new 850 Turbo owner! questions...

[gr8gatzby]

Just bought a 95 850 Turbo with only 53k mi. from Carmax and I love it dearly. I never knew Volvo's could be so fun, and fulfilling in all ways, to drive. I've always put in Mobil 1 5w30 full syn in my cars, will this be a good choice for this one? When I was a Jetta owner I heard of turbo'd jetta's with all sorts of side and front mounted intercoolers for the turbos, and folks changing the blow off valves for increase "whirl"....i see only one radiator for my 850 and can see no blow off valves...or even the turbo for that matter. is the turbo as easily modified in the 850 as the VW's? Will a K&N filter help out the air intake at all, or do more harm than good(i've heard from both camps). thanks for any input!

[nismo4banger]

Hey, good job finding that turbo with low miles. Nice find. The intercooler is located right behind the radiator. Most people don't switch these out, but some have with good results. The turbo is located at the back of the engine bay on the passenger side. It's underneath a heat shield, so it's not easily visible. Also, Volvos use a CBV and not a BOV. You can easily switch to a BOV, but you should block off the CBV first. You'll run rich between shifts by going with a BOV, but it's not a big deal. There are many simple turbo upgrades for Volvos. Most people stick with turbos from other volvos. You have a 15g. They swap those for the 16t, 18t, and 19t which can all be found on other volvo models. Upgrading the ECU and exhaust will make a huge difference with these cars. Most people agree that the stock intake is fine. In fact some of the fastest 850's in the world still use the stock intake.

[peacexisxfree]

and yes, mobil 1 syn will be just fine.

5w30 or 10w30

[TheMan5952]

Yea, your IC is sandwiched between the AC Condensor and the Radiator, you can get drop in replacements that are aluminium with metal endtanks since some people have blow the OEM plastic ones apart when you get up around 20 PSI. You can also get a Universal IC and mover the AC Condensor back and put it up front. This is what most people do since the OEM gets a lot of heatsoak where it sits.

You have a CBV instead of a BOV. I know a guy that makes blanking plates if you want to go with a BOV. My frist reccomendation to you is to replace your vacum hoses with a silicone kit, Stylin motors is a good company, and replace your flexible tubo hoses with something from Samco. These will help you get back to the factory boost levels and give a good base to start from. Also get a boost gauge, the factory one isn't to accurate.

[LarsBars]

Just got done doing my Vac Hoses. Made a huge difference. Ofcourse that is because had large hole in one the old hoses. Used the ones from Stylin Motors. The kit worked perfectly. Now just waiting form my Turbo Hoses I ordered from them. They were much cheaper then the Samco ones.

[TheMan5952]

Originally Posted by LarsBars

Just got done doing my Vac Hoses. Made a huge difference. Ofcourse that is because had large hole in one the old hoses. Used the ones from Stylin Motors. The kit worked perfectly. Now just waiting form my Turbo Hoses I ordered from them. They were much cheaper then the Samco ones.

StylinMotors is a really good company. It may take a little bit to get the turbo hoses they found an issue with one of the connectors but they have fixed them and sending them out.