As of Friday I am the proud owner of a new volvo 850 94 turbo, and I just thought I'd register here for some advice and some good times. I bought the car for 1K USD, and I haven't really had too many regrets thus far.
I figured before I took it to a mechanic, I'd ask you guys about some of the various flaws the car has right now and if it's easy enough that I should convince my friends to try to help me fix them.

1) Driver side seat will only adjust in one direction, I can't adjust the seat back itself.
2) Passenger side window will not work
3) AC also seems to be non functional
4) Head lights, low beams and normal operating lights don't seem to be working. Have switched out all the bulbs but all that works right now is highbeams in terms of headlights. Checked fuses, supposedly OK.
5) Missing various dials and a button in the panel for the dashboard, specifically AC controls.
6) Bonnet won't lock open, IE, after one lifts it it needs to be completely held up to keep it from falling down.

I'm incredibly sorry for the newbish fashion in which this post is constructed and I'd gladly appreciate any help or resources you could point me towards

 

Welcome aboard Here's my 2 cents, hope it helps (still a new owner myself and am learning quite quickly lol)

1. Not sure, haven't encountered this issue personally yet
2. Check fuses, switch continuity, regulator, etc
3. Common issue, search the forum (don't have exact link right now)
4. Common issue, and from what I gather usually related to wiring at the plugs under hood. there is a thread here on the forum that explains more, but I don't have the link currently.
5. Junkyards are your friend
6. Sounds like the lift supports are worn/old and need replacing. Not a terribly hard job and relatively cheap usually

I'm sure someone else will chip in here and help out with more info and links to how to guides

Overall, seems like you got a pretty good deal, and as long as the drivetrain is in good shape, you should have the car for another 10 years plus I see em in the scrapyard around here with over 300k miles, and its not unusual for them to go 500k miles or more if properly maintained Pretty simple cars to work on of you have a bit of mechanical aptitude and the right tools/info.

Good luck, and hope this helps!

-Z-

 

For the seat back there are many articles on it. Here is one with photos. In most cases if you take a small torch to the black plastic of the cable protector and jam it into the end to shorten it, you get function back.

It's also easy to find the articles just doing a google search "850 seat back cable repair". That's how I found these for you.

Write Up: 850 Seat Back Cable Replacement - FWD/AWD 1998 and Prior - Volvospeed Forums

This one shows where it was heated.
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...-repair-16364/

"if it's easy enough that I should convince my friends to try to help me fix them."
You need to take a second and think about how well you know me and my friends. What tools I have, they have, what we are capable of and feel comfortable doing and how much change I have in my pocket.
Yep, it's not a bad question but you left out what you think you and your friends are capable of, some background, history.
I've had people who wanted me to explain how to do electrical diagnosis on their charging system only to find out they didn't have nor knew how to use a volt meter and were to cheap to buy one. Total waste of my time trying to explain how to trouble shoot it if they don't have and aren't willing to get the tools needed to do the job.

Passenger window, need to check for power. Start at the console switch and go towards the window if you have it at the switch.

AC ... you need to understand the system. Read up on the system and how the different components work and if you're interested in taking a crack at it check to see if you have any pressure in the system first or just buy a kit and inject a can (read instructions on kit) and see if you can hear a leak. It's someplace to start.

No low beams but you do have high beams. It's likely the dimmer switch on the steering column but I'd check all the fuses first.
I'd read up on the wiring diagram and try to jump the switch to see if I can send power to the low beams to ensure the wiring and bulbs are good and prove it is the dimmer or multifunction switch that failed.
How many lights do you have dead ??

Missing dials ... junk yard.

Does the hood use lift supports ?? I thought they all had springs ??

You need to get a copy of the service manual.
I don't have the link at my fingertips but you could try searching. It's a PDF file and it's worth it's weight in gold. Has wiring diagrams and factory manual how tos.

You should read this if you haven't already
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...s-s-v70s-9266/

Welcome and happy motoring.

 

:doh: Thanks Frog for mentioning the new owners link, I knew I forgot something

I'll add one more thing as well, since it seems to be a big to do: OP, read up on the PVC system and make sure to check it over, replacing anything that needs replaced.

 

Thanks so much for being so helpful guys, I really appreciate it

I'm going to try to check out some of this info and we'll see what I end up doing on it.

Again, thanks so much

 

The thing on the PCV is that you likely don't need the black box. It can be rinsed out with cleaner and reused in most cases. It's only a box with little baffling. Unless you see a problem with a plugged passage it's likely reusable.

I have not yet tried to see if I can get just the hoses and how much they would cost compared to just getting the whole kit.

From what Rspi has posted there is a difference in the quality of the hoses in different kits and he said (IIRC) that the cheaper kit the hoses started to degrade after a year or so. Since it's the hoses that are the most important I would go with "OEM" or Volvo hoses.

 

I have seen elbows desolved in about 7 months.