Comments: 1-15, 16-17
In addition to normal maintenance such as brake pads, shoes, and rotors, here are a few odds and ends:
Mechanical problems:
Inner CV boot cover crack, (150k miles)
Turbo Drain seal leaks and needs replacing every 15-30k depending on usage If not replaced (like in my friend's '96 850 Turbo), will leak oil into turbo fan and ruin turbo fan and possibly more. ($$$$$)
Electrical problems:
Odometer stopped running. Not expensive to fix, but I've never heard of this before on any car.
Rear Brake light switch failed ($30 at 145k)
Antenna shorted (155K)
Plan on replacing a few bulbs here and there as the car gets older.
Went too fast on a country road, got big speeding ticket. (OK, I know this isn't the car's fault, but I'll put it here anyway.)
Despite the frequent and expensive problems, it is a great car to have- great power, handling, and speed.
I love the look and the feel of driving it!
Where did you get your odometer fixed? I need to get mine done as well. Can you please email me at atifshock@hotmail.com?
I also need to have the odometer fixed... is this a frequent problem with volvo 850's? should we be concerned?
All Volvo 850 models have the most trouble with odometers breaking. It is a very simple cause. There is a tiny soft-plastic gear (about the size of a pencil eraser) behind the speedometer that gets brittle with age and causes the teeth on the gear to sheer off. The gear no longer turns and therefore your odometer stops turning. Volvo DOES NOT make a replacement gear, so normally you have to replace the entire instrument cluster ($200+ from a Volvo dealer) OR you can order a replacement gear from odometergears. com for $29 including shipping and handling. It completely fixes the problem. The new gear is made of a much harder plastic, so it shouldn't break again. I ordered the gear, installed it myself, and presto it worked!
Unless you know what you're doing, have a mechanic install it. Replacement requires carefully prying out all of the dash vents, unscrewing the top of the dash pad and prying the driver-side half of the dash pad up just enough so you can disconnect and pull out the instrument cluster. Pulling out the cluster works best with 2 sets of hands, one to hold up the dash, and one to disconnect and pull the cluster out. It can be done alone, but is trickier. Then you just have to carefully disassemble the cluster, locate the tiny gear, and replace the gear. Not too bad. Just a pain. I hope this helps you all!
Odo replace shouldn't be too horrible if you feel comfortable ripping your instrument panel covers and dash etc.
Also, with the 95 models, the computer will give you accurate odo number.
I am a virgin. Well, at least to the Volvo fenom. I just got a mint 1995 850 turbo wagon with 84,ooo miles in Hartford, CT. from ebay. I drove it from there to NY city to Philly to D.C. to Niagara falls thru Canada and to Sweet Home Chicago Via Michigan. When in Canada and Michigan I was in the worst snow storm I've seen in 16 years. You couldn't see more than 30 feet at times. You would see a semi one minute and the next he was gone, in a big gust of snow. I wasn't sure what some of the buttons did, but I wasn't afraid to push'em. O.K. I know what the TRAC button does (traction control, it stops the wheels from spinning),But what does the "winter" button do near the sport/econ button do?
Hi there. I believe the winter button prevents the engine from suddenly shifting back a gear to higher revs if you put your foot down so as to prevent the wheels from skidding on an icy road. I think it also changes earlier and keeps at lower revs for the same reason.
I am thinking about buying a 1995 850 with 224,000 kilometers. Body is in mint condition, starts great, antenna works - what should I pay particular attention to in the car.
My fan switch just works on 4 not 1 2 or 3 does anyone have an answer for this, fuses are fine and I took apart switch looks OK, voltmeter says switch is getting power, man can't figure where to look, except motor can that be it?
I've got a 1997 850R with a few problems. I've been doing a bunch of research and am wondering if anyone can offer some help.
1) the "TRACS OFF" light has been on ever since my wife got the car (=years). she was told it's an expensive repair. I've since learned that this could be caused by a fault ABS module, and it looks like that could be about $100-150 to repair if I remove it myself and send it off.
I just tested the ABS and got the wheels to lock while stopping from 35mph, but it did seem like the ABS kicked in a bit when stopping from higher speed.
The ABS warning light is not on. my wife said there are problems, but I can't be 100% sure.
Does repairing the ABS module sound like a reasonable thing to do that might solve the TRACS issue?
2) the speedo/odo were working intermittently about a month ago. they've stopped altogether.
Thought it might be the gear (and am going to tear down the dash to check), but I also noticed:
a) cruise control doesn't work
b) the electronic odo on the instrument panel doesn't update, either.
Is the electronic odo still fed by the same gear, or is it a sign that it is something more like the VSS that has gone wrong. any tips for where to look/how to confirm this?
Thank you so much!!!
Most ˝tracs off˝ lights are on exactly because of faulty ABS module. At least on 850/70 series cars. Get it fixed, but repair of this module (or new used module) should be cheaper than $150.
I have a 95 Volvo 850 Wagon with only 34565 miles on it. Today I noticed that every time I use my brake a yellow light on the left side of the panel lights up. The brakes operate normally, but I would like to know what this light is all about. Is this a danger indicator and should I take it to a Volvo dealer to fix?
I'm guessing, but that would probably be the blown stop bulb. Change the bulb.
It is a used bulb on the tail light. I had the same problem, and I changed the bulb.
I test drove one today that did the same thing. On this one it was the "low washer fluid warning light" that went on during hard accelerations or stops.
K.
Well, that means that the water level is low and passes the sensor as the vehicle accelerates/stops - it not low enough to be on all the time. Volvo, thinks of everything!