had the car inspected. The mechanic did the compression test, so I'm not sure if he did a leak down test, but I am guessing no because there isn't anything noted on the bill.

The car does blow some smoke on occasion. I did the idle test as posted on the forum, and it did blow a fair amount of smoke after idling for a while, but on the positive side the pcv system looks to be in good shape. I am just weighing my options, since I would rather not get upside down on this car, but I may because I'm not sure I can find something as fun and practical at a price I can afford.

 

Templar, take a look at your VIN for the engine code. The R model came with a specific engine, and therefore you should find a 58 if it really is an R. Other models either had a 56 or 57.

 

:rofl:

What is it about these cars and the odometers going at 96k lol. Mine is stuck at just over 96k as well

You can get the actual mileage fairly simple. Our cars store mileage in the ECU. What year is the car? If it is 95 or older, you can pull it yourself. 96-97 cars (like mine) you will have to go to the dealership and have them hook up the volvo scan tool. My local dealer wants $100 for it, but I've heard of independent mechanics (and some stealerships) doing it for $50-$75. Ridiculous for 5 minutes of work, I know...but good info to have, especially when ya repair the odometer gears (cheap fix)

If the mechanic did the compression test, he should have done a leak down test. If you get a chance, ask him about it and see if he has the compression results for that as well. Again, I wouldn't really worry about the compression numbers too much. They may be a bit on the lower side, however they are all within the margin of error roughly. Still nice to know for certain however, as it can tell you much more about the condition of the motor.

As for blowing smoke, are we talking blue? White? Black?

Realistically, like I said if you DIY the labor you shouldn't get too far under with the car. My 97 optioned base wagon with est. 150k miles on it still books for close to $3000 Volvo's (and most other Euro cars for that matter) retain value quite well, and last damn near forever.

Best thing you can do to this car is basic maintenance and drive it. If ya do the timing belt and keep up on the fluids, you should see plenty more life out of the car (I've seen em in the local scrapyard with over 300k miles on them).

 

Its blowing white smoke. Doesn't happen often, sometimes while sitting at a traffic light if I have been doing a lot of sitting and running, definetely does it if I let it idle for a while. I do know that Volvo doesn't recommend long periods of idling for the car. In the short term I was going to switch to a slightly thicker oil, and perhaps try one of those high mileage blends. It is a 1996, so when I get a chance I figure I'll get the dealer to pull the mileage so I know exactly what I am dealing with.

 

In my experience, white smoke from the tail pipe usually does not denote oil consumption, which is what valve guides would cause (blue smoke is usually oil burning). It sounds to me like you have more of a head gasket issue. How is your temp gauge when idle? Does it go up or down at all from the halfway mark once the car is warmed up? How is your coolant level?

I suggest pressure test your cooling system and look for coolant leaking around the head gasket. A failing head gasket could cause the lower compression numbers that you have and will blow white smoke out of the tail pipe more once the car is warmed up.

 

Doubt it's an R. 850Rs were made in 96 and 97, and if you're in the US, the 3 color choices were white, red and black.

If it's a T-5R, it'd be black, yellow or green, and would've only been made in 95.

I don't believe the ECM stores actual mileage on 96 or 97 cars, I believe it's only on 95 or older.

My original odo gears lasted to 103,xxx - guess I got a 'good' set

The 16 inch 'turbo' wheels were a 'free' option - some people didn't like the way the Volans rode. I've got a set of the 16s with all-season tires to run in the winter.

 

From what I've read in my research on how to swap the odometer gears, the ECM does store the mileage on all years/models, its just a matter of how to get that info out. One thread talked about using an ELM (?) board to get the raw data from the OBDII and then converting the binary data that is output into a rough estimate. Another thread I found (matthewsvolvosite I think) mentions that it is there, but you must have the Volvo diagnostic tool (VADIS?) to get it, which means a trip to the stealership (same thing with resetting the service light on the 96-97 cars). My buddy/local euro mechanic said it is possible to pull it as well and that he could do it with his laptop and a program he uses in the shop...Haven't gotten to that point yet though that I need the info (still need the replacement gears)

 

I don't have any coolant problems, good colour and I don't go through much if any, and no signs of contamination in my oil or coolant. I should have said the smoke was bluish. It only happens after idling, and when I did the test of idling it for 10 minutes then giving it a blast of gas I got a cloud of smoke that smelled oily. At this point I am not using a lot of oil, but from what I have read the valve guides are a nasty job.

I checked the Vin today, not super surprised it's a turbo not an R. I wonder when it got the spoilers.

 

The tailgate spoiler is not an R only option, it could be purchased and installed on any wagon.

My R was made without the rear spoiler - I bought one off a white V70 and installed it. 30 minute job, tops.

The front spoiler, well, up until recently, Volvo still actually had some new front spoilers! When I got my R, the front spoiler was destroyed, so I had to buy a new one. When I bought mine, a friend mentioned there were only 3 left in the USA! I wasn't sure where the fact came from, but another friend bought one a few weeks later, and told me his parts guy said there were 2 left in the USA! The best price I found on the front spoiler was around $350 from Darrell Waltrip Volvo in TN. They have pretty good pricing on many parts.

There are lots of neat 'mods' you can do with OEM Volvo parts for not a lot of money. Lots of V70, XC, etc parts will install on an 850 as a direct bolt-in.

 

Here is a video of the smoke I get if I provoke it. It does this at stoplights every once in a while, not often but it does happen.


Hasn't happened in a while, this was after idling for about 10 minutes, and it passed, just after the video ends it was clear when I gave it throttle. Any thoughts from the experienced Volvo people?

 

i had a smoking issue when my pcv needed replaced. solved my problem

 

My pcv seems ok, no I did the tests the rspi posted, and I don't get smoke out of my dipstick tube, and when I put a rubber glove over the oil fill there was suction. I have been told that the valve guides on these motors do go, and since I don't know the exact mileage it seems to be reasonable that they may be causing this smoke.

 

do you have an aftermarket boost gauge with a vacuum side?

 

No, the car has the standard Volvo gauges. The factory boost gauge does work though.

 

okay, well i asked because I am pretty sure a vacuum gauge can give you an indication on valve problems