One has poped up locally for cheap that I plan to buy. One person owner, non turbo, 215k miles. I was wondering during my inspection before I purchase it, what should I be looking at? It's been awhile since I wrenched on something so I'm way out of practice. Guessing I look for engine leaks and transmission leaks, but anything specific or any instructions on what/where to look would be awesome. Thanks!
That is a good year for the 850s and the base models are lots less bloated with stuff to fix.
If you don't need AC then great- If you do then make really sure the buried deep in the dash evaporator is good. The rest of the system is readily accessible.
Rear main seel weep hole is right on the engine block transmission case mating plane. If its more than weeping there will be lots of oil swept down the chassis. The replacements last much longer than the 1996 vesion.
Of the 4 rear suspension 'delta link' bushings are quite difficult to shade tree. I did one and it was a 2 day nightmare so I took the car in for the other one and it was a one day nightmare for the indy. The rear tires will be on a weird plane and wear quickly if there are delta link bushing issues as the geometry adds fairly aggressive toe and some camber. It does work pretty well- 850s are competent handling at 7/10 FWD vehicles, better than the v70r that we bought next.
The crankcase vent system is a little tight to do but needs to work or the rear main seal dies and the cabin stinks.
Those 4 issues make allot of 'what to look for' Volvo 850 lists.
If it is an auto they are good boxes- dated feeling slow shifts through the 4 gears and the locking torque converter sort of 5th. The manuals are very tough. There zillions of these things in yards.
The interiors are brittle, and the ride is bashy even on base springs.
We put 150k on a 1995 855 t5r that we still own it has been solid throughout our ownership- its at 240k now and runs great the little it gets driven.
FCP Euro for parts.
A good piece of automotive enginerring IMHO.
Awesome, thanks for that - that really helps!
@Shaun any way to tell if the crankcase vent system is working well during a quick inspection before I purchase?
The delta link bushing sounds like the trailing arm bushing I did in my 240, was a giant PITA and required a special Volvo tool. I'll never do that again - happy to pay the mechanic now. Any way to tell it's worn out other than looking at the tires? Maybe how the back suspension hangs?
This vehicle will just get me to the beach and back, so honestly would be fine driving it around on half bagged suspension.
Take the oil cap off, put a rubber glove over the opening. Start the engine. If the glove inflates the vent system is clogged. They are not bad to fix, just take off the intake manifold and everything is right there. Check the HVAC system out completely, they are tough to fix. Another common issue is door stay ripping out of door jamb.
The only thing I'll add is the ABS light is probably on. ABS ECUs are an extremely common fault on these as well. As is a broken odometer.
I really liked the 855 turbo wagon I drove for a few years. A really good highway cruiser.
Robert DIY's videos are very helpful.
Top things to check before buying a Volvo 850, S70, V70, XC70, etc., Pre purchase inspection.
I test drove one of those newfangled FWD Volvos new at a dealership back when they first hit the market in the early 1990's. Crazy inline-5 and a manual transmission. At the time, I thoroughly hated Volvos in general. That car changed my mind. Very solid feel to the car, and the 5 felt torquey with the manual. I got out of that car a changed man.
I would later own and thoroughly enjoy a 1993 940 Turbo wagon that was waaaay more fun than it should have been. I haven't had the occasion to own another Volvo, and probably never will, but I do maintain a measure of respect for the classic Swedes.
My only experience is with a turbo version. Same year. The big issue we had was the transmission. The ex- ended up spending about 2/3 of the purchase price of the car for a factory rebuilt transmission. And even then it wasn't great. It really soured her on automatic transmissions (all of her current fleet of 5 are manuals).
It was a wonderful car when it was working. Unfortunately, those times were rare. I would only buy one if I could find a 5 spd manual example.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
Interesting, the 4-speed autos are an Aisin unit and are pretty stout. I've had two well north of 200k that still run through the gears just fine with no issues. Like any auto, you can't just not change the fluid forever though. The Park-Neutral-Position (PNP) switch mounted to the shift cable can also fail and imply expensive transmission problems that don't actually exist; the switch is a $150 part and replaced in about an hour.
The bad autos were the 5-speed units that rolled out in '99 for some models, you generally want to avoid anything from '99-02 with the 5-speed auto if I recall correctly.
In reply to pointofdeparture :
Oddly enough, the problems started when she had the fluid changed. There's a wive's tale about either "change transmission fluid often or don't change it at all" and so far my experience has proven that theory. Every time I've had an aged automatic with unknown history serviced, it failed shortly afterwards.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
If it was a "flush" that may have had something to do with it. Seems like a lot of the higher mileage failures are tied to shop flushes. My strategy when dealing with an unknown AT fluid change history is just to do a drain and fill of the pan every ~500 miles or so until the fluid on the dipstick is back to its healthy red color. I figure this progressively introduces new fluid and prevents any old deposits or gunk from getting dislodged or stuck in the valving. Hasn't failed me yet (knock on wood)...
Coldsnap said:
The delta link bushing sounds like the trailing arm bushing I did in my 240, was a giant PITA and required a special Volvo tool. I'll never do that again - happy to pay the mechanic now. Any way to tell it's worn out other than looking at the tires? Maybe how the back suspension hangs?
On our 850 just before the bushings were all replaced over a month or so the rear wheels had lots more positive toe and more negative camber than could be adjusted in while stationary, and the toe would would go from rear toe in to toe out when braking into a corner which eventually became a pretty spooky out of nowhere mild oversteer. It must have gone toe out on both sides when braking because the rear tires were both wearing rapidly on the inside edge. The stock alignment with good bushings has very little toe or camber and the rear tires wear at a fraction of the rate of the fronts (on our turbo 855 anyway) When it was at its most worn out condition, the skewed geometry at the rear was visually apparent when looking along the side of the car.
Awesome, thanks!
The odometer is broken on this, been broken for a bit. Not sure if I'll even bother to replace it, if you have to pull out the whole dash etc etc.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:Robert DIY's videos are very helpful.
Top things to check before buying a Volvo 850, S70, V70, XC70, etc., Pre purchase inspection.
This is awesome, forgot about that guy. Brings back memories working on my 240.
Coldsnap said:Awesome, thanks!
The odometer is broken on this, been broken for a bit. Not sure if I'll even bother to replace it, if you have to pull out the whole dash etc etc.
Its easy- just the instrument cluster.
In reply to Shaun :
Well, you do have to remove the dash pad to get the cluster out. But it's not that bad, it takes about 5 minutes after you get used to doing it.
Cool, yea that's absolutely something I can do as a shade tree.
Oh, and just because I didn't see it mentioned here: these are interference engines and the timing belt/tensioner needs to be replaced every 70k. At 215k it should have had its third one done (and a water pump too if you follow the "every other timing belt" interval). If it hasn't been done (or there's no proof of it being done) budget for it, it's not something you can skip.
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