Swevival: The Rebirth of an 850 Turbo

"EddyE" (eddye) 11/27/2013 at 23:52 • Filed to: 850, Turbo, Wagon

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My wife is highly amused by my love of wagons. I’m always pointing out the cool ones, whether it’s an old woodie, a 3 series wagon, or the latest !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Is it irrational that I am attracted to sweet, sweet utility and the sexy profile of a long roof? Maybe. A couple of my friends theorize that I am demonstrating through my car choices a willingness to father children. I don’t think that planning ahead is necessarily a bad thing, but really, guys, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I have some car projects to focus on before that happens.

Some of you may have read about why I love my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . You’ll notice that driving in the snow is not one of those reasons. After deciding it’d be nice to preserve the BMW from Ohio's salty winter surfaces, I started considering winter rides.

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Enter the Moose. A friend of mine had decided it was time to get a new car, as the 1996 850 Turbo he and his girlfriend daily drove had begun to pose more problems than it was worth to them. It needed a steering rack, the radio worked intermittently, the AC didn’t work at all, and the turbo was slowly evacuating oil from the engine. To add insult to injury, someone had recently broken the left rear passenger window to steal some bags from the back seat.

Knowing its immediate needs, I searched the interwebs for comparable volvo wagons (which, it turns out, are relatively plentiful in their high-mileage glory) to help price the car. As soon as I realized that this car would cost less than a set of wheels and snow tires for the BMW, even considering the steering rack and window, I made Tom an offer and headed to Washington, D.C. shortly thereafter to celebrate new year’s and pick up the latest addition to my automotive family.

Let’s discuss the inherent awesome here. Five cylinders— the number is a bit of a novelty to me, and will sound great when I add an aftermarket exhaust. Turbo. 222hp, which doesn’t make this wagon a screamer, but it’s more than enough for a beater car. And this particular car is a Platinum Edition (I can see you all reading this and getting giddy with excitement— please contain yourselves), which means that the car is fully optioned and has a beautiful paint color that is a blend of white and silver depending on the light.

Maybe the awesomeness meter isn’t pegged for you. This may be where the irrational part comes in for me. “Turbo Volvo!” my brain kept saying. “Cult car! Hauling things! British Touring Car Racers! Sleeper potential!” With a little TLC, I could have a functional winter beater and maybe even a future daily. I had a junkyard send me a passenger window and identified a place where I could get a remanufactured steering rack at a reasonable price.

(this is one of my favorite photos and was reminded of it in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! piece. Yay #1!)

With the odometer stuck at 210,366 miles for at least a few months, it was no longer clear just how aged this car was. But Tom had been religious in keeping records— nearly an inch thick of repair and maintenance paperwork since they’d gotten the car in the early 2000's. This made me feel good about my purchase. When I arrived in DC I got to work cleaning out the broken glass from the door jam and installing the new window for the journey home.

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The first drive was the trip back to Ohio, and it was rather tentative. I tried to feel out any unidentified pitfalls, but the heated seats and heater worked better than described, the car felt fine, if a bit wallowy, above 75 mph, and the turbo appeared to make boost without a problem. Shortly after I got home, another friend of mine and I replaced the steering rack relatively easily. We realized that an upside to a leaky turbo is that most of the nuts and bolts underneath it come undone in short order. I found some steel wheels with cheap snow tires two miles from my house for $30, and the Moose was all set for winter.

February 2nd, 2013 brought a minor blizzard to Cleveland. The Moose performed admirably as I chauffeured my girlfriend around on a scavenger hunt that led to her becoming my fiancee. It even allowed for handbrake tail out antics in the empty snow-covered Cleveland streets.

As April rolled around, I was pouring more oil into the Moose and I’d noticed that the oil that was in the car was beginning to look a bit like chocolate milk. The PCV system was bad, too. Fortunately, we’d made it through the winter unscathed and I could park it for a little while and decide how to proceed.

Flash forward several months. My fiancee is now my wife, and it’s getting time to park the BMW for another winter. I decided that the Moose had earned a long-term spot in our garage, but to do so meant that it had to undergo some surgery. After weighing costs and the desire to have a wagon around for a while, I decided to pick up an 85,000 mile engine and 69,000 mile transmission for a heart transplant. I had the timing belt done on the new to me engine and I fitted a new PCV system as well.

One of the awesome things about my wife is that she let me put a few car-related things on the registry. Some friends of mine got us a buffer with a variety of pads and polishes. I’m not sure that the Moose had seen wax in several years, so before the big work was done I made use of our wedding present and made the platinum paint shine like it should.

I also bought an odometer gear to fix the stopped counter, and installed a fix that stops the back door card from rattling. It’s slowly turning into a rolling restoration— a little thing here and a little thing there.

As I type this, the new-used engine is ready to swap places on the subframe with the old one and the turbo is headed to a shop to be rebuilt. No, the Moose doesn’t carve corners like the ZHP, and the stereo only works with a cd or that tape adapter that lets me play my iPhone. But I still can’t wait to hit the winter roads in my refreshed ride. This isn’t the end of the Swevival— no, it’s the beginning of the Moose’s second life. Stay tuned for more!

offroadkarter > EddyE 11/28/2013 at 00:02

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Its to bad you couldn't have sourced an R motor to drop in, that would be pretty sweet

Still, kudos to keeping this turbo box on the road

Biostar01 > EddyE 11/28/2013 at 00:18

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Volvo Express.

It means it.

Biostar01 > EddyE 11/28/2013 at 00:20

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Good job and good luck, man.

Also, a belated congratulations on your marriage!

EddyE > Biostar01 11/28/2013 at 08:35

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Thanks!

EddyE > offroadkarter 11/28/2013 at 08:41

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Thanks! I thought about that but an ECU flash like this was only a little more than the premium of a used, low-ish mile R engine. That is likely a springtime modification!

505Turbeaux > EddyE 12/02/2013 at 17:30

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Just so you know, that is a one year only model. It is called a Platinum Edition, and it was more expensive than the R of '96. Came with the special wheels and the pearl paint, and usually nice faux wood trimmed interior. They made 1000 sedans and 500 wagons. I have had one of each. Looks like yours is missing the spoiler too.

Now on to doing the drive cycle to set the OBD2 readiness monitors. Good luck with that pain in the ass.

Here is a pic of my old one in the background

BOB JACOBSON > offroadkarter 12/02/2013 at 19:04

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Surprisingly the R engine is exactly the same. The only difference is the ECU which lets it run an extra 2 psi and gives it the bump to 236 bhp.

offroadkarter > BOB JACOBSON 12/02/2013 at 19:30

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I shoulda been more specific since I remember they made the older R wagons, I meant the 04-07 300hp engine.

EddyE > 505Turbeaux 12/02/2013 at 21:36

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I was aware it was relatively rare, but didn't know it was made in such limited numbers! Not that a 200k mile car has much of any value. The county in which I am registered doesn't require emissions, so hopefully drive cycle won't be a problem. I just looked that up— sounds like no fun, and I have some homework to do. Thank you for the heads up!

PDM33 > EddyE 12/03/2013 at 07:29

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Great write up! Hopefully you will get some pics when she is all put back together and running again. Cleveland winter is coming!!

505Turbeaux > EddyE 12/03/2013 at 07:58

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I am well versed in the intricacies of the 96 turbo. Feel free to hit me up on this post if you need any advice

EddyE > 505Turbeaux 12/08/2013 at 11:45

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505— Two Questions, since mat's volvo site was not as helpful as I'd hoped.

The replacement engine is a 94 and has EGR. the 96 does not. Do I need to swap the intake and exhaust manifolds from the 96 or can I run as-is?

The second is that I've been told I can run the 94 harness that came with the 94. The connections are all the same— there's only one random connection. Just wanted to confirm that.

Thanks in advance! I'll be putting this in the car this week. Can't wait!

505Turbeaux > EddyE 12/08/2013 at 12:14

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buying an OBD1 engine and putting it in an OBD2 car presents a whole mess of issues. You do want to swap the intake and exhaust over, and do yourself a whole world of good by replacing the PCV breather box while it is out and the intake is off. $40 in parts right from the dealership and you will be saving yourself time down the road. 96 computer is unique to that year, so you want to make sure everything with a sensor matches up to the harness and is of the same spec. Good luck man, feel free to bounce anything else off of me!

EddyE > 505Turbeaux 12/08/2013 at 12:54

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Thanks. I have been told and researched that the mechanicals (aside from egr) are no different 94-96, but obviously the management/monitoring evolved.

I did pick up a new PCV and new timing belt/tensioner for the new to me engine.

I'll swap over the manifolds per your recommendation. I may swap harnesses too, although the only difference I have found is one additional connection on the 94. I'll let you know how it goes.

505Turbeaux > EddyE 12/08/2013 at 12:57

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thanks man, keep me updated. I know you dont have emissions, but pulling that cluster to yank the lamp isnt the easiest thing. And sometimes having functioning monitoring is a useful thing to the home repairer, saving you pulling out the multimeter when you get a skip in it!

EddyE > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 10:33

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It runs! mostly. The engine that I got is leaking oil despite some new cam seals and a rear main seal. I need to get it on the road asap so the shade-tree stuff has concluded and I took it to my mechanic.

I swapped over the manifolds and harness per your recommendation. Only thing that doesn't work is the cruise control.

505Turbeaux > EddyE 01/13/2014 at 10:35

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cool, you did the PCV system too? Psyched to hear! Another platinum back on the road! My V70R blew up since this post (wife ran it for 10 miles with a bad oil pump, d'oh). congrats man, and thanks for letting me know!

EddyE > 505Turbeaux 01/13/2014 at 10:40

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Yep, PCV, brakes, snow tires, rear O2 sensor, etc etc. I just hope we can take care of the oil leaks without breaking the bank!

I saw your R died— did you end up replacing it?

505Turbeaux > EddyE 01/13/2014 at 10:47

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sort of! Just went and got an Audi 90 quattro sedan to ride out the winter in, then I will see if I have time to do the swap. Oil leak cant be anything too severe. Clean the block up and monitor the leak. You will be able to tell easily what is up as soon as it starts again.

area man > EddyE 03/24/2014 at 20:59

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Right in the feels!

I spent much of the mid-90s flicking off drivers from the rear-facing back seat in my mom's 850 Turbo. I'm now remembering the finicky radio, the rattling hatch, the time my mom took me out on an empty highway to show me how the turbo worked.

It was bequeathed to my older brother, who had a hell of a time until he spun off an icy road six months before I got my permit. I've only just forgiven him.