What could be wrong with this 95 850?

[tjmartin317]

Hi all! I’m once again pinging the forum, but rather than begging for mechanical advice or asking a dumb question, I instead want to hear your thoughts about this 1995 850 Wagon at my semi-local junkyard:

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It’s not new, I just haven’t taken a closer look at it until today. Has brake fluid in the reservoir and the pedal feels good, very little stripped out of it, and rear facing seats in the trunk!!! They’re miserable for my 5’10” self to fit in but they’re so cool!!!

Anyways, I was wondering what you think may be wrong with it or if I could throw in a battery, fill it with fluids (oil, gas, trans if drained), and see what happens… though, idk how pick and pulls feel about trying to start a car on the lot… probably not too keen on it.

My guess is it is something to do with the automatic transmission. It has 190k miles which is still a low-ish number, and the registration was still valid (it’s in the glovebox, and I did take down the previous owners name). Seems too clean to be here and while I no room and no right to “save” this thing, boy do I want to

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Here’s the haul of mass airflow sensors I snagged! The check engine light is on for a number of reasons and this is one of them. Need to research a way to test these since I don’t have an code scanner. Got a couple books too! Free books are cool.

Hope you’re starting the week off strong!

[Chuck W]

Probably a transmission issue, or perhaps even a snapped timing belt.

The dash looks to be in nice shape, which is a shame.

To the average person, these are just old cars, and not worth fixing when something "big" goes wrong.

[scot850]

Unless yo pulled them, it is interesting that it looks like 3 x MAF's on the seat beside the book.

Like Chuck says. You may never know why it is there. You may also find the yard is reluctant to sell whole as they can usually make more in parts that selling the whole car.

Check the timing belt to make sure it is not broken, if not then it could still have a head gasket issue, burnet/bent valves or who knows what else. If the yard is ok with you trying to save it and try to get it started then if you have the time, go for it.

Neil.

[erikv11]

About those three MAF sensors you pulled: In all likelihood they are all working fine, that is always my first assumption with junkyard MAFs. Test them by installing in the appropriate car and see if they run it without a MAF code. The 92-98 P80 cars have a different MAF than 99-00 P80 cars.

Also: if a 92-98 P80 car (850s and 98 scv70) MAF is not Bosch, do not use it unless you absolutely have to. Non-Bosch MAF sensors have a spotty record in these years, sometimes they are flaky and give intermittent codes even when new.

The 99-00 MAF is Desno I think.

[scot850]

Denso on NA, Bosch on my 00R. It and possibly the T5 99-00 I think used the same one which is larger than the older version.

Neil.

[tjmartin317]

Also: if a 92-98 P80 car (850s and 98 scv70) MAF is not Bosch, do not use it unless you absolutely have to. Non-Bosch MAF sensors have a spotty record in these years, sometimes they are flaky and give intermittent codes even when new.

The 99-00 MAF is Desno I think.

Well, this is good to know, as I pulled these all for a 2000 S70, and all of these are Bosch parts, which means none of these are going to work, are they?

[tjmartin317]

Unless yo pulled them, it is interesting that it looks like 3 x MAF's on the seat beside the book.

That's the inside of my car, and yes I pulled all of those in hopes to replace the MAF on mine... but unfortunately my sensors are, apparently, different. So that was a bit of a waste unless I can retrofit these parts (which came off 93 to 98 model years, seeing as they're all Bosch) into my 2000 S70... I'm guessing not, but oh well.

[scot850]

If your car is an NA, then it has the Denso MAF fitted to the 99-00 NA cars only I believe.

Those Bosch units are worth hanging onto as Volvo is the only source of new at a stupid price. Bosch no longer sell them. They fit most 93-98 cars although the 94-95 year changes may mean I am wrong. Unfortunately I don't have a Denso one. Gave it to my buddy who has my old 00 V70 NA.

Good luck!

Neil.

[erikv11]

What Neil said - not going to work on your 00. But they're super useful to people with 95-98.

Neil also corrects my post by pointing out that 93 to mid-95 are also a different MAF than most-95 to 98.

[abscate]

Read through the “ bastards “ thread on the 99 and 00 years to align yourself with right parts for your 2000.

The guys nailed the MAF compatability above.

The also rarely break, and if you unplug them while running your Iowa potatoes will explode.