I just recently purchased a 1996 850R Wagon with 96,000 miles on it in excellent condition. I bought this car because I loved my 240 dl wagon, which was very reliable for 5 years. I decided to give my 240 to my little brother so i took it to a mechanic because a recent oil leakage problem. he said that the engine and transmission mounts had failed and punched a hole in the oil filter which explained me having to put a quart of oil in it every three blocks. so i forked over 500 buks and had it all fixed up. Ok now that you know all my Volvo history I can get down to the questions i wanted to ask. The dealer ship took the 96 850r toa mechanic when i bought it from him and had all new rotors/pads and a abs controller installed for free. which was around a 1000 bucks. I bought the car for 7,500 buks with a 2 year 85,000 mile repair warranty from Guardian. Last week i took it in to get serviced at a local Volvo repair shop because i felt that the breaks were way to soft. he replaced the master cylinder and had the break sensor replaced, "all under the Guardian warranty i purchased with the car. Ok now down to my questions. The car is still in the shop. The mechanic told me that someone replaced and put a brand new factory engine in the car! I'm wondering why, i guess this is a good thing? my second question has to do with the turbo boost guage it doesn't reach full boost when the tranny shifts. Is this normal? Is there any other things i should have the mechanic do or check whiles its in the shop? thanks for your help in advance to whom ever reads this post.

 

Get an aftermarket boost guage. That will accurately tell you exactly how much boost you have.

 

Yeah get a real boost gauge. http://www.egauges.com (Get an Autometer) and get a gauge pod from http://www.gaugepods.com

 

My guess for the new engine...

The timing belt must be replaced every 70K miles. Volvo engines are interference engines. Previous owner neglected to replace timing belt. Belt broke. Every Valve in the head was bent, leaving impressions in the top of the pistions. Most likely, just replacing head and valves would've solved the problem. But, with some damage to pistons, the previous owner decided to replace the engine.

https://volvoforums.com/m_31697/tm.htm

Maintenance items to expect to be addressed immediately after purchase...

1) Brake Pads and Rotors
In my experience, OEM pads only last 25K miles. Rotors must be replaced, they can't be turned.

2) ATF (Dexron-III) will be black.
I would not power flush, in fear that debris will break loose and cause problems.

Here are procedures that I used to drain and fill...
https://volvoforums.com/m_25657/tm.htm

Best option is to purchase ATF DIY flush kit from
http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.as...549&RootID=629

This does NOT apply to 1999 and newer Volvo(s) which have AW55-50/51SN transmission. This transmission requires Mobil/Volvo JWS 3309. It is not synthetic. It is expensive -- $18/quart.

3) Do NOT use power steering fluid. Our systems use Dexron-III.

4) Volvo no longer sells 87C/190F thermostat. Do NOT use OEM 90C/195F, purchase 87C/190F Wahler from
http://www.fcpgroton.com

Here are procedures that I used to replace thermostat and ECT...
https://volvoforums.com/m_16392/tm.htm


5) Misc.
-- purchase a hydraulic jack to lift front of car for oil changes
-- purchase a pair of jack stands (place on engine sub-frame)
-- purchase a package of aluminum crush washers for oil drain plug
-- purchase a magnetic oil drain plug from FCPGroton (optional)
-- purchase one aluminum crush washer for ATF drain plug

 

Thanks for all the great info! This is Really helpfull.

about the boost guage. i'm thinking about this kit. what do you think? http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.as...424&RootID=629

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO

Please DO NOT get that boost gauge and pod. You can get a nicer looking gauge for way less then they want you to spend. Plus a pod can be had for $15.00 from Gaugepods.com

 

For Example

Autometer Phantom Series Boost/Vac Gauges

Autometer Ultra-Lite Boost/Vac Gauges

Autometer Z-Series Boost/Vac Gauges

 

And for a pod go here. LOTEK (GaugePods.com) Volvo Gauge Pods

 

If you have plans to make performance mods to your car, then you may wish to add a Air/Fuel Mixture gauge with wideband O2 sensor (or at the minimum a traditional narrowband Air/Fuel Gauge). Running with a lean fuel mixture will cause your engine to run hotter than necessary -- and then lead to engine knocking and pinging -- damaging pistons, connecting rods and crank.

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...howtopic=38200

Some folks use both Exhaust Gas Temp and Wideband A/F gauges.

 

Do not I repeat do not waste your money on a Narrowband, go WIDEBAND or not at all. Narrowband is worthless. It just lets you see colored lights with no real readings.

 

Thanks for the tips with the guage's and pod. you are right, those ones do look a lot better and wide-range makes sense. Yeah I plan on doing some performance mod's. I'm thinking about installing a boost controller and 2.5/3" exhaust next . If i understand correctly the controller will allow the turbo R.P.M.'s to spool up more which is what i was getting at in my first post and the exhaust has to be custom made or ordered. any suggestions? I just got done installing my audio/video system. I can tell you this car gets lots of attention . I got pulled over twice so far. The low profile rims, dark tint and bright red paint does not help. I would like to see whats behind me, cant tell at night because of the tint. Side mirrors are small but they help a little. Lucky I haven't got any tickets/fines. just one subrioty test and another warning for a quick acceleration incident.

 

I would suggest getting it custom made why pay $795 for a 3" downpipe when most likely you can have a local custom exhaust shop make you a 3" downpipe and a 2.5" free flowing catback for $800

 

check out my other post never installed any thing i think my turbos going to explode

 

Then replace it and while your at it. Replace the vaccum lines with silicone ones and the turbo hoses with silicone ones.

 

what are those hoses for the tell the turbo when to spool or what? the other hoses look fine im going to the hardware store right now for them thatnks

 

Wow you don't go to a hardware store to buy turbo hoses or silicone vaccum lines.

You buy them online from Stylin Motors Inc.

 

out of curisoity, why is that?

 

Shop -n- Compare

http://www.stylinmotors.com/volvo.html
http://www.samcosport.com/us/samco.asp?make=volvo
http://www.hosetechniques.com/catalog_search.tpl
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/hoseandclamps.htm

 

found the hoses there not silicon though, every one on this board is telling me to plug them in any ways becasue of the air/fuel mixture but what ever.....

 

Does anyone with a T5 on this board have the 850T kit from stylin motors? I bought their vacuum hose kit a couple of days ago, but was curious what the 5 hoses for the turbo include. My throttle body hose is cracked and I am certainly losing pressure there (even after my epoxy bandaid), so I figured I would go ahead and get their silicone hose kit as well. - AB