Few questions about volvo850i

Husam · Dec 14, 2003

Hi,
please forgive me for my english, I hope that I described the problems clear
enough to understand.

I have volvo 850(injection 10v) from 1995 and has automatic transmission,
with 161000 km on the odometer. The car drive very nice and I'm enjoining
it. However there are few problems and I would like to know what you
think about it.

1- When the car is cold (specially in the morning) the gear light (an arrow
pointing up) on the dashbord lights up for half a second when I change the
gear from 'P' to 'R' and vice versa. This problem started only few weeks
ago. Does anybody know why is this happening? could it be something that
will lead to major problems in the near future?

2- The car is very slow at low RPM. When I change from mode 'Economy' to
'Sport' I notice an improvement in performance but I still need to reach
high RPM (above 2000) in order to flow in the traffick at a similar speed as
the other cars. Is this normal for volvo850 or is it only my car behaving
like this?

3- I hear a sound of metal to metal (sounds like: 'Grrrrrr') that last for a
half second only when transmission is changing from 2 to 3 (in other words
it happens at speed 40 to 60 kph). I hear the sound only when you drive
after the engin has been stopped. It happens only once and does not happen
thereafter no matter how often you stop or drive as long as the engin is not
turned off. What is that sound? the volvo dealer advised me to change the
tranny!!!!

4- The engin consumes about half a liter oil every 5000 km. Is this normal
or should I be worried? volvo dealer advised me to change motor!!!!! so, is
there any measurment I should take to help this?

Thanks in advance.
Husam Alwan

Stephen M. Henning · Dec 14, 2003

Husam said:
I have volvo 850(injection 10v) from 1995 and has automatic transmission,
with 161000 km on the odometer. There are few problems
1- When the car is cold (specially in the morning) the gear light (an arrow
pointing up) on the dashbord lights up for half a second when I change the
gear from 'P' to 'R' and vice versa. This problem started only few weeks
ago. Does anybody know why is this happening? could it be something that
will lead to major problems in the near future?

This is not normal. I had a '93 with 180,000 mi. and have a '95 with
120,000 mi. On the '93, when the gear light started flashing, the
transmission died very soon. My '95 is still running strong.

2- The car is very slow at low RPM. When I change from mode 'Economy' to
'Sport' I notice an improvement in performance but I still need to reach
high RPM (above 2000) in order to flow in the traffick at a similar speed as
the other cars. Is this normal for volvo850 or is it only my car behaving
like this?

Is the acceleration as poor as when in the 'W' winter mode? If so, it
sounds like the transmission has serious problems. When it goes into
the cripple mode, it acts the same as when in the 'W' mode.

3- I hear a sound of metal to metal (sounds like: 'Grrrrrr') that last for a
half second only when transmission is changing from 2 to 3 (in other words
it happens at speed 40 to 60 kph). I hear the sound only when you drive
after the engin has been stopped. It happens only once and does not happen
thereafter no matter how often you stop or drive as long as the engin is not
turned off. What is that sound? the volvo dealer advised me to change the
tranny!!!!

Not normal.

4- The engin consumes about half a liter oil every 5000 km. Is this normal
or should I be worried? volvo dealer advised me to change motor!!!!! so, is
there any measurment I should take to help this?

I have never had to add any oil in 10,000 mi (16,000 km) on either car.
The oil consumption could be an oil seal. I have replaced two seals
which I caught when they first started leaking.

Bev A. Kupf · Dec 14, 2003

1- When the car is cold (specially in the morning) the gear light (an arrow
pointing up) on the dashbord lights up for half a second when I change the
gear from 'P' to 'R' and vice versa. This problem started only few weeks
ago. Does anybody know why is this happening? could it be something that
will lead to major problems in the near future?

Have your transmission checked out. This could be the first sign of a
transmission about to go.

2- The car is very slow at low RPM. When I change from mode 'Economy' to
'Sport' I notice an improvement in performance but I still need to reach
high RPM (above 2000) in order to flow in the traffick at a similar speed as
the other cars. Is this normal for volvo850 or is it only my car behaving
like this?

No, this is not normal. But another sign of a bad transmission.

3- I hear a sound of metal to metal (sounds like: 'Grrrrrr') that last for a
half second only when transmission is changing from 2 to 3 (in other words
it happens at speed 40 to 60 kph). I hear the sound only when you drive
after the engin has been stopped. It happens only once and does not happen
thereafter no matter how often you stop or drive as long as the engin is not
turned off. What is that sound? the volvo dealer advised me to change the
tranny!!!!

I don't understand point "3". How do you drive with the engine turned off?
Do you put into neutral and coast? In any case, a "Grrrrrr" sounds ominous.

4- The engin consumes about half a liter oil every 5000 km. Is this normal
or should I be worried?

Not normal, but probably not too difficult to fix. Most likely will not
need a new engine.

Me · Dec 14, 2003

Stephen M. Henning said:
This is not normal. I had a '93 with 180,000 mi. and have a '95 with
120,000 mi. On the '93, when the gear light started flashing, the
transmission died very soon. My '95 is still running strong.

Is the acceleration as poor as when in the 'W' winter mode? If so, it
sounds like the transmission has serious problems. When it goes into
the cripple mode, it acts the same as when in the 'W' mode.

If your car is the 2.0 10v than this is normal, this engine is underpowered
If your car is the 2.5 10v then this is not normal.

Not normal.

Wrong!
This is the ABS module doing a self test, it is normal! (it is annoying
though!)

I have never had to add any oil in 10,000 mi (16,000 km) on either car.
The oil consumption could be an oil seal. I have replaced two seals
which I caught when they first started leaking.

Agreed, my 850 uses no oil.

Mark Seeley · Dec 14, 2003

3- I hear a sound of metal to metal (sounds like: 'Grrrrrr') that last

for a is

Wrong!
This is the ABS module doing a self test, it is normal! (it is annoying
though!)

It is normal, but i think it's meant to kick in at 30km/h - if it doesn't
kick in till 40-60, you may have a problem somewhere (though if there's a
fault, the ABS warning light should come on after this test). If the Volvo
dealer said you should change the tranny as a result of this sound, get a
new dealer... if they recommended that because of the other points in your
post, they might have a point....

Mark

Husam · Dec 16, 2003

Stephen M. Henning said:
This is not normal. I had a '93 with 180,000 mi. and have a '95 with
120,000 mi. On the '93, when the gear light started flashing, the
transmission died very soon. My '95 is still running strong.

My gear light flash only ones for less than a second and it stops flashing
thereafter. According to my volvo manual, you need to go
to volvo garage only when the light flash continuosly. Do you think that
statained flashing is as bad as flashing ones?

Is the acceleration as poor as when in the 'W' winter mode? If so, it
sounds like the transmission has serious problems. When it goes into
the cripple mode, it acts the same as when in the 'W' mode.

I would like to explain this issue ones again. What I meant with the car is
slow is that the acceleration from 0 to 50 kph. So, for my car in order to
catch up with
the other cars that start to accelerate in front of me I need to reach 2000
rpm or 2500 rpm. This high rpm consumes alot of fuel. For example city
driving with my car which is 2.5 l consumes 15.1 liters per 100 km. In
Holland we pay 1.5 USD per liter. Any way, I tried the 'W' winter mode
yeasterday. The car was very slow in this mode (about 5 times slower than in
'E' mode).

Not normal.

I have never had to add any oil in 10,000 mi (16,000 km) on either car.
The oil consumption could be an oil seal. I have replaced two seals
which I caught when they first started leaking.

My car has does not leak oil underneath. May be the engine is getting bad?

Husam · Dec 16, 2003

Me said:
If your car is the 2.0 10v than this is normal, this engine is underpowered
If your car is the 2.5 10v then this is not normal.

My car is the 2.5 10v. I explained this issue in more details in my answer
to Stephen.

is

Wrong!
This is the ABS module doing a self test, it is normal! (it is annoying
though!)
so,

Agreed, my 850 uses no oil.

So why my car is consuming oil? what should I do?

Husam · Dec 16, 2003

Mark Seeley said:
engin

It is normal, but i think it's meant to kick in at 30km/h - if it doesn't
kick in till 40-60, you may have a problem somewhere (though if there's a
fault, the ABS warning light should come on after this test). If the Volvo
dealer said you should change the tranny as a result of this sound, get a
new dealer... if they recommended that because of the other points in your
post, they might have a point....

The dealer advised to change tranny only on the basis of that sound. So, I
think I'm going to change the Volvo dealer.

Husam · Dec 16, 2003

Bev A. Kupf said:
Have your transmission checked out. This could be the first sign of a
transmission about to go.

No, this is not normal. But another sign of a bad transmission.

I don't understand point "3". How do you drive with the engine turned off?
Do you put into neutral and coast? In any case, a "Grrrrrr" sounds ominous.

Not normal, but probably not too difficult to fix. Most likely will not
need a new engine.

How should I fix this problem?

Bev A. Kupf · Dec 16, 2003

How should I fix this problem?

I would start by finding out where the leak is.

Stephen M. Henning · Dec 16, 2003

Husam said:
So why my car is consuming oil? what should I do?

I have my dealer service my 850s. When I had oil leaks, the dealer
found them and fixed them under warranty. They were both oil seals, not
gaskets.

First you need to find out if it is consumption or a leak. Some
consumption is accompanied by dark smoke after going down hill or
slowing down on compression. This indicates major engine wear and is
rather expensive to fix. Usually oil is much cheaper.

If it is a leak from a gasket, it is cheap to fix once you locate it.
If it is a seal, then the cost of repair varies considerably depending
upon which seal. I would have a good dealer give you an estimate.

Stephen M. Henning · Dec 16, 2003

Husam said:
catch up with
the other cars that start to accelerate in front of me I need to reach 2000
rpm or 2500 rpm. This high rpm consumes alot of fuel

Most cars don't have much power below 2000 rpm. The other cars are
probably turning 2500 to 3000 while accelerating. If you accelerate
quickly up to cruising speed, no matter what the rpm, you won't use much
fuel if you then immediately shift to your highest gear and maintain a
steady speed. I usually accelerate about as fast as my car will go with
the automatic in econo mode and get fantastic fuel mileage.