Rob's 850R

Rob

I have been chasing an 850R for quite some time. It had to be a wagon, It had to be Dark Olive Pearl in colour and it had to be manual.

I was browsing through my local buy, swap, sell group on Facebook and BOOM there it was (well almost). I took the 2 hour drive to have a look. It was not pretty, much less pretty than i had wanted, but it was a wagon, the right colour and most definately the right price. I was quite sure that i would never find the manual transmission equipped vehicle that i wanted, but I was confident that that could be fixed.

I forked out the cash and loaded it up.

It is filthy, stinks and needs some work but the basics are there.

Quite Happy :D

Rob

After a quick bath.

Rob

Question time:

It stalls constantly, and has very little power, and the engine light is on. When I unplug the AFM it runs much better. I suspect the AFM is faulty, ideas?
According to several websites all 850R wagons had a rear spoiler. perhaps this did not apply in Australia. I can find plenty without them. In saying that I want one.
The tailgate doesn't seem to open fully. I hope there is something wrong with it otherwise it is a stupid design. perhaps it has incorrect gas struts?

egads (she/her)

O2 sensor maybe? AFM is just as likely though.
Dunno, sorry.
Looks to wrong gas struts, should be higher than that.

Looks awesome though. Cleaned up well by the looks of it too.

PaddlerEd

I've got a set of struts in the UK...

Rob

Tailgate fixed... Struts look to be slightly too short, slotted the adjustable mounting bracket and bolted them back up.. hooray! opening properly.

PaddlerEd

Did you check the cabling for the tailgate? The problems happens when the cables wear and rub, the high level brake light stops working, and the wash wiper doesn't always work properly, and the tailgate locks and won't unlock or vice versa...

Rob

Yeah. all of the cabling looks tip top.. ;)

Ex850R

Yes its the MAS or AFM , get a genuine one,the eBay ones won't last. The o2 could throw a CEL if it does replace when you put the 3" exhaust on! The rear spoiler was never a standard fitment on wagons,even Rs and can be had new or better $ wise from a wrecker. I test drove one the same but held out for a red manual one from Tasmania with 58,000klm on it.....yes it was very nice till at about 140,000klm a lovely young girl ploughed into me.....still have the black seats .... Use the std R clutch when you hook it all up I imagine pressure plate needed too. Don't bother with any supposedly better aftermarket clutch the Volvo one is the go. Check out ARD ideas website , Lucky Arnold does a great ECU swap for the white block motor and customised to what you require too at a price about half of what the other tuners charge. Koni adjustable yellow dampers can be had but are harsh , ask Ash Davies about some nice suspension ideas and his big brake kit too! Enjoy! Les.

Ex850R

This should have Nivomat dampers in the back? If so keep it with them they work well when I had the Koni yellows up front and self adjust if anything carried in back. Go for the heavy duty front strut top mounts from Volvo..xc90s? ones my mind is blank...The ipd ones aren't as good. Or go the hog and get Kalphenke Racing adjustable strut mounts with Luxe Steer they are works of art and not that dear....I always had trouble getting proper wheel alignment done so find a race car place and tell them...." Yes the rear end alignment IS adjustable"!! Look for the diagram and take em a copy to show the bolts to do it...Bridgestone re002s work a treat and 215/45/17 is fine. I am trying Michy Pilot sports on the v70 I will advise.... Check if your turbo is the 16t as I thought the auto may have had a 15g but in any case Lucky at ARD does compressors housings or complete turbo upgrades anyway. Central locking is a lottery. Rear hatch trim needs kit from FCPs. Ahhhh what else... Upper engine mount with poly equals buzzing which was very annoying.Do the lower gearbox one in poly for better feel and handling but not too buzzy. Poly suspension bushes if you want your fillings to fall out itsxlow and harsh enough.....There are gear linkage brass bushes and short shift kit available maybe from ipd?,DO IT! Get your droplinks from Rockauto and buy MOOG HD ones,they have grease nipples!! IPD HD droplinks are absolute rubbish. Do not listen to anyone who says they are not..... I fact Rockauto have heaps of parts cheaper than the others and brilliant service/ delivery. If the dash rattles wait till you get new windscreen you may be able to do the repair to upper mounts then and should be able to do the lower ones with judicious manouvering from below...check out the repair idea on Area 54 ipd website I think. Les.

Ex850R

Sorry for the last two posts as it was very late and are in need of editing but readable non the less ;) The LSD or whatever it has in the R manual gearbox could be sourced but TBH i still spun up and made smoke from whichever wheel was on the inside on a turn and even using Toyo R1R semi track tyres it still did it. This was on stock R motor.... There is another option for the LSD , again i dont remember but is supposed to be better , the dudes on Volvospeed are a good resource for this stuff.Ideally i want to go AWD so the early CrossCountry with LPT 2.5 motor with ARD tune and the R interior put in , lowered on IPD springs i have from an S70T5 i ran for a while (epic car but springs too harsh , i may sell them in a moment of sanity....) Again , Ash will be a great Guy to talk to for suspension tricks.... Balancing the suspension is the trick as FWD is tricky to get right with that sort of power so Ash can sort it , there are many ideas out there but really , they may and quite often do make it worse when having a rough ride is supposed to be 'faster'if you tested it you would find softer and compliant is better. Have fun!.

Rob

Ex850R said: Sorry for the last two posts as it was very late and are in need of editing but readable non the less ;)

No, appreciate it. Thanks for the info

Rob

How would one reset the cel and service light?

egads (she/her)

Good info there Les.

Service light is here: http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/reset-service-light-volvo.html

CEL should just be with any OBDII tool.

Ex850R

No worries, will drop in with info when I find it! As above,a cheap obd tool from eBay $40 is enough. Do the O2 sensor as a matter of course. Use the std bougichord plug leads not silicone hi temp super whatever ones , just order a full service kit from FCPs rotor and dizzy cap included. Replace the radiator , hoses , thermostat , heater matrix and coolant reservoir asap all with genuine stuff as that's why there are so many cracked heads on the turbo motors at this age. Again fcp low prices can make the postage from USA worthwhile and still be cheaper for radiator and heater then from dealer here. I got one some time ago. Maybe get a nice alloy one made and a little thicker for the hot weather as I am not happy with the std one with the v70. I esp don't like the oil cooler in the radiator idea which can be changed to separate with some tinkering skills. In an auto R the tranny cooler is in there too !! Let's look into that, I will let you know. The stdintercooler could be better too so build one as well. The intercooler on yours will be full of oil so try to take it out and clean out with simple green , dry well before use! New turbo hoses of course. The internal wastegate may be leaking better to refurb or replace turbo . Boost control solenoid upgrade to HD one , ARD does all this , Lucky worked at IPD as their Guru before going out with his Family into ARD he is a really nice guy and too smart for me!! Give him a shout email wise , he will find time to talk but he is in great demand... I have a green custom tune on a LPT 2.5 and it pulls as well as my hot S70T5 down low if not better. I will think of more tweaks I am sure please bear with me! LesM.

Ex850R

Me again! The coolant line runs behind head and had rubber hose on it drivers side .replace when doing others and an alloy water pump too not a plastic. Drive belts and tensioner and ldler may as well do em all ....That's a big order from USA....Maybe LT can help bring it back or ask Lucky as he may well help out too. The manual R had a switchable TRACS traction control on off , it kept power down till 40 kph which just delays the loss of traction ......Annoying as if off a light was lit on the dash,better without it...the abs light may show its due to cold solders in the unit...Local Volvo mechs get a club member to fix it but I got Midwest ABS USA to send me a changeover for similar cost as I had no luck with one I had repaired here with my R......If you have CD player failure I was able to put the old faceplate on a newer v/s series radio unit. If you swap out to aftermarket the speakers are wired oddly. I had to sort out the mess a reputable installer did to the T5...

Stay tuned ;-)

K3FSAR

Pretty sure the 850Rs all run Motronic 4.4 which needs a Volvo specific tool to flick off the service light.

And we're now twins! Except mines got a manual box.

Rob

K3FSAR said: Pretty sure the 850Rs all run Motronic 4.4 which needs a Volvo specific tool to flick off the service light.

And we're now twins! Except mines got a manual box.

It looks like the service light bulb may be coming out..

and mine will be manual very soon. ;)

Ex850R

Yes the T5s and Rs all had 4.4 Motronic whereas the other 850s stayed with 4.3 . If you go with an ARD modified one you can pkug in with the laptop to flash any new tune Lucky does for you and no doubt fix any codes , he could even kill them i expect . He has a flappy paddle setup for the auto's too. It would be best if a 6 spd manual from later R was available but that would need to be imported... I found with the 5spd the 1st to 2nd transition very bad ratio wise , they set it so to limit wheelspin and get power down but it annoyed me quite a bit and i think if i had of had the ECU done on my R it may have made a difference with the gearbox limitations but alas i was smashed by a young lass! The service light should go out itself after a time or distance. Does it not go out after a few Ks of driving anyway? The cheap OBD tool i got wont reset it but can cancel CELs.

Les.

Rob

Ex850R said: The service light should go out itself after a time or distance. Does it not go out after a few Ks of driving anyway?

it does but it still annoys me.