New to Volvo, need advice.

[alphanerd]

I recently, last Sunday, bought a used '93 850GLT non-turbo Gold with tan leather. I bought the car she has 138K on the odometer, which broke about 3 months ago. Normally I would have walked away from a car with unknown mileage but this one is maliciously maintained. I mean if she sounded funny the original owner took her to Volvo for service. I have the whole service record. I checked with the dealer and the paperwork matches the car.
I love the car and she runs great. I've been a "shade tree" mechanic for over 15 yrs and only pay someone if I have to. To make sure I don't get over my head, I thought I would seek advice on a few things that need to repair.

1. The Odometer. The dealer can fix it for $350. I had thought about removing/installing the Instrument Cluster myself and thus save the labor cost. http://kinovolvo.velez.ws/ has instructions on how to do it, but should I?

2. The engine coolant is, well, murky. I am going to drain, flush, and refill the system. While doing that I am going to replace the t-stat, never been done. The temp gauge fluctuates between the 3-4 o'clock positions but never above. My question is what temp t-stat should I use? The local auto parts store has listings for both 190 and 180.

3. The cruse control doesn't seem to work. The guy I bought it from told me he never used it. Any guess on where I should start looking for the problem?

4. Though I have seen instructions on how to replace the power tilt seat cable, would it be better just to let a pro do it. Other than the slip-on kind, I have never worked seat covers and I would hate to ruin them.

[matthew1]

1. The Odometer. The dealer can fix it for $350. I had thought about removing/installing the Instrument Cluster myself and thus save the labor cost. http://kinovolvo.velez.ws/ has instructions on how to do it, but should I?

I have no experience with this, can't comment.

2. The engine coolant is, well, murky. I am going to drain, flush, and refill the system. While doing that I am going to replace the t-stat, never been done. The temp gauge fluctuates between the 3-4 o'clock positions but never above. My question is what temp t-stat should I use? The local auto parts store has listings for both 190 and 180.

I spoke to a tech at length about this. He recommended, and I bought, the 180 because my Volvo is over 3 years old. Three years is about the time that the hotter t-stat can cause hoses to break because the pressure will be higher.

3. The cruse control doesn't seem to work. The guy I bought it from told me he never used it. Any guess on where I should start looking for the problem?

Vacuum lines. Elbows of vacuum lines. If it's not that, then a fuse maybe? Check fuses first, obviously.

4. Though I have seen instructions on how to replace the power tilt seat cable, would it be better just to let a pro do it. Other than the slip-on kind, I have never worked seat covers and I would hate to ruin them.

I've taken my seat out, and it was a beeyaaach. I would hate to have to do that plus the fix plus put back on the leather. Agreed.

Let us know how things go

[alphanerd]

I was thinking along the same lines in reguards to the T-stat. I know some cars freak out if the wrong stat is used. If you are not having any problems with yours than I will go with the 180. Thank you for your help.

[Thom]

Mine went last summer. I lookes it over and saw it was a bit of a job. Not having a lot of spare time nor the proper place to work on it, I had it done. You do have to be careful that you don't destroy the pully wheels and make sure it is on properly or it will torque the seat and break other parts. By the way, you may wish to check the tranny fluid. Although the manuels tell you that it can be left alone, my experience on FWD vehicles is that the fluid is exposed to more heat. I was feeling a small bit of slippage and decided to go for a fluid change through a Valvoline shop that does a reverse flush. It was worth the money as it pulled out a lot of dirt, etc.