Diary of a 17 y/o with an 850

shihabafi · Post by **shihabafi** » 15 Jul 2018, 06:56

Hey guys, my name is Shihab, I'm 17 years old, and I own a '95 850 Wagon. Up until 2015, I can't say I know much about what happened to this car, so I'll talk from what I know.

1995 Volvo 850 Wagon (Base) (Still haven't given it a name, I'm coming up with one though...)

257k Miles

B5254S Engine- Auto only (thinking of a manual swap but not anytime soon)

Emissions: 3 = with EGR, without air pump, with OBDII, Monotronic 4.3L Fuel Injected with Rulo(...?)

Manufactured in Ghent, Belgium in March of '95.

In 2015, my dad bought this car for a mere $700. He drove it for a few months, until the battery started dying on him, multiple times. He decided to sell it, but I made a deal with him, that if I could fix it, I would keep it, and somehow I got him to agree. I narrowed it down to a voltage regulator, and since then, the car hasn't let me down. The previous owners equipped it with an aftermarket security system which no longer works, so notice the aftermarket Alarm siren and the switch next to the steering wheel.

My father also claimed that the engine that's sitting in the car right now was swapped out only 70k miles ago. But since I have no documentation of any sorts of upgrades, I'm going to act as if it has the original engine in it. I'm going to act as if the car came from the factory the way it's sitting in the backyard.

My goal right now is to get the car to the point where it's running like how it was from the factory. Then, we can talk about actual upgrades. I've driven roughly 3k miles with this car, and I'm planning on keeping it for a very, very long time.

Here's a list of everything that I've done to this car so far:

-Voltage Regulator
-Spark Plugs
-Fuel, Oil, and Air Filters
-Ignition Switch
-Oil change (with cheap oil, gotta do it again soon)
-New Starter
-Rear Brake Pads
-Rear Left Caliper (jammed up. Bought a rear right one as well, but it's sitting in the trunk, haven't gotten around to it yet)
-Swapped old rear light assembly with cleaned V70 ones (so yes, they're the clear ones)
-Distributor Cap and Wires
-Ignition Coil
-Camshaft Position Sensor
-PCV System
-Throttle Position Sensor

Major Issues:

A few months ago the car wouldn't even crank, so I took a long and hefty red wire (which I'm pretty sure isn't supposed to be for automotive use), and wrapped one end around the Ignition Switch, and the other around the Starter "Service Port." (somewhere along the line current wasn't going through. Still haven't found out what it was...)

Recently after a PCV job, the car wouldn't start. I replaced the Ignition coil, the Throttle Position Sensor, and the Fuel relay under the fan shroud. Only got it running yesterday. Whew.

Just this morning when I went to just turn it on (left it running for ~5 mins), when I turned it off, the fan was running a good 5 mins after turning off... also the rpms were jumping slightly around the 900-1200rpm range. I'm assuming it's a vacuum leak?

Here's what needs to be done right now:

-Front Left Turn Signal Assembly is missing.
-Head Gasket is leaking (combustion filling in coolant reservoir)
-Vacuum leak... somewhere (I think?)
-Minor cosmetics (Bad paint, chipped shifter knob, sagging hood liner, sagging sun visor, etc.)

First order of business? A full and detailed cleaning, inside, outside, and under the hood. Anything I should be aware of when washing the engine?

Post by **abscate** » 15 Jul 2018, 07:15

ATF drain and fill in the works

Clean the Idle Air control valve , that’s the small silver cylinder just to right ( car direction) of your battery. Check those hoses for leaks and splits.

There is a famous vacuum port on the far right side of the intake manifold that breaks on high mileage cars, too.

Welcome to the Nautic Blue Volvo club too, I think. It’s hard to tell true colors over the inter webs.

Post by **mecheng** » 15 Jul 2018, 08:25

Why is the head gasket leaking? That’s the sign of a bad head job usually, they rarely fail.
I would address that before tossing good money after bad. I would also remove the aftermarket alarm. You’ve done a lot of tune up work so I would address the main issue and not drive it with a blown gasket

shihabafi · Post by **shihabafi** » 15 Jul 2018, 08:31

abscate wrote: 15 Jul 2018, 07:15 ATF drain and fill in the works

Clean the Idle Air control valve , that’s the small silver cylinder just to right ( car direction) of your battery. Check those hoses for leaks and splits.

There is a famous vacuum port on the far right side of the intake manifold that breaks on high mileage cars, too.

ATF = Auto Transmission Fluid? I heard not to change it because it may have been there for a long time and changing it at this point may damage it...

The valve itself is clean, rinsed the inside with brake cleaner... new tubes coming soon.

Could you be a bit more specific please about where the vacuum port is? (or just show me a pic if possible...)

mecheng wrote: 15 Jul 2018, 08:25 Why is the head gasket leaking? That’s the sign of a bad head job usually, they rarely fail.
I would address that before tossing good money after bad. I would also remove the aftermarket alarm. You’ve done a lot of tune up work so I would address the main issue and not drive it with a blown gasket

No idea why, I'm thinking I'll try some "pour-in head sealer" from somewhere...

I'm in the process of removing the alarm. It's bad anyways, just some dead weight laying around. Just need to yank some wires and whatnot.

Post by **misha** » 15 Jul 2018, 09:16

'95 non turbo can't be Motronic 4.3.
It can only be Jetronic,with two separate ecu(s)...one for management one for ignition...and being an auto...plus additional one for transmission....so 3 ecu(s) in the ecu box in total.

shihabafi · Post by **shihabafi** » 15 Jul 2018, 09:21

misha wrote: 15 Jul 2018, 09:16 '95 non turbo can't be Motronic 4.3.
It can only be Jetronic,with two separate ecu(s)...one for management one for ignition...and being an auto...plus additional one for transmission....so 3 ecu(s) in the ecu box in total.

I've only got 2 ECU's in my box though...

Post by **misha** » 15 Jul 2018, 09:26

Motronic 4.3 is only for turbo models.

With diagnostic ports under the hood....it was LH Jetronic...what is now ....who knows....all i know is that other managements are NOT interchangeable.
When i look back the pictures from under the hood....you have a newer engine with newer style MAF....and it could be that Motronic 4.4 is installed along with an replacement engine.
Like i said....problem is that different managements are NOT interchangeable,wiring is different,pinouts are different....and since you still have OBDI ports under the hood...they are remained from Jetronic management.
I'm surprised and wonder how it starts and run...seriously.

Fluorescent oil dipstick also points that engine is from late '96 or '97.
'91-'96 had red dipsticks and crankcase capacity is different.

shihabafi · Post by **shihabafi** » 15 Jul 2018, 09:36

But...

...and I have an OBDII port...

Post by **misha** » 15 Jul 2018, 09:42

ObdII was introduced in '95 along with obdI under the hood.
'96 and later had only diagnostic OBDII port in the cabin.

ToriWhite · Post by **ToriWhite** » 15 Jul 2018, 11:46

shihabafi wrote: 15 Jul 2018, 08:31 I'm in the process of removing the alarm. It's bad anyways, just some dead weight laying around. Just need to yank some wires and whatnot.

Don't throw it away! Disconnect stuff, but don't pull any wires! (If its rigged up to a separate 12v or something I guess you could take that out..) but don't throw any of that away!

You'll thank yourself in 2 years when you move into the city