Do I bother to keep my '96 850 Turbo?

bigstupidjerk · Post by **bigstupidjerk** » 16 Jul 2010, 19:34

I knew when I bought it last January, the a/c didn't work. I paid $3000 for it with about 90K (broken ODO). I found out later from the seller's mechanic that the evaporator was leaking. I recharged it and it blew cold until last month, now it has blown through 3 cans of 134a in 2 weeks. I'm in Arizona, it is 115 degrees today.

Now my auto tranny is grinding on 2nd or 3rd gear when warm. I need new tires all around. My registration is up for renewal. Do I even bother?

I would love to keep it as a project car but I am worried that these issues make it too costly for a weekend warrior like myself. I am a one car family so we'll be buying a minivan with a/c very soon. Any suggestions on what to do with a car that is exceeding it's value/useful life? Thanks in advance.

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 16 Jul 2010, 19:50

You could try some 134a with stop-leak, some members have reported success with it.

The transmission issue might simply be resolved by new fluid i.e. doing 3-4 "drain & fills".

bigstupidjerk · Post by **bigstupidjerk** » 16 Jul 2010, 21:04

I origionally charged it with Artic Freeze brand w/ stop leak. That seemed to hold it for a while. Last weekend, I bought a/c metal leak sealer for $25 plus 2 cans of 134a and it was like nothing happened. It was still blowing hot air today.

Post by **jblackburn** » 16 Jul 2010, 21:37

Look elsewhere for a leak too...in particular the dryer up by the radiator on the passenger side of the car. Follow the coolant lines, you will see it. Take a good look at the bottom of it, they tend to rust out a lot.

The evaporator is usually more of a gradual leak, not just "WHAM! I'm not gonna hold a charge anymore"

bigstupidjerk · Post by **bigstupidjerk** » 17 Jul 2010, 23:34

I work at an auto body shop and asked around with my symptoms. They seemed to think it must be the evaporator, probably because I told them it was leaking. Obviously, you guys know Volvo's much better. I looked under the car and around the top of the dryer but it is hard to see much. I ran a can of leak tracer last week, should I just blacklight it? I'm afraid between the coolant tracer I ran a while back and 2 cans of a/c tracer I have put in, my car will light up like a Christmas tree.

bigstupidjerk · Post by **bigstupidjerk** » 25 Jul 2010, 22:30

My a/c has been blowing hot for a few weeks since I put in an a/c leak sealer (3 oz can) chased with (2) 12 oz r-134a cans. Nothing ever happened. My compressor was cycling on and off constantly and it never got cold again. Then yesterday, I decided to put my a/c on and it started cooling down!!! How did this happen???