1995 850 Volvo Wagon

[Arielflip]

Hi, I am a newbie to Volvos but have quickly learned alot.
I recently bought a 850 wagon from a friend because, well, i needed wheels again. The starter was out, the heater core had a hole,windshields cracked, mirror switches do not work, Only drivers side window switch rolls both passenger and driver windows down, back hatch inside panel barely hanging on, but the car runs! Oh, and the radio constantly seeks!
Well, I went to U-Pull-it salvage and pulled a starter adn A heater core and successfully replaced both in one day. My car now starts and has heat, thanks to me, but now it needs some suspension work. I feel every crack and seam in every road and its rattling my car to death. Please help me about struts and shocks, also I would like to know if I pulled a used windshield of another 850 wagon to replace my cracked one, would it fit? I also seem to lose my dash guages intermittinently, just goes dead. Any help on how to help the guages stay on would be a great help.

Thanks, Angela

[Ozark Lee]

Welcome to MVS,

As far as I know the windshields are all the same. Getting them set properly is a whole different story and there have been many nightmares from noise and leaks from improperly sealed windshields but if you have a competent glass shop they should be able to pull it off for you.

Chances are the switch assembly is bad for your windows and mirrors. I had a bad switch on my Platinum and, as I recall, the replacement assembly, including the mirror switches, cost me around $25.00 on ebay. The switches are strategically placed below the cup holder so most of them have been drowned with soda pop. If you have pulled off the heater core change you will find this to be very easy to fix.

Describe the suspension woes with more detail. At first blush it sounds like you have bad spring seats but the better the description is the better we can give you things to check. Check the database for keywords like spring seats, control arms, tie rod ends, and end links.

The dash gauges are, of course, an electrical problem. They are always a bear to track down but they are very easy to fix once the problem is located.

Does everything, including the lamps, die? Do the idiot lights come on? In many cases it is as simple as replacing the electrical portion of the ignition switch. The next time it acts up on you try to jiggle the key and see if things change.

...Lee

[Arielflip]

Thank you so much Lee,

All of the dash dies, no light and no guages. The key has some play in it, your has have to turn it back about a centimeter to get the signals and head lamps to work. That must be why the dash lights and guages die. But the dash lights and guages die even though I have turned the key back, but the signals and lamps work all the time. What all would I have to replace to fix this concern?

As far as the suspension, I do not understand how that all works to be honest, A better description would be that the car seems too low to ground and the front suspension doesn't bounce as it should. I recently called about estimates on fixing the front suspension and was told it would be more than I paid for the car. Is replacing spring seats and other components a possible do-it-yourself project? This this is the first time I have really ever done any work on a vehicle.

The mirror switch you said, in under the cup holders, I don't have cup holders in my wagon, the center console between the seats has memory buttons for both-side climate memory, mirror switches, and windows switches, parking brake and armrest. I assume the switch I need to replace is located inside but I hate wasting time pulling components if I do not need to.

Replacing that windshield sounds like a good option. Thinks I will try and pull it myself. Hopefully I can find someone in Tulsa, OK that can replace it properly.

Gosh, Thanks again for all your knowledge and advice! This site it awesome! Thanks MVS!

Arielflip

[wheelsup]

Safelite is a glass chain that I've always gotten extremely good pricing on and in my experience has some really good people working for them. If they are out in your area I would recommend them.

As far as paying more in parts to fix your car, welcome to the world of beater car ownership . I bought an 850 with a blown engine for $250. Parts alone are worth $1000+ to part it out. To get it running ship shape again I was looking at around $1500 including a new engine doing the work myself. I elected (at this point at least) to use it to restore my 850 to it's better years and have a lot of spares on hand.

[Ozark Lee]

You can normally diagnose bad spring seats yourself. There are a couple of tests you can try. The first is to open the hood and the bounce the fender while watching the large inverted castle washer on the top of the strut. It should have very little vertical movement. The second test is to use a wrench and try to turn the nut on the strut. It should not turn very much at all. If it does spin then the spring seat is bad for sure.

Once you get past those tests, if the spring seats seem OK, just take the car into a shop for an alignment. They will come back with a list of stuff that is wrong that will be at least $400.00 - have them show you the problems and then decline the repair. I have never had them charge me anything for an alignment that they didn't do.

The front suspension is fairly simple. If the spring seats are bad you will need to "rent" a pair of spring compressors. Many of the chain auto parts stores will "Rent" the compressors by charging your credit card for the price of the tool and then issuing you back a full credit when you return the tool. Other parts in the suspension really require no special tools beyond a torque wrench.

...Lee