Welcome back to the Dark Side, my young Padawan.

volvogeek · 05-29-2010, 05:25 PM

Picked this up yesterday for the GF - this will be the 2nd 850 that has replaced a minivan.

Note that these pics are prior to cleaning and whatnot.

It's got REALLY high miles (330kish), and a reconstructed title, but it was what she wanted and the price was right. Everything works though, and if the guy I got it from was serious, also comes with a free (but seized due to loss of oil) T5 engine and transmission. This car is a LPT with an iPd ecu, which brings it up to near stock turbo specs. It does have some minor cosmetic issues but nothing that's not easily fixed.

After driving it around a little bit today, I'm really happy with the buy. Took it to Autozone to pull the engine codes, and it's got a cyl 1 misfire. Put some fuel system cleaner in it to see if it was a fouled injector, but I'll pull the wire cover to reseat the plug wire as well as check the plugs themselves later today. Other than that, and it needing tailgate shocks, it's pretty much a DD as it sits.

For $1k, not too shabby. Though I think FCP is about to see about $300 in stage 0 goodies.

volvogeek · 05-29-2010, 09:26 PM

I realize that the FWD love here on TB is fickle and rare, but really? Okay.

klr142 · 05-29-2010, 09:50 PM

Those P2 wheels are even uglier on that car. What's the plan?

volvogeek · 05-29-2010, 10:14 PM

Clean it up, make it run nice and call it a day. It's doing DD duty for the GF so no tintz, hidz nor pegs.

volvogeek · 05-30-2010, 12:14 AM

And we cleaned it up! And we're rethinking the tintz. But definitely no pegs.

Tom Wiley · 05-30-2010, 12:19 AM

Looks like a nice car. keep it up

amerbritcan · 05-30-2010, 01:11 AM

window tint is definitely worth doing.

volvogeek · 07-12-2010, 10:59 PM

I got underneath the car today because it has a bit of an alignment issue, and I found a few things that I thought were worthwhile.

Bilstein HD's (on 3 corners, WTF?)

iPd bars (rear broken in the standard location)

Slotted rotors F/R, springs look standard - may see about cutting a coil or two in the near future. Motor is sitting on the front (pass-side) mount, that'll need replacing. Cyl #1 has NO compression, but oddly isn't missing bad enough to think it's dead. I'll do a leak-down sometime soon, though I had a thought that it could be a lifter issue. No oil in coolant, nor lack of coolant or oil that would indicate head gasket failure, and tailpipe isn't shooting out massive amounts of any color of steam/smoke.

I've got another I5 sitting in the garage waiting for a teardown, so I'll work on that one first to get my familiarity with the 5-cyl going, then tackle the head on the car itself if a leakdown doesn't indicate a piston problem.

volvogeek · 07-14-2010, 12:05 AM

It also needs different tires, for some reason it has 205/55-16's in the front, and 215/55-16's in the rear. I do not know what the PO was thinking when they installed these tires. As I mentioned before, the car has a reconstructed title - after looking under the front of the car it seems to me that it had some kind of front-end collision that was mainly passenger-side. Probably bent the strut (and the PO didn't want to buy a $120 bilstein) and replaced the other items as cheaply as possible before selling it. I'm not concerned though, these aren't insurmountable problems.

Tom Wiley · 07-14-2010, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by volvogeek

It also needs different tires, for some reason it has 205/55-16's in the front, and 215/55-16's in the rear. I do not know what the PO was thinking when they installed these tires. As I mentioned before, the car has a reconstructed title - after looking under the front of the car it seems to me that it had some kind of front-end collision that was mainly passenger-side. Probably bent the strut (and the PO didn't want to buy a $120 bilstein) and replaced the other items as cheaply as possible before selling it. I'm not concerned though, these aren't insurmountable problems.

This guy has the correct mentality.

volvogeek · 08-04-2010, 08:39 PM

Went to iPd to grab a motor mount, and on the way there the CEL was flashing at me. Found out later that this is a misfire event indicator, which wasn't a big surprise due to my previous code pulling. Didn't pop the hood even though this was new behavior, and I should have. After I got my parts and came all the way home, I found that the upper intercooler hose was torn.

That definitely caused a lack of power. I duct-taped it up and the car ran MUCH better, but still flashed the CEL at me. I'm thinking a seafoam treatment before I go and see if we've got a burnt and/or bent valve. Got the new hose today though, installed that almost immediately, because duct-tape is NOT oil resistant.

orie · 08-04-2010, 08:44 PM

Duct tape won't hold back the boost or vacuum either, it will leak.

gotta love engines that don't give a **** about running without a cylinder.

Chris_R · 08-04-2010, 08:49 PM

IIRC iPD will replace the older versions of their sways... especially the rears.

Worth checking into.

Nice car!

05-29-2010, 09:50 PM	#3
klr142 Turbo, what? Join Date: May 2004 Location: OR	Those P2 wheels are even uglier on that car. What's the plan? __________________ Kyle - NLMGG: '91 244 NA DD/Track - General Leif: '71 142 Endurance Racecar - The General's FB page - Oregon Volvo Tuners? - Died - 2014 S60 T5 - 2006 Elantra DD Have a K cam or a big N/A specific camshaft for sale? PM me!

08-04-2010, 08:44 PM	#12
orie Doctor Who Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Folsom, CA	Duct tape won't hold back the boost or vacuum either, it will leak. gotta love engines that don't give a ** about running without a cylinder. __________________ Hefty, rear-wheel-drive, and comfortable, the 700- and 900-series wagons were essentially an evolution of the 265 philosophy. Fun, boxy, fast, boxy, and fun. More right angles than a box full of right angles. BrickSpeed forums!**

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05-29-2010, 05:25 PM	#1
volvogeek Board Member Join Date: Jun 2004	Welcome back to the Dark Side, my young Padawan. Picked this up yesterday for the GF - this will be the 2nd 850 that has replaced a minivan. Note that these pics are prior to cleaning and whatnot. It's got REALLY high miles (330kish), and a reconstructed title, but it was what she wanted and the price was right. Everything works though, and if the guy I got it from was serious, also comes with a free (but seized due to loss of oil) T5 engine and transmission. This car is a LPT with an iPd ecu, which brings it up to near stock turbo specs. It does have some minor cosmetic issues but nothing that's not easily fixed. After driving it around a little bit today, I'm really happy with the buy. Took it to Autozone to pull the engine codes, and it's got a cyl 1 misfire. Put some fuel system cleaner in it to see if it was a fouled injector, but I'll pull the wire cover to reseat the plug wire as well as check the plugs themselves later today. Other than that, and it needing tailgate shocks, it's pretty much a DD as it sits. For $1k, not too shabby. Though I think FCP is about to see about $300 in stage 0 goodies.

05-29-2010, 09:26 PM	#2
volvogeek Board Member Join Date: Jun 2004	I realize that the FWD love here on TB is fickle and rare, but really? Okay.

05-29-2010, 10:14 PM	#4
volvogeek Board Member Join Date: Jun 2004	Clean it up, make it run nice and call it a day. It's doing DD duty for the GF so no tintz, hidz nor pegs.

05-30-2010, 12:14 AM	#5
volvogeek Board Member Join Date: Jun 2004	And we cleaned it up! And we're rethinking the tintz. But definitely no pegs.

05-30-2010, 12:19 AM	#6
Tom Wiley Board Member Join Date: May 2006	Looks like a nice car. keep it up

07-12-2010, 10:59 PM	#8
volvogeek Board Member Join Date: Jun 2004	I got underneath the car today because it has a bit of an alignment issue, and I found a few things that I thought were worthwhile. Bilstein HD's (on 3 corners, WTF?) iPd bars (rear broken in the standard location) Slotted rotors F/R, springs look standard - may see about cutting a coil or two in the near future. Motor is sitting on the front (pass-side) mount, that'll need replacing. Cyl #1 has NO compression, but oddly isn't missing bad enough to think it's dead. I'll do a leak-down sometime soon, though I had a thought that it could be a lifter issue. No oil in coolant, nor lack of coolant or oil that would indicate head gasket failure, and tailpipe isn't shooting out massive amounts of any color of steam/smoke. I've got another I5 sitting in the garage waiting for a teardown, so I'll work on that one first to get my familiarity with the 5-cyl going, then tackle the head on the car itself if a leakdown doesn't indicate a piston problem.

07-14-2010, 12:05 AM	#9
volvogeek Board Member Join Date: Jun 2004	It also needs different tires, for some reason it has 205/55-16's in the front, and 215/55-16's in the rear. I do not know what the PO was thinking when they installed these tires. As I mentioned before, the car has a reconstructed title - after looking under the front of the car it seems to me that it had some kind of front-end collision that was mainly passenger-side. Probably bent the strut (and the PO didn't want to buy a $120 bilstein) and replaced the other items as cheaply as possible before selling it. I'm not concerned though, these aren't insurmountable problems.

08-04-2010, 08:39 PM	#11
volvogeek Board Member Join Date: Jun 2004	Went to iPd to grab a motor mount, and on the way there the CEL was flashing at me. Found out later that this is a misfire event indicator, which wasn't a big surprise due to my previous code pulling. Didn't pop the hood even though this was new behavior, and I should have. After I got my parts and came all the way home, I found that the upper intercooler hose was torn. That definitely caused a lack of power. I duct-taped it up and the car ran MUCH better, but still flashed the CEL at me. I'm thinking a seafoam treatment before I go and see if we've got a burnt and/or bent valve. Got the new hose today though, installed that almost immediately, because duct-tape is NOT oil resistant.