Hi, new here - buying a 97 850 Turbo Wagon tomorrow

Post by **thecheat** » 09 Jul 2010, 19:34

Went to look at the car today and it seems pretty decent with some issues... I'm brand new to Volvos so help me out here.

The traction control and ABS lights are on solid. I have a VAGCOM interface so I just need to get the Volvo software, right?

The driver's door has a problem with the bar that props the door open (I have no idea what to call it) between the two hinges. It seems the base in the door frame is quite loose.

The brakes are terrible. The seller says the owner (he's acting as a broker) had the brakes done earlier but the brakes are mushy and don't seem to be as positive as I would expect. Could this just be a fluid flush?

The clearcoat is faded off the right side of the car, can I just compound the red base coat and get good results or do I need to clear that side of the car?

Do these cars come with some sort of a factory alarm? The seller only has one key.

Thanks a lot! I'll probably have a ton more questions when I get the car and start cleaning and inventorying everything I need to do on it.

jones07 · Post by **jones07** » 09 Jul 2010, 19:55

How much is the broker asking for the car?

Post by **thecheat** » 09 Jul 2010, 19:57

It was listed at $2200 but the owner said to take $500 off for the clearcoat that is fading. So I should be out the door for $1700.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 09 Jul 2010, 20:00

Welcome to MVS,

Since you have the VAG-COM cable all you need is VOL-FCR software. Rumor has it that the software is floating around on Pirate Bay. Is your VAG-COM cable serial or USB? The "rumored" software will only work with a serial port.

At the end of the day the car has a bad ABS module. You can fix it yourself https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 6827#46827 or send it out for a rebuild, they all go bad.

As far as the door check goes inspect the A pillar to make sure that it hasn't broken where the door check mounts in. That is a real PITA to fix. If it is just the door check itself that is a relative snap to replace but don't buy the Scan Tech version or you will be doing it all over again within 3 or 4 months. There are cases where the bolt has simple come loose and that will make a popping sound if the door check is good.

There is nothing really unique about the brakes (Other than the pads - most aftermarket pads will squeal like a banshee). A good flush and bleed will likely expose any other problems that may or may not exist.

If you come up with a good way to fix clearcoat problems be sure to post it in the new cosmetic forum. I went to the local car wash and blew all of the clearcoat off of my left rear quarter panel right onto the floor at the car wash. The bear there is that the platinum is a three layer paint and it took one of the paint layers with it (Body $hop to fix that). On small areas I have used rattle can clearcoat to touch things up after I feathered the crusty looking stuff off. That is tricky since you take paint under what was before clearcoat along the way.

Most of the cars do have a factory alarm, look for a round horn mounted near the center of the firewall. If there is a horn it has an alarm system.

I look forward to your contributions, it sounds like you know what is going on.

......Lee

Post by **thecheat** » 09 Jul 2010, 20:22

I have one of the old serial interfaces and an old beater Dell with a real serial port for my diagnostics. Should be OK there.

I'm hoping that the ABS module repair you linked is the cure for the trac and ABS lights being on. The best fixes are the ones that are free!

The door check has a large hex head bolt going through the middle of the unit... it must be a 5 or 6 mm cap head that has 6 or so mm diameter threads. I have no idea why but it doesn't seem to interfere much and I wasn't going to remove it if it was there for a reason. From what I can see, the gold coated part of the check attaches to a body colored piece which seems like it should not be moving - but also seems like it is a separate piece of metal with straight edges, not as if it were torn from the body.

I hope that doing a brake fluid flush is all I need. There is a lot of pedal travel to get to the point where the brakes engage so it seems like old fluid. Is there any special methods to bleeding through the ABS system? My Taurus SHO had to have the ABS unit activated to circulate old fluid out of it.

Thanks for the tips! I don't know how anyone who worked on their own cars ever got anything done prior to the internet.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 09 Jul 2010, 20:44

I don't know how anyone who worked on their own cars ever got anything done prior to the internet.

LOL,

I just pulled out the socket set and went after things but then again I learned on 1960s and early '70s cars - Man I wish I had my $300.00, 1968, primer gray, AMX back in the garage now.

The easiest method to flush the brake fluid is to use a Motive power bleeder which is a glorified sprayer pump. I cheaped out and bought a My-T-Vac for around $20.00 at Harbor Freight and I suck the old out from the wheel cylinder bleed screw side until the new is there (Filling up the master cylinder tanks along the way as necessary). The plus to the My-T-Vac is that you can use it to suck out all kinds of bad things and my wife has had a real turkey baster for nearly 3 years now. The Motive is good for brakes and that is about it. If your freinds or wife are patient you can do the pump the pedal method to bleed the system.

I did replace the original brake fluid with ATE Super Blue racing brake fluid. It is a good fluid and the distinct color change tells me when I have a good flush. The stuff is hard to find though - I wound up buying it from either FCP Groton or eEuroparts.

...Lee

Post by **thecheat** » 09 Jul 2010, 20:52

They still make Super Blue? I heard it went off market because someone (california?) had a problem with the color or something ridiculous. I suppose the indicator in my case would be going from yuck to clear

You seem to be the go-to guy for Volvos here. When I had my BMW (E32 735i) prior to the accident that put me on the search for another car, there was a fellow named Erich who went by the name Shogun. He was a German ex-pat living in Japan and was probably the most knowledgeable person about one car that I have ever seen.

I really liked my 7 but it was an avalanche of little problems. Water valves weren't working (for the cabin heat mixing), vent flaps were broken, interior vinyl parts needed painting, carpet was rough, leather needed a re-dye, surface rust on the body parts, a/c had was a bigger than usual drag on the engine for some reason, needed struts badly. And I could go on...