Should I rehab the car or buy newer?

[theprep]

I purchased a 96' wagon with the cold weather package from my coworker for $900, pretty solid car minus the rust on the suspension, which needs replacing, and a possibly cracked block, which is a recent development. The body is in great shape as is the interior. The condenser for the AC will need to be replaced, have the tutorial and capability to do such. Not wanting a car note, and justifying rehabbing a car to knowing that I replaced all components to the best of my ability, it seems logical to rehab a car with a good foundation. The only issue is I don't have a rack, but feel I could do most of the needed work with quality jacks/tools, and an engine hoist. So on to the known problems.

1. Transmission does slip a bit when stopping, like it's lurching for the low gear. I'm guessing the fluid and transmission need a good flush, I've read about the Seafoam treatment working well in most cases?

2. Possible crack in block, I noted in another post where the coolant was being consumed, detected in the oil on my last change. Also the oil dipstick tube is rusty. Evidence to me oil is mixing with the coolant. I need to do a compression test and the hydrocarbon test on the coolant. It's been rather cold lately, so I've been lazy. I do drive the car like a granny though, keep all fluids topped off.

3. Suspension, I saw corrosion when under the car, it came from New Jersey originally. While inspecting, it does appear the corrosion is confined to just the suspension components. The tires are wearing on the outer lip, I'm guessing the tie rods, and control arms etc need replacing. There's also a popping sound when the wheels are turned all the way to the right. I know the struts need replacing. The travel is gone, rides rough, and doesn’t handle curves very well.

4. The odometer stopped at 166684, which can be fixed while I have the dash out for condenser replacement.

5. Car seems to have lost its pep, again, the tranny doesn't seem to bite when pedal is floored. It doesn't slip on acceleration, just when coming to a fast/abrupt stop it lurches.

So, if the engine needs replacing, is it worthwhile to find a good low mileage replacement, rehabilitate the car to near showroom?
Seems a waste to let a good body go to the junk yard when I can have a good car that will last many years to come with some work that I know was done right with quality parts vs buying another used one that may need just as much work. I have the ability to do most of this work myself, the real cost with be parts and supplies.

I even considered swapping the engine for a V8, going carbureted eliminating EFI, maybe even a nice V6. Does anyone make conversion kits?

I'm ok with spending up to say $10K over a period if in the end I'll have a reliable car that I know has quality components. I guess what separates me from some is I have the ability to do most of this myself vs paying shop absorbent amounts of money to do this. Thoughts?

[JRL]

If it does have a cracked block part it out
If it doesn't, you're still going to have to do a fair amount of work and this car essentially has little to no book value.
So...it will depend on how much you like it (or think you will want to keep it) to be in a car for more money than it's worth.
Personally I would part it out and move on

[theprep]

I struggle with that same thought. It really depends on what the test reveal. I could always keep it for a back up car for hauling stuff etc. My main interest is motorcycles, I rather be on a bike than a cage, but the weather, always nice to have comfort in those times. I think best to run the test, if bad, find a newer Volvo, save this for a backup. I've definitely gotten my $900 worth.

[wheelsup]

Best guess with the tranny is the pump is going bad.

Another solution is to buy another 850 from the same vintage, and take all the useful components out of your current car to have backups to help in troubleshooting. I did the same, but bought a parts car for $250 with a bad engine on it to keep my 850 going longer.

We bought a Prius and even though it was roughly $20k out of pocket, over 10 years will save $14k in gas even if it doesn't go up any. So effectively out of pocket was around $6k for a almost new car.

I wanted an older S70 but in looking at the numbers, made sense to go the Prius route.

YMMV, literally.

[precopster]

Do a drain & fill on the transmission. Seafoam & transmissions don't mix; it's for engines and gastanks.

Why suspect a crack in the block? Head gasket seems far more common & likely with these engines. Lots of tutorials available here on request or in Repair Database. Do a compression test wet & dry and this will give you more to go on. Post the numbers here and get some feedback.

The pop can be worn spring seat (buy genuine or IPD heavy duty ONLY) The rebuild of the suspension on these is about a 3 out of 5 in the difficulty scale.

Look at the Tracy's True Soaps tutorial on head gasket repair as it will get you familiar with how these motors are put together: Volvo 5-cylinder: How to Replace the Head Gasket

Forget about a conversion. You'll need dollars and more dollars and no-one does conversion kits for these, trust me. If it were RWD 2, 7 or 9 series that would be different.

Budget around 3K for repairs inc parts and you'll end up with a very nice ride and you can say it's like new!!

[erikv11]

And for oil and coolant mixing, a blown radiator is much, much more common than a bad head gasket.

[rspi]

I second the motion to get another 850 to use and maybe take parts from your's. I hear a lot of people say they got a low mileage motor but how can anyone prove that. I looked at a 850 that had 124,000 on the clock but when I read the OBD-I port the car actually had 226,000 on it. I'm not saying that it's necessary to get a low mileage motor to put in the car. Fact is that if you prefer to ride your motorbike, you won't be putting a lot of miles on the car anyway. Sounds like you may put 5,000 on it per years which is nothing for a motor that already has 150k or 200k. These motors can go 500,000 when properly maintained. I know of a lot of them that have with NO head gasket issues, etc.

The tranny, suspension, etc., just more reasons to get another car. How long have you owned this one?

[BerniniCaCO3]

I'm not as familiar with older volvos, but I own and drive a 1990 ford, and bought another 1989 ford for my sister.

My own car, I put $4000 into over the past 2 years. Half of that, was arguably unnecessary and really just for fun. I had a lot of oil leaks out of the engine, which any sane person would have just lived with, but i chose to rebuild the engine and improve on it besides. And while the engine is out, why don't I replace this... and that.... Pretty soon I spent $2000. Not that I'm unhappy mind you.
This car also already had a rebuilt transmission, and was otherwise clean, little rust, no suspension issues, interior not mint but still barely grungy.

My sister's 1989, we didn't go crazy with. OK, maybe a little. It had 84,000 miles on it, and yes, odometer still worked and was accurate. For reasons of age we did cooling lines, tuneup, fluids. We did a lot of line items. Front shocks were leaking, did O2 sensors for the hech of it, valve cover gaskets leaked a little. It was actually in better condition than my 1990.
We bought it for $850 and put $1200 in parts and maybe 50 hours of labor.
So... $2000 and a solid work week later we have a very well maintained, low mileage car that will serve my little sister well.
We did not, however, touch the engine or transmission. The biggest jobs we did were a water pump and heater core; and some of the cooling lines involved removing the intake and took some time. But I'm not really the one to talk you out of maintaining an old car; economically my car decisions aren't 100% efficient. Who rebuilds engines on a car with a $600 kbb value?


You might be looking at much more work than my sister's car, however, especially if the transmission is going. It's at 166k; a flush might do more harm than good if it hasn't had flushes religiously to this point.
Combined with questions on rust, you mentioned the a/c condensor and odometer, steering issues... Tire wear can of course be taken care of with a simple alignment, but, get it in the air and shake down the steering and see what you actually need to do before throwing parts at it. May be that there's no play, and alignment is all you need, and the pop is just a swaybar bushing. Or maybe you need ball joints but not tie rods, or tie rods but not ball joints.

None of this can't be fixed, even if it does get to the point of replacing the transmission.
But if you're going to put so much time into a car, and even if you do the labor yourself --which is an injustice to yourself if you consider your labor free-- parts are not free. You mentioned putting as much as $10,000 more into this if you have to: why not start with an immaculate, very low mileage wagon, for say $5000 from a low-mileage, well-maintaining elderly couple and use that as a starting point for your dream ride? These are not so rare that you need to take whatever beater you can get to turn into showroom; find something close to showroom to start with.

[bigkev414]

I think you would be best off to junk it and start again. These things seem to go on and on...fix one and something else goes, fix that and.....
PS: PLEASE don't wimp out and buy a Prius. Plant a tree instead.

[erikv11]

For only $800 more you could be driving this for a long time ... https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =6&t=45457