In need of some advice regarding a plan for repairing my 1995 850 Turbo Wagon (140,000 miles). I’m wondering if this is too much work to put into this car. As an FYI, I have never worked on a Volvo before, and really have most of my mech. by working on some old Honda motorcycles. I’ve had the car a week and have noticed the following:


1. Blue smoke coming from the exhaust during idle (very recent)
2. Creaking and occasional popping when cranking the wheel right or left
3. Some intermittent knocking under the driver’s side when accelerating
4. Sluggish acceleration, possible poor fuel economy
5. Fuel odor

That said, I took the car to a shop (Metro DC area; on a friend’s and fellow Volvo owner’s recommendation) to get a pre-inspection evaluation and here is what they identified, along with their price for each repair:

1. Misfire codes. Also codes for front and rear O2 sensors ($692)
2. Needs Cat. Converter ($860)
3. Needs upper engine mount ($174)
4. L/F headlight lens has hole ($168)
5. Transmission flush ($183)
6. L/S Rear upper light housing broken ($157)
7. Rear hangar broken off of exhaust. Needs to be reattached, possibly needs muffler assembly ($380)
8. L/F hub is loose – maybe axle nut loose or could be need bearing hub assembly ($383)
9. Oil Cooler lines leaking ($646)

Total: $3,643

Now, here are some questions I’m hoping you all with more experience can answer:

1. Are any of these prices reasonable to get the work done? At first glance at the estimate, I laughed out of surprise. I am not concerned with lens’ or light housing, but rather the bigger and more foreboding-sounding jobs (catalytic converter, oil leaks, etc). I shopped for prices on the parts listed above, and found that it can all be had for under $800.

2. Do I dare attempt to fix these problems on my own? I am not too concerned about the time investment, but I would like to know, with my experience level, if I am biting off more than I can chew.

3. If I decide not to cut and run, where do I start? Are there likely culprits that I can identify and maybe fix without having to buy new parts?

I’m stoked to work on this car, but I guess could use some direction on my next steps. Thanks for taking the time to check this out. I’ll definitely provide more information if there are any unclear areas.

welcome to the forum and congrats on your 850 wagon. i just love those body styles. anyway, answering your questions in order:
1-it is a little on the high side, try cartalk.com and check find a mech, enter your zipcode and see what pops up
2-i think it might be a little out of your league. nothing that you should be scared of, but if the vehicle in question is needed for transport, i think you should tackle a smaller job first and then work your way on up
3-get sensors, do tranny flush, if the timing belt hasn't been done, do it. that'll cost you more if the valves are smacked if the belt snaps. then do the axles
-now on to my advice, which nothing according to the mrs :grin: . anyway, firstly, get the haynes manual. invaluable. next, for new parts try fcpgroton.com for used parts, vandsautodismantlers.com for a tranny flush, there is a kit for like $50(i think) that lets you get all the oil out of the tranny. if you just drain it, you'll get maybe 3 quarts. it's a length of tubing that bolts on and lets it all drain out. do it little by little, unitl it runs red and you'll be okay. for the axles, me personally, i'd do the whole axle assembly. for the price that you can get the whole unit, with the cv's. the upper mount, do yourself. the cat,this might sound cheap, but get a wrecked unit from the junkyard if possible. the loose hanger, hell with it, just cut it, the muffler, off and let it scare the neighbors :grin: good luck and keep us posted.

Excellent! I'll give updates once I get started.

I'm also from the DC Metro Area...

For stuff I don't feel confident enough to do myself I either use Don Beyer or a place in Tysons Corner called eurasian (off spring hill road in Vienna). I have been using Eurasian on my BMW for 4 years now. They're not cheap...but for an independent shop...they're the best.

Anyway, with my code scanner and haynes manual I should be able to fix most of the problems on my car myself.

There you go. You've done your research! Good job.
I think the labour is the also the killer part in your pricing.
:)




Maybe not everything you would WANT to do yourself.
For instance, things regarding the exhaust, i normally send it to the pro.
And also electrical parts.

If indeed you have an issue with your exhaust...







Start simple, with the easy ones first. Small things would later lead to the big ones for you to look at.






If you run a search on the NET, there are numerous resources for help. But for old-school people like me, nothing beats PRINTING them out and reading it with a ciggie.
:)

I AM, however, more concerned about the blue smoke.

May i suggest that your do all the normal tune-ups first. You dont have to replace things at this juncture. Many things you can just clean and reuse.

I guess the first question is, would you feel comfortable working on it? If you've got the time and space, and a reasonable amount of skill, lots of stuff can be fixed without using too many four letter words.

Do all your tune-up stuff first, like plugs, air filter, fresh oil, and checking all the plumbing associated with the oil seperator. While you're doing that, put in a new upper engine mount. Just doing those things will probably cure a lot of your problems.

The next thing I would do is go down to Autozone, clear all the codes, and see which ones come back. They can't clear the codes for you, but they can look the other way while you do it if you give them the proper wink and nod.

For all the little stuff you mentioned, like a headlight lens and a tail light housing, that's easy stuff. Even the exhaust is pretty easy. Check craigslist for somebody parting out a car. I've seen a couple clean factory exhaust systems locally for $75 for everything behind the cat. Cheap and easy.

The axle shafts and the hub will be involved, but not unreasonably so. You're biggest item is the cat. I'd save that for last, mostly out of skepticism that it actually needs replacing.

Keep us updated.

Thanks for all the great responses and advice. Since my last post, I've gotten a lot accomplished:

1. Tune up: New plugs (the old ones were worn, not crudded up in any way), Rotor, and Distributor Cap, and Oil Change/Air Filter.

2. Cleaned/Replaced entire PCV, including PTC. This eliminated the smoking dipstick and increased performance.

3. New upper engine mount

4. Transmission flush

That's about it. Here is new information regarding the problems that remain:


Catalytic Converter
Clarified with the mech... turns out there isn't a catalytic converter on the car. PO or someone welded a muffler in its place. Apparently the piping is all dorked up too. So, I'll need a new cat, along with O2 sensors I assume. I'm trying to find a shop that will install an aftermarket cat that I would bring in, but not having any takers. One shop agreed to it, but wanted over $300 labor for it. No thanks.

Still burning oil
Oil cooler lines still leak, but have confirmed that it's nothing on the extreme side. Problem might be in the turbo? My question is, should I replace the lines and see if the things get better? I'm not sure how difficult/easy a job this is, so can someone adivse?

Wheel bearing and control arm
This has yet to be done, and I'm considering treating myself by having a shop do it. I don't have the big sockets and E Torx needed for this job either (although those would be a cool investment!). I've read some how to's for this job and it seems extensive, but not impossible. Looks like around $250 in parts from FCP Groton. The shop quoted me $700-800 for the bearing/control arm job. Can anyone tell me their experiences in doing this yourself? I'm wondering if this will be a whole weekend thing diving into it my first time.

The control arms are easy. Three bolts and a big hammer to whack it with. The rest I've never done so I'll let others speak to those.

I'm glad you did that upper mount yourself, $174 is crazy!

Keep on looking, dude. Hope you find someone soon.
:)






If you're planning to keeping it stock, changing the oil cooler line (both the engine and the transmission) is not that difficult. THe part that gets into the radiator is easy to disengage. THe end that goes into the engine block and the transmission are the ends that you need to pay attention to. If the leak is from the ends, where the line meets the body, then unscrew the end, put some nylon-tape or teflon-acoated tape on the threads and try again....

It took me some 5 tries before it stopped leaking. And about the three rolls of the teflon tape to get it done.

This should hopefully be my final update under this topic. I completed the wheel bearing and control arm replacement today, which wasn't a big job at all (if you can do a PCV job, than this is a piece of cake!). Car is getting alignment done as we speak.

The blue smoke appears to have subsided (Auto RX treatment, perhaps?) and I no longer get the CEL.

Found a great shop just outside DC in Maryland, called Kelly's Kustoms. They did the Cat install for $200 (includes Cat., pipe fabrication, and O2 sensor hook-up.

So, I think I have completed all the originally noted repairs, aside from the oil cooler lines, which aren't leaking excessively right now. I just wanted to pass this on to say thanks once again, for none of my DIY repairs would be possible without this forum. With that said, consider this thread CLOSED!

Cheers, and thanks for the update!
:)