Hey y'all.

Just became the proud and pretty excited of a '96 850 glt with godknows how many miles. Haven't read the computer yet, but odo is stuck on 136k. Yeah right. Read up on the odo fix and will apply that soon. Replaced front tires and had toe set right (learned through this forum that inside front wear is a common issue with these cars..) motor clicks like a Swiss watch.

Any hidden tips or tricks? Motor feels a bit sluggish and wants to not really get up and go when cold. Heat doesn't work, but will check into that tomorrow.

Anyway. Really like the car. Looks sharp and stylish and got it for a steal. Probably because it really does have 200+ on it, but I don't really care. It's in pretty good shape and I hope to squeeze another 50k out of it. Any tips and hints would be greatly appreciated!

Hi from a new and happy Volvo mover!

 

Hi Dutchman, welcome to VolvoForums.

Glad to hear that you got a car that you can care for and look forward to keeping on the road. The best thing to do is check the New Owners thread. It is a little repeatitive but a must read.

Do have fun.

Oh, your heater core may be bypassed.

 

Heat doesn't work ??

Is it blowing cold or not blowing at all ??

 

Hey guys. Thanks for the replies! I will read through the noob thread. Got into changing timing belts and tensioners and feel that maybe a bit above my level of automotive ability..

It's blowing it's little heart out. On both auto and manual setting. I can move the "where am I blowing this air to" **** and I can hear the flaps shut and others open and the air goes to other vents, so I know it works. Took me a minute to figure out the Ac light is ON when the thing is actually OFF (?) but it seems to work too. But just won't get warm. At all. Both ***** on 85 and its still just pushing cold air..

I know about heater cores getting bypassed. Friend had the dreaded intrepid 2.7 and had to do that to keep his motor from overheating. But I also remember him telling me he wasn't going to fix it because he'd have to take half the dashboard out. Please tell me thats not how I'll be spending my Sunday? Neighbor said it might be thermostat sticking. Ideas?

 

If the motor temp goes up to where it's suppose to be (3 o'clock) it's not that. It is very common for people to bypass these heater cores. You can look under the hood, just below the brake res and see the heater core lines going into the firewall, or they should be.

The heater core is a 30 minute job if they didn't butcher up anything. Google Volvo 850 Heater core or check out the video on www.ipdusa.com.

Don't get overwhelmed with all the stuff there. Just look at one thing at a time to see if you need the repair/work. If you do, find the DIY instructions and go from there.

 

Thanks for the encouragement rspi. I'll be looking for hoses here in a minute

 

Euh.. Lines are not just bypassed, where they are supposed to go into the firewall.. They're gone!? Nothing but two black plastic connectors where they are supposed to be..

 

LOL, hard to get heat if the heater hoses are bypassed. Now to see if the lines were cut of just capped. If cut, you will need new hoses.

This page will have everything you need. If you can afford it, get new, if not, you may get the stuff from a jy. OEM new is always best (last 10+ years). Second best is after market stuff (last 5+ years).
Product Search: HEATING & COOLING=

Good after market heater core:
Volvo Heater Core 850 S70 V70 C70 1994 Through 2000 Made in Europe 9144221 New | eBay

 

Thanks again rspi . One question. Are you supposed to be able to disconnect them from the firewall or should I just suppose there's nothing behind the little black flanges that are on the firewall? In other words, should it just be a complete hose assembly or..?

 

The hoses on the engine side of the firewall just snap into that firewall cupling. On the other side of the firewall are aluminum tubes that go from the cupling to the core. Look at the part and read some instructions. I may also post some instructions later.

The big thing is to get a replacement core, install it, and figure if the hoses on the outside of the firewall are damaged.

 

Here is the video from iPd.

 

They should disconnect at the firewall.

Any chance you can post a picture of yours?
It's likely they just disconnected them from the coupling and left it alone. The heater core is most likely bad ,,, usless someone was really cheap and had just a leaking hose and instead bypassed the core ?? No way to know for sure unless you hook it up and either run it or use a tester to pump up the system and try to listen for a leak (air pressure). You can get a loan of a pressure tester from Oreilly or Autozone.

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...hp?f=1&t=24390

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...hp?f=1&t=41666

 

just to let yall know, Yall are the bomb.. Good. So the hoses can disconnect from the firewall at those black connector looking things. I will inspect and make sure the aluminum pipes are still there from the firewall to the core. And yes, RSPI, the video was quite helpful. I think whatever they did on the engine side to bypass it looks like shadetree 101. havent quite figured out how to upload pics yet, but its a mess. The hoses they used to bypass it look nothing like what i suspect is supposed to be there, So i guess pull-a-part is the next stop on my list..

 

If you go with used hoses you still might want to consider picking up a new seal kit. Just a thought.

 

I second that.