New to Volvos, questions about parts compatibility and desirable parts.

PS78 · Post by **PS78** » 11 Feb 2016, 12:51

Best of luck with everything. Post some pictures when you get a chance. That's awesome you have a garage to do the work in and someone to help you out. I'm on the adventure myself right now. The pcv mods in the repair database are well worth reading and very helpful. Again, good luck and go habs!

335i · Post by **335i** » 11 Feb 2016, 13:54

Thanks ! Any other cool things that I can get out of better equipped or more recent cars ? What's the best radio for these cars (I don't like aftermarket headunits) ? Speakers I guess it's better to go aftermarket right ?

Ps78, Thanks buddy, I know I have to do the PCV on the car so I'll try to take care of that tomorrow. And yes I am very happy to have my mechanic allow me to do all that. About the Habs, honestly I hope they don't do the playoffs to get a good player at the draft.

Will post pics for sure.

335i · Post by **335i** » 11 Feb 2016, 19:44

Well... here she is.

Found a bit of rust on a front fender and a spot on the hood so these will be on the list of things to change. First thing is the exhaust then the PCV and a very good cleaning. Hoping to be able to do the cleaning, exhaust and PCV tomorrow. Also it kinda seems like the interior is not real leather... Are the seats out of a 99 plug and play ? I found some nice seats in a lot better condition at the yard.

PS78 · Post by **PS78** » 11 Feb 2016, 21:45

Very nice

Post by **j-dawg** » 11 Feb 2016, 22:30

rspi wrote:What PS78 said. You'll have your hands full with bringing it up to snuff. Lol

The P80 cars are by no means "bullet proof". That is a thing of the past with the red block cars. If you're an old g like me, you fell in love with the red block Volvo's and get tricked into the white block ones. Kinda like marrying a pretty girl and finding out later that she has a crack addiction.

ha! we're all being so hard on the cars.

I stand by what I said earlier, but I'll say this: mine ticked over 260,000 miles a few weeks ago, and it looks and drives 160,000 miles younger than that. I am fortunate enough to have a dark interior, which has held up to the ravages of time. My car takes work to keep it going, but it rewards me by aging very well.

335i · Post by **335i** » 11 Feb 2016, 22:39

PS78, Thanks.

j-dawg, Any car will need some love to keep going that is something everyone should be aware of.

335i · Post by **335i** » 12 Feb 2016, 01:21

Well... I just found out that the heater control doesn't change position when I move it. This sucks. Took at least 30 mins to be able to defrost the windshield... Hoping it's not too bad to fix.

Post by **rspi** » 12 Feb 2016, 05:25

Volvo's are designed to use the AC system to rapidly defrog the windows, so that will need to be working.

I believe that the stereo system is superior to most. It's well designed and balanced. Get a OEM SC-816 and all 8 speaker and you should be very happy.

Being a 335i guy I think you will be much happier with a T5 model. I suggest that you flip this one and apply the sale cash towards a T5. They come loaded.

The "trim" is base. Lol There are basically 5 trims for those cars,
- Base
- GLT Which has a low pressure turbo.
- T5 Which has a high pressure turbo and usually lots of standard features.
- AWD

Check the post purchase video. If the heater core is bad it will cause the front windows to fog up.

Don't get me wrong, I know these cars run very well. That is why I do my best to save so many of them. But let's keep it real, they are needy and if you don't turn your own wrenches, you'll experience a lot of frustration.

Post by **rspi** » 12 Feb 2016, 05:29

Oh, the seats are bolt in but you will loose the air bags in the sides of the seats. In '98 the seats have a trigger on the side of the base of the seats to trigger the airbag in the event of a side impact. In '99 they changed to a system that is more integrated into the SRS system.

Post by **combatkarl** » 12 Feb 2016, 13:59

Are the seats out of a 99 plug and play ? I found some nice seats in a lot better condition at the yard.

As "rspi" stated, they will bolt right in. I did this with my '97 850. I used seats from a '99XC...working electric seats with memory function and heated seats, but as stated the side impact airbag will not work. I had help from the MVS folks with electrical connections and swapped the '99 seats onto the base/frame of the 850 seats. It was not a bad job. Taking the leather skins off the '99 seats and putting them on '98 is another option. MVS covers that, too.

New to Volvos, questions about parts compatibility and desirable parts.

Re: New to Volvos, questions about parts compatibility and desirable parts.