I would say an average of about 150,000 for the ones that will burn out.

 

Thanks Tech, that's about the range I was guessing as the brushes eventually wear out.

I hope people realise the danger of failing alternator while they're driving. In some cases, it could be life-threatening especially for females, as the car loses power assist to the steering & brakes. I probably won't forget the night when my alternator failed; the battery went 0% and I couldn't even use the hazard lamps; 4-way flasher.


JPN

 

By saying for the ones that will burn out, am I correct in assuming that some last for a lot longer? All the Vovlos I've owned except for one had over 150K on them. I still say if the alternator goes bad replace it, but I can't see changing an alternator at 130K as part of routine maintenance, unless the majority of them go bad at around 150K.

What I'm getting at here is I don't think people who have over 130K on their car start thinking they should run and replace the alternator. Since I have not replaced a single one in over 20 years of driving Volvos. I just know one of my damn alternators is going to go bad real soon after saying this.

 

Well, it's good to know they last a while, and at the very least, now I know what's involved in taking mine out. Though what's the deal with having to "make your own special tool" for the tensioner? [8D]I got lucky there on how I was able to release the tension and remove the serpentine belt.

My wife and I have to put the MAF on hold 'till Friday. We have a bill the missed getting paid. A note to anyone, if you are considering getting a Circuit City credit card... Don't. Their website/customer service/billing is total crap.

We can't wait to get the brick back on the road though. I've been driving my Grandpa's 2000 Ford Ranger and I miss the Volvo a ton.

 

I have seen many cars out there with well over 200,000 miles and the original Alt. still in there.

It is usually more of a time thing than a milage thing. It is about the time when more people will see them start to go bad.

 

Well, if ours goes bad, I'm ready for it! It's actually pretty easy to swap out when you know what you're doing. [8D]

 

Hello Tjay,

I'm glad that your 850 is about to be back on the road. I again apologise for confusing you with the alternator & MAF sensor. When it actually fails, I would go with a rebuilt Bosch with lifetime warranty; I got one from Pep-Boys (approx. $230 with core charge). And when you put the new one in, ensure that the battery is fully charged or the new alternator would be damaged.

Many businesses are now making money on their credit cards; have you noticed lately that almost everywhere you go, except for small family-operated kind of shops, that they strongly recommend that you get their credit cards? So watch out, and this was what I was toldby Mr. Jim Sherman of Rutland, Vermont (Jim's Imported Car Clinic) who is equivalent to Tech in expertise & positive attitude.

Anyway, your 850 won't be "dead" much longer.


JPN

 

Yup. My wife and I are working hard on our credit/debt situation. We were in a bind there for a while, and now that we aren't, we can make some headway again.

As for the Volvo, it's exciting to be close to having it back on the road. Having it down though, did give us time to make a "to do" list for it.

In no super particular order, slated for August we are planning:

• MAF Sensor (obviously [8D])
• Timing Belt (and all that needs done with it)
• Windshield (stupid Colorado winters)
• ABS Module
• Complete Tune Up

That should get us through August and have the Volvo back in tip-top shape... well, that and a good thorough wash/wax.

Thanks again for the help and support. You guys saved us a bundle on repair fees!

 

MAF ordered and on the way! It should be here Monday.

 

Cool keep us posted.

 

Will wait for your updates.


JPN

 

Okay, so the new MAF is in... but I have to take it out again tomorrow. [8D]I forgot the o-ring. I had to go to Sears tonight to pick up a new #25 Torqx because the Volvo ate the other two and decided to just throw the MAF on real quick when I got home. Well, it's been a long day and I completely forgot the o-ring when I popped the MAF back into the air box. [8D]I'll take it out again tomorrow after work (we're still borrowing my grandpa's pickup to drive) and get the o-ring back on before we test drive the Volvo.

My only remaining question at this point is, do I just go to Autozone and have them clear the codes for me to get rid of the check engine light?

Thanks again guys

 

Sometimes they will clear the codes and sometimes they won't. Tell them Volvo's are known to throw codes and you want to clear the code and see if the same code comes back. If it does then you will buy the parts to fix the problem.

 

Hi Tjay,

In many states, AutoZone cannot reset emissions-related codes due to the law. You want to tell them that you replaced the MAF sensor recently, or a clerk at AZ can "fat-finger" the scanner for you if he/she is decent.

I hope for the best result for you.


JPN

 

I'll give that a try. Thanks guys.

 

Okay, so I put the o-ring in and we went for a test drive just around the neighborhood (so we didn't get too far away from home if there were issues.) The Volvo started right up, there was a little roughness to the idle at first, but that went away. We backed out of the driveway and started driving. Basically just doing laps in an adjacent neighborhood with few homes and no traffic. Volvo seemed to run fine. Accelerated, slowed, drove just fine... for the first 3 miles. Then, after about three miles, the car started to stutter on acceleration. It never died, but it stuttered pretty bad.

As far as my wife and I could tell, it felt like a fueling issue... sort of a "starving for fuel under acceleration feeling" but I won't say that with 100% certainty. I'm only speculating. What are the chances that the fuel pump relay and MAF would go bad at the same time? We drove about 4 miles and decided not to push it more than that because we didn't want another tow bill. Not really sure what the stutter was... but it was only under acceleration.

Where do we go next? My wife and I are feeling quite stuck at this point. The new MAF was supposed to fix it (we know our hopes may have been a little too high).... Any insight would be great. However, we may just have to get it to the Volvo dealership somehow and just tell them "fix it."

Thanks again guys, as always, I'll keep you updated on our 850 Saga.

 

Is the cap rotor and wires still original?
How old are the plugs?

 

I'm not sure. We were planning on having a full tune up done to it this month along with the timing belt, but it died before we could take it to Volvo. I would hope they aren't original having 139,000 on the odo, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were. Sadly, we're out of money again until middle of the month. So it may just have to sit until I can round up the parts for the tune up. It sits and idle's fine. No miss, no stumble/stutter. Only under acceleration... so it's possible it may just need a tune up. My wife and I are going to replace the fuel pump relay as a precaution when we get the chance as well.

We'll get it figured out... We just need to be patient and smart about it. Thanks Tech.

 

I would do the simple tune up first and see where that leaves you. If it still does it, then you might try the fuel pump relay.

 

Hi Tjay,

I hope you're well.

As my eyes are quitting for the night (when it's the daytime, it's the opposite in Japan), I'll have to make this short. I hope the following thread, my 2nd post from top, would help you some with tune up.

https://volvoforums.com/m_48928/tm.htm

Good night & talk to you after I come back from work.


JPN