So now I have a terrible coolant leak that's dumping coolant all over the driver's side footwell, a blower motor that has frozen up, and now the master cylinder is starting to go bad as well. Last month's repair bill was about 250 bucks - looks like this month is gonna be about 3x that. A car payment would be cheaper.

 

How many miles are on your 850?

 

Man, where can I come pick it up.

 

oh i know how to DO it, but a master cylinder is $275, and a new heater core is $100 bucks, and blower motor is $80 bucks. Figure in 10 bucks for brake fluid and 15 for coolant - that puts me at just under $500. happy days.

 

And people get on me when I tell people these cars are great but are high maintenance. LOL

You can get a good heater core from eBay for $40 shipped. I get blower motors from the salvage yard but the master cylinder is another story.

 

You know a car payment goes on month after month after...

So what makes you think the BMC is bad? That's pretty rare. Have you tried a pwr bleed/flush of the brake fluid?

Part of maint is changing/flushing the brake fluid in the system every 3 years or so, but almost no one does it...

 

I paid $45 for a new heater core on eBay, it's been in a while now and haven't had anything go wrong with it.


Sucks about the master cylinder though.

 

gdog: my brake system got completely flushed this past spring, when my abs module took a **** on me - another 400 buck repair job...for a rebuild. Also, the repairs keep going on and on month after month as well. I bet I have put close to $2500 into this car over the last year, plus all my time.

 

The old 850's are a labour of love I guess. I am constantly siphoning money into mine too.......

 

I look at 850's as a very attractive woman, HIGH MAINTENANCE. You have to spend quality time with them often. Then there's the money. You'll love them or want to shoot them.

 

Used to be the former...now mostly the latter.

 

I'm guessing you have high miles on your Volvo 850. As you already know, parts wear out due to age and usage.

Personally I have had zero problems with my T-5R with the exception of wear items (timing belt, suspension and so on). Then again, my T-5R has been loved with under 90k miles.

From the number of posts, I can tell you love the 850 series. All I can do is to wish you the very best on the decision your going to make

 

Not that high, T5. About 145k.

 

I'm at 243,700. In the past 6 months I have done the following:
- Replace a spare tire.
- Replace a CV axle.
- Replace a coolant hose, turbo return.
- Replace the coolant.
- Fixed the drivers side latch, broken clip.
- Replace heater core. The connection seals were leaking.
TOTAL COST: $125

I need to:
- Replace the front o2 sensor.
- Replace a CV boot.
- Replace my tires.
- Replace some old coolant hoses.
TOTAL ESTIMATE: $805 ($500 tires).

I want to:
- Flush brake system.
- Paint by brake calipers.
- Install a rear wing.
- Replace front seat skins.
- Tint windows.
- Reseal PS lines.
ESTIMATE: $725

So, I'm at $1,550. Labor on all that crap would likely be $1,435. So I guess that makes my car worth about $5,500. LOL

 

I did a complete front end rebuild a couple summers ago. wheel bearings, sway bar links, both driveshafts, both lower control arms, springs, struts, strut mount plates, strut bearings, etc. Plus did rear shocks and spings back there too. If I remember right, that was about 1500 bucks for everything.

 

to add insult to injury, the car overheated on me on my way home - ran completely up to the top of the gauge into the red. probably needs a head gasket now. If it does, it's going straight to the scrap yard.

 

If the needle went all the way up, it likely will need a head rebuild.

Did it run out of coolant? Had you replaced the heater core?

 

I had not replaced it yet. I'll be pulling stuff off the car this weekend that I can sell and scrapping it early next week. I am certainly not going to sink the money associated with rebuilding the head into this car. I don't have it, and it isn't worth it.

 

Did you pull the spark plugs to see if they are wet with coolant? Or do a compression test?

My theory is, once the conditions are right, a car will overheat in less than a minute. One minute everything is fine, the next, its overheated. A hose blows, 30 seconds later it's overheated.

I'm sad to see that things went south with the car. I hope you can get a decent price for some of your parts.

 

RSPI: as of last night, it wouldnt even turn over. Pretty sure it's done.