1997 850 Sedan Base Some Quirks

[rspi]

Good. Maybe you just need to check the elbows or replace the flame trap to make all good.

[davolvo]

oh dear, so limp could mean???

[roboconnell]

I just got my 1997 850 GLT today (bought from a friend). I did the glove test - at idle it was sicked in a little, just like the videos. But when reving a bit, it seemed to vibrate a lot - like it was possibly getting inflated and de-inflated. Is this possibly a sign of a PCV on the edge?

thanks!

[erikv11]

Don't replace the flame trap - take it out and throw it away. The only thing it does is get clogged up.

[rspi]

oh dear, so limp could mean???

Plan to have it serviced sometime in the near future, maybe a year or so. As I said, the flame trap could be clogged. Those things use to clog up on my old red block Volvo every 10,000 miles. I have one that you can have if you pay for shipping. I'll never use it. They may cost $5. I have the entire connection.

[davolvo]

Stupid flame trap.

[davolvo]

On the rumble, watch the tachometer and see if the idle is actually moving up at a stop light. From your description my first guess would be a worn out motor mount under the crank pulley, so you feel more vibration when stopped and/or just starting from a stop. In that case, the idle wouldn't be surging, the car would just be transmitting more vibration.

I would be a little leery of that mechanic. The "pin hole in a hose" would be a pin hole in the evap system, i.e. he is telling you "well, problem A could be problem A, which would make it huge." And on these cars, the fuel emissions leak codes are almost universally only a nuisance, not a serious issue.

It is not the idle, it is just a odd vibration as you mentioned. I guess I will take it to the Foreign Repair shop here in the area for the fuel emission leak code and to see what he would charge to get my dash lights to work. The lights that illuminate the fuel gauge and such. Thanks for all of the input! I hope my issues can help others as well.

[erikv11]

Stupid flame trap.

Seriously - take the flame trap out and throw it away. It was a bad idea that Volvo only used for a couple years. No one keeps them in there.

[davolvo]

Uhmmm, where is it in this vehicle?

[850 LPT]

If I were you, I would consider changing out the bulbs for the instrument cluster myself. It's not that hard to do and it saves the money for labor when someone else is doing it for you.
My reason is that mechanics are often not very careful with interior parts, and things in these cars are becoming old and briddle. You can take your time and make sure nothing gets busted.

There are videos out there on how to do it, I know ipd used to have one. It's basically taking the top of the dash off, and then you have easy access to the cluster.