what should i be aware of?

[rudedog81]

I am going tomorrow to drive a 95 850 turbo. It only has 36000 miles on it. The price he is asking is very low compared with other 850's for sale. I am very wary of this because I am not familiar with Volvo's at all. Could somebody please tell me what to look for.

[oldebondo]

By all means, replace all flexible cooling hoses - especially the hard-to-get-at turbo cooling hoses (supply and return). I lost all of my coolant one day driving up in the mountains and blew the head gasket and warped the head by about .015". The low coolant sensor was disconnected because the mechanic who replaced the timing belt forgot to re-attach it. I like my 850 T-5. In my opinion, its a real sleeper. I do a lot of city highway driving and I use to turbo to get out of traffic and to pass trucks quickly. I get 25 - 30 MPG and still have 222 HP when I need it. Hoses - replace the hoses. Good luck!

[jgmafb]

Originally Posted by rudedog81

I am going tomorrow to drive a 95 850 turbo. It only has 36000 miles on it. The price he is asking is very low compared with other 850's for sale. I am very wary of this because I am not familiar with Volvo's at all. Could somebody please tell me what to look for.

I hope you haven't bought it yet!MY grandpa and my father as well as myself practically grew up in Volvo factory.My gr.took part in building one of the first Jabob's.
The only Volvo I recommend staying away from is ,,,,,,,,,,Ypo guessed it 850's.They are prone to bad heads.Another problem is there will be people in this country that claim to be "VOLVO MECHANIC's".However you will quickly learn they are just alot of talk.
You want to buy a good Volvo buy 740.Turbo or non both are very dependable.
But the best advice I can give you is never treat it like an american car cause the syptoms might seem the same but,the problem is always something different.Takes a very different kind of person to work on Volvo,what seems major is usually very minor.I have seen people srewed out of 1000.00's and still come away with same problem.

[oldebondo]

Yes, the heads, like any aluminum heads are not as forgiving as cast Iron. I've overheated a Subaru and blew the head gasket. I overheared the Volvo 850 and blew the head gasket. I overheated my 67 Pontiac, pulled off the road, let it cool and drove the rest of the way home. Personally, I ain't a scared of nuthin 'cause I can fix just about anything. When I re-did the head on the 850, I learned a lot about how the thing works and I was able to do a lot of maintenance while I was putting the engine back together. I was lucky because I had the time. Don't be afraid of an 850, I believe they are awesome cars.

[jgmafb]

Originally Posted by oldebondo

Yes, the heads, like any aluminum heads are not as forgiving as cast Iron. I've overheated a Subaru and blew the head gasket. I overheared the Volvo 850 and blew the head gasket. I overheated my 67 Pontiac, pulled off the road, let it cool and drove the rest of the way home. Personally, I ain't a scared of nuthin 'cause I can fix just about anything. When I re-did the head on the 850, I learned a lot about how the thing works and I was able to do a lot of maintenance while I was putting the engine back together. I was lucky because I had the time. Don't be afraid of an 850, I believe they are awesome cars.

yes by all means if you can AFFORD it.You aparently have what it takes to be a Volvo owner #1 the love of it #2the ability to figure it out. truth be known in all honesty my #1 reason for steering people with little knowlegde away from the 850 is the fact that if they don't know how to work on it they can get into some pretty expensive situations and they usually have to rely on someone who has no business working on a Volvo cause when they get it back it's no better off than it was.My Volvo is like my wife,I wouldn't trust anyone else to touch it. But,.also I assume that american built 850's are 5 cyl. which is the most problem prone of the Volvo's.Every 850 I have ever worked was the same thing Head. I'd like them better if they had 230 in them but,thats just the opinon of a Swedish born factory trained Volvo Tech from gotenburg who when I was transfered to Usa found there was lessthan 500 trained Volvo Mech.in this country.

[TheMan5952]

I have had my volvo for a while and had no problems. So long as general maintenace has been kept up on I think you should be alright. Just ask when the last timing belt was done, and all the other normal questions like has it been wrecked or anything. I like my 850 and probaly am going to buy another one later this year.

[oldebondo]

Originally Posted by rudedog81

I am going tomorrow to drive a 95 850 turbo. It only has 36000 miles on it. The price he is asking is very low compared with other 850's for sale. I am very wary of this because I am not familiar with Volvo's at all. Could somebody please tell me what to look for.

So did you buy it? Is it still for sale? If so, I'd be interested in it. THANKS!

[peacexisxfree]

if it had more miles, id say bad heater core, bad rms, bad turbo return line seal, neautral safety switch problems and perhaps the odometer not working.

you might end up replacing all those things if you end up with the car. i know this sounds weird, but maybe look at some cars with a few more miles and all those things already taken care of.