In September 08 I purchased a 93 850 GLT. It now has about 179k miles on it. I recently took the car for an alignment and was told that the inner and outer tie rods on both sides need to be replaced for around $800. Also, the timing belt and water pump are probably about due to be changed which is $500. After those are fixed there will still be a couple issues.

1-The check engine light has come on recently, not sure why.

2-On the first start of the day, everything is good, but if I stop just for a few minutes (just to get a cup of coffee in the morning) on the second start the low oil light comes on. When I go to lunch from work the light is no longer on.

3-When I try to turn on the heat/air, I can not turn it up past very low b/c it is very loud, and doesn't seem to be blowing.

My question is this. How much am I looking at to get the rest of these problems looked at? At 179k is it even worth fixing?

Thank you for your help. If this is the wrong forum, I apologize.

BTW, if it isn't obvious, I am not capable of doing these repairs myself so if its cost effective or not would need to include someone else doing the labor.

 

This is the right forum. These cars are pretty expensive to have them worked on, but they are not that hard to work on yourself. From what you said I would think that it's not a very good investment to fix all the problems on the car by paying somebody else to do the work. Especially since it's a 93 model year which was the 1st year of the 850.

Now the question becomes can you get a car better than that one for the money you put into that one? I would estimate your car is worth about $750 in the condition it is in now, maybe $1,000 if the body and interior are in very good conditon. To get a realiable car will cost you at least $3,000. So if you can get $1,000 for yours plus another $2,000 you could have a reliable car.

If you spend that same $2,000 repairing the car you have would you have a reliable car that is better than what you can buy for $3,000?

 

Are you sure you can't work on the car yourself with some guidance? If you think you can step one is to buy a Haynes manual from the auto parts store. Another great resource is the factory service manual which can be downloaded from here:

http://www.savefile.com/files/2001813

The downloaded manual is for a '95 but it is 90% the same as your '93 and many of the sections point out the differences.

The inner tie rods cost $43.00 each and the outer tie rods cost $32.00 each at FCP Groton (OEM - don't waste your money on the aftermarket junk). They are not hard to change and there are several writeups with the procedures and hints on this site as well as the other Volvo sites.

For your check engine light you need to read the codes. Here is how you do it.

http://volvospeed.com/CheckEngine.php

Read the codes and post them back.

The timing belt on your 1993 should be changed every 50,000 miles and the tensioner, the rollers, and the water pump should be changed out at the 150,000 mile interval. If you have no service records that indicate that it was ever done you should go ahead and do it. If anything in the timing system fails it is game over for your engine.

Elaborate a bit more on the problem with the heater - A/C. I think you are talking about the cabin blower but I'm not sure what you are saying.

At the end of the day if you think you can wrench the car yourself you can save a lot of money and it would make sense to keep the car. If you really need to rely on a shop to fix everything it might be time to sell it and move on.

These are great cars, a lot of fun to drive, and once they are put in shape they are very reliable. The service on them will eat you alive if you can't do some or all of it yourself.

...Lee

 

That car is good for another 100K - Fix it!

 

Thanks for the recommedations. Here are the codes that were pulled.

A3:
2-1-2
2-1-3
2-1-4
1-4-1
4-4-3
1-4-2

A6:
2-4-1

A7:
1-2-2

B2:
1-2-2

B1:
1-3-5
3-2-5
4-1-4

A1 and A2 read 1-1-1, the others did not do anything Thanks for your help guys.

Also the problem with the heat/ac, when it is turned on but at a low setting no problem. But if I want to turn the setting up higher it gets very loud. Sounds like something with the fan maybe?