What should i do to my newly gifted, 93 850 that has pretty much sat for 5-7 years

Pezgoon · Post by **Pezgoon** » 28 May 2016, 09:29

Hello all, I am new to the forum this being my new post but figured I'd ask you more knowledgeable types about some advice. I am being given a car by a grandparent which is a 93 850 GLT automatic with only 73k on it! (no the odometers not broken) She hasn't been able to truly drive it for probably 5-7 years due to health and my grandfather has atleast been taking it around the block to keep it running and moving atleast somewhat during that time. (every few months he would do so)

The reason she decided to give it to me is that the steering hardlines blew the last time my grandpa drove it so she just sees the car as junk without knowing or wanting to fix the issue (she's had it since brand new so she just wants to get a new car). I have a list of things that I know I need to do to make it capable of being a daily driver, things like fixing the steering lines (obviously), replacing all fluids (brake, auto tranny, may or may not do oil as it was done right before the lines blew and they thought the oil filter fell off because of it). And maybe doing the spark plugs as well just because.

Do you guys have any other ideas of things I should do to it? I believe she said timing belt was done at 50k as it always went to Volvo dealer and that's the timing of it but I may do it just incase its dry rotted, and I was thinking about the accessory belt at the same time, should I do these?

The paint is terribly faded on the roof and some on the hood, does anyone have any good suggestions about fixing this?

While doing the steering limes I've read how horrible the rear motor mount is to take off and instead of having to do it again later, should I replace it while I'm in there? Is it okay to replace just the one?

Right now I have the steering pump, hardlines, and some o-rings on the way.

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

P.s it still fires right up with the old as dirt gas in there but I may drain the tank just to be safe

PS78 · Post by **PS78** » 28 May 2016, 10:03

Hi there, with your paintwork what is the condition of the clear coat in those areas? If it isn't peeling away you could try using a polishing compound to bring back the color. You've got a good list started with the items you're addressing. If you're unsure or in doubt about the timing or accessory belts and related components having been done at some point in the past, it would be a good idea to just replace them. Add a fuel filter to your list too. Theyre very easy to replace.That's some good fortune getting the car gifted to you. For the price of a couple new car payments and some work you'll have a great ride, good luck dude!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 28 May 2016, 10:04

Welcome to MVS.

The first thing I would do is get rid of the old gasoline. It is very difficult to siphon it but it is fairly easy to remove the schrader valve core from the end of the fuel rail and then hose clamp a chunk of fuel line on the valve. Remove the fuel pump relay (relay 103 under the fuse box cover) and install a wire between the socket positions associated with pins 15 and 87 on the relay. At that point you can turn on the fuel pump with the ignition key. With the relay bypassed it will pump out fuel when the key is in position II and you can stick the end of the hose into a fuel can to recover it. Getting rid of old gasoline can be a pain. I pumped 30 gallons out of my boat after it sat for 4 years and what I have been doing is dumping it into my old Suburban a couple of gallons at a time on top of fresh gas. The Sub has a 42 gallon tank and, thus far, it has been able to handle the crappy gas mixed in with no real problems. There are places that will take old gasoline as a hazardous material but it is usually pretty expensive.

Another important thing to check is if the timing belt has ever been changed and, if so, when. By when I mean both in terms of time and mileage since both time and distance are equally important. The '93 is particularly bad about breaking the timing belt and if it breaks it is like "game over" for the engine. They can be repaired but it is a big job and it can be prevented.

The other things are the obvious ones like changing the oil and perhaps the coolant.

From there you can fix the obvious stuff that is wrong and start on Stage Zero if you like the car. Stage zero is a process of going through the brakes, suspension, mounts, etc and basically putting things back factory fresh.

The rear hydraulic mount is a major pain but you will be in the area while you are replacing the power steering lines If it is bad then it certainly is a good time to replace it but I don't think that you need to unbolt the rack to replace the lines. I have never replaced any of mine so I have never looked at the procedure. If the rack does need to come loose then definitely change the mount.

...Lee

Pezgoon · Post by **Pezgoon** » 28 May 2016, 10:54

Thanks for all the advice so far, the paint is well through the clear coat and eaten away at the base coat almost to bare metal, is there a company out there that still makes its paint color?

The rack does not need to come out but I have read experiences here on the forums and it is in the procedure to remove the rear mount to get the lines back in, will it cause any harm by only doing the one mount if all of them are bad? I'm guessing they are simply bad from age but I wont know until I dig deeper into it. I am getting the car home Monday so I will start then.

And I definitely agree ps87 that I got extremely lucky and it couldnt have come at a better time as in February I totaled my car that I was making payments on and the insurance paid nothing over what I owed and I then was laid off a month later in march. So it truly is a blessing as long as I can get her running right and show it some well deserved love and attention. And its in pretty great shape all around

I will add a fuel filter to my list, does the automatics have a filter does anyone know?

Thanks all

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 28 May 2016, 12:43

The transmissions do not have a filter beyond a screen that is internal.

...Lee

Pezgoon · Post by **Pezgoon** » 28 May 2016, 13:16

Ok that is good to know, thanks very much!

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 28 May 2016, 22:47

Pezgoon wrote:Ok that is good to know, thanks very much!

Read up on how to replace your transmission fluid. With so low miles, it may not be that dirty but you can pull the yellow handled dipstick and take a look and smell the fluid. Bad tranny fluid smells really bad. brown is also not good. The flush (2 quarts out, 2 quarts in) is what I would do as you have less than 100K miles on her! Oh, and to answer your questions about the motor mounts- do the ones that you know are bad first. It's not a problem to do them one at a time. The two that cause the most issue are 1- the round torque mount above the engine and the one under the timing belt..it goes and your engine is sitting on metal and bumping along. Good luck with everything!

Post by **abscate** » 29 May 2016, 04:57

Don't worry about the gas. Get it down to a quarter tank, replace fuel filter, then fill it full with fresh and your done.

In low ozone NH your timing belt will fail on miles and not time, so you can defer the TB for a year while you get the rest going. If it's a daily driver you need, then move it up the priority list.

Post by **cn90** » 29 May 2016, 07:13

1+,

- Gasoline is tricky. Run it too low, you risk damaging the fuel pump. So, I'd run it down to about 1-2 Gallon mark, then add Techron fuel injector cleaner + new fresh gasoline. And yes, use the jumper method of 15-87 as Lee mentioned above.

- I'd pour 1/2 teaspoon of oil to upper cylinder, this is just me b/c the upper part may be rusty at this time. Check the spark plugs, if bad replace with new NGK or Bosch copper ($2/each).

- Clean cap/rotor.

- Yes to timing belt, 1993 is an odd year, so read up on it.

- Auto Trans fluid: after all these years sitting out, I'd replace the Dexron-III fluid. Info in forum.

- Paint work: have a body shop estimate, sometimes it is cheaper to let them do the work, just ask for a reasonable estimate. When the shop is slow, you get better deal.

Pezgoon · Post by **Pezgoon** » 30 May 2016, 21:30

Alright guys thanks for all your help, I got it home today and started at it, I forgot about draining the gas out and had put octane booster to bring it back up instead, should I still go about draining it out just incase theres any moisture in it? Tank is only at 1/2 full

While under the hood I found the sticker for the timing belt and it read mileage : 49072 and date: 3/5/3 no 03 and definitely not 13 so I'm going to assume 2003 making it 13 years old, I know you say time may not be bad here in NH but I think 13 years may be alittle long on such a key component especially being rubber. On that note I am going to do the belt but because its only been 20k miles (71k on it to be exact) should I/do I need to do all components with it? (water pump, idle pulleys etc) or can I get away with the belt for right now?

I drove the car on and off the flatbed getting it home, should I still throw oil in the cylinders just to help them out?

The granny fluid isnt burnt or dirty but I'm worried about moisture build up within the transmission so I am going to go with replacing the fluid as well

I will add the spark plugs to the list, I wasn't sure if I had to do the rotor/cap at the same time so I will just take it off and clean it for now

The torque mount about the engine is clear torn through so I may get that one , the steering lines one and the one near the timing belt to just get at them while I'm in those spots, ill see how the money goes

I noticed something else, when I went to move it the shift interlock didnt want to release until I pressed multiple times on the pedal then held it (I wanted to do it without the override) and this was everytime it was in park is this a common thing with the solenoid? (I'm going to dig more in the forums as well)

I'm going to be ordering my second batch of parts probably tomorrow before the memorial day discounts are gone and if you guys could let me know if you think just the timing belt (and accessory belt) will be enough for now that would be awesome.

Luckily there was only one mouse nest under the hoods fire blanket and they didn't seem to snack on anything important or go anywhere else in it, lucked out with that!

Thanks all