I have had the car long enough to know what needs to be replaced. I am not sure what I will do first nor whether I'll sell it soon as I'm done.

PCV system
radiator
radiator overfill cap
oil fill cap seal
evaporator core
blower fan/motor
Speedo gears
left headlight lens(cracked)
wiring for all four bulbs are cracked inside headlight housing!
front tires
front end alignment which equals 4 wheel alignment for this car, right?

doesnt sound too bad, does it??? I can do all the work myself except the alignment..but i'm not sure if i really want to do all of this. maybe just get the ac working again and sell it???

 

If your going to sell it you wont get as much. So either fix what you want to and keep it.

Fix what you wan to fix and sell it and get less for it.

Fix all of it and keep it.

Or fix all of it and sell it and make more money.

 

almost forgot:

ABS module so the ABS light turns off
window control module, front windows always go down, but dont always go back up without lots and lots and lots of hits to the up rocker position...

 

Do nothing to it, sell it for the most you can get, then buy a Turbo model.

After re-reading. Fix the odometer. It's cheap and fairly easy. Nobody will want to give you much if the oddometer is not working. If the headlight looks bad get a new one from a junkyard and fix that. If the tires are real bad get some cheap ones. People hate to buy cars with bad tires. If the blower motor is not working that's probably going to hurt resale too.

In other words do the stuf that's not too expensive then wash and wax the car and get it looking as good as possible. Then unload it on somebody, but fix the stuff you fix right, Don't be afraid of junkyard Volvo parts. You can probably put $300-400 into it and get an extra $1,000 back. That's a good investment.

 

yeh, i may do that. I bought it for $3k...now I know what i get for that price in a volvo

 

Systek,

I'm sorry to hear you got a dud. Although I've only had my 1994 850 turbo wagon a week I did shop around quite a bit before buying. I drove four other 1994-1995 850 turbos (wagons & sedans) first. Three of them were total piles. One of them was so so. Mine was just amazing, knock on wood, even though it had about 50K more miles than its closest rival.

It seems that the difining difference was care. Mine appears to have been taken care of. The others appear to have been abused - or at the very least neglected.

I wouldn't give up on Volvos, just abused and neglected Volvos.

Good luck.

 

How well it has been taken care of is the biggest factor. The 96 850 we bought for our son has 129K on it and it looks and drives like new. We've had it since July and other than the ABS module the only other money we put in it was stuff we wanted to do (K & N Air filter, upgrade wheels and tires, CD Changer, Spoiler, speakers, window tints, blackened bumper and rub trim). Care had been well taken care of and full Volvo service records. Don't write off the Volvo because of one abused one.

 

If you decide to find see how I numbered the order.

PCV system2
radiator2[/color]3
radiator overfill cap 4[/color]5
oil fill cap seal2 (with PCV service)
evaporator core 9
blower fan/motor10[color=#0000ff]11
Speedo gears 5 (Unless you want milage to read before you have heat)
left headlight lens(cracked) 14[color=#0000ff]15
wiring for all four bulbs are cracked inside headlight housing! 6 (fix when changing glass) I have repaired the wiring before by sliding shrink wrap over the wires then shrinking)
front tires 7 (Unless they are really really bad rotate to the back to by time)
front end alignment which equals 4 wheel alignment for this car, right
ABS module so the ABS light turns off (Needs ABS module) 10 (Not very important as far as for driving just be careful you won't have ABS)

window control module, front windows always go down, but dont always go back up without lots and lots and lots of hits to the up rocker position... (Needs window switch) 26[color=#0000ff]27

If you have anymore quiestions about the order ask away.

 

2PCV system
2[/color]3radiator
4[/color]5radiator overfill cap
67oil fill cap seal
8evaporator core
1011blower fan/motor
1213Speedo gears
1415left headlight lens(cracked)
16[/color]17wiring for all four bulbs are cracked inside headlight housing!
18[/color]19front tires
20[/color]21front end alignment which equals 4 wheel alignment for this car, right
22[/color]23ABS module so the ABS light turns off
24[color=#0000ff]25window control module, front windows always go down, but dont always go back up without lots and lots and lots of hits to the up rocker position...

I have numbered in a reccomended order if you have any quiestions about why I numbered them that way just ask.

 

Order In my opinion:
1.Radiator with radiator cap
2.PCV service with oil cap seal
3.Blower motor (For heat and defroster)
4.Speedo gear
5.Headlight lens and repair wiring (I have installed heatshrink and resealed the wires in the headlights before.
6.Window switch
7.Tires and alignment (If they aren't really bad rotate to the back top by some time)
8. ABS module
9.Evaperator

Depending on climate and driving conditions some might change per your opinion.

Any more quiestions feel free to ask.

This is the 4th post I have made the first 3 messed up and I had to delete.

 

thanks everyone! i guess i'm just getting too old to want to fiddle under the hood other than to install bolt on performance products Tech, first question is directed at you. Why would BOTH front tires have wear on the outside ends of the tires. The middle is not as worn, but the PSI has always been 32 or so. this friday i am FORCED to get the front tired replaced and an alignment done. I cant put it off anymore. Also, I live in Houston so the weather is usually humid. I really need the blower working cause if not, the windows fog up even with the sunroof and back windows open. In the evening, it can get hot enough to sweat...not exactly happy about that! At the same time, I put in radiator sealer which seems to have worked, for now. it also seems that is what was put in the car before I got it which is why I didnt know about the leak. Also, AC is the deal maker/breaker in Houston. I need to get the evaporator changed out before selling. Below is my altered list...guess I can get pricing from fcpgroton...

1.Tires and alignment (If they aren't really bad rotate to the back top by some time)
2.Blower motor (For heat and defroster)
Radiator with radiator cap
3.PCV service with oil cap seal
4.Evaperator
5.Speedo gear
6.Headlight lens and repair wiring (I have installed heatshrink and resealed the wires in the headlights before.
7.Window switch
8. ABS module
9.

 

Lots of good advice. My .02 is for you to decide what you want to do with the car (keep, sell, etc...) then decide what to fix that will give you the most bang for your buck.

 

Need to add Front O2 sensor to the list

that is the second thing I noticed had to be changed...still havent done it.

 

How much will you get for the car once you fix it? How much will you put into it to fix it?

If B>A, I'd give it away and use it as a tax deduction, otherwise it's not worth fixing it and selling it. Of course, if you plan on keeping it, you can fix it up and drive it a while now that you know it's in good condition.

FWIW, my front tires alway wear unevenly as well. The sides, normally the outsides, wear much quicker. When it gets really bad I just put the backs on the fronts and buy new back tires. I also find that even with an alignment it gets thrown off fairly quickly. It's been like that ever since my family picked it up off the lot new in 1995.

How long does the a/c hold it's charge? My evaporator is going too and the recharge I put in in June is still (slightly) there. I guess what I'm saying is you can recharge the sucker and sell it soon after...would the buyer really know? Not that I would screw people over or anything but it's pretty standard practice for owner sold cars...(reference your radiator).

 

One of the first questions I ask kind of innocently is if they ever have to add freon to the A/C. If they say yes, I don't buy the car or I let them know of the problems with the evaporator and go from there.

 

well, i already found a 97 850 t-5 with 133k going for $3499 at a lot. Guess they are just trying to get rid of it, but this experience allows me to look for a good one at a relatively inexpensive price.

my gf has no problems my getting another one. It would be nice...however, what is the difference between a T-5 and a Turbo 850?

 

there is no difference in the too.in 96 the badge was Turbo and in 97 the badge was changed to T-5

 

so the upgrade from T-5 is T-5R? what is the difference then?

 

Suede inserts in the seats.
240 hp instead of 222.
Better wheels (Volans or Titans which are 17")
I think a different shift ****, but I'm not sure.

 

If the tires wear only on the outside the toe was turned in to much. (/\ Toe in)
If they wear on the inside the toe is out to much (\/ toe out) Just for the purpose of an idea of the angles for toe in and out.