1997 Volvo 850, new old friend

[bnw]

It served you well. Now it's time to see what the replacement is...

[Tiggie]

Selling it like you tear off a band aid. Less thinking the better. I waited too long and hence the gigantic red 1988 yard ornament that I had a buyer for but I couldn't let go.

[packman]

Funny how we can get attached to the runts (so-to-speak). I replaced my beloved '78 Malibu with the '92 Ranger; because at the time, I needed a vehicle for commuting and for doing work. It was only a 3.0 with a T5; but I had a lot of fun with that truck; and it was very practical. I found myself a little more than annoyed when it was totaled.

[Arquemann]

Today the Volvos story ended, for me.

A nice local fella came to check it out with a short notice and after a short test drive the deal was done.
It was a "need" purchase, that's why the Volvo was a hard sell otherwise, no one is looking for something like it.

I must admit, I got way more attached to this shitbox than expected. I guess it's just the personality that many newer cars lack, that's why I'm having a hard time finding something that I'll really like.
While getting another Volvo probably won't work this time, there's just something to old Volvos that I can't get anywhere else.

Godspeed, eight-fifty.

[Arquemann]

Well, the cheap (15€) chinese blower resistors are out of stock, so I had to get an oe-quality one locally. Didn't want to wait for a slightly cheaper one since I've got to drive for over 2 hours on monday and I don't want to listen to the blower on full blast.
Professional parts sweden blower resistor was 60€ over the counter, which is still 50€ less than original Volvo.

I've had the glove box removed 5 times now, so installation was a breeze. The offending part had started literally crumbling, which could indicate that the blower resistor failed internally instead of blowing due to the blower motor drawing too much amps.


For shits and giggles and out of boredom, I dug into the history of this car as much as I could without spending money.
The car was sold new to a finnish bearing manufacturer, most likely a rep car or so on, kinda cool.
After a couple years it was sold and registered for licensed use (non-private basically).

Most likely it was used as a fire chief car, "fire scout" or such.
There have been switches installed on the blank spots on the dash, the dashpad has had a couple larger things attached to, something large-ish was also mounted on the driver A pillar. There are also extra blocked-off holes under the front roof rail mounts, the roof rails have a lot of wear, and the roof has dents and a few heavy scuffs. Such use would also explain why the interior has so little wear for almost 400 000 km, but then again the trunk looks very much worn. Also the car is already red.

[Arquemann]

The handbrake is clunking again and barely holding the car in place. Not that I use my handbrake for anything else than sliding around, but the clunking is annoying once again.

And the blower resistor blew AGAIN today too. I don't get it, I changed the whole blower motor last year. Unless the combination of a cheap aftermarket resistor and a cheaper aftermarket blower motor was too much.

This fucking car man, I'm just about to trade in this shit for scraps just to get rid of it.

On other news, I'll most likely trading wheels with a friend, since she really wants the black alloys I have on this. And I certainly don't care what wheels I sell this car with.

[Arquemann]

Got the PNP-switch changed today. What a PITA, fiddly and tight as hell.


Down there...

But now my reverse lights work again, also my shifter is way stiffer, which is fine, but the detents feel less now, which isn't nice.

[Arquemann]

Today the Volvo came dangerously close to needing a jump. Might've had something to do with it being -24°C and not having used the block heater. Even my steering wheel, gauge cluster lens and ignition cylinder was real frosty, so frosty I had to move the key from start to run by hand after starting

Also I spent a whopping 90 cents on improving this thing today, I bought a new oil cap o-ring!
Like many Volvos of this vintage, the oil cap seal gets hard and doesn't do it's job. Then the crankcase vapors spew out from under the cap and run into the spark plug wells and down the block.
I don't know if this was a good idea though... Now that the oil cap seals, with the totally fuckered PCV and healthy amount of blowby, taking off the oil cap gives off a quite loud plop of depressurization, atleast when cold.

I intended to replace the PNP switch next Sunday, it was supposed to be around 0 degrees and sunny, but the forecast has changed to about -10 degrees and it might snow. If it snows a meaningful amount, I'll postpone it so I won't hate my life.

[Arquemann]

Just hoping you are just joking... try a dual-component epoxy putty/glue. There should be a few ones made especially for fixing coolant pipes and joints. My car mech used one to put a closing lid in an unused outlet in the radiator we used for 960 (I got a nice deal for a Denso one, but it was for a 8v turbo, not 16v one). So far so good.

I did exactly that already, top of last page. Tank has gotten brittle and small cracks are all around the bottom nipple, I slathered it generously with epoxy. Still the tank weeps from around the bottom hose. The hose isn't in the best shape either, but it's still soft and I can't find a reasonable replacement locally. Volvo dealer wants 40€.
I need to try and tighten the hose clamp more, the tank nipple has a metal sleeve in it but I'm afraid that I'll break the whole thing off.

Was I joking? I dunno, they use teflon tape to seal pipe threads on pretty much anything, so why not try it on a hose?

[bnw]

Didn't order the expansion tank though. I'm gonna leave it be or might try teflon tape or such if I get sufficiently bored. I'll just fill it up if someone comes to look at the car and hide the bottle.

Just hoping you are just joking... try a dual-component epoxy putty/glue. There should be a few ones made especially for fixing coolant pipes and joints. My car mech used one to put a closing lid in an unused outlet in the radiator we used for 960 (I got a nice deal for a Denso one, but it was for a 8v turbo, not 16v one). So far so good.

[Arquemann]

Today the Volvo didn't want to start. Got going after fucking with the shifter, the PNP switch seems to be dying completely. Good thing I ordered a new one yesterday.

Didn't order the expansion tank though. I'm gonna leave it be or might try teflon tape or such if I get sufficiently bored. I'll just fill it up if someone comes to look at the car and hide the bottle.

[gadget73]

I got lucky and found an NOS expansion tank for the Conti for like 25 USD. I bought it as a spare, then the one on the car started weeping through a crack about 2 weeks later.

[Arquemann]

After some more reading, the PNP switch isn't by the shifter, but in the engine bay, attached on top of the transmission. Many sources say it can be rebuilt, but equally as many say it won't work for very long or at all. Also rebuilding it includes bending the casing and retensioning some tiny ass springs.

I have to pull the battery, airbox, intake tubing and some other miscellaneous crap from out of the way.
Found a finnish retailer selling the PNP switch for only 65€ and it's even in stock!

Also my expansion tank is still weeping, I might try and fix it more with some teflon tape or such. A new tank is about 26€ at least.

[gadget73]

I have a bad switch in my Continental, but its a stupid one used only in diesel Lincolns and 80s Land Rovers. Its like 250 bucks and I don't want to pay that much for one.

[Arquemann]

It was only -11°C today so figured I'll check in on the handbrake.
The drivers side top spring had removed itself halfway, causing the shoes to rattle around. Popped it back in back in and adjusted both sides.
Seems to work pretty good again.

The reverse lights are out due to the reverse switch / PNP switch at the shifter. The whole center console needs to come out for that job, I'll wait for warmer weather to not have every plastic piece shatter into a million pieces.
Reverse lights flicker a bit when going from reverse to park so the switch might've just gotten loose, it might be salvageable. A new switch isn't terribly expensive but expensive enough relative to the cars value to piss me off.