My 'new' daily driver

[paddlenbike]

I just picked up a new project. It's a 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo. 129,000 miles, 222 hp inline-5 cyl, auto trans (fine since it's a commuter). Paid $1,000.

Today I started by detailing it. It has some cosmetic issues but it cleaned up much more than I was expecting.




It runs good but after three failed California smog tests by the previous owner, she gave up on it. It passes everything except it's 39 points too high at 25mph on the Hydrocarbon test. This car has a PCV catch can system and they tend to clog, so I'm told that cleaning this up as well as a complete EGR cleaning may get me the 39 points I need to pass. If not that then a cat should do it.

It's reasonably clean outside, inside needs some work. Leather is in bad shape, dash needs some help. Nothing out of sorts for the price I paid. Everything works, power windows, moonroof, mirrors, power seats, even the Volvo 10 disc changer in the trunk and the power antenna work. Tires are brand new.

I didn't buy it to save gas, I bought it to save wear and tear on the 4Runner. I do a lot of short trips and have to leave the 4Runner in places that make me nervous, so that's where this car comes in. It happens to be fun to drive too.

[DHC6twinotter]

Nice! Volvos have really been sparking my interest lately. Your's looks great! I like the wheels. $1000 is a steal, I think.

Back when I went to school, there was a Volvo club that met in the parking lot every Saturday. They had some really cool old-school Volvos. One, in particular, was a 2 door coupe with a massive turbo on it. It sounded awesome.

I've been really eyeing the C30 lately.

[paddlenbike]

I know of plenty of Volvos with over 200k that still drive very nicely. Hopefully this one does the same for me.

I found a Volvo 850 promotional video online where Volvo itself interviewed a bunch of people and asked them to mention a few words that they think best characterize Volvo cars and most people responded "safe, slow and boxy." Then Volvo mentioned how they wanted to get away from the latter two, so they added lots of horsepower and created "swoopy new styling." Guess what, it's still perfectly square, all the way around, LOL.

[CJM]

My buddy had one of those, non turbo iirc. It was ok pretty much and got great mpg.

[paddlenbike]

Found this:

"Based on a controlled test by Motor Trend magazine of the 16 fastest cars under $50,000 sold in North America, the turbocharged Volvo 850 was the eighth quickest.

Its top speed was 152 miles per hour. That not only makes it the fastest station wagon sold in North America, but maybe the fastest sold anywhere as a mass-production vehicle.

In addition, the seven cars that were faster were two or four passenger sports cars. And with the exception of the Mazda RX-7's turbo twin-rotary engine, all were six or eight-cylinder powerplants that were bigger than the 850's 2.3-liter five-cylinder engine.

The engine is an in-line 5 that carries twin-overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The 2.3-liter engine is actually 2,319 cubic centimeters, or 141.4-cubic inches, not exactly monster size when compared to the 350-cubic inch V-8s the wagon was up against.

Volvo rates the engine at 222-horsepower. According to Lamon, a limited-edition T5R model is rated at 240-horsepower, "and by making a little change in a (computer) chip it goes to 270 (horsepower)."

For all its power, the engine demonstrates a relatively flat torque curve, with the acceleration coming on from as low as 2,000 rpm engine speed. That's not a whole lot above idling speed, so the wagon will lean you against the back of the seats when leaving a stop light.

While the Turbo Wagon is a bonafide fire breather, driving the thing in a normal manner is just as simple as driving an economy car."

http://www.cars.com/volvo/850/1995/e...s/?revid=31802

[paddlenbike]

It runs good but after three failed California smog tests by the previous owner, she gave up on it. It passes everything except it's 39 points too high at 25mph on the Hydrocarbon test. This car has a PCV catch can system and they tend to clog, so I'm told that cleaning this up as well as a complete EGR cleaning may get me the 39 points I need to pass. If not that then a cat should do it.

I think I have the emissions problem figured out. The day I met the vehicle owner to take a look at the car I noticed a single vacuum line that had come loose in the engine bay. I didn't think much of it. Last night I opened the hood on the Volvo to figure out how accessible (or not) the EGR valve is and discovered right away the disconnected vacuum line I had previously noticed went to the EGR valve itself. I still plan to do a complete PCV system cleaning and clean the EGR valve, but it is highly likely that simply plugging in the EGR will get me the 39 points I need to pass NOx.

[paddlenbike]

This car is a 1995 model year so it is not subject to OBDII emissions tests however it does have a fully functioning OBDII port. I plugged in my scantool and not surprisingly I found a P0400 code stored in the ECU related to a malfunctioning EGR. You may recall I discovered that the EGR vacuum diaphragm was completely unplugged. I fixed the issue and have since put 260 miles on the car. I connected the scantool again and there are no codes stored in the ECU. Cool beans.

I pulled the car out of service over the holidays to address a few aesthetics issues. Like the 4Runner, the powdercoated roof rails were peeling like crazy. I masked the car off and hit them with Plasti-Dip.



The dashboard has a few issues. Some of the instrument lights were burned out and the dashpad has separated from the supporting structure. I am hoping that gorilla glue will come to the rescue here, but we shall see. The passenger side airbag had to come out with the dashpad...even with the battery disconnected and the airbag unplugged from its harness, I was still nervous messing with it.



I am attempting to [inexpensively] fix the most obvious aesthetics problems. What can't be fixed is the fact that it will always be a mid-90s square white mundane Volvo sedan.

[4x4mike]

Can I go for a ride with 2 giant big gulps in those glove box cup holders?

[paddlenbike]

Can I go for a ride with 2 giant big gulps in those glove box cup holders?

No.

Those things are just silly. It's a car, not a Boeing 747.

[Seanz0rz]

you say it's a boring mundane car, but that thing is sexy to me. something about the evolution of their standard box (box with round edges) puts it as one of the coolest designs of the era. while honda and toyota were producing bulbous, round monstrosities, this has a crispness that is only found on few cars from the era.

good luck putting the dash back together. if you can, get some double sided foam tape to put down where it will fit and not disturb the dash, but hold it against squeeks.