1997 Volvo 850, new old friend

[Arquemann]

Well here's the Volvo in it's new winter boots:

Looks pretty fly for the money, I'd say. Rims were 60€ and and demounting and mounting the studded tires was another 60€.

Got the door trims glued on with some trusty Sikaflex, they'll hold for sure now.
It could really do with 2 or 3 chunky round aux lights on the front, but I drive quite little due to studying from home and the last thing this needs is more money spent on unnecessary things.
And this brick will be going on for sale as I get the MGM back on the road next spring. What comes in place I don't know yet, something RWD for sure though, or maybe AWD.

If this thing was AWD and maybe even turbo, I'd consider keeping it for longer and de-turd-ifying it to make it nicer and longer lasting.
The car could do with some more rust repairs, a complete PCV replacement and bits and bobs from end to end.

Also got the summer steelies washed and sanded as well as I could be arsed. I'll be using some hammerite / rust sealer paint that I'll brush on, keep the steelies looking somewhat presentable. A friend called dibs on the new rims and tires, the same chick who got me the new brakes. She's got a '97 V70 AWD Turbo 5-speed, and these would fit right on. (probably because they are actual mk1 V70 rims )

[sly]

[Arquemann]

Well, now I finally have amber parking lights! Why? Cuz why not! I'm not even sure if they're legal lol (I'm not the first Volvo around here with amber parking lights)

The right side is a bit brighter for some reason, I ordered four bulbs so I think I'll switch them around to figure it out.

Rear window washer pump failed, don't really care, the wiper barely touches the glass anyways, the shaft and spring mechanism is too rusty.
Colder weather has settled in, and the blower motor has started squeaking again. I can't be bothered to pull it apart to lube it again, the bearings groan a bit and it has already blown the blower motor resistor once. I'll buy a new motor once I get sufficiently annoyed at the squeaking.


A couple dirt road shots right before sundown, why not:

The Volvo feels right at home on a dirt road between fields and I do too.

[Mainemantom]

I remember back in the late 80s, a police officer wrote a guy I knew a ticket for his rear turn signal lens on his Volvo 240. They had faded from amber to almost clear. Both sides had faded. It is a actual violation of the California vehicle code. Heck give the guy a warning, not a pay ticket. Real BS. The owner had to buy complete new tail lights as the ones in the wrecking yards had faded too. The tail lights did not section out either. At that time I lived in the California desert. Everything faded. Way before the internet or the buying sources we have now.

[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

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[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]

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.

[sly]

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

[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.

[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.