By Alexander Broom
A bunch of comments with really great insight came in following my first post on whether or not to do all the work required for my Volvo 850R. Your comments were a good push to do it myself. After going through them all, and talking to some buddies, I’ve decided to tackle this over Spring Break. Almost everything is finally coming together to get this daily driven rad wagon ready for the foreseeable future. Since my first check-in, that list of what’s needed to keep it putting along smoothly has grown. While the much needed tax return saved the day, I was still hesitating to order all the replacement parts, until I noticed a strange noise at startup.
Oh no! Not another sound
After a bit of research, I was able to find the same strange noise in a YouTube video from user Kenny Ram. He identifies the issue to be the bearing for the water pump going out. What more reason could I need to immediately order the parts? Also, without knowing the prior owners repair work, I began wondering what else should be changed when I’m under the hood. After seeing this post from the eEuroparts Instagram feed of a totally clogged PCV system oil separator off of another 850, I needed to make sure it had been serviced. What else could the car possibly need?
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bul5R6jgQjb/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1uzfdsfti7brb
I reached out to the old owner who happens to be a close acquaintance, and car enthusiast extraordinaire. This man has owned over 50 cars and needs his own feature story. While I was able to get all of the service information that he had from the car when I bought it, he didn’t know much about what have been done prior to his ownership, aside from a timing belt at around 70,000 miles. With no new knowledge, I tossed a PCV kit into my virtual shopping cart. Figuring it’s probably good to do a full tune-up, I also added an iPD kit to the mix. So my list of if parts went up again, but I still held back from placing the order. Then the odometer went out.
Again.
That was the final straw for me. I put the odometer gear kit and a dash illumination kit on the list and placed the order through iPD. The odometer has since started working once again, but I would like the displayed mileage to be as-close-to-true to reflect the actual mileage of the car itself.
Here’s the damage:
An electronic service manual and replacement alternator didn’t make the shipment due to being backordered. Still, the hit was heavy. It’s not everything, of course. A CV axle is going to be needed eventually. It’s not currently making any noise, which means I can wait a bit. Eventually, I will need to have the windshield replaced too, but I plan on waiting as long as possible for that one. Before that, I’m eyeing a custom matching black Alcantara headliner to replace the droopy tan cloth one that came from the factory. It may be possible to get the headliner in and out of the tailgate, being a station wagon, but on most cars they are put in through the front.
Regardless of what didn’t get here this morning, it’s going to be a busy Spring Break indeed.
Kyle Hyatt 
Jeff Glucker
No thermostat and no radiator hoses?
As long as you are doing the water pump and therefore draining the whole system, I would absolutely suggest replacing the hoses. Sure, you don’t actually -need to- replace them at this moment, but you don’t know how old they are, they’re cheap, and you are about to screw with rubber parts that probably haven’t moved since the car was built. Uninstalling and reinstalling the hoses just adds to the odds that you’ll be replacing them within a year or so anyhow, so do it now and save the headache of doing it again later. Finally, if you need more incentive, it lets you cut the old bastards off instead of wiggling them around trying to flex them enough to get them loose in a tight dirty space. The thermostat replacement is just a ‘cause-you’re-in-there’ preventative move. It’ll eliminate one more unknown with little extra effort and almost zero extra cost. Still, be sure to test the new thermostat in hot water before you install it though, because China.
The thermostat floated through my head, but not the hoses, I’ll see if I can get them within budget and here in time!
Buy only Volvo OE parts for those. Stories about about URO, Scan Tech, and Pro Parts hoses failing within months of installation.
I installed new Volvo hoses around five years ago, no signs of trouble when I pulled the engine a few months ago. They’re going back in.
Yeah I was thinking of making a dealer run for that, this was a good confirmation to do such.
Yeah I was thinking of making a dealer run for that, this was a good confirmation to do such.
At 20 years old, it would be worth replacing heater hoses and any others such as hose to coolant reservoir too, especially if they are on the exhaust side of the engine. Are there any o-rings needed for pump to heater pipe joins?
Not a good idea to leave a noisy water pump too long, ask me how I know… Also does the new pump have a pulley on it, or if not is it a press-fit? That is not easy to do ‘in the field’ otherwise; refer to previous comment.
heater hoses clip into a plastic fitting in the firewall. it’s bullshit and leaks. I bypassed mine by gutting the fitting and installing some barbed elbows, and it’s been holding up for some years now.
water pump pulley is integrated.
Have you encountered the dreaded ETM failure yet? Or is this pre- ETM?
Pre! Thank goodness, I hadn’t even heard of it until you mentioned it.
Nice
Looks like a good list for a fun spring break.
I replaced my failed ccv system in my E46 a few weeks ago. It was full of that oily mayo and had frozen during the polar vortex resulting in a leaking valve cover gasket. That’s on the agenda for a few weeks from now after motor mounts in my daughter’s car and maybe some work on my truck.
I need to own a Volvo or two in my lifetime and an 850 is on my list. I’m interested in seeing how easy they are to wrench on.
Looks like a good list for a fun spring break.
I replaced my failed ccv system in my E46 a few weeks ago. It was full of that oily mayo and had frozen during the polar vortex resulting in a leaking valve cover gasket. That’s on the agenda for a few weeks from now after motor mounts in my daughter’s car and maybe some work on my truck.
I need to own a Volvo or two in my lifetime and an 850 is on my list. I’m interested in seeing how easy they are to wrench on.
How is an electronic service manual backordered? Copy it off the hard drive onto a thumb drive, pow, in stock.
That’s what I was thinking but it’s a licensed product and they don’t want to get in trouble with the people that be. I was able to mess around with it yesterday it’s kind of a pain in the ass. Not really meant for high-resolution monitors but it works.
If you have ABS the speedo could be the module going bad…common issue. My ‘98 V70 had this issue.