Newbie looking for advice: Crankcase Pressure, Blower Motor, CV Boot...
#1
12-10-2015, 11:59 PM
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Newbie looking for advice: Crankcase Pressure, Blower Motor, CV Boot...
Hi, I've been taking my Volvo in for repairs for the past ten years, and am finally beginning to feel the need to do some of the repairs myself, or, possibly, give up on the car because it's too expensive.
It's a 1994 Volvo 850 Wagon - NON-turbo.
The guys I take it to for repairs put this in on the last invoice:
HIGH PRIORITY (Aug 7 2015): CRANKCASE HAS POSITIVE PRESSURE, CAN CONTRIBUTE TO OIL CONSUMPTION AND LEAKS, RECOMMEND
OVERHAULING SYSTEM - ALSO INCLUDES THROTTLE BODY CLEANING FOR CUSTOMER'S INTERMITTENT STALLING WHEN CAR IS COLD BUT
IT'S HOT OUT, ~$600-650 DEPENDING ON NEEDS - RECOMMEND DOING WITH NEXT OIL CHANGE
As well as:
Medium priority: (Aug 7 2015) RIGHT FRONT OUTER CV BOOT IS TORN AND STARTING TO LEAK GREASE, ~$230 TO REPLACE AND RE-PACK
JOINT - RECOMMEND DOING WITH NEXT OIL CHANGE
As well as, last night, the blower motor for the cabin air just went out.
So, please bear in mind this comes from someone who's only repairs I have ever done are headlights, the cabin filter, and refilling the Freon. I haven't even changed the oil. Embarrassing.
The questions I have are:
1) If I religiously check the oil and keep the oil on the dipstick between the markings, how necessary is it to do that Crankcase Overhaul? I go through about one pint of oil per 1500 miles, which is not too much for me. It's been five months already since the last oil change already.
2) What happens if I don't get the CV Boot repair? I'm afraid to try that on my own, I would have them do it. Do I need it done? How soon?
3) I may try and replace the blower motor myself. I looked up the repair for that, I think I may be able to attempt it. But, before I do that, how can I diagnose for sure that the motor is burned out, and not just a fuse or something?
4) I'm supposed to be up for a Timing Belt replacement. How soon -really-does that need to happen?
All this comes from a place of just being flat broke, but not wanting to give up on the volvo. It has 230000 miles on it. The transmission and engine still run great.
I have very little experience repairing cars. I could just give up and put everything on my credit card, but instead, I want to try to begin to learn more about it, so any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks ahead of time.
It's a 1994 Volvo 850 Wagon - NON-turbo.
The guys I take it to for repairs put this in on the last invoice:
HIGH PRIORITY (Aug 7 2015): CRANKCASE HAS POSITIVE PRESSURE, CAN CONTRIBUTE TO OIL CONSUMPTION AND LEAKS, RECOMMEND
OVERHAULING SYSTEM - ALSO INCLUDES THROTTLE BODY CLEANING FOR CUSTOMER'S INTERMITTENT STALLING WHEN CAR IS COLD BUT
IT'S HOT OUT, ~$600-650 DEPENDING ON NEEDS - RECOMMEND DOING WITH NEXT OIL CHANGE
As well as:
Medium priority: (Aug 7 2015) RIGHT FRONT OUTER CV BOOT IS TORN AND STARTING TO LEAK GREASE, ~$230 TO REPLACE AND RE-PACK
JOINT - RECOMMEND DOING WITH NEXT OIL CHANGE
As well as, last night, the blower motor for the cabin air just went out.
So, please bear in mind this comes from someone who's only repairs I have ever done are headlights, the cabin filter, and refilling the Freon. I haven't even changed the oil. Embarrassing.
The questions I have are:
1) If I religiously check the oil and keep the oil on the dipstick between the markings, how necessary is it to do that Crankcase Overhaul? I go through about one pint of oil per 1500 miles, which is not too much for me. It's been five months already since the last oil change already.
2) What happens if I don't get the CV Boot repair? I'm afraid to try that on my own, I would have them do it. Do I need it done? How soon?
3) I may try and replace the blower motor myself. I looked up the repair for that, I think I may be able to attempt it. But, before I do that, how can I diagnose for sure that the motor is burned out, and not just a fuse or something?
4) I'm supposed to be up for a Timing Belt replacement. How soon -really-does that need to happen?
All this comes from a place of just being flat broke, but not wanting to give up on the volvo. It has 230000 miles on it. The transmission and engine still run great.
I have very little experience repairing cars. I could just give up and put everything on my credit card, but instead, I want to try to begin to learn more about it, so any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks ahead of time.
#2
12-11-2015, 09:07 AM
Senior Member
Taking #1, they are talking about overhauling the PCV system (actually you replace it all). This is a common service requirement for Volvo 850's. it's a maintenance item, and you should do it. There are probably more videos and forum posts on this repair than anything else on the 850. It is pretty involved but there are lots of good instructions about it. It might improve your bravery a little bit if you can do it.
#2, not urgent, but of course the drive axle joint will wear out and fail sometime. In my experience this doesn't damage the stuff around it, but you can't count on that. Drive axles are amazingly cheap by my standards (I lived through times when they cost 10x what they are now). They are not all that easy (physically) to replace, it takes some slightly bigger tools and some strength.
The blower motor is easy enough, but you ought to do an experiment to determine whether the blower went out or whether something controlling its speed went out, as you say. For me this experiment would be running power and ground directly to the motor and see if it runs full speed. You'll need to run wires to it for that, and it takes a respectable amount of power, so think you should come from the battery (not the cigarette lighter or anything like that). The trick of course is to determine when you unplug the motor where power is supposed to go. You can do that by looking at wire colors and the wiring diagram if nothing else. that is not a very good answer but I'll help you look that up.
On #4, of course this is another repair with many instructions on the internet. Nobody knows how soon you really need it, though. I had one car where a cam bearing locked up. no amount of maintenance would have saved it. But in some other cases the idler pullies or water pump have locked up, and if that happens you'll be wishing you'd have changed them. Wearing the belt itself out is not easy, and you can inspect the belt any time. Just pull that top cover off the front and you can see if the belt looks good.
#2, not urgent, but of course the drive axle joint will wear out and fail sometime. In my experience this doesn't damage the stuff around it, but you can't count on that. Drive axles are amazingly cheap by my standards (I lived through times when they cost 10x what they are now). They are not all that easy (physically) to replace, it takes some slightly bigger tools and some strength.
The blower motor is easy enough, but you ought to do an experiment to determine whether the blower went out or whether something controlling its speed went out, as you say. For me this experiment would be running power and ground directly to the motor and see if it runs full speed. You'll need to run wires to it for that, and it takes a respectable amount of power, so think you should come from the battery (not the cigarette lighter or anything like that). The trick of course is to determine when you unplug the motor where power is supposed to go. You can do that by looking at wire colors and the wiring diagram if nothing else. that is not a very good answer but I'll help you look that up.
On #4, of course this is another repair with many instructions on the internet. Nobody knows how soon you really need it, though. I had one car where a cam bearing locked up. no amount of maintenance would have saved it. But in some other cases the idler pullies or water pump have locked up, and if that happens you'll be wishing you'd have changed them. Wearing the belt itself out is not easy, and you can inspect the belt any time. Just pull that top cover off the front and you can see if the belt looks good.
#3
12-11-2015, 09:54 AM
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This is all good advice, I am just going to add a couple things
Oh, the intermittent staling is most likely the idle control valve getting stuck. The throttle body is supposed to close completely and the control valve then adjusts the amount of air that is needed to control the idle.
Taking #1, they are talking about overhauling the PCV system (actually you replace it all). This is a common service requirement for Volvo 850's. it's a maintenance item, and you should do it. There are probably more videos and forum posts on this repair than anything else on the 850. It is pretty involved but there are lots of good instructions about it. It might improve your bravery a little bit if you can do it.
{Boxpin} If you do not address the crank case pressure you run the risk of blowing out a seal. Most of the time its one or more cam seals but worst case it could be the rear main. I have also seen pressure breaking the anaerobic seal between the block and oil pan.
#2, not urgent, but of course the drive axle joint will wear out and fail sometime. In my experience this doesn't damage the stuff around it, but you can't count on that. Drive axles are amazingly cheap by my standards (I lived through times when they cost 10x what they are now). They are not all that easy (physically) to replace, it takes some slightly bigger tools and some strength.
{Boxpin} weighing in the choice of replacing a CV boot over replacing the axle itself...choose the axle replacement. Its all the exact same work except you dont have to dissect CV joints and deal with grease. Balancing labor to cost of replacement, replacement wins.
The blower motor is easy enough, but you ought to do an experiment to determine whether the blower went out or whether something controlling its speed went out, as you say. For me this experiment would be running power and ground directly to the motor and see if it runs full speed. You'll need to run wires to it for that, and it takes a respectable amount of power, so think you should come from the battery (not the cigarette lighter or anything like that). The trick of course is to determine when you unplug the motor where power is supposed to go. You can do that by looking at wire colors and the wiring diagram if nothing else. that is not a very good answer but I'll help you look that up.
{Boxpin}The fan speed is varied by controlling the amount of ground to the fan. 99% of the time it is the heater fan blower resistor that fails of which there is no repair. Do the tests above, if the fan runs its the resistor
On #4, of course this is another repair with many instructions on the internet. Nobody knows how soon you really need it, though. I had one car where a cam bearing locked up. no amount of maintenance would have saved it. But in some other cases the idler pullies or water pump have locked up, and if that happens you'll be wishing you'd have changed them. Wearing the belt itself out is not easy, and you can inspect the belt any time. Just pull that top cover off the front and you can see if the belt looks good.
{Boxpin} Do not toy with this. If it fails you lose your engine. Replace the waterpump at the same time. I have done so many of these that the job takes me about an hour. Really, its not that hard.
{Boxpin} All in all these are all things you can do. There is plenty of help, tutorial, tips, etc.
{Boxpin} If you do not address the crank case pressure you run the risk of blowing out a seal. Most of the time its one or more cam seals but worst case it could be the rear main. I have also seen pressure breaking the anaerobic seal between the block and oil pan.
#2, not urgent, but of course the drive axle joint will wear out and fail sometime. In my experience this doesn't damage the stuff around it, but you can't count on that. Drive axles are amazingly cheap by my standards (I lived through times when they cost 10x what they are now). They are not all that easy (physically) to replace, it takes some slightly bigger tools and some strength.
{Boxpin} weighing in the choice of replacing a CV boot over replacing the axle itself...choose the axle replacement. Its all the exact same work except you dont have to dissect CV joints and deal with grease. Balancing labor to cost of replacement, replacement wins.
The blower motor is easy enough, but you ought to do an experiment to determine whether the blower went out or whether something controlling its speed went out, as you say. For me this experiment would be running power and ground directly to the motor and see if it runs full speed. You'll need to run wires to it for that, and it takes a respectable amount of power, so think you should come from the battery (not the cigarette lighter or anything like that). The trick of course is to determine when you unplug the motor where power is supposed to go. You can do that by looking at wire colors and the wiring diagram if nothing else. that is not a very good answer but I'll help you look that up.
{Boxpin}The fan speed is varied by controlling the amount of ground to the fan. 99% of the time it is the heater fan blower resistor that fails of which there is no repair. Do the tests above, if the fan runs its the resistor
On #4, of course this is another repair with many instructions on the internet. Nobody knows how soon you really need it, though. I had one car where a cam bearing locked up. no amount of maintenance would have saved it. But in some other cases the idler pullies or water pump have locked up, and if that happens you'll be wishing you'd have changed them. Wearing the belt itself out is not easy, and you can inspect the belt any time. Just pull that top cover off the front and you can see if the belt looks good.
{Boxpin} Do not toy with this. If it fails you lose your engine. Replace the waterpump at the same time. I have done so many of these that the job takes me about an hour. Really, its not that hard.
{Boxpin} All in all these are all things you can do. There is plenty of help, tutorial, tips, etc.
Last edited by boxpin; 12-11-2015 at 10:01 AM.
#6
12-11-2015, 09:02 PM
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Thanks for all the posts!
Here is what I have decided:
-I'm going to ask the guys I trust to do the PCV maintenance. I certainly need it, I have lots of positive pressure. But I don't have half the tools it looks like I need, and I'd be taking apart lots of things on a car that I don't understand at all, have never touched, and that I can't afford to break. If I break my car, I lose my job.
-I don't believe I need a timing belt yet. I had it replaced with another company about four years, 30000 miles or so ago. I feel like it should last longer than that, and I didn't give the new company the details about when it was replaced.
-It doesn't stall anymore.
-I am going to go for the blower motor myself. If I mess that up, at least it won't destroy the car.
Questions: I don't know about reading a wiring diagram. If you want to help me test the motor or the resister, I'm looking for extremely simple suggestions on how to do so. Honestly, after all I've read and watched, it would be easier for me to replace the whole motor. And regarding that: when I google OEM for my car, I get 'Behr' blower motors, which are 150.00. I can find other parts that say they are OEM for less than 1/3 of that. Would this part work?
Volvo 850 Blower Motor Heater AC 1993 1997 OEM | eBay
Here is what I have decided:
-I'm going to ask the guys I trust to do the PCV maintenance. I certainly need it, I have lots of positive pressure. But I don't have half the tools it looks like I need, and I'd be taking apart lots of things on a car that I don't understand at all, have never touched, and that I can't afford to break. If I break my car, I lose my job.
-I don't believe I need a timing belt yet. I had it replaced with another company about four years, 30000 miles or so ago. I feel like it should last longer than that, and I didn't give the new company the details about when it was replaced.
-It doesn't stall anymore.
-I am going to go for the blower motor myself. If I mess that up, at least it won't destroy the car.
Questions: I don't know about reading a wiring diagram. If you want to help me test the motor or the resister, I'm looking for extremely simple suggestions on how to do so. Honestly, after all I've read and watched, it would be easier for me to replace the whole motor. And regarding that: when I google OEM for my car, I get 'Behr' blower motors, which are 150.00. I can find other parts that say they are OEM for less than 1/3 of that. Would this part work?
Volvo 850 Blower Motor Heater AC 1993 1997 OEM | eBay
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