95 volvo loss of power

[cozzi_in_europe]

Hello all,

my 1995 850 turbo died on me the other day. I'm not sure how many of
these things are related but around 2 months ago whenever I put the AC
on I would get a kind of high pitch motor sound you'd hear from a
remote control car. since I haven't used the AC that much the last
month I don't know if it's still doing it. but around 2 weeks ago I
start getting the ABS and tracks lights coming on from time to time.
either as soon as I put the car into drive or part way through the
ride. then the other day after I hadn't used my car in around a week I
started it up (started fine) and went to use my window wipers which
seems to be moving at around half their normal speed. this was
following by various warning lights flicking on and off with the
turning signal (weird ??) around 1 mile later. once i got to my
destination I turned the car off. on my way back I would say around 1/2
mile into the ride the same things started happening, plus the
dashboard started going dim, and then the car itself started losing
power. I could put the peddle down as far as I wanted but not go more
than 10 miles an hour. finally I managed to get the car to a side
street and it just lost all power.

obviously something in wrong with the electrical system. does anyone
have any ideas? alternator? battery? something else?

the car has around 140,000 miles on it.

thanks!
Anthony

 

[Tim..]

Hello all,

my 1995 850 turbo died on me the other day. I'm not sure how many of
these things are related but around 2 months ago whenever I put the AC
on I would get a kind of high pitch motor sound you'd hear from a
remote control car. since I haven't used the AC that much the last
month I don't know if it's still doing it. but around 2 weeks ago I
start getting the ABS and tracks lights coming on from time to time.
either as soon as I put the car into drive or part way through the
ride. then the other day after I hadn't used my car in around a week I
started it up (started fine) and went to use my window wipers which
seems to be moving at around half their normal speed. this was
following by various warning lights flicking on and off with the
turning signal (weird ??) around 1 mile later. once i got to my
destination I turned the car off. on my way back I would say around 1/2
mile into the ride the same things started happening, plus the
dashboard started going dim, and then the car itself started losing
power. I could put the peddle down as far as I wanted but not go more
than 10 miles an hour. finally I managed to get the car to a side
street and it just lost all power.

obviously something in wrong with the electrical system. does anyone
have any ideas? alternator? battery? something else?

the car has around 140,000 miles on it.

Sounds like the a/c compressor is seized and has thrown the drive belt off
resulting in no charge to the battery (as the alternator isnt spinning)
which has run flat which is what ultimately stopped the car.

Tim..

 

[Mike F]

Sounds like the a/c compressor is seized and has thrown the drive belt off
resulting in no charge to the battery (as the alternator isnt spinning)
which has run flat which is what ultimately stopped the car.

Tim..

I agree with you that the alternator isn't working and the battery has
gone dead, but if the belt has come off there should have been lots of
warning lights on the dash.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

[cozzi_in_europe]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. the mechanic did an AVR test and
told me it's the alternator. to replace it he quoted $540 + tax for non
volvo alternator and $720 + tax for a volvo model. do you think this
sounds reasonable? also I'm wondering if a non-volvo alternator would
be more likely to fail?

 

[jch]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. the mechanic did an AVR test and
told me it's the alternator. to replace it he quoted $540 + tax for non
volvo alternator and $720 + tax for a volvo model. do you think this
sounds reasonable? also I'm wondering if a non-volvo alternator would
be more likely to fail.

_____
The quoted replacement cost sounds much too high. In Canada i can get a
rebuilt alternator for that type of car (usually Bosch with a Volvo part
number on it) for less than C$250. Try your local car recycler for a
used alternator. Alternators should last well over 250,000 km at which
point it may need the slip rings machined, new brushes, and possibly
bearings. That job (parts plus labour) usually costs around C$100,
including testing, and glass bead blasting of the casing.

I don't know what a "non-Volvo" alternator would cost in your country,
and what its life expectancy would be. Ideally, if the "other"
alternator is made to similar specifications (as Volvo's), then it
should last as long.