Hello,

I am a former BMW guy that wrecked his car and is now thinking of buying a Volvo 850 non turbo. I do a lot if not all of my own car work. I was wondering what the trouble areas are in these cars and what the recommended time line for certain important maintenance is.

Thanks

 

These are solid cars. For sure.

Other than regular maintenance, I really haven't heard of any "trouble areas". My car is a '95 850 Wagon (non-turbo 2.4L)... a couple things...

I. My steering system always seems to have some problem. If it's not an inner or outer tie rod, it's a ball joint or CV boot. But these are easy fixes for a DIY'er. My suggestion is to pay close attention to this area right away. Repair whatever "has play" and keep checking it. One part goes out under there and it's going to lead to the others going out sooner.

II. Do a "stage 0" on it, including the PCV system, and you'll be in great shape.

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/200...at-is-stage-0/

III. Depending on what options your car came with, you can swap out lots of different things these days with the amount of cars in the junkyards, parts for sale on the forums, and even ebay for spare parts (I found a half axle on there for $18 including shipping). You can add the trip computer, swap out seats, upgrade wheels, add factory foglights, sidemarkers, and tons of other little things for very little money.

What year are you looking at? Wagon? Sedan?

 

It would be a Sedan

 

If you read around through here, there are several pages that tell you what to look for.

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-850-16/new-volvo-850-owners-read-important-thread-also-applies-s-v70s-9266/ maintenance information

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-850-16/buyers-guide-looking-buy-volvo-850-s70-look-thread-13678/ buyers guide


Hope this gets you off to a good start.

 

On that Stage 0... they took out the 02 sensors from the list.

If you get this car... I would attend to the 02 sensors in some fashion, right away.

They are about $130 each (2 of them). They are VERY EASY to get to.

You can try removing them and cleaning them...

http://www.volvo-forums.com/t19099-i...gen-sensor.htm

...but if you can afford it... buy 2 new ones. They'll last you 5 years, so it's good to knock them out now (and they will affect your mileage bigtime.)

 

If you are looking for any kind of fun to drive peppy car, get a Turbo!

If you are just looking for basic transportation in a good solid car, the NA will be fine.

I would never own anything except the Turbo.

 

Not looking at a Turbo. I would love one with but don't really need it. I really just want a good solid car that only needs regular maintenance. I'm ok with fluid changes, belt, spark plug, wires, shocks, brakes ans so on. I just don't want to have to change the head or drop the transmition. It's a 5sp so I know the clutch will go at some point and I'm ok with that but I don't want to be throwing tons of parts at it like it's a VW. Even my Honda needed CV joints about every 2 years.

 

just a word of warning about going with the N/A vs the turbo. If you plan on doing ANYTHING down the road to make the casr faster, just start with a turbo. You see people here every once in a while who ask "how can I make my N/A faster?" and the answer is invariably "sell it and buy a turbo"

 

Yeah I'm learning to slow down. I have enough tickets and a really bad accident under my belt. Some people should just not drive like race car drivers. I'm one of those. I enjoy my 70 in a 65 plenty for now.

I do appreciate all the advice I'm very excited to most likely own a Volvo.

 

If you DIY bimmers, that experience will help you a lot with 850. And parts are a lot cheaper.

 

non turbo 850s are very reliable and 850s are pretty well built. Great car!

 

I look at the turbo as a safety feature. Nothing like being suck in a uncomfortable situation and not being able to bolt out of it.

Other than that, just get a good price on one and if you know how to do a compression test, do that. Make sure if shifts smooth, especially between gears, oh, you are looking at a stick, scratch that. Try to make sure it's not smoking or something. I really like them, solid cars and easy to work on.

 

Amen to that I have drive quite a few 850 N/A's my parents and a few friends have had them, they are nice, but once you've driving a turbo 850 you dont want to go back, I was amazed when i drove my parents 96 850 N/A after driving my turbo, I was like "I thought this thing had more power" lol. Good luck.

 

I am 61 years old and the Grandfather of five children after rasing three of my own. I've slowed way down, but I still would only own a Turbo. Can't remember the last time I drove over 70 mph, but I like to feel the car go when I step on the accelerator.

 

IMO there is another reason to buy the turbo. The turbo has piston cooling jets and oil cooling and the NA does not.

I was driving my NA 150 hwy miles per day at about 75 mph and it started to consume a lot of oil. Pulled the motor and broke it down, everything looked really good except for the carbon encrusted pistons and when I measured the bores I saw taper and out of round on two of the cylinders. I needed the car so I hoped new rings and a hone would work, wrong Boring and pistons were an expensive prop. 4k later it was burning oil even faster.

The car had about 216k on it and the last 1.5 years, 35k so miles were heavy load highway miles. It never let me down, I love it and I just can't part with it so I'm in the process of rebuilding the engine again (block out of a 99 S70 that measures up perfectly).

So the turbo, because of piston cooling, oil cooling might go more miles than an NA under heavy loads.

 

I got it. It's in bad shape but I will nurse it back. I got it for cheap so I have some cash it fix it.

 

got some pics?

 

Pics of this poor thing would make Volvo owners cry. It's been so neglected. I got new tires and the thing drives so much better. I have brakes on order and will be doing that asap. I have been reading about the PCV and will be doing that since it stinks like exhaust in the car and I have no idea if it has ever been done. After that the list will grow again. I will try and take some pics this week and post.

 

if you smell exhaust in the car, it's probably due to an exhaust leak. I'd check that before making the assumption that it's the PCV system.

 

timing belt? may wanna swap that if its high miles and neglected