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I just got myself a '96 model 850SE (B5254S) in very good condition today, the interior is almost 'picture perfect'. It came with 4 new (last week) Bridgestone Supercat tyres; I got the car for $3,700.00, so I'm pretty happy with the price all up.

I has 153,000 kms on clock, but have now found odometer/trip is broken; and so calculating from last auto trans service sticker in May '08 @ 150,000 kms, it should be around 180,000 kms today, which is still acceptably 'low kms'. It'll be that $1.00 plastic cog inside the Speedo that's cracked, easy to fix once Speedo is out, but I better get a manual to find out have the dash comes apart first.

Apart from a few very minor marks in paint, the flaky plastic trim on roof above drivers side, and a lightly scuffed left rear bumper corner, the only other problem so far is the gear position light doesn't light up (globe or connection) - no doubt there will be other little things become apparent over the next month; but the car is a dream to drive, everything seems to work like a treat.

Well I've just got myself a third Volvo, a 850SE 1996 model with 180,000 kms on it; and with having got a bike last year as well, I find I have too many registrations and insurances to pay, so 2 of my Volvo's have to go.

My second Volvo I got 4 years ago; '85 740 with 219,000 kms on it, now has 278,000 kms on the clock, and is a reliable car - I got it for $1,000, and spent over $5,000 on it over the whole almost 3 years, and not a cent the past 18 months, so seemed to have fixed everything that was problematic, including engine module (bigest problem that took a while to solve) - have all receipts available. Last major expense was a brand new air-cond compressor, drier pipe and gas; a total of $800.00 and it works well.

The car's in fair condition overall for age, paint has a few marks and scuffing from previous owner, but with regular polish/wax looks ok, a re-spray would fix all though. Bit of rust (2") along front edge of passenger rear door window frame, and under left tail-light assembly - neither is that bad, but would need fixing at some time.

It' reg till Dec 2010, and am asking $1,800 ono for it. Tyres, brakes etc all in good condition, and drives well. Has a Sony am/fm/cd X-Plode player with Kenwood front speakers (replacing stock ones), unit has aux input for MP3 etc. Also listed in Quokka from this week.

Phone me on 94907202 or send me an email or PM via forum

Well I've just got myself a third Volvo, a 850SE 1996 model with 180,000 kms on it; and with having got a bike last year as well, I find I have too many registrations and insurances to pay, so 2 of my Volvo's have to go.

My first Volvo I got 10 years ago; '81 244 with 128,000 kms on it, now has 275,000 kms on the clock, and still as reliable as ever - I got it for $2,600, and spent a total of $3,000 on it over the whole 10 years.

It's in fair condition overall for age, paint is faded, but with regular polish/wax looks ok, it could really do with a re-spray though. Bit of rust (4") along top of rear windscreen, and a spotted surface rust area above engine on bonnet (engine heat baked paint).

I've just put another 6 months reg on it till Feb 2011, and am asking $1,200 ono for it. Tyres, brakes etc all in reasonable to good condition, and drives well. It has a Kenwood am/fm/cd player with Pioneer front speakers and Kenwood 5x7's in rear with a Sony 30RMS power amp and Prestige (Toshiba) manual EQ ; so sound is great. Also listed in Quokka from this week.

Phone me on 94907202 or send me an email or PM via forum

used daily until last year.   No longer registred

Alfred Cove, Perth

08 9322 6990 (Work No)

Allan

Sorry, I've got no idea what it might be either, but you could try this other Volvo forum for some advice - OzHotVolvo's (it's a Yahoo email group with a wealth of knowledge, but located on east coast).
When you get it sorted, please post back here and help build our local knowledge base.

Hi All,
Hopefully someone can give some advise. I live in the South West, no Volvo dealership for 200km. Bought a 1996 850 2.5 wagon (141,000km)which was running rough but thought I could have a go and fix it up. That was three years ago and since then it has been sitting in the shed collecting dust (little spare time & money). My 1994 T5 850 wagon that was my regular driver did the auto trans last week so have been trying to get the 1996 up & running for the past week.
Did a compression check and cylinders range from 195 cyl#5 to 240 lbs/in2 for remaining cyl's. Checked the timing belt and marks all line up correctly. Plugs are good condition and spark is strong. Replaced the positive battery cable as it was getting red hot & new battery terminals on a new battery. Fixed up several vacuum lines that were not attached or perished connections. Filled tank with premium 98 octane fuel. Fuel filter looks relatively new.
Took many attempts to get the car finally running and the only way I could get it started and keep it running was to clamp the fuel return line from the fuel pressure regulator. Once running it sounds like an old chaff cutter, spluttering, missing and backfiring (popping) through the aircleaner box.
It stalled everytime I put it into drive so had to wind the accelerator cable screw back to keep the revs up to be able to drive. When trying to start it will also rev to 3000/3500 rpm then drop back and stall.
On the road it is a pig to drive on takeoff with much chugging and missing. Once upto speed 60km/hr it is reasonably smooth but lacks power. Can hear the popping through the aircleaner regularly.
The lambda(fault) light is constantly lit but the code reader I have comes up with NIL codes. I will have to ring around this week to see if anyone in my local area has a code reader that will work for this model.
Any help would be appreciated,
Cheers Dean

The windscreen wipers on my '81 244 came on by themselves yesterday, and stayed on.

I experienced this once before in a Mitsubishi van years ago, and the problem was a stuffed battery. So I turned the lights to park to reduce current drain (daylight driving lights are then off), and about 15 minutes later, just before I got home, the wipers switched off.


I checked the battery (less than year old Century), and it's holding 12.2 volts, checked with engine running and alternator is charging at 13.4 volts.

To be safe I put the battery on charge for a few hours, but when I turned the ignition key on, the wipers started up again ??

Any suggestions on what's wrong ??

hi even though that I live in Sydney I am interested in buying the 140 & 120 parts
Could you please e-mail me at:
newcourtcorp@yahoo.com
giving me details of what you have and how much you are asking. Because of distance I am not interested in the cars

Cheers
John Grist
Mobile: 0412640340

I am John Grist in Sydney. I am Vice-President of Volvo Car Club NSW and have been a member of that club for some years and committe member for some 4 years.

I have always owned a Volvo since 1965 including 144; 242GT; 244; 240 & 740. My current Volvo's are 242GT (owned since new); 740T; 144 and 142SR race car. I am also into motor sport in NSW and hold a CAMS General Official Licence.

The reason of joining your group is to give you a contact in Sydney should you ever decide to visit here.

I also dismantle early Volvo's from time to time and have a lot of parts, etc mainly for 140's but also have bits for 240; 740/760 and 940/960. Please contact me if you need any bits.

Cheers
John Grist
Mobile: 0412640340
E-Mail: newcourtcorp@yahoo.com

as a distraction from the distraction that is work, i got really bored and started to think about the ongoing problem of what to do with my 850r , i love the s60 and my wifes estate t5, so i thought poor claudia is not getting much use; them my work friend danny suggested we join the wa sporting car club and do a few time trials etc, as you only have to pay for your racing licence , and you only need two fire exstinguishers and a first aid kit. thus we formed team hyena ( because danny looks like a hyena). too my suprise there are no volvos registered with the club, after getting the owners at work to fork out for fees in exchange for some craigie tavern stickers we are going racing!. i think that in the under three litre class for front wheel drive we may suprise a few people.dannny normally drives a honda civic, but is already a new volvo fan.