1997 Volvo 850, new old friend

[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.

[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]

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...

[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]

Yup, getting things serviced is another thing I didn't mention. Nobody is gonna touch a box panther or Cheva, except the american-specialized shops.
Were I to take even a Town Car from this millenium to a Ford dealer here, the guy behind the counter would look at me like I'm an idiot and ask me what Ford do I have.

Even if I want do as much myself as I can, certain things are just better off having someone else do.

Multi-point fuel injection is a nice thing to have, also maybe OBD-II...

[bnw]

The "German Ford" dealerships know little to nothing about the US ones. A friend of mine is at some quite elevated position in the "German Ford", and he was trying to find any info about my MGM through their system - but it seems like they are not able to get anything sensible.
Looking at your criteria, I would say that you are either aiming at BMW/Mercedes, or you should get yourself a late 940. 960/v90 could also be an option, but for the sake of reliability, focus on the 2.5 engine, and be 100% certain that the rear suspension is working well I used to drive the 760 as a DD when in the Netherlands and that was quite a do-able thing, while the 960 Turbo is only a bit easier to service properly than an amcar.

[Arquemann]

The "German Ford" dealerships know little to nothing about the US ones. A friend of mine is at some quite elevated position in the "German Ford", and he was trying to find any info about my MGM through their system - but it seems like they are not able to get anything sensible.
Looking at your criteria, I would say that you are either aiming at BMW/Mercedes, or you should get yourself a late 940. 960/v90 could also be an option, but for the sake of reliability, focus on the 2.5 engine, and be 100% certain that the rear suspension is working well I used to drive the 760 as a DD when in the Netherlands and that was quite a do-able thing, while the 960 Turbo is only a bit easier to service properly than an amcar.

Yeah, I've been mostly looking at BMW, Mercedes, Volvo 700- and 900- serie and some quattro Audis. Mostly E39 (E38 might be too much), MB W210 and maybe even W140.
The main issue with Volvos is the overall loudness and agricultural driving feel. They're total tanks that can be fixed with a hammer, screwdriver and some swedish cursing. Due to the Volvo culture here, any tasteless mods go fine, whatever the condition of the car. And for the same reason, getting a old brick Volvo feels kinda low, like I could do better. The cars aren't as "refined" as germans and the culture here surrounding them is equally unsophisticated. I mean I could throw 50 kilos of sound deadening and more boost into a swedish sled the shape of a cinder block and go hitting on 18 year old trade school chicks who are the only women that are into old Volvos. Shit, that actually sounds like a good idea...

A 740/760/940/960 will never be a 5-serie Beemer, and its dumb to even try.
I'd want a redblock under the hood, good potential on the cheap and every bit of info is available. Every single B525 my friends have owned has consumed a bunch of oil, and the 10v in my turd needs a rebuild too. A D23-series would need a lot of work to go anywhere, but would be extra yee-yee spec and fun as hell.
And a E39 530i goes 0-100kmh in 7 seconds stock.

EDIT: 700/900 didn't have 5 cyls...

[bnw]

I am pretty amazed by the fact that there are any females that you can pick up while driving an old Volvo that are not 1) of different species, 2) held at gunpoint, 3) dead already. Nevertheless.
I am totally not into beamers, the last ones I could accept are moreover 30 years old, while the newer ones look like a Slav Hardbass Crew. So I cannot tell you which one could work well. Certainly they are believed to steer better than Volvo, and the pieces are nearly worthless as there was a s*itload of them already scrapped.

A8 D2, or A6 C5 could be a good try. They are quite sensible, and bulletproof to some extent (C4 would be better than C5, but it is old as freak). The 2.8 30v engine is quite a good choice, not the fastest car, but moreover affordable. V8 and turbo 2.2 are money-eaters. Also, if considering A8, check the front steering knuckles. The aluminium ones are tragic, and hard to switch for the steel ones.

Redblocks are nice engines, but the head gasket replacement is a "normal maintenance" for them. It just breaks at some point. Modular 6-cyls are much worse in this regard, the 2.9 block tends to overheat and cracks at the 5th cylinder. 2.5 does not overhead that easily, but still can do it. D24 is a total crap, don't even think about it. Either it has no power at all (N/A version), or burns nearly as much diesel as a redblock uses gasoline (TiC ones). And it is EXTREMELY intolerant to overheating. A good try would be a B230FK engine. With an MBC, a more aggresive ECU map, and some tweaks, you can easily go up to 250 KM without much of a knowledge. The only crappy thing would be the "fixed" action of the MBC, but EBCs on 8v Volvoes are extremely rare, and possibly only available for the B230FT version (which would be a better try, but they are priced higher). Stock redblocks have something around 9s to 100 km/h. 16v have 7-ish, close to 8. Out of 190/200KM --> stock, chipped ones go muuuch faster.

[Rodentkiller]

BMW's spell Broken More Ways, they are good lease cars drive em for 5 years turn them in and get another BMW you will never be out of warrenty, other wise junk always spending more time in the shop than you would driveing them. Get the Mercedes Benz bullet proof reliable.

[Arquemann]

Yup, those unicorn women exist, I know three personally, all have Volvos of some sort.

I wouldn't say I'm into BMWs, but the E39 are pretty reliable from what I've read and had friends go through with their own. E46 and E39 are also pretty popular in the same trade school car "culture"
There are also way more E39s for sale compared to W210. Especially with bigger engines. A bigger portion of BMWs are imports, so they actually have some optional extras (and less rust) whereas Mercs are mostly "finn-spec" where you barely get six cylinders and arsewarmers, because some cheapass wanted the cheapest E-class 20 years ago. Also there really should've been some engine between the E320 and E420/430. Also most W210s are reeeeally clapped out or expensive. And from some experience I can say an E39 is an easier car to work on vs W210 and less complicated. And holy fuck do W210 Mercs rust really bad, it's a meme here.

Not that the RWD Volvos for sale aren't rusty or clapped out, good conditions examples have their price of course. Finding a Turbo one without 400k KM and a smart price is kinda hard. And for that price I could get a 5-series with less kilometers.
Here's a couple examples:

https://www.nettiauto.com/en/volvo/960/11817113

https://www.nettiauto.com/en/volvo/940/11648936

A big part of my regular driving is highway at 100-120kmh, which is why I've been looking at fiver BMWs and Mercs and so on. I like quiet. I don't know how much better a 900-series Volvo would be than an 850, in that sense. And those german premium cars are on another level...

[Arquemann]

The Volvo has been blessed in the form of modern LED-technology! The defective bulb dash light didn't even come on.

The LED bulbs are actually overall slightly dimmer than the incandescent bulbs, but the light output is focused more forwards.
And hopefullu I ain't changing a single damn front parking bulb on this thing before I sell it.

I'd say I've purchased just shitty bulbs.

Both look the same and still worked. One had about 30 hours on it and the other maybe 8 hours, and the lower hour one was considerably dimmer for some reason.

[bnw]

The 960 from the link is awfully basic. Given the expected messing with the multilink, I wouldn't go for it.
940, on the other hand, looks much nicer! It has the FK turbo engine, and has a bit of nice addons.
If you wish to go for ~4000 E, this one looks quite well: https://www.nettiauto.com/en/volvo/940/11752922 despite the shitty seats, and has an FT turbo engine.

[Arquemann]

Yeah I've been looking at cars up to around 4k €.
Multilink is shitty to fix up, Nivomats are stupid expensive and barely available... I guess solid non-self-leveling or Nivo conversion would be the way to go, I'm quite partial to 700/900 wagons, but I guess sedans are fine too.
Probably any turbo redblock would meet my power needs pretty easily, those 2.5l 6-cyls are rare though.
I need a turbo, cruise control, power windows/locks, asswarmers and an autobox, which are kinda hard criteria for an old brick.
Emissions checks are tough, that's why I'm a bit anxious about high mileage. An engine rebuild isn't exactly on my to-do list for a daily driver... Though I do know a guy who has rebuilt redblocks and had them back in and driving the same day.

What do you mean by so basic about the 960 I linked? It's not turbo, but I don't there's any turbo 960's for sale and that one has pretty good options.
And no I definitely don't know nearly as much about Volvos as you.


Also there's a mint 264 auto for sale...

[bnw]

Multilink is shitty to fix up, Nivomats are stupid expensive and barely available... I guess solid non-self-leveling or Nivo conversion would be the way to go, I'm quite partial to 700/900 wagons, but I guess sedans are fine too.

Multilink will be present in all 760 sedans MY'88-90 and all 960 sedans/S90. Only the 960 MY'95-98 station wagons and V90s have it, the earlier 960 and all 760 wagons have the same rear axle as 940/740. The multi-culti has also another disadvantage, there is a number of bushings etc. that have to be replaced when overhauling it, and they are either non-available, or the whole set costs around 700-1000 Euro. It is possible that it would be cheaper to exchange the whole thing for a complete axle kit from a 940... never tried that though. There are no "ready" substitutes of a multilink nivomat, but there are some people that convert standard Bilstein absorbers.

I need a turbo, cruise control, power windows/locks, asswarmers and an autobox, which are kinda hard criteria for an old brick.

Nearly all bricks have an asswarmer, power locks, and at least front power windows. Given the fact that a turbo redblock was a more expensive option, a fair deal of them has the whole set of power windows, and many have an automatic gearbox. It's a bulletproof Aisin one.

What do you mean by so basic about the 960 I linked? It's not turbo, but I don't there's any turbo 960's for sale and that one has pretty good options.

Oh, a 960 turbo would probably be more expensive, and would make a very bad daily driver Also, they were never built with the autoboxes, just 4+1 electric overdrive transmission.
But the one you have shown - look at the setup:
--> manual cloth seats;
--> 1-DIN basic radio, I must say I have never seen an MKII 960 with a 1-din factory radio hole before;
--> general "childhood in the USSR" impression of the interior, MKIIs were nearly always sold with fake wood panels, this one looks just... plain?
--> there's nearly nothing on the auxiliary switch panel, meaning that this car was ordered with little to no optional comfort equipment.

And the maintenance costs would be the same as of any other, better rigged 960.

And no I definitely don't know nearly as much about Volvos as you.

I'm a hoarder. Whatever I have, I need to have many. Cars, animals, car parts, information... but still, there are maaany people who now a lot more than me. I just happened to dismantle some cars, including mine, a bit

Also there's a mint 264 auto for sale...

Care to share a pic?

But that is not a good idea for a DD. It probably sports the B27/B28 engine, which are early PRV motors. Oil ducts are very narrow and tend to block, this in turn killing the engine. Also, the E version is powered by the mechanical K-Jetronic system, which needs a meticulous treatment to keep it running. The "good" PRVs from Volvo are B280E and B280F, which were available on late 760, 780, and very early 960. I presume that D24 could also have been an option for the 264, but I don't fancy that particular engine :P

[Arquemann]

Eh, I guess I look at the 960 in a different way.
-I don't mind cloth seats, way nicer in the winter. Volvos "half" leather is meh anyways. Power seats are kinda whatever to me, other people drive my cars very rarely. The 850's seat tilt system is shit though.
-No problem with a single din radio, stock crap goes on a shelf if no easy BT mods exist, cheaper to replace than double din.
-It does have the basics I mentioned, no remote locks though it seems.
-It has a swapped engine with 120k KM, mentioned in the text, I forgot to mention that and you probably dont understand the gibberish that is finnish.
I guess its nothing special, but I like my special mostly under the hood... Which this doesn't have either.

The 264 just caught my eye, like many others I'm attracted to weird stuff. And definitely not DD material, I test drove a good condition 244 and those are definitely too crappy and simple to me. The utter and complete lack of any refinement is just too much.
Here's the link: https://www.nettiauto.com/volvo/264/11794150
It has a freaking sunroof tho! And the "mint" in quotes definitely, has sat for 15 years

D24 Volvos are nicknamed "deeku" here, legendarily slow, agricultural lumps of iron, usually accompanied by a 3-4 inch straight pipe and obnoxious amounts of black smoke. Deeku is conveniently one name for bums, drunks, and homeless.
You can't lose your lisence with a D24, or thats what they say.