Hey guys and gals,

I went and checked out an 850 today and I'm seriously considering buying it within the next day or so but it had a couple of issues that I'd like to run by you guys and get your opinions. It's a '95 850 n/a 5 speed with 160k on the clock. It drove fine, although it has a check engine light on and the transmission won't shift into first until you almost come to a complete stop. Is this a worn out synchro or something more serious? He also mentioned that the heat is warm, but not really hot.

 

I'm not too much of a pro on transmissions.....yet. But how much is he asking for the car if it has tranny problems? Because unless you can do it yourself, it would be pretty expensive to fix.

 

He's asking 1000, and the car is extremely clean and drives very well except for that one issue, and a check engine light. Other than that the clutch and tranny feel fine.

 

Hm, That's not too bad. I would wait for someone who knows a little more about tranny problems. But if you can't do it yourself, a shop would charge a lot to do it.

 

I would try and get the code read to and see why there is a check engine light.

 

Sounds like a good deal.....but I would ask him/her to have the ecu scanned and post the code(s) on here for the check engine light. We can look those up for u. Might be a synchro, but could be something else. 5 speed is normally easier and cheaper to replace than an automatic.

 

He mentioned something about taking it somewhere to have the code read, but it's obd 1 or something? He said the light's been on for a while and it passed inspection while it was on. I need to decide on this by tomorrow so I'm more worried about the transmission problem.

 

95's are OBDII.

Personally I would wait for a turbo.

Good-luck!

 

Uh, what a dum dum. 94-95 850s were OBDII. Take out the coin slot holder thinger. There's an OBDII port underneath it.

 

Here is a link to our Buyer's Guide.

I had a Manzda that did not like going into 1st unless the car was at a stand still. It did not bother me much, just drop in it 2nd and move on. It never gave me any problem.

Get the CEL codes. It may be several of them. But $1,000 for a car that runs... hard to beat that.

 

Especially if it's a Volvo

 

Not ALL '94s are OBD-II. My current project '94 isn't... and it's even a late- production '94. 94 is an oddball year.

As for getting a running volvo for $1000... I got my '94 for $300, and drove it home. Of course, it has 250,000 miles, needs a PCV system, timing belt, spring seats, an A/C evaporator, a bunch of engine seals, oil pan o- rings... basically, it's a Volvo 850. But still... it's a driveable Volvo that cost me next to nothing

 

When I got my 850 it had all of those things needed as well. It does not have the miles nor oil leaks but almost every 850 you buy will need a timing belt, pcv system, and some other things.

 

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Oh, I know that... I repair European cars. I was just kind of making a joke about it needing what it does. I've done all of those things on a number of 850s and 70 series. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have bought that 850. I got it to fix up and sell for fun and a little profit. Right now, as we speak, I'm examining the ABS module to see it it needs any resoldering