Greetings all. I have a 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo Sedan with almost 170k miles on it. About 2 weeks ago it started stalling sporadically after I would push it. I would have to wait a few minutes, as I got the impression that something was overheating. After a weekend in Pittsburgh (for anyone who's driven in pitt, it is all hills), I decided to take it in for a tune up which ran me over 200 dollars. He said that he changed the spark plugs and replaced the wires. Other than that, he could not find anything wrong.

So I drive to ohio state last weekend and as I'm coming back I notice that I cannot push the turbo needle into the white. I literally also cannot get the car over 80mph. The turbo spooling sound is now non-existant. Is it gone? How expensive is a new/used one? How easy is it to replace yourself if it's even possible?

Also, is it bad for the car to be driving it with no turbo, it runs fine, I just cannot push it like I used to.



Thank you thank you thank you for your help!

 

Could be something very simple like a hose or as bad as a turbo.

 

You might have an intercooler hose leaking. You might have a hose missing/cracked from the stock boost control valve.

 

Used 15Gs are only about 150 bucks. Yes you can do it yourself. It's pretty easy, I think.

I would check your vac/intercooler hoses. Just follow your intake to the turbo and from the turbo to the intercooler and from the intercooler to the TB.

 

If you had boost before having the plugs and wires changed and now you do not I would bet that you have a hose that is disconnected or is now broken/split or as Tech says a broken hose at the boost controller.

 

Update time:

So I was driving back to school from Thanksgiving break last weekend and my car started running like complete crap and completely died on the highway. Had it towed and found out the fuel pump went bad. So I had that replaced.....

To get back to the topic at hand. I had the mechanic check out the turbo. He said it was spooling but he didn't know enough about Volvos or turbos to really find the problem. He said that he heard a sound like air trying to get past the wastegate I believe? I told him how I come to the Volvo forums to get advice every once in a while and he said he would investigate if he could get a lead on what to look for. Now he said he checked all the vacuum lines and whatnot, and that the turbo was spooling. He said maybe the wastegate wasn't opening all the way? What should I tell him?


HELP?!?!?!



Thanks!!!

 

Did he make sure the intercooler hoses were not leaking?

 

I did not ask him. Where is the intercooler hose? What exactly does it do? Can I examine this myself? If it's not that, what other solutions could you think of Tech? Thank you by the way.

 

These are the intercooler hoses. Make sure they are tight and don't have any kind of cracks in them

 

I sent my turbo to these guys as it had 148K on it and needed rebuild. They had one on the shelf and did a next day swap for mine. They are honest and reliable and I have had no problems with my turbo now for 5 months.

http://www.xsboostturbochargers.com/