1997 Volvo 850, new old friend

[gadget73]

always thought a DD should be something easy to get parts and service for. Exactly what that is depends where you are, so I can very much believe a US car isn't a sensible option. Old anything can get questionable, so I get that aspect too.

[Arquemann]

I wonder if my sporadic dash lights behaviour is linked with the "no dash lights - ABS light on - no seatbelt chime for a while after starting the car". It still doesn't happen every time and lasts about the same every time.
Also this thing has very quickly flashed the ABS light a couple times, no codes on my cheapo scanner.

Internet says the newest issue might have something to do with a failing ABS module, bad grounds or voltage regulator. I can atleast check the grounds.
Just the dash lights doing their thing might be a bad dimmer switch.

Went for a little drive a couple days ago, snapped a few pics:

No weather to wash it, gets dirty immediately anyways, my little dirt road Ferrari.

Today I picked up a pair of not-china amber BA15s LED bulbs to put in the front parking lights, I'll get them in tomorrow hopefully.
The glass in both of the amber incandescent bulbs I have in have turned quite dark, as if burnt. They do still work, except one is slightly dimmer than the other, but it was that way since I installed it. Time to throw the garbage china bulbs away, hopefully the LEDs won't be insanely bright. The parking light housings aren't reflective, so that'll help a bit.


Also I've come to the conclusion that the replacement of this car next spring won't be a "proper american car". I have looked at box and '91+ Caprices and their BOP equivalents, cheap aero and whale panthers, and whatever else american lumps of iron I found interesting.
My realization is that the parts availability isn't good enough for a true daily driver. Even though Caprices have been sold new in Finland in small numbers, you won't find shit in normal auto parts stores.
The slow parts availability, old technology and me actually wanting something that's not an old piece of shit, has swayed my opinion from driving an american V8 barge just because it's cool.
I have a few different models and makes in mind that pleases me in many ways. RWD and auto are my main criteria. I've found a great mix/compromise of comfort vs handling, power vs consumption, and new tech vs being able to fix shit myself. Now if I could find one with low miles, with a trailer hitch and maybe even in wagon form, and very little rust...

[sly]

sylvania 1156a (amber) LL (longlife) are very common over here on this side of the pond. If you can find those, it may help.

[Arquemann]

Yeah they are some random bulbs off Ebay, not exatly cheap though.
They are a bit of a weird bulb, BA15S/1156, 5 watts and orange/amber, so not that easy to find.
If one more of the ambers fails, I'll buy a couple LED ones that I can get locally. Amber parking lights are around the gray area of "legal" and LEDs are definitely illegal unless they are approved for road use.

I don't know how I'd check for the bulb failure not coming up on the dash. Obviously it would be shorting out somewhere to not show up the dash light, but I get full voltage to the socket and the ground has barely any resistance.

[Mainemantom]

Are you getting cheap China made bulbs ? I had a type of bulb burn out 4 times in a few days. Took a look at the package. Made in China. Went to my parts bins. Found a good old bulb. Installed it and it has worked since.

[87gtVIC]

Bulb socket fit snugly in lamp housing? Maybe it is violently shaking and killing itself? I doubt it but worth a mention. Your lead on the monitoring system not accurately monitoring that bulb is out may have more weight behind it though.

[sly]

Could have just been old stock that had humidity internally that caused premature failure.

[Arquemann]

This turd has now burnt its fourth front left parking bulb, two bulbs in under a month, I'm pissed since those two have both been the amber bulbs I can't get locally.
Contacts are clean, socket gets around 13,5-14 volts, good ground, barely any resistance from socket to BAT-, nothing unusual.

Somehow the right parking bulb went out later today, I was pissed when I realized the bulb was still good and I didn't get any voltage to the socket...
Turned out to be a blown fuse, even though the other side worked with the new bulb. Apparently the front parking lights each have their own fuse, BECAUSE VOLVO.
Also the bulb failure dash light comes on from the right parking bulb but not from the left. This could possibly have something to do with the car eating said left parking bulbs.

Expansion tank fix is holding up, no more coolant mysteriously disappearing, or atleast short-term
Brakes are still feeling good, so I might've actually gotten all the air out after bleeding them three times.

[Arquemann]

Good news! The expansion tank is cracked at the bottom hose and it leaks. The hose is pretty crappy and old aswell.
I'm gonna fix the tank with epoxy and replace the hose.

Brakes seem to be holding up, about 80km of fucking around town last night, not getting worse atleast.

[Arquemann]

I have a theory where did your coolant go, but you ain't gonna like it. Let me just politely ask if your hot air blower was doing well recently...

And a 96 blower does not actually mean the car is one year older, the usual age spread of parts is 1-2 years eg. the stock stuff can even be 2 years old when the car is assembled.

It could just have been an air bubble caused by the water pump service, my heater has been working as usual. I have driven maybe 300-400 km since the big service. It could very well be the head gasket, on cold starts the car does smoke and it smells sweet, but the smoke clears up quickly and the coolant consumption has been very very little during the last year.
If this thing blows up, then it blows up. Then I'm going to have to buy something else, I just don't like car shopping out of necessity, especially during the winter.

And this thing actually is a '96 model year, and most parts have been '95-'96. It was sold as a '97 and I never bothered to check.

[bnw]

I have a theory where did your coolant go, but you ain't gonna like it. Let me just politely ask if your hot air blower was doing well recently...

And a 96 blower does not actually mean the car is one year older, the usual age spread of parts is 1-2 years eg. the stock stuff can even be 2 years old when the car is assembled.

[Arquemann]

The brake pedal has been getting progressively worse every time I drive, but still no leaks visible. Had to rebleed the rear brakes again, for some reason I absolutely couldn't get anything done with vacuum pump bleeder setup. So got to bleeding again the basic way after dad got from work. Below freezing, snowing and dark... Good times.
We'll see how long it takes for the brake pedal to feel like shit again.

Dash lights have been coming and going whenever they feel like it. Yesterday, doing my regularly irregular basic fluid check and I noticed by coolant expansion tank was totally empty... The shop that did the timing belt and other stuff forgot to plug the coolant level sensor back. I remember the coolant level being good after the shop visit, so wherever the about half a liter of coolant has gone, who knows.... As I've said before, and I'll say again, this car ain't long for this world.

The squealing blower motor got the best of me and I picked up a new one, the cheaper aftermarket brand of course, the damn warranty lasts longer than my planned ownership of this piece of swedish agricultural equipment.
The blower assembly came out nice and quick, even in the dark, not my first rodeo. But the damn salad spinner almost got the better of me. I have to transfer the old fan onto the new one. Old motor shaft is rusty and the fan has been there since '96 (oh yeah this car is actually a '96, not '97). I hammered and hammered and hammered but the motor shaft wouldn't fucking let loose. Eventually I got it, I clamped it so tight into a bench vise I cracked the motor case, I stood on the vise, pulled as hard as I could with one hand and hammered the shaft with the other. Almost flew onto my back after it let loose. It slides a bit too easy on the new motor and the shaft is round, so I've got to loctite it on or something, but that'll be for tomorrow.

Buy a Volvo, that's what they said. Fucking hell, this thing has spent more time on jackstands than running this fall. I've spent more money on parts than gas. And to think the biggest worry I had at some point was RUST.

[bnw]

Got it. Good to know that there is a sensible replacement. The longevity is not a priority, but! the 760's blower was squeaking since the purchase.

I'm quite used to old wagons being used as beaters. Most of the 850s and 940s ended up as construction crew shuttles.

[Arquemann]

Umm, if you go for the blower motor, don't get the Chinese replacement one. It is a total crap. Did this mistake in my 760, and it broke down last week - less than a year from purchase.
Instead, search for someone that can remove the bearing and put a new one - or do it yourself. 99% of Volvo bearings are basic INA/SKF/whatever parts, worth 2-3 Euros per piece. I recall having an issue with one of the A/C pulleys for the same 760 (a pair of them is some 140 Euro or so, available in some 2 weeks), and the mech simply pulled out the bearing and placed a new one. Basic... laundry machine bearing, 2 Euros. Reinforced version

The blower motor is a bosch part, and it's mostly riveted together, I don't think I'll be able to change the bearings without doing extensive dismantling. A new bosch motor is 70€ locally, or a bit more for the whole assembly but china crap. I'm not really even worried about the longevity, I'm selling this car when spring comes, so if I get extra stingy I might just lube the bearings again, maybe with something a little more longevity than WD-40...

(If you haven't read the whole thread: this is a cheap beater that was supposed to last one winter, now it's going for a second. The car kinda needs every single bushing replaced and the engine is tired and so the emissions are quite iffy. The inspector guy I knew let me go with only a few mandatory fixes, I'd need to fix alot of shit to get this to pass inspection next year, so I've decided for that to be someone else's problem.)

[bnw]

Umm, if you go for the blower motor, don't get the Chinese replacement one. It is a total crap. Did this mistake in my 760, and it broke down last week - less than a year from purchase.
Instead, search for someone that can remove the bearing and put a new one - or do it yourself. 99% of Volvo bearings are basic INA/SKF/whatever parts, worth 2-3 Euros per piece. I recall having an issue with one of the A/C pulleys for the same 760 (a pair of them is some 140 Euro or so, available in some 2 weeks), and the mech simply pulled out the bearing and placed a new one. Basic... laundry machine bearing, 2 Euros. Reinforced version