What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[454cid]

Swapped the battery charger/maintainer from my 69 Buick LeSabre to the 850. I was a bit surprised that the Buick's battery was showing fully charged (green) a few minutes after connecting the charger. I don't know if that means it was actually charged, or if the battery is frozen. It's a smart charger, so it's not just blindly charging. The 850 showed red when connected, and I'll likely check it in a bit. It's been several hours.

I need to see if I have a battery for my Fluke meter...left it on last time I used it! I tried using my $10 cheapy meter and it was struggling with the cold. voltage seems to creep up/down. Weirdest behavior I've seen with a meter. The display was nice and crisp/dark, but the numbers didn't change very fast, in either direction.

[scot850]

I have a cheapie tester and it reads off compared to a more expensive one I have. I do know it reads low on amps and voltage but then most of the time it is good enough for what I need. A marginal battery or build up on the battery contacts may cause the variation you are seeing. I find that tends to be worse in cold weather.

I can charge with my trickle charger, remove it and on connecting it right away it goes back to red and starts charging again. I have not left it for a while to see if it switches off again. It may be it takes a few minutes to complete it's checks?

Neil.

[454cid]

I have a cheapie tester and it reads off compared to a more expensive one I have. I do know it reads low on amps and voltage but then most of the time it is good enough for what I need. A marginal battery or build up on the battery contacts may cause the variation you are seeing. I find that tends to be worse in cold weather.

I don't mean the reading is not true. I mean connecting it to a battery the display counts upward slowly until it reads what it thinks is correct. So where I'd normally make my connection, and in a fraction of a second I'd see 12.5volts, this meter starts out at only a few volts, and I can watch the display slowly go up to 12.5 (or whatever).

I can charge with my trickle charger, remove it and on connecting it right away it goes back to red and starts charging again. I have not left it for a while to see if it switches off again. It may be it takes a few minutes to complete it's checks?

Yes, it starts off red no matter what. Typically unless I've just removed the charger, it'll stay red for awhile. On the Buick's battery it went green very fast, as if it had just been charged. That's weird considering how long it's been sitting in the cold.

I checked the 850's battery, after it charging for a few hours, and it's still red (I expected that), but the voltage is reading higher with my goofy cheap meter. About 12.24 volts with the charger disconnected. It was only 10 or 11 something when I started, so it's making progress. I should probably disconnect the battery, so it doesn't keep discharging while sitting. I'm guessing the security system is doing that?

[bmdubya1198]

Ok, Im gonna check it first and if its questionable then go the machine shop route.
I need you guys to check my list before I place the order.

Water pump
Timing belt
Tensioner
Idler
Accessory belt with tensioner
Front and rear camshaft seals
Cylinder head bolts
Head gasket
Intake valves (10)
Exhaust valves (10)
Intake and exhaust valve stem seals
Intake manifold gasket
Exhaust manifold gaskets
Fuel injector O rings (just in case)
Anaerobic sealant

Have I forgot anything?

That looks like pretty much everything. I would compare it to any assembled head gasket kid sold by FCP or iPd.

[scot850]

There are a few issues I have had over the years for power drains on the P80's I've had or worked on:

1) This is the #1 issue especially on 850's - The glove-box door not closing correctly and leaving the light on all the time. Easily checked by putting a cell phone in on video and seeing if the light turns off when the door is closed.

2) Door marker lights not turning off when doors are closed or internal lights.

3) Shorts in the wiring harness in the trunk lid on sedans and tailgate hinges on wagons.

4) Cooling fan not switching off.

5) Garage door opener button on the sun-visor. Don't think the 850 got that though?

The easiest way to help figure out is the disconnecting of the -ve battery terminal and bridging with an tester set on Amps.

Then pulling each fuse in turn and see if the current reading drops. On an 850 or even a 98 V/C/S70 I would expect a current drain of 10mA up to around 40mA. My 2000 runs a little higher as I have an aftermarket remote starter and immobiiser.

Neil.

[bmdubya1198]

5) Garage door opener button on the sun-visor. Don't think the 850 got that though?

Yup, Homelink was a '99+ option. The '98 and older cars have constant power going to the driver side sun visor, so the garage opener would always have power. '99+ P80s only send power to that visor with the key on.

[ZionXIX]

Ok, Im gonna check it first and if its questionable then go the machine shop route.
I need you guys to check my list before I place the order.

Have I forgot anything?

That looks like pretty much everything. I would compare it to any assembled head gasket kid sold by FCP or iPd.

So FCP has 1 head gasket kit available and it has several more things I didn't even think about. The kit has good reviews. I was originally trying to buy as much blue box parts as possible but I stopped before the $51 valves. I'm going to switch to the kit with a lot of victor reins parts and put that warranty to the test. It reduced my cost by like $250.

[bmdubya1198]

More parts and cheaper… sounds like a win! Victor Reinz parts should be perfectly fine for most of the things involved in this job.

[abscate]

Ok, Im gonna check it first and if its questionable then go the machine shop route.
I need you guys to check my list before I place the order.

Have I forgot anything?

That looks like pretty much everything. I would compare it to any assembled head gasket kid sold by FCP or iPd.

So FCP has 1 head gasket kit available and it has several more things I didn't even think about. The kit has good reviews. I was originally trying to buy as much blue box parts as possible but I stopped before the $51 valves. I'm going to switch to the kit with a lot of victor reins parts and put that warranty to the test. It reduced my cost by like $250.

Zion…you get the valves much cheaper at Skandix then ask someone Germany to mail them to you for about $20,

[duke1]

one hundred of our english pounds is no longer enough to fill the 855 tank! fed up with this shizen damn robbers are allowed by our awful government to make biggest ever profits and we get shafted! ggggrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!