i just bought the 94 850 turbo today. 122k on it. car is clean in and out. guy said that it doesnt leak, ANYTHING. its in great order except for the intermitent "abs" light and the "tracs off" light. he said a fuse. but i was thinking a wheel sensor? the car makes a squeaky/rubbing noise in front end passenger side when on bumps- maybe a bad strut? no prob, i can change those. but when i took it from modesto to jamestown for the day and got back to town. i pulled up to inlaws house showed off for less than 5 min. and when i pull away a smoke cloud! WTF?! then i get in my driveway and its very slowly dripping. under the car the two metal lines (turbo oil?) are coated with oil. i think its the RMS. what do you think? should i put in the work and change the seal? is it worth it? i love the car i dont mind the work but dam dude, you coulda told me it had some problems... anyway.... would the RMS make the cloud of smoke i described? and why would the over flow be maxed out when i checked under hood? thermostat? the temp flucuates from 1/4 to just over 1/2 during freeway driving and city driving. in those orders 1/4 on freeway. 1/2 to just over in city. im a little dissapointed. i need help and advice. i want to keep it but.....

so i am capable of doing the work. i have fairly modest mechanical skills. i just want to know if this is worth the work.

 

I guess it depends on how much you spent for the car. Sounds like the thermostat is bad, as far as the temp goes.

Not sure what to tell you about the smoke. These cars have a PCV system that needs replacing every so often. You can check to see if that is plugged up and get that replaced. The best way to test it is to drive the car until it's warmed up, stop and pull the oil dip stick out a little with the car still running. If you see a lot of smoke coming out of the dip stick hole, it needs replacing.

The ABS lights are common. It's likely the ABS module. They sell them rebuilt.

Squeaky rubbing noises can also be old bushings making noise. No big deal.

 

Sounds like rspi has things here under control! +1 on everything he said...

 

well i got it for 2200. with the knowlege of the 140k service comming soon. so another 12$ for the seal and the 100 or so for the pcv if needed are not so bad after the weekend worth of work it'll need. i only have a big and small floor jack. is it possible to do RMS with just floor jacks? is there any "specialty" tools involved in this job?

 

Check the oil seal on the turbo return line. They are known to go bad and a very easy fix. Don't just assume it's the RMS which is worst case scenario. These cars are known to get oil leaks in several different places.

 

hey thanks for keeping the optomism jim! i'll get the car up on stands and clean up the bottom of engine tomorrow. i'll report what i find in this thread.

 

not to hijack anyones thread, but on 850 turbo could you elaborate on these places? my 850 turbo is leaking around the turbo lines.

 

now the abs and tracs light come on when you turn the car on, if you back your key back a tiny bit do they go off?

 

It could be leaking from the rear main seal. A really big job $1000.00 you have to pull the tranny. You can do it yourself but you need an engine hoist or a beam that runs across the strut towers. Take a look down where the tranny bolts to the motor you will see a little hole where you can see the flywheel teeth. Is the area coated with oil? If you turn on the car and idle the motor the oil will have a waterwheel affect. If you see this your main seal is going or gone.

The turbo return o ring leak is higher up on back of the engine. It's a low pressure tube that drains oil out of the turbo back into the crankcase. You have to undo one 10mm bolt that fasten the oil lines together then you have to undo two torx screws that bolt the tube to the bottom of the turbo. It's a little funky to get out but it can be done with a little wiggling and force. It's the seal on the crankcase that dribbles oil down the back of the engine. That job is about a one hour and $7.00 fix. This o ring leak is usually not as catastrophic as the the main seal it's more of an annoyence

FYI Volvos don't really have a valve cover so don't look for leaks there. If you got oil on the the back of the motor it's either the o ring and/or the main seal are the culprints. If you have too much blowby from crankcase pressure due to a plugged oil seperator you may have blown the seal some times you can slow down the seal leak by cleaning out the pvc system. It will still seep not hemorage oil so you might be able to live with it.

 

yes i looked while the car was up on ramps and its the RMS... dang! the part is 42 bucks at dealer and i will probably do the job myself. just gotta borrow a hoist from my uncle or buy one. what all has to be done when doing this job? looks like a lot has to be disconnected to drop the subframe enough to sneak out the transmission. correct? is there a write up on how to do this? with pics?

 

Yeah you got screwed like I did. This is a real common problem with these cars. People clean them up and dump them. How much oil does it leak? It's usually too much crankcase pressure, caused by a clogged oil sperator, that blows the seal. If you removve the intake manifold you see a little black plastic box right on the front of the engine. Clean it all out with brake cleaner and soapy water then reinstall it. About 3-4 hours works but not hard. There is a real good write up out there about it somehwere. Just Google "clean 850 Volvo OIl Sperator" and you will find it. Releiving that pressure may drastically reduce the oil leak. It still is going to leak but it might be manageable because you don't have the pressure pushing it out.

In regard to the procdure for pulling the tranny. The Haynes Manual has a procedure. I don't know where you live but here in Minnesota any public library has free access to ALL Data.. By the way the directions are 30 pages!!!! long. If you have not done it before budget at least twenty hours. I hired a half *** mechanic on Craigs List to do it for $450 but he put it in wrong and I almost lost my engine. It was too damm cold up here so I wound up taking it to a real mechanic who charged me $950 and said he would never do it again because he lost $$$ on it.

MAKE SURE YOU DON'T FORGET THAT VACUME LINE BETWEEN THE AIR INTAKE AND THE TURBO. It's the one that goes into a black box where the blowby hose hooks up with the intake. If you miss it the actuator won't let blowby back into system and the pressure will build up again.

I'd try just cleaning out the PVC system first, your going to have do it anyway, monitor the oil leak, if you can live with it just add oil as needed. Remember your are dealing with a $2000 car. Is it really worth it?

 

so a guy at my work with a FULL shop, lift and all tools, compressor, impacts etc... said he will rent me his shop for 200$ and i can do the job their. it would be a good thing to have the lift available for the subframe drop. but dang. 2bills to use the tools! i think i would rather buy a hoist for 100-150 and do it at home. i just dont have impacts or compressor... hmmm..... what to do?

im planning on tackling the pcv system soon. this weekend or next. i am just monitoring the oil leak closely right now. it drops about a capfull of oil when i park it. thats the oil container cap not the filler cap. its putting quite a bit out so i want to do the job asap...

 

You don't need a hoist, just an engine support bar---something like $70 at Harbor Freight. And maybe a transmission adapter on your floor jack ($40). And you can sell those on ebay when you're done with them. Apart from the RMS itself, there are a number of bolts you're supposed to replace with new ones when you put stuff back together; that can add up with what dealers charge for things.

This write-up of a manual transmission swap gives a good idea what's involved in pulling the tranny: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=71880

But anyway some guys over on that UK forum swear by the PCV system repair followed by using Forte Seal Conditioner to restore the RMS. It's like $20; you have to have it shipped from England. I'm about to give that a try before resigning myself to a weekend of RMS work. I can deal with a few drips.

 

That crap never works. It's just a chemical that can swell seals. I can't grow new rubber. I tried all that kind of crap and nothing worked. In fact it can actaully damage other seals in your engine.

In regarding to renting a garage with an impact wrench. Your not go to use it for much more that the lug nuts. Impact wrenchs are great for lugs and stuck exhaust bolts but his job is about access. Lots of pita bolts. You would be better off to spend the two hundred on extensions, gear wrenchs etc. Lift the car up two feet on jackstands. Drain the radiator, take off the turbo pipes, remove the battery tray, air box, unplug the wiring and vacume lines, remove the left strut yank the axle out, after everything is clear, drop the subframe by removing the bolts on the right and loosening the left, don't forget to support the engine with a beam. It's not rocket science just a lot of work. You lose a few pounds crawls up and down one hundred times.

Don't forget to at least look at the tranny input seal!!!! Wouldn't that be a pisser to do all that work and have it go out a week later.

Pull yoursef together and take action.

Clean the PVC and live with the oil leak. Buy it in five quart jugs and keep it in the trunk.

See if you find a good mechanic looking for side work who will do it for say $450 cash. Remember I got burned on that but chances are it won't happen to you if you check the dude out.

Just go ahead and fix it. It's hard but not technically demanding. Look at it this way. You are going to learn alot about your car. I'ts going to take twenty hours not including trips to buy parts and gaskets.

Thank you for writing about this because I always looked under every car I bought before I titled it. The one time I didn't and look waht happened. Ifelt like a total dumb *** but now I know that I am not alone. A word to the wise: When you really screw up and you suffer as a result, you will never repeat the mistke.

DONT EVER BUY AN OLD VOLVO WITHOUT CHECKIN THE RMS FIRST!!!! THEY ARE LIKE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKETS ON CHEVYS.

I SURE THE SELLER KNEW ABOUT IT AND WHEN THEY HEARD HOW MUCH IT COST TO GET FIXED THEY DUMPED IT ON YOU.

 

i think this is what i needed to hear. im going to get the rubber hoses for the pcv system and clean the flame trap and "ptc"? then see how bad the leak is.

as for the guy knowing it leaked i hope not. i checked the underside before i bought it and i checked the driveway and street out front. no leaks. i think it just started happening when i got the car. i hope. and the job sounds easy enough i just never worked on a volvo and am a little intimidated. but i gotta do what i gotta do. thanks for all of your advice everyone.