Dying 1997 850 T5- Best way to recoup purcahse $

obayha · Post by **obayha** » 12 Dec 2011, 10:20

If you can post up some pictures of any of the oil leak areas, that may help with the situation.
Is the smoke coming out the tail pipe or after a hard right turn. A clogged PCV in my car made the oil puddle in the top of the motor and spill out on hard turns and hit exhaust manifold and smoke very bad. The cam seals can make a mess of things also. The rear ones are easy to change, for me any way. I have done all this with the help of this forum, and have very little in the way of leaks for now.
Good luck.
Shane

Post by **rspi** » 12 Dec 2011, 11:03

That's what I love about these Volvo's. They have several things that needs to be done to them, the mechanics scare the crap out of the owners, then they dump a good car for $1,000 to $1,500. Pick the car up, DRIVE it home, spend $400 in parts and do the work in the driveway. After all is said and done, you have a car that should last 4 years for under $2000. Can't beat that.

If the turbo was in bad shape it would not be a fun car to drive. Also, if you haven't done the PCV on your car, you need to get on it as well. Yes do the EGR while at it (I wouldn't do a starter - they cost to much and the after market ones usually don't outlast a 15 year old Volvo starter). I don't think the '97's have EGR but I could be wrong.

Man, get you some tools and parts. Any 850/S70 will have a list of repairs needing to be done or the person would keep it.

Post by **E Showell** » 12 Dec 2011, 11:12

My original starter failed at about 190-200K miles. I am told they generally go at around 150K. It is a three hour shade tree job to do a starter by itself. If you are in the midst of a PCV job, the starter takes an extra 10 - 15 min. A good rebuilt starter (Bosch) can be had for about $85 (less a $100 core charge). You did not note the mileage on the car, but if it is north of 150,000, the starter may be waiting to quit and they tend to go at the most inconvenient times.

Post by **rspi** » 12 Dec 2011, 11:17

Well, I don't do water pumps as part of the timing belt job either. Besides that, I seen a guy pull a starter in 15 minutes from under the car in a parking lot.

Post by **E Showell** » 12 Dec 2011, 11:28

To each his own. I do water pumps as part of a timing belt job. I view it as cheap insurance against a potentially catastrophic failure. Your firend who removes a starter in 15 min in a parking lot must be the Harry Houdini of auto mechanics. More power too him. I wish I had that talent. I found the job to be more involved than that -- not saying everyone would, but I did. Moreover, the 1st starter I did, I did without removing the fan shroud. Difficult and awkward, but possible.

Post by **jblackburn** » 12 Dec 2011, 11:39

My starter failed at 206K/20 yrs old in a Honda and 120K/15 yrs in a Jeep. Then again, we never changed it in a 23-yr-old/300K mile Saab (the starter was beat on a lot in that car, since it was always stalling or refusing to start) or a 35-yr-old BMW. Aside from the Jeep, they were all Bosch units. That's kind of a "change when you need it" thing to me.

For now, I'd take care of the PCV and oil leaks at the turbo and see how the car fairs (as someone mentioned, you may have leaky cam seals from above that make it appear as though the turbo is leaking oil). If that it still has major (thousands of $ worth) problems after those repairs, then would be the time to get rid of it.

Believe me, I've been tempted to crash mine into things a few times. But it's still worth the effort of fixing minor annoyances at this point as it's been a really good car and I don't have a car payment on it.

panamared · Post by **panamared** » 12 Dec 2011, 12:10

Thanks for all the input.
Milage is about 180K, odometer is broken though so its hard to say for sure. The smoke only appeared to be coming from the turbo oil drain pipe, the pipe that drops over the top towards the firewall. It smoked intermitently, most noticably after driving for 20 minutes or so. The car has tons of pep, it doesn't feel like the turbo is quiting. It hasn't been driven since the death sentence from the high priced mechanic three weeks ago. Is it ok to drive, or is more damage possible? I won't have money till the new year for any kind of work, even if I'm doing it.

Post by **jblackburn** » 12 Dec 2011, 15:23

No harm in driving it; just keep the air on recirculate and make sure there's oil in it til you can go about fixing it. If it's just the drain leaking for now, spend $5 on the O-ring and go ahead and change it. The rest can wait for a bit and it will give her a working car for the time being.

Post by **rspi** » 12 Dec 2011, 20:43

I'd second that motion, but be careful with the clogged PCV. I put my foot in our S70, blew 2 cam seals and lost 2-1/2 quarts of oil in 2 miles. I could follow my path back to when I put my foot in it. Go ahead and check the prices of the parts. Sounds like you will spend under $250 and be on your way for a while.

Post by **tjts1** » 12 Dec 2011, 20:50

Time to find a different mechanic.