Volvo 850R Turbo Gauge Stuck, Loud Whiny Sound from Fan, and Other Problems

Discussion in 'Volvo 850' started by JW, Mar 25, 2005.

  1. JW

    JW Guest

    I have a 1996 Volvo 850R IPD Motronics upgrade and 114,000 miles. I have a
    few problems that I would like to know if anyone has quick, simple, cheap
    fixes to:

    1) There's a high pitched whiny sound coming from the blower vent on the
    right side when the fan is on in cold weather. Sometimes it goes away after
    a while and sometimes it does not. There is no such sound coming from the
    left side or the middle. Please don't tell me this is a "take off the dash"
    project.

    2) The turbo gauge has stopped working. The needle is stuck right in the
    middle and never moves. However, from what I can tell, the turbo is working
    just fine. Not worth spending hundreds to fix so anyone have this happen to
    them and have an easy solution?

    3) A/C cycling on, off, on, etc. The shop diagnosed and thinks there's a
    small leak in the evaporator. Yes, dash needs to come off, will cost four
    figures, etc. etc. etc. I could do the environmentally irresponsible thing
    and just add more freon every year but is there another solution that won't
    cost thousands and won't unnecessarily harm the environment?

    4) Gas door lock does not lock. I was quoted a few hundred to fix it -- not
    interested. I sprayed some WD40 in case it is ceased. No dice. Again, any
    easy solutions?

    5) Paint on top, trunk, and spoiler is peeling like a person who got
    sunburned. It's getting very bad and the clearcoat is going first. Not
    interested in a $2500 paint job. What inexpensive or self-fix alternatives
    do I have?

    Before someone asks... I'm not interested in "proper" fixes for all of these
    problems because I have about 6-8 *more* problems like these and it would
    cost $6000+ ($4000 for paint and A/C evaporator alone) to address all of
    these problems "properly", and it's not worth it for me. Car drivetrain
    still works beautifully so plan is just to maintain it meticulously (as I
    always have) and just patch up problems until car is undriveable.

    Thanks.

    -JW
     
    JW, Mar 25, 2005
    #1
  2. Don't worry about ozone depletion - not only is the refrigerant in your car
    designed to minimize ozone destruction, it was a false alarm to begin with.
    See the end-of-mission statement for NASA's 1997 stratospheric study at
    http://cloud1.arc.nasa.gov/polaris/polaris.ems.html for an explanation why
    the ozone holes are a natural phenomenon caused by sunlight.

    Mike
     
    Michael Pardee, Mar 25, 2005
    #2
  3. JW

    James Sweet Guest

    Sounds like the blower motor needs replacing, not sure how hard this is on
    an 850 but on the 700 and 900 series cars it's not bad.
    The hose has either popped off a fitting or split somewhere, chances are it
    popped right off the back of the guage but there's probably a tee for the
    overboost cutout under the dash somewhere or it could have come off the
    intake manifold under the hood.

    R134a is relatively environmentally safe so adding some isn't a big deal,
    though a better solution would be to repair it. In this case I would
    probably try some of that stop-leak stuff though it always worries me what
    will happen if you later open the system up and stop-leak is all over,
    perhaps it breaks down over time.
    Have you taken it apart to see how it works? It can't be particularly
    complex.
    Paint job, this is one of the few areas where it's *not* worth it to try and
    take shortcuts even if you're short of cash, any stop-gap measures will just
    be a waste of time and money.
    Most of the problems should be relatively easy to fix yourself, the paint is
    the only big one.
     
    James Sweet, Mar 25, 2005
    #3
  4. JW

    Rusty Guest

    Turbo gauge; Sounds like a vacuum hose is off somewhere. Look under the hood
    for vacuum hose going through the firewall. That will be the turbo gauge
    hose. Trace it back to where it starts in the engine bay and see if there's
    a hose off or a rip somewhere in it. If no disconnect or rip is found under
    there, pull the instrument cluster out from the dash (not scary, probably
    two screws holding it in) and look on the back of the turbo gauge. Reattach
    it if it's off. Done.

    Can't help you with the other stuff, since you don't want to spend money.
    Paint is paint, AC is AC, etc. All of those are typical 850 problems.

    A final note, this is only one man's opinion.

    cheers

    RS
     
    Rusty, Mar 25, 2005
    #4
  5. JW

    Baz Guest

    Hi,

    I have a 1966 850 (non-turbo) and had the same problem with the A/C, almost
    3 years ago and dreaed the "leak in the evaporator" too, but I had it
    re-gassed and its still going fine. As I bought it second hand in 2000, I
    don't know but I suspect the A/C had never been serviced, as there was
    nothing in its service record. So perhaps a small leak isn't worth fixing,
    and maybe that amount of leakeage is even normal.

    Has yours ever been re-gassed or serviced before? If not, it's probably
    about time, and it that case your leakage could be less than mine.

    It's also often recommended that the pollen filter be fitted if your model
    doesn't have one (you can buy the adapter and filter from Volvo and easily
    fit it yourself) to prevent build up of air-borne crud in the evaporator
    core, and prolong its life.

    Regards
    Barry
     
    Baz, Mar 25, 2005
    #5
  6. JW

    Tim.. Guest

    A pre-production model perhaps?! ;-)

    Tim..
     
    Tim.., Mar 25, 2005
    #6
  7. JW

    Rusty Guest

    LOL...funnier than what I was going to say...

    RS


    "Tim.." wrote
     
    Rusty, Mar 25, 2005
    #7
  8. JW

    JW Guest

    It's been serviced before.

    Does your A/C cycle any more or does the clutch stay engaged all the time?
    It was fitted a few years ago, probably around 2000-2001.

    Thanks.
     
    JW, Mar 25, 2005
    #8
  9. JW

    Erik Lidén Guest

    It's easier on the 850:
    1. Open the glove box.
    2. Remove the screws in the glove box frame.
    3. Remove the glove box.
    4. Now you can figure the rest out your self!

    /Erik Lidén
     
    Erik Lidén, Mar 25, 2005
    #9
  10. JW

    Baz Guest

    The A/C was "short cycling" prior to regassing and that fixed it.

    It is still running ok, and the compressor cuts in and out, timing depending
    on the heat load. Usually several minutes between on and off cycles.

    Mine is the "manual" not climate control A/C. When short of gas, cycling
    was less than 10 seconds, and it wasn't cooling as well as before. With the
    "clutch controlled orifice device" (CCOD) type of A/C (from memory that's
    what they call them) short cycling is a symptom of low gas.

    Just for your information the guy who serviced it (I've known him for many
    years) said the system capacity was 790grams of R134a, and he weighed it as
    it was re-charged. He had a neat device like a set of bathroom scales,
    through which the refrigerant line from the gas bottle passed, to the car.
    The bottle (20kg?) sat on the "scales". He dialed in the weight of gas he
    wanted to put in the car, zeroed the "scales" and turned on the gas, ran the
    motor etc. When the correct weight loss had occurred in the gas bottle a
    beeper went off and the "scales" shut a valve in the gas line. Neat!

    Weighing the charge was necessary as there is no direct access to the high
    pressure side of the system.

    And even if you do have a slow leak (a couple of years say), it'll take a
    lot of recharges before you reach the cost of an evaporator replacement. By
    the way, my serviceman's comment was the Volvo was no worse than many other
    types of cars for difficulty with evaporator replacement - they all build
    the car around the air conditioner.

    Regards
    Barry
     
    Baz, Mar 26, 2005
    #10
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