Hello.

I'm new to the forum and the proud owner of a 1994 850 Turbo Wagon (bought used at 86,000 mi., currently 89,000 mi.). I just have a few questions to get myself some better knowledge of the car (which I adore):

1. On the Turbo Gauge, where should the needle be pointing (between the black & white) to show normal performance? (Mine is slightly into the white.)

2. On occasion, I have some difficulty shifting the car into park. Does this indicate a problem?

3. I want to purchase a keyless remote for the car. What Part Number/FCC Code do I need?

4. I'm averaging anywhere from 16.3 to 17.3 mpg (mostly city/some highway). Is this the normal range? Any advice if not?

5. And finally, I want to purchase roof rails for my wagon (which is black exterior/tan with black trim interior). I have only seen them listed as "dark grey", is this the appropriate color for my car, or do they also come in black? (Silly question maybe, but it matters)

Thanks for your help and advice ahead of time! I'm really looking forward to being a proactive owner and learning the ins and outs of my Volvo Wagon. Later!

 

Not sure on the Turbo gauge. I don't think it should go into the white unless you push it a little.

The shift is probably a switch starting to go bad. When Tech sees this he will give you a better answer. Don't go replacing a switch because I said so.

Not sure about keyless remote, but I have an extra one and they are really easy to program. You should be able to get one from most any 850 of V/S/C70 and make it work for your car. Try e-bay.

You mileage is pretty bad for that car. Has you CEL come on? You should be getting in the 20's. On my R I get around 24 combined city/highway and about 27 just highway. On my old 94 850 it got about 26 combined. My V70 get's about 23-24 combined. Some people are even getting in the low 30's with these cars. My mpg went about about 2 mpg when I replace the O2 sensor, but I did pull the code that said it was bad 3 times.

The roof rails are called Euro Rails and run from front to back on the car. The crossbars are sold separate. Look for them on the internet through various used car places. I believe you can use any 85 or V70 up to 2001. They are all charcoal in color. I put mine on myself and it took me about 1/2 an hour, and I had no clue what I was doing. Dealer charges an hour to install.

 

The CEL is on and has been since soon after I bought it. The mechanic who I take it to, who i do know and trust, said all was OK but he did not have the proper tools to turn off the CEL. Mind you, he could be, and probably is, wrong. He's admittedly not well versed in Volvos, but it's hard to find a trustworthy shop in New York City, and dealers are $$$. Just today I asked him about the MPG, and he said it was normal, but again, I think he's incorrect as you said. Are there any immediate thoughts which come to mind as to a fix? Thanks a bunch!

 

Your car is a 94 so you don't need no stinkin tool to pull the codes. You can do it yourself and reset the CEL too. Just follow the directions in this link:

http://www.troublecodes.net/Volvo/

Good Luck.

 

Give your 850 some fresh plugs, clean the throttle body, change to synthetic oil, and run a couple of cans of injector cleaner (both at the same time) and your mileage should come up. Make sure the air pressure in the tyres is up to snuff.
r.

 

Changing the front O2 sensor will help a lot.

16-17 is a bit low for that car but I would think NYC driving is a whole lot of stop and go with very little traffic-free highway driving.

 

"94 and later models with OBDII

The 850 turbo and 960 models are OBD II system which are only accessible with a scanner."

I got this from the link which was recommended, and I don't have a scanner.

Thanks though!

 

Also, living in NYC, I unfortunately don't have much opportunity to test out the Turbo. So, back to the gauge, which I have no clue about: during normal driving the needle should be centered? what do the balck & white sides indicate? and does it rise into the white side when turbo engages properly? THANKS AGAIN! You guys are great!

 

Volvo didn't start OBDII which needs a scanner till mid 1995. The port you will need to check codes from the way on the link will be by the windsheild washer fluid fill.There should be 2 rectangle boxes with covers on them. You will nee the one with the A on it.

The guage will go up when you boost and drop down when not in boost. Im not sure of the colors but it should pretty much be in the middle when you aren't boosting it.

Also check the spark plug wires and see how old they are. The year they were made is stamped on the wires. Look for yellow writting on them.

The milage is low it should be higher.

 

From what I have read. The shifting thing can be caused by the microswitch in the shifter going bad. You can get around it by using the shift override button. It should be a simple hour or less fix and they sell the switch at IPD. My 95 turbo has the turbo gauge in the middle on normal driving or less on coasting and in the middle of the white on boost. If you can get to the freeway and gun it (obey traffic laws ) it should remain in the middle of the white all the way through boost. If it tapers off then you have a leak somewhere. For a garage that you can trust go to cartalk.com I think. Anyway click and clack the tappet brothers on NPR offer a way for people to tell others about garages they trust. You can search and read reviews. If you don't mind working on cars then for sure replace the plugs, wires, cap, rotor, air filter (with a K&N), fuel filter, and have the fluids changed. To do the cap and rotor you will need to remove the air cleaner assembly box and the intercooler turbo pipe that goes over the engine. You will also need a set of Torx bits and a set of allen wrenches in metric, as well as metric sockets and a few length extenders. Get a spark plug socket and a 12" extension. Buy some shop towels, some anti seize for the plug threads. Go at it, read all you can on all the forums out there. Have fun.

 

I also forgot to add about the shifter.

Is the trouble going into park or coming out. You wrote going into park.

Can you give us some more info?
Does the button on the **** not come out?
Does the shifter not push up all the way?

 

I have heard that the factory boost gauge isn't incredibly accurate. You'll notice there aren't any numbers on it for starters. For about $25 you could pick up a handheld vacuum gauge and connect it to the 'vacuum tree' under the black throttle body cover and take a reading. I believe the pressure at idle should be between 18-20Hg. But to answer your question, yes, the needle should move to the right if the turbocharger is working.

 

"I also forgot to add about the shifter.

Is the trouble going into park or coming out. You wrote going into park."

The trouble is when going into Park. The button doesn't seem to add any resistance, just the stick itself.
With a good steady shove it goes in. I don't want to imply that I'm grabbing it with both hands and putting all my weight into it,
but it's surely not as easy as it should be and takes some extra effort.

 

That's not the microswitch then and the override buttong probably won't do anything either.

 

my t5r showed no activity on the turbo gauge when my o2 sensors went out. now it seems pretty responsive to my acceleration once I replaced both o2 in front and back of converter. Also, my 850 t5r is a 95 and is OBDII. the port is under the beneath the ash tray, under the coin holder looking rubber piece. I know you can have these read at Auto Zone, Pep Boys, etc... but I am not sure about having them cleared?

 

They switched to ODB II in 95. It is a parial year, I believe, where some are and some are not ODB II.

 

Did you have any trouble with the key going in as well?

If everything looks good inside the I suspect the shifter cable is going bad.