hello to DIYs
l have had my 850 for two years and since owning it l have done almost 90% of the repairs my self. some repairs seemed to be easy, and some seemed to be very hard. here is a list of repairs in my experience thought was the worst repairs l ever did.

1. sway bars, both front and rear
2.lifters
3.oil pan/sump O-rings
4. control arms
5. radiator replacement
6. steering rack and pinion

my easiest repairs
1. passenger cv axle replacement
2. outer tie rods
3 coolant flush
4.tune up(spark plug, wires, distributor rotor and cap, air filter)

Was wondering what have been most of the DIY on this forums hardest and easiest repairs they have done on their 850s owning it?

 

Hardest, PCV system cleaning

Medium, timing belt change

Easiest, front axle shaft replacement.

 

Hardest: front driver's side axle replacement

Medium: timing belt/cam swap, front end replacement, PCV system

Easy: brake pads and rotors

 

anyone replaced their alternators before? it was the worst thing l ever worked on my car. had to see the doctor for back pains.lmao. my pvc system was very hard for me the first time. l replaced a friend of mines pcv in less than 45 minutes.

 

we have been very lucky, volvo engineering was a very smart one. l have seen alot of cars engine and components are all over the place. very very messy. but volvos, everything seems to be in order, making it a little bit easier to work on.

 

Hardest: Vent hose on the gas tank because it was the home of a black widow and that is seriously gross.

Easiest: put air in the tire.

 

My easiest to date has been the rotor, cap and leads.

The hardest job I've done on this has been the tailgate rattle, only because I still havent fixed it properly (after new clips, brackets etc) and it is driving me CRAZY!

 

To date the hardest was the Rack.

Easiest, I agree with Boxpin, air in Tires.

However, just placed the car in my new Moto Shade carport, she is up in the air and getting ready to tackle the following:

302 brake upgrade all 4 corners
front axels - pray for me I don't experience ibified's luck
Timing belt
NA Cam upgrade
valve stem seals
PVC
and whatever else I do while in there

 

Hardest: Cam cover seal (seriously), The previous owner had performed this on the car but he used some sort of super-glue like liquid gasket that was almost impossible to separate and not to mention stripped about 50 bolts in the process. Putting in 50 heli-coils sucks.

Easiest: Air filter, I just got a Spectre universal cone filter and disconnected the MAF from the air-box. Stuck the Cone filter on and removed the stock one/ top of the air-box.

 

l feel you brother. runed into the same problem applying the valve cover sealant. l would apply the seal, put everything back, screw the bolts back in, start the car, baaaaam its leaking oil from the cam cover. l had to take everything apart again. it was PITA

 

I'm embarrassed to admit this but the most difficult repair has been replacing the factory brake hoses with stainless steel hoses. It was a nightmare! If you don't believe me, google the horror stories.

Everything else has been easy so far (I'm knocking on wood right now)

 

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but if you look up my posts there was one about how I solved this problem.

I think the easiest repairs I have done has been the passenger side control arm, tie rod ends and sway bar links. Those all were easier than things like changing the dash lights, replacing the fuel pump, replacing the timing belt. There hardest part of changing the tie rod ends was doing it twice because I put them on the wrong sides

 

I've already done this fix. The problem is the actual lock/latch assembly has a crack in it and flexes while the tailgate is shut.

I am planning to replace it, but at $375AU from Volvo it can wait a while.

 

So far I have removed the head to replace valves and everything in the process of that. It was really not too bad. The tricky parts of this were reinstalling the cam cover and connecting the coolant line to the turbo on the back of the head. That one was a pain- but quite honestly, everything went together super easy. Even the timing belt was much better then others I have monkeyed with in the past.

Contrast that with a VW that I did the exact same job on- PITA. Had to drop the FWD transmission, replace all components, and then try to figure out a "trick" to get the whole thing to go back together. Wow it was messy. With the Volvo....much easier.

 

Slim, the alternator wasn't on your "hard" list. LOL

Hard: Bad wire on top of the cluster. Took about 6 months to figure out and fix.

Easy: Swap/install radio.

 

My worst project so far has probably been repairing my trans TWICE. Once due to too much wheel spin and breaking some teeth off a spider gear. Got it back together for 60 miles, only to have to pull it to see one of the ring gear bolts had backed out. Easiest? Oil change I guess.

 

RSPI, it later on came in mind. LOL

 

thats alot of work buddy,. cant imagine pulling my tranny out twice. you really do love your 850

 

Hardest: Front end (didn't own a spring compressor, shop put the struts together wrong), PVC for pure WTFery,

Medium: Rad, brakes, Timing belt was soooooo much easier than the three other cars I have done it on (vw, hyundai, isuzu)

Easy: Reverse light switch and front turn signal assembly, did these while really drunk last night haha

 

So far, my hardest was rebuilding the turbo. Took an entire 14 hours. My easiest was the fuel pump. It took me about ten minutes all together. I'm upgrading my turbo next week and expect it to only take 2-3 hours this time to pull, rebuild,and install.