I'm thinking about trading in the 850 R. After all that work we did on it, I am just not that happy with the way it runs some of the time. 90% of the time it runs great, but every once in a while it will run real rough and the CEL will come on with a misfire in cylinder one. I constantly drive in fear of something will go wrong. But when I step on the gas it always takes off like a rocket, and it doesn't use oil like it used to either. My gut feel is just not good about this car though. Thinking about getting a 98 C70 Coupe if I can find one for a good price and I can trade the R in on it for a good price. I know I will miss the 850 though. I have had one since 1994 and I just really like the looks of the R.

 

I think you will be sorry the first time you have to put a window regulator in. It will cost about $600.00 to get installed.

I wish I could afford to buy the Rfrom you.

 

So are there problems with the C70? Maybe not such a good idea.

 

The window regulators are known to go bad. They always Feather the tires and wear very weird.

Other than that it reall isn't all that bad. I think you would be better off with the R.

 

I went and looked at a C70 last night. It was a light red color that I have never seen before. I liked the color quite a bit. I parked the R so that I could look at them both at the same time, and I have to admit I like the looks of the R better. The C70 just doesn't look like a Volvo to me. It was a 98, so it was the year before Ford. Looked like it had an awesome stereo. Had a middle speaker in the dash and real big speakers on the rear deck and several speakers around the car. I didn't get drive it or even get in it the car. Just looked. Noticed that the right side rotors were rusty. The left ones were not. I mean a good bit of rust too. Wonder what would cause that? It had 67,000 miles on it and they wanted $11,995 which is kinc of high, but that is low mileage. There is also one the same color in Cleveland with 122,000 miles for $7995, but that's about 100 miles away.

I'm going to go wash and wax my R. Maybe that will make it run smoother. It's been running rough again lately and kicking on the CEL with misfires in cylinder one. I carried the OBD-II reader with me to the dealer and turned off the CEL before pulling into the lot just in case I was going to let them look at the car. Coming home I put my foot into it and it took off like nothing is wrong. I wish I could figure out what is causing the rough idle? My wife does not even like to ride in the car now, let alone drive it. Not sure that's a bad thing.

 

If one side is rusty and the other not it is possible it was near the Coast. By that I mean the Ocean and was only parked one way. Thats why one side is worse than the other. I have seen that Many times when I lived in Palm Beach.

If you get time one day and are Bored. Pull the Fuel Rail and Swap #1 Injector with one of the other ones and see if the Code will change.

I may be wrong but all the Tune up stuff is new correct?

 

The only things that are not new is the cap and rotor. New plugs and wires though. The fact is that #1 is the one that had the burnt valve and it is the one with the low compression (110-120 vs. 150 on the others) leads me to believe there is still something going on with that cylider. I'll try swapping an injector though, that's not that tough now that I am experienced with this car.

Hard to believe a car in Columbus, OH came from the beach and is on a Chevrolet dealer lot. It does look like the side was getting wet while the other was not though.

 

It is from the Ocean Breeze. The Salty Breeze hits the one side of the car the most.

 

If swapping injectors doesn't resolve the problem...

Let's get this little annoying problem taken care of once and for all. Perform an engine compression test one more time. Pull the necessary fuses to kill ECU and fuel pump. Pull all spark plugs. Hold throttle wide open.

Only on cylinder #1...

First, take a dry reading.

Next, take a wet reading after squirting a small amount of oil into cylinder #1.

Do the readings change dramatically? If not, you have a cylinder head/valve problem. If yes, you have a bad piston ring.

 

I've had the head off three times. I'm convinced it's not in the head. I really think the low compression is rings, but that is not what's making it run rough at idle occasionally. Occasionally being the key word. It ran great for three weeks, then all of a sudden after sitting for four days, it runs rough one day at idle and low speed. I kick it and it runs smooth. It will run fine for a day or two then bam CEL and it idles rough for a short time. It's so intermittent. I will get rid of the car before I tear it down again.

 

Thats why I think it might also be an Injector.
110-120 Really isn't that low. Shouldn't affect the running.

 

Jim, how much are you selling the 850 for? Ever think about getting an audi?

 

IF I was going to sell it, I would have to get at least $7500. I don't think this is a car you want to buy though. If I get the engine running right all the time I won't sell it. If I get rid of it because of the engine, I will trade it in or sell it to somebody who will be able to fix it knowing there is something wrong.

 

I can work on cars...by summer at the latest I'm going to start building a 351 HO engine to drop into a fox body. question, is the car burning smoke when it runs rough?

 

Nope. Has not used any oil since I had the head the valve job done. It was using about a quart every 1,000 miles before having the head done. It would occasionally blow some white smoke when first starting, but I have not seen that either. It had a hole big enough to put the tip of a phillips head screwdriver in one of the valves on cylinder one. It's been driving great ever since I looked at the C70.

If you want a car similar to mind, I will find you one. I am great at finding just what I want, and I enjoy the hell out of shopping for cars. If I didn't have such a good job I would open a dealership. Might be something I do when I retire. Problem is I like Volvo's too much and would have trouble selling anything else. Well I could do BMW's too.

 

I swapped the #1 and #5 injectors and it is still throwing the P0301 and P1310 codes. It was running fine for about 2 or 3 days then it started running rough again today and the CEL came back on. It is so damn frustrating.

 

Man this thing is running rough now just about as often as not. I think that might be good news in a way. If I take it to the shop now, I can almost be certain that it will run rough and kick out CEL codes while they have it. After test driving the C70, I really want to keep my R! It's faster than the C70, but the C70 has a better stereo, but not all that much better. I was really dissappointed in the C70, and I really like the R when it's running right.

 

Keep us posted. Thanks for the other updates.