*This thread is to document any and all maintenance/repairs/upgrades done to my 1995 Volvo Turbo sedan in an attempt to not have to start a multitude of new threads.*

Hey everyone, my name is DJ, from Eastern Washington (Kennewick). Just purchased my first Volvo the other day, 95 850 Turbo sedan, 175k. I'm a long time Toyota owner, 3rd gen pickups and 2nd gen 4runners. Just sold my pickup after 13 years of owning it and went and picked up the Volvo the day after. Still have the 4runner as I need some thing for our dog but can see a Volvo wagon in the future to cover that as well and will be a DD for my Wife.

Bought the Volvo for our main family car, we have 2 daughters, oldest will be 2 in August, youngest just turned 3 weeks. Wanted something that provided ample room in the back for car seats while still providing us 6ft's leg room in the front and that was built well. Needed to have a good A/C system as well, our summers hit the 100's. Already looking at a 110* day on Monday. Mission accomplished. My first choice of vehicle was a 1994-1997 Toyota Land Cruiser but at this time, can't justify the low mileage that they get.

I've already read multiple threads on this forum, repairs, maintenance, upgrades, mpg issues.

A little bit about the car that I've learned so far that needs to be addressed:

-Fought a slight vibration on the drive home that wasn't noticed during test drives due to the quality of the roads where it was purchased. Dropped it of to Les Schwab's the following day and had them check the tires for balance. 3/4 were out of balance and one wheel is slightly bent. Will need to source a matching wheel.
-Shifter **** gets stuck in P. Already read a few threads on how to fix it. Might attempt self fix as opposed to just replacing. Haven't decided on that yet.
-Lower ball joints need to be replaced.
-Need to bring it to Stage 0. Timing belt age is unknown and there is a slight smell of oil when coming to a stop that comes inside the car. Valve cover gasket, pcv system overdue, not sure.
-Digital cluster lights, CEL light and shifter lights need to be replaced.
-Slight moaning sound when turning. More prominent when making a turn from a red light or stop sign.

New battery, right strut and oil change was done just before purchase. I'll most likely change the oil in 2k and switch it to a high mileage synthetic and cross my fingers there aren't too many leaks at that time. Will probably do a seafoam treatment prior too as well.

Things that I would like to do:
Off the top of my head the only thing that I would like to do with this car is upgrade the speakers, possibly add a 8-10" sub and modify the cassette player to mp3 hookup. Did any of these cars come with a stock sub? If so, where was it placed and is there a sub hookup on the stock amp?

Overall I'm happy with this vehicle already. I have a scangaugeII that I need to install today but have been averaging 23 mpg on this current tank according to the digital gauge. I've noticed that the digital gauge and the rolling trip odometer are not in sync. They're about a 1/2 mile off from each other at the moment with about 170 miles in this tank. Still unsure of where to place the scanguage. That may take me some time to decide.

Couple questions before I wrap this up.
-Do most of you order parts from FCP or are there any other quality places to order parts from? Any vendors that provide discounts to forum members? I'm a member of another forum, toyota based where most order parts from another forum member who works for a large Toyota dealership. Quick shipping, good member pricing. Always better to help vendors or sponsors than just large chains sometimes.
-Torx heads! Toyota's are simple, 8,10,12, 17 mm will just about disassemble the entire vehicle. What torx heads are needed to work on these cars? I know a T30 is needed for the spark plug cover. What other heads are needed?

Thanks everyone. Hope to learn a lot about this car and keep it going for some time.

 

Hi, welcome to the site and i am also new here. I am also documenting my car progress as well and learning as i go.

My only input so far is I had the notorious clunk coming from the frontend when going over bumps or dips. You stated the right strut had been replaced, if there is a way to find out if the spring seats or mounts have been replaced with it you should check, with previous owner or shop. I thought my struts were bad and about to replaced when I found out my seats had ovalled out and no bushing was found. Alot cheaper than a strut.

 

Hi and welcome to the site.

These cars do not have a valve cover gasket. The cam cover is glued down with an anerobic sealant. Some only use the Volvo brand stuff, I have used the Permatex brand with no issues. That cover should NOT be leaking oil. The most common "oil on top" issue is oil blow by from the oil cap, due to a worn seal and/or plugged PCV.

Torques range from T15 through T45. T15's on the back of the cluster and the T45 on the timing belt tensioner roller.

Order of business:

1. Timing belt. Including rollers if no history is clear and documented.
2. PCV system. Just replace it if you have not documented history.
3. Only Volvo, Mann, or equivalent oil filters. This will protect your top end.
4. Transmission fluid replacement. I do the 3 drain and fill method.

Most other things will be at your own pace. Do read the NEW 850 OWNER thread and there are good DIY post in the DIY thread and some of my video's may help.

 

Struts are good. Only front end work that I need to address in the near future are the lower control arms with ball joints.

RSPI,
Good to know there is no valve cover gasket. After watching a few videos you've posted, I've planned on replacing the oil cap gasket during the next oil change. Timing belt is a must as well as replacing the PCV system, one of which I'm not looking forward too. Seems a bit more complicated than it should be. I'll stick with OEM for filters, and after watching your tranny flush video, I planned on doing the same technique on mine.

Plan of attack will be timing belt kit, new serpentine belt, pcv system, cabin filter and new air filter (oem or k&n), oil change and tranny flush, and control arms. Might have to wait for the weather to cool off before I can get going. Not a fan of wrenching in upper 90's-100's.

One thing I noticed on your profile is that you installed a newer radio into your 850. Any reason why? Are there other stock volvo stereos that people install? I don't mind the stock one that I have at all, just wondering about options.

 

In '95, none of the radios had CD's. Also, the radio's that have Premium Sound System labeled on them pack more power and sound great. I believe all of the SC-816 radio's have more power than the earlier models.

My stereo has a power amp that puts out between 160 watts or 200 watts. Not sure which but it has smooth deep sound, especially for a car that has no deck woofers. The rear door speakers are larger than the front door speakers. The have great sound so I check cars in the salvage yards all the time for newer speakers and take the new ones in case I blow one of mine.

The PCV system is not that bad, just time consuming.

 

BY THE WAY, I love your color. It's my second favorite, behind the gold ones.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome

I keep a rail of Torx bits, I think it has T15, T20, T25, T27 and T30 in it. They have been what I need for most basic disassembly tasks. You need the bigger ones as RSPI says for doing the timing belt rollers, etc. Get good quality ones, not cheap.

My cluster gear replacement required I believe a T6. Not an easy one to find locally!

Why did the PO only replace 1 strut? That seems kinda strange. If one was worn out, the other one couldn't be much better?

I haul 3 kids in the back of mine! 11 months old, 5 years old and almost 7 years old. It's tight! I looked at adding the 3rd row to my wagon, but after reading Indiana booster/car seat laws, I couldn't put much of anything in the 3rd row, anyways.

I would like a small amp and sub like you mention, but I don't want to put anything visible in the back of my wagon - seems like an invitation to steal

I did upgrade all 4 of my door speakers. I went with some nice 5-1/4 speakers. The mounting depth for the tweeters wouldn't clear in the OEM locations with new screw holes drilled (OEM speakers are around 5 inches, 5-1/4s don't have mounting holes that line up...), so I mounted mine to the rear of the door panels using stainless screws and lock nuts. The door panels aren't difficult to remove. I agree with Robert, the factory amp sounds pretty nice. I have been considering the input mod he has a video on, but right now, I'm just using the ole cassette tape to 1/8 inch headphone plug adapter that I picked up at my local Target.

My preferred vendor is FCP. IPD isn't bad, but FCP tends to have prices a little better, while still including quality OEM Volvo parts. I also like the free shipping on orders over $25 - my orders still get to Indiana plenty quick. FCP has some good videos on Youtube as well. Between their videos, and Robert's videos, pretty much everything I've needed has been covered! My Dad has had plenty of Volvos in the past, and he mentions IPD in conversations many times - back when he was a big Volvo fanatic, IPD was apparently the only game in town, other than the dealer. I did go with IPD's serpentine belt tool, as well as their 'bone' tool. Both work real well for what they are intended to be used for.

I didn't find the PCV difficult at all. Time consuming? Absolutely! But not difficult.

Have fun! And don't be afraid to ask questions

 

Johnwatr, thanks for the info. There was an issue with the right front only, believe he only replaced the top mounting part of it. Struts and shocks are both in good shape, not leaking oil. I plan on replacing those around the 200,000 mile mark.

I could hide a sub in my truck, but the more I think about it, the more I think that just upgrading the stock speakers will be sufficient. Don't really feel like purchasing a new amp.

I'm lucky as I only have to fit 2 car seats in the back and its more than enough room, much more than in the 4runner.

Question, did a quick search and nothing really popped up. Filled the tank up today and reset the current trip data. When I hit reset, it goes to 0, then once I start driving, it jumps by 10's till about 1800 then goes to how far I've actually gone. Any reason for this or is this some odd glitch?

 

Welcome. We have a 95 850 turbo with 240K on it. Mostly the kids car now to drive. With care these cars will last LONG time. I concur with others, do the timing belt. Do you have the .pdf of how to do it? If not do a search for matthewsvolvosite and you should find it. Timing belt is fairly straightforward if you use the guide.

 

I'm pretty sure it's counting in meters until it gets to a mile, then it switches to miles.

 

This started yesterday when the temp dropped into the single and lower teens. I'm thinking the belt is slipping and the pully is just spinning? If this is the case, any remedy to the issue? When it did this yesterday, once we started driving the car around for about 30 minutes, the problem went away, until this am, with it being about 10* outside.

MVI_3720_zpsd90efe25.mp4 Video by mechanically_declined | Photobucket