Hey! Im Nick, and i just purchased my first car which is a 95 volvo 850 GLT non-turbo and i have a few questions!

-First ill start off by saying the previous owner had died so it got left at a gas station, while looking for a car a red flag went up everytime the car was just left!! But this volvo was a surprise, it runs strong and great mechanically! I'd like some advice on fixing a few thing...

- I need to know how to fix things under the dash, my odometer doesn't work and i cant see the speedometer at night because the backlight is out!

-I want to check on my timing belt because my friend had a 94 850 and when his broke it completely screwed up his engine so i would like to prevent that at all cost, im not a great mechanic but want to learn, should i check the belt myself or take it to an expert?

-I got a new stereo to put in the car but everyone keeps saying a need some special piece for the wiring, what kind of piece is it and where can i find one?

-Another thing i was told is that if i add a turbo to my car it could give me better gas mileage, is there any truth to that?

When i purchased the car it had been sitting for about 3 years so i changed the oil and put some seafoam in the gas tank. This weekend i plan on replacing the spark plugs, O2 sensor and fuel filter. Anything else i should check or replace? Anything helps!


-Nick

 

Don't bother to check the belt, just replace it. When unsure about it's age or condition it's just so much easier and safer to do it and be done with it. The belt is fairly cheap at around 30 bucks and depending on who you listen to you should replace the timing belt components (rollers and tensioner) and the water pump. I believe in doing them all but there are folks who don't until they make noise and or leak. Again it's a matter of choice and how secure you want to feel when you're away from home or have your foot buried into the carpeting.
For the belt replacement info with pictures I'd try doing a search on Matthewsvolvosite but I'm sure in short time some helpful souls will post links.

Same with the dash removal. You'll need to buy the gears for the odometer. IPDUSA.com has them and I think there is a site with metal ones but if the plastic will last 200K I'm not sure getting the metal ones is worth the search or $$. It's usually only one gear that strips but for the trouble of taking the dash off and the instrument panel apart it's best to buy the pair and again you're done and you don't have to worry about it. The dash bulbs are not the kind you can just run down to the parts store and pick up. They are special and Volvo charges about 7 bucks each for them. There are ways around it including buying ones at radio shack ($1 or $2)and soldering them into the original holders just depends on your skill, if you have the time and if it's worth what you'd save doing it yourself.

Metra makes a lot of stereo wiring kits. Not sure about Volvo but if you check out their web site they might have one that plugs into the Volvo harness and then wires to your radio connector. I've used the plug in but since you have to wire it to the radios leads anyway some times it just makes more sense to cut the cars original plug to the cars original radio off and connect the wires without spending the 12 to 20 bucks for the connector. Again, depends on your skills, time and situation. Main thing is to check your connections by twisting them together and listening to it before you crimp and or solder it all together.

-Another thing i was told is that if i add a turbo to my car it could give me better gas mileage, is there any truth to that?
RSPI will give you the link on how to make your NA (naturally apsirated) vehicle go faster.
Better gas mileage ?? No way in hell. Two reasons. One it's way too much fun to plant your foot and zoom around and that burns MORE gas. Number two, see number one.
That and if you're asking these questions you have no idea of the difficulty in adding the system. It's not just a turbo, it's the turbo's intake system including a different air cleaner housing, tubing and an intercooler, exhaust manifold and downpipe, different computer, more sensors and controls which also need a different engine bay wiring harness and some stuff I've likely missed.

When you're at Matthews volvo site check on a PCV system. It's not just a valve on a Volvo, it's a system. You may or may not need it now but you likely will at some point so you might as well find out about it now

Seafoam is a good general cleaner and if you read the label it says it will do a lot in both the gas or oil. The problem is something like that does a lot of things well but it doesn't do any one thing great. For a fuel injector cleaner I would use Lucas, works great. Check the price of a quart compared to the single use as the quart is a much better buy. Second choice is Chevron with techron. We always argue about which one is better at work
Stay away from Fram oil filters. Lately there has been a lot of buzz about them causing valve lifter noise on startup. That and make sure you're awake enough to remember to put the new oil in before you drive it
You know who you are !

 

Thanks for the detailed response, thats what i was hoping for! Yea thats what i thought about the whole turbo thing, i already have a lead foot lol

I purchased a thing of seafoam and lucas and both had high ratings, thats why i decided to go with the seafoam. Is it safe to add it next time i fill up even though i just added the seafoam a couple weeks ago? or is that a deathwish for my engine??

 

If you are talking about the Lucas, Yes. It's a nice thing to do every or every other oil change. It's like laundry soap, more isn't necessarily better or gets it any cleaner. The seafoam in the oil is a good thing though as it will help clean the insides of the motor and might make the PCV system stay cleaner longer too.

 

+1 with Kiss.

Here are the links he promised someone would add:

How To's: https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...repairs-26114/

New Volvo Owner: https://volvoforums.com/forum/genera...-owners-52250/

New 850 Owner: https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...s-s-v70s-9266/

Sticky's will be your friend.

If the car runs great, why dump snake oil? Just do the lucas every oil change and you should be fine.

Welcome to the site and congrats on your purchase.

 

Thank you and thank you!!

 

RSPI ??? Where is your link on "How to make your NA faster" ??

I was looking forward to that one.

VanTassel, sorry if the explanation about adding a turbo sounded a bit .... ah ... pissy. Didn't intend it to but some people think you can bolt on a turbo and have the speed and don't think about what all goes into the whole system of the turbo. I sold a Nitrous kit once and the calls I received from brainless people drove me nuts. It's like they almost thought you just mounted a tank in the trunk and ran a hose to the engine and it gave you 250 horsepower on demand.
They had no clue, did no research but somehow were led to believe it was easy to just "add" it and go. Doing things that increase horsepower usually necessitate doing ancillary things because of the increased stress or to allow the "thing" to work up to it's potential. Most of what I've been doing is in preparation of going with a big turbo.

 

Well, it's actually the top link in the DIY thread now. I'll stick it again if we start getting those questions weekly. Our man Van wasn't looking to make it faster, he was looking to save gas. As much as I wanted to link it up, I resisted.

 

@Kiss4aFrog its all good, i knew what you meant and honestly i knew it was going to take alot more then just a turbo, i just thought id ask because an mechanic told me it would save me gas!

@rspi thanks for the links, they were very helpful!!