Hello,

I wonder if anyone can help me? I have a Volvo 850 T5 (1994). I live in Thailand and from what I can make out, my car was imported from Belgium by a Belgian diplomat.
I need to replace the shock absorbers and suspension parts, and I recently had communication with a company on eBay. But when I mentioned I had a switch for 'winter - econ - sport' near the automatic gear selector, they said the standard shocks they sold wouldn't fit.
Would anyone know what shocks/suspension parts I would need to order for my car?
I've attached a photo of the switch in question.
Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Martin.

 

Dont bother with ebay for suspension parts. Try FCP groton.. they ship anywhere and lifetime warranty.

 

That switch has nothing to do with suspension. Its for the transmission. All 850s have it

 

Good to see somebody as old as me. FCP Groton moved to Milford about 8 years ago and goes by FCP Euro (fcpeuro.com). I've been using them for about 15 years starting with my 95 850T.

As to the shocks and struts, there's only one model of shock used on the 850s and its a Sachs (aka Boge) standard gas strut/shock. Try googling "Volvo 9173850" to find the front struts (that's the factory part number) and volvo 9173851 to find the rears. Common replacement parts for the 850 suspension are 1) spring seats (search for part #30683637 which should point to the improved HD spring seat), struts, sway bar end links and then the usual hardware - through bolts that hold the strut to the knuckle should be replaced and strut bump stops and dust boots usually fall apart. Less often, the strut bushing may fail and sometimes the sway bar bracket bushings wear out.

A good resource for torque specs etc for you 850 is volvotips.com - there's online service manuals to be found.

Note: The switch on the console changes the shift points for the transmission. winter mode starts the car in 2nd gear and lowers the shift points (not very useful in Thailand. sport mode allows the car to hold each gear longer for more performance. Econ is your normal day to day driving...

 

Many thanks for the info... very much appreciated. FCP Euro seems the place to go.
Volvo Strut Assembly Kit - Sachs 104495 comes out at about £240, a bit more than what I expected, but genuine parts and lifetime guarantee for what is such an important part of the car — especially as Bangkok roads have some deep and nasty potholes! (the reason my car is suffering right now)
The VolvoTips.com site is great too... just been reading about the history of the 850.
Best regards,
Martin.

 

I have a few 850s and a couple 850rs too. FCP warranty is a no bul**** warranty. We buy the new part. Put the old one in the box send it back for refund. 💯 guarantee.

 

I also like that FCP usually ships right away. Since I am only about 30 miles from their warehouse, I typically get my parts next day even with the budget shipping option.