Help getting 1997 850R back road worthy

Empigt · Post by **Empigt** » 05 Dec 2019, 19:27

Thanks for any help. I just bought a 1997 white 850 R wagon. It has been treated horribly. Very low miles. 74,000. I bought It in none running condition. It hasn't ran In 7 years( just guessing) In the 3 weeks since I got it, I found the no spark issue to be fuel injection relay hooked up wrong. So it got fire and tried to run. It blew acorn shells 10 feet out the exhaust. It wouldn't hold an idle but revved up sounded great. Lots of smoke at start up and running super rich. So replaced dry rotted vacuum lines. That hasn't helped. In going thru the plug wires and #2 and #3 the motor idle had no change. But good spark for each. Tested the injector wires and both working as they should with solid power and ground pulse. Then #5 injector had good power but a solid none pulsing ground. So I bought another used 850R ecm. Put it in and that corrected the solid ground to #5 injector but made it harder to start when cold. So I just ordered 5 reman White injectors. I also did the pcv system replacement with original volvo replacements not aftermarket as reading on here it sounds like they are junk. So even after doing that and cleaning all ports in the block and ptc (I think that's correct) the ports at the other end by the turbo. Even after doing that it still puffs smoke out the dipstick. But doesn't blow up a glove at the oil fill cap. But doesn't suck it in either. So in the last couple weeks it has come a long way but not there yet. I really want to drive it. Any advice on what else to look for?

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 05 Dec 2019, 21:14

If it's running but puffing smoke with a new PCV I would look into doing a compression test since you might be getting a lot of blow by. The rings could be stuck or they might be excessively worn.

Empigt · Post by **Empigt** » 06 Dec 2019, 09:14

I will do a compression test this weekend. Thanks for the tip. With this low of miles I hope the rings aren't shot. It sounds awesome at high rpms.

Empigt · Post by **Empigt** » 06 Dec 2019, 09:56

Here's a pic of the project.

Post by **foggydogg** » 06 Dec 2019, 10:48

+1 on the compression test, and if you get a low number in a hole or 2, a LITTLE Marvel Mystery Oil left to soak for a day or 2 might free up a stuck ring deal. Once you get it mostly running think about the timing belt stuff, not just on the miles but the calendar. I'm trying to resurrect a '98 at the moment, pretty similar story.
I like the stitchwork on the chin spoiler.
Good luck, keep plucking away.

Post by **scot850** » 06 Dec 2019, 11:10

The other suspect due to age of car is valve stem seals.

Neil.

Empigt · Post by **Empigt** » 06 Dec 2019, 11:30

I was thinking valve stem seals as well. I'll do a compression check and injectors this weekend. If injectors help it idle, I'll drive it and see if blowing some carbon and cobwebs out of it helps it out. If compression checks out. And driving it doesnt help it's issues I'm guessing valve stem seals or maybe turbo seals. I'm hoping it clears up with some driving. The kid I got it from did the stitching to the cracks on the bumper. It does give it some attitude.. He had it for over a year and never got it to run. He replaced the cam position, crank position sensors, coil, plugs and plug wires and high pressure fuel line. And never got it to start. It had a number of wires chewed through by rodents under the hood as well.

Empigt · Post by **Empigt** » 06 Dec 2019, 12:12

Forgot to say the other things I put on last week. Both o2 sensors, throttle position sensor, since it had the code thrown for it. Coolant temp sensor, the knock sensors(one lead was chewed thru). Timing belt was replaced by volvo at 67,900 miles. By the sticker on the rad. support. It still looks fairly new. I checked the timing to see if that's why it wasn't getting spark. All looked good there.

brunocerous · Post by **brunocerous** » 06 Dec 2019, 12:31

What a great project! Can’t wait to see how it goes. Congrats.

Empigt · Post by **Empigt** » 06 Dec 2019, 13:05

Thanks. This is my first volvo experience. Been into vw's all my life. Mainly aircooled but a few watercooled ones. My wife wanted a new wagon. After researching The 850R wagon is what I wanted to get her.. She likes this one a lot if we can get it good a dependable. So far only $2000 into it with all the new volvo replacement parts. That's way better than spending $30,000 for a newer mini countryman she did want.