Broken 850 For Sale

Hereforonepost · Post by **Hereforonepost** » 16 Feb 2021, 08:26

Hello

I posted this in the 850 forum (oops), and it seems to have a few interested. Figured I'll copy-paste it here for anyone else interested.

I don't have much experience in automotive repairs, and my 850 has died on me recently, but I'll explain as best I can.

I don't drive it, I own (and pay for) it for my brother. Last time I drove it was maybe a month ago and it ran as beautifully as ever when I did. I never got any reports from my brother saying its running funny or making weird sounds or anything, it simply just didn't start up one day. He got me, and showed me that turning the key got nothing but maybe a few clicks, electronics still worked, but I had no real idea. That was maybe a week ago. Today I tried it one more time to start digging into what to do with it. This time, it did absolutely nothing. Not even electronics turned on. I got my roommate to help try to jump it, but it still did nothing even while plugged in. I suspect the cold finally killed something, or froze some sort of fluid, but I couldn't tell you which one.

At this point though, I can't take care of it anymore. I'm already a full-time college student trying to get a part time job, my brother doesn't even want to take care of it (despite me paying and taking care of it for so long, I am very salty about that), and I just want to get rid of it. Unless the solution is incredibly easy and cheap, I want to just sell it as scrap. Even if I can fix it, I'd just fix it and sell it for a slightly higher price.

I was recommended to try to sell it here, so if someone wants it, I'll sell it cheap. I honestly don't even care how much, cause at this point, its beyond my expertise how much a broken car older than me is worth.

Cheers,
Liam

Post by **volvolugnut** » 16 Feb 2021, 08:53

I am sure others will want to know some basic information on this 850. Like the year, mileage, body condition, interior condition, past maintenance, and what you may want for it.

However, if you can get a solid, well charged battery installed (not trying to jump start with light cables), you may find it starts up. Try to swap batteries from a good running car.

volvolugnut

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 16 Feb 2021, 09:27

When jump starting, How long did wait before you tried to crank the engine over?

Light cables will start it if you wait long enough to transfer a charge to the battery. In this weather that could be 30 - 60 minutes.

Just getting the battery warm sometimes does the trick. We use to warm up a battery by turning on the headlights and waiting a couple of minutes, turn headlights off and crank. The current through the battery's bulk resistance will create heat.

Hereforonepost · Post by **Hereforonepost** » 16 Feb 2021, 11:56

volvolugnut wrote: ↑16 Feb 2021, 08:53 I am sure others will want to know some basic information on this 850. Like the year, mileage, body condition, interior condition, past maintenance, and what you may want for it.

However, if you can get a solid, well charged battery installed (not trying to jump start with light cables), you may find it starts up. Try to swap batteries from a good running car.

volvolugnut

1996 850 T with ~215k on it. Body and Interior condition is actually rather good with the worst being just due to age. The paint is original, but it used to bake in the Colorado sun, so it has sun some sun damage. Interior could use detailing, but its good otherwise. Even got some decent speakers, new when we got it about 5-6 years back.

Past maintenance is kind of iffy for me, I've been gone for most of its life and really only started caring for it in its later years. The last full tune-up it had was at about 150k miles on it several years ago, where we received it broken due a faulty PCV. I was younger at the time, so my father did that. I left for several years, got it back maybe a year ago. Since then, I had replaced the oil and air filter, some fuses, and the MAF sensor. The last time I took it to a volvo dealership, they said it looked fine except for the after-market parts showing up as "faulty".

As for what I may want for it, I'd say throw me an offer. Low ball it, I mainly want it gone.

RickHaleParker wrote: ↑16 Feb 2021, 09:27 When jump starting, How long did wait before you tried to crank the engine over?

Light cables will start it if you wait long enough to transfer a charge to the battery. In this weather that could be 30 - 60 minutes.

Just getting the battery warm sometimes does the trick. We use to warm up a battery by turning on the headlights and waiting a couple of minutes, turn headlights off and crank. The current through the battery's bulk resistance will create heat.

I had waited maybe a few minutes, like 2-3. I was hoping at that point it wouldn't have been completely dead and show a sign of life at least. Sadly it didn't. But I will have to try the 30 min idea, that is news to me. Thank you.

Post by **scot850** » 16 Feb 2021, 17:06

If you can borrow a battery try again. If you get zero response with the key, in other words, the engine does not turn over at all, try locking and re-locking the door a couple of times with the key and not the fob. The ignition system can get confused when the battery is played with and might cause the immobiliser to lock the ignition out.

Good luck,

Neil.