Hello all,

I just joined the forum because I am in the market for a used car that I can work on myself. What really piqued my interest in getting an 850 is that I go to college in Oregon where there is an abundance of 90's and older Volvos throughout the northwest. I am also an avid cyclist who needs a car to haul bikes and support gear, and given volvo's past involvement with ride support, I know they can be outfitted with racks, bike slots, and toolboxes. I have spent a bit of time looking at specs and the 850 seems like the way to go.

The point of this thread is that although I am mechanically inclined, I have never maintained a car on my own other than basic maintenance. My father has been a mechanic for 25 years and has worked on all my cars when they had trouble; however, he has never worked on volvos, yet in his experience, he has told me not to waste my time on one. I would like to hear from forum members about the pitfalls of purchasing a used 850 as well as any concerns I should have about doing the work myself ( given my limited automotive experience).

What I want:


Volvo 850 T5 by masolino, on Flickr
What I am shooting for:


Tour Of Britain 17-9-2011 by Martin Pettitt, on Flickr



all advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Your dad doesn't know what he's missing. If you are mechanically inclined, there is not much that you can't do on these cars. Just look at the buyer's guide and do a good check over on the car before you buy it. Looks can be deceiving, that's what we love about them. They look and run well even at 15+ years old. So don't get sucked in by looks, check the car out.

 

first of all like RSPI said look at the buyers guide and look at the history of the car you are getting. volvos are great cars and you would fall in love with them if you get the chance to own one.l promise you.l have owned two of them and all 850s.you are lucky to have a Dad who is a mechanic so you shouldnt have a problem with maintenance, just look on this forums for maintenance guide and look out for those and your volvo should last you a very long time.the first thing l would recommend to you is make sure the timing belt has been changed if its over 100,000 miles, also before getting it, you might want to warm up the car and remove the dipstick,if you see white smoke coming out from the dipstick hole, then the Pcv needs replacing.these two things are very important and needs to be checked.may be might want your dad to do a compression test on it before getting it.GOOD LUCk

 

+1 With what Slim said. If the car is over 10 years old, it will need a timing belt. A 12 or 15 year old timing belt is just as big of a risk of braking as one that has 50% more miles than allowed on them. I wouldn't drive a car with a 12 year old timing belt, have the thing towed home. As for things that you find that need to be done, it's not to run, use them for negotiating points and to help you know what you are getting into.

A guy from Cali has been texting me like crazy about buying a 850. He choose one I wasn't 100 percent on but it was nice. I talked him into getting it at a lower price than he wanted to and told him to get the PCV serviced asap. A week or 10 days later, the freeking motor burned up and locked up. I think the PCV blew a seal, all the oil went out, and locked up the motor before he knew he had a leak. So now he's looking for a motor.

On the other hand, I have purchased 2 850's and drove them 1,500 miles home with NO problem. Had one inspected by a professional the other I purchased cold turkey with a bad tranny. I got both in good shape and still have the wagon. I have over 210,000 on the wagon and plan to put 500,000 on it. The wagon looks good and people do make offers on it.

 

it looks like the rear springs are sagging. you might want to look at them because springs really do play a big role in these cars.mine was sagging and ride was really uncomfortable on rough roads.l rebuilt my whole suspension system and my ride feels like am being anchored.LOL. rides really smooth and l love it. the first thing l did on my 850 when l first got it was to work on the pcv, timing belt wise,it was already replaced so l didnt have to worry about that. also l would flush the tranny fluid to a better fluid.l used mobil 1 synthetic and the tranny shifts really smooth.cant even feel it shift.LOL

 

Hey BrownHornet; what's your Dad got against 850s? Does he have experience on volvos at all? They had problems between '99 and 2003 or so but the pre-1999 models are solid and easy to work on. I say that with experience as an ex-auto-tech myself.

 

I just picked up one like the first pic '97 850glt in blue , got it for $1500 in nice shape good paint and body , nice interior just needed axels an lower control arms and a few misc hoses and bulbs, All in all great car to work on and there are tons of them in the local junkyards. all the repairs I have made so far only set me back $200

 

they had problems these years because it was made by mr ford.l will never get an early made volvo made by ford.

 

I have 3 volvos 2 v70 wagons and a 850 4 door sedan, I have been in the mechanical world for almost 45 years, and aside from working on 55 Chevy's and the like, I love working on my Volvos....they are tricky when it comes to electrics, but mechanically they are great to work on, to many people out there read the worst into things because they are foreign made, I think Volvo Has us beat in the car industry because they still permit one to be able to do your own work if so inclined. Good Luck with your Volvo...and use this forum...there are some relly smart men and women here willing to chip in and help you.

 

My father arrived in the US in 1982 from Peru, where the majority of cars are from Japan and Asia. Throughout the years he has bounced around from Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Lexus, Acura, Honda, and Toyota.

I originally wanted a late 90s v70 and his main concern was that if something failed electronically, I would be left high and dry. I am sure he also is under the impression that I have no idea what I am doing, but he is excited that I want to start working on my own car.

I have already found a wealth of resources on the net including several independent component vendors in my area as well as various "how to" articles with full schematics. The only tough part is finding an 850 with just the right amount of work needed.

 

just to let you brother, 850s are very safe cars to drive in.l have been hit almost like three times and all three accidents my car had minor to nothing to fix.850s is one of the safest cars out there you can ever have. l feel very unsafe when ever l ride in cars like hondas,nissans or any other car.l only feel safe in my volvo and not scared about anything. l was hit in the front by a drunk driver last month that caused some damages to the front bumper, l was given a 2012 ford focus and l was never at peace driving it.l felt soo unsafe each day.after my volvo got fixed.OMG you could feel the difference in ride, the ford was nothing close to the ride confort on my volvo 850.so decide on what you want.GOOD luck

 

Sounds to me like you know what you're up against and prepared to dig in.. good luck! Am sure Dad is proud..


You got that right; i looked for my S70 for years before i snapped this one up. Saw the ad on a Thurs; called the guy that eve; setup appt to see it on following Saturday; bought it later that day. When we picked it up the guy said his phone was ringing off the hook; he could have sold it 10X over.

 

I think that if you really want to persue a volvo with all your might, get a copy of the new 2012A vida software.....it will tell you everythnig you need to know, I have a few of the older versions in my pc...and it made my life as a volvo mechanic aso easy, the software will look at your motor inside and out and for the price it's well worth it. It's filled with schematics, electrical, mechanical you name it.

 

can you direct me to where I can find this software. A quick google search brought up a lot of shady looking websites and torrent sites.

 

Hey Brown Hornet,

I have to agree with Colt, they are fun cars to work on, pretty straight forward. I have to say that the electrical can be annoying but none the less also fixable. I will take an 850 over any Japanese or oriental tin can anyday! The models before Ford took over are the best in my opinion.

Good luck~!

 

I just got a clone copy from this gentleman, waiting for it now the price was great considering they ususally charge up to 100.00 plus for older software.
Volvo VIDA Vadis 2012A DICE J2534 Diagnostic Workshop Service Repair Manual | eBay
Hope this helps...just make sure your pc is running xp pro sp3 ie8, win 7sp1 ie8

 

Thanks for the opinion, I love em, wanted one for many years, and then got a bit of a windfall a few years back, now I've got 3 of em, never put a wrench to one prior to ownership, and I'v had my hands in just about everything from planes to submarines, and as far as a vehicle goes, it's the 2nd easiest thing to work on, next to vehicles built from 1903 till about 1980, after that, they tried to make it that THEY DID THE REPAIR WORK??????? These rides are built the component way, so you can leave just about everything else alone on the car except for theindividual component you seek to repair, a mechanics dream !!!!!!! JUST LIKE THIS FORUM, it's pulledmeout of a lot of things, these guy's are the TOPS.
PEACE
PETE

 

Slim, can you drop me a bit of advice on my 1995 850 non turbo, I replaced the belts AND HEAD GASKET in it, now it is a bit sluggish going up inclines when I put it into passing gear, it seems to bog down and actualy losses power TIMING?????? I LEFT A MESSAGE WITH THIS QUESTION ON THE SITE, BUT NO RESPONSES, ASIDE FROM THAT ISSUE THE CAR RUNS GREAT, sorry about the caps pc is freaking out????

 

sorry but l dont really get your question.which belt did you replace?the timing belt or the serpentine belt?please give me more insight, might be of help to your problem.

 

If you removed the head, regardless of changing any belts the timing has to be reset when you put it back together again. you might want to verify that your timing marks are properly aligned since this is easy to do anyway. When I changed my TB I quickly realized how easy it is to miss one tooth if you dont follow the proper procedure/sequence to install the belt. I also found how important it was to verify (turn the engine two full revs) immediately after assembly since things looked all right when I put it all together, but after it all "settled" I found my marks where off

Art