Where to connect the jumper cables

Volvo 850 jumper cable location

If the booster battery to be used is in another car, check that the cars are not touching to prevent premature completion of negative circuit. Note the position of the battery terminals and using jumper cables:

First connect the booster battery positive (+) terminal (1) to car battery positive (+) terminal (2).

Then connect the booster battery negative (-) terminal (3) to a stationary solid metal part on the engine at a point away from the battery (4).

Do not connect booster cable to any part of fuel system or any moving parts. Avoid touching hot manifolds.
After the engine has started, first remove the negative (-) terminal jumper cable. Then remove the positive (+) terminal jumper cable.

Volvo 850 Charging problem

 On cars of this type and age, the crimp on the positive terminal can fail turning the positive wire to the battery into a resistor rather than a wire.  This is diagnosed by measuring the charging voltage on the battery and giggling the wire (it will jump around, and not remain at the required 13.8 V), and by noticing that the wire itself is hot.  Volvo recently released a fix for this, and previously the shop had to remove the entire wiring harness, at great expense, to fix it. 

850 fuel tank gauge info

The fuel tank holds approximately 19.3 US gals. (73 liters). When the warning light comes on, there is approximately 1.8 US gals. (8 liters) of fuel remaining in the tank. When it reads empty, your screwed.

850 Owners manual

Get one HERE.

850 Volvo Brake specs

DISC BRAKE SPECIFICATIONS TABLE
Application In. (mm) Disc Diameter
Front ……………………………….. 11.02 (280)
Rear ………………………………… 11.61 (295) Lateral Runout (Maximum)
Front ………………………………… .001 (.04) Rear …………………………………. .003 (.08)
Original Thickness
Front …………………………………. 1.02 (26) Rear ………………………………….. .38 (9.6) Minimum Refinish Thickness …………………….. (1)
Discard Thickness
Front ………………………………….. .90 (23) Rear ………………………………….. .33 (8.4)
Parking Brake Drum (Inside Rotor)
Maximum Runout ………………………….. .006 (.15)
(1) – Always use minimum thickness specification stamped on rotors.

Volvo pressure bleeding tricks

Use the above modified cap with a bicycle pump.

Home-Made Pressure Bleeder. [TV Pierce] You can make your own pressure bleeder. Power Motive's is nothing more than a garden sprayer with a brake reservoir cap attached to the end of the tube instead of a spray nozzle (they also add a pressure guage -- but it's not really necessary). The sprayer is about $10 at Home Depot, and a new reservoir cap should be $2-$3 at FCP Groton. Drill a hole through the cap, epoxy a tube fitting through the hole, then cut off the spray nozzle, and attach the reservoir cap.
[Gary Gilliam] I made mine out of a cheap all plastic 4 liter ( about $13) garden sprayer, and an old master cap. I cut the hose just above the sprayer wand, attached a 5/16" brass fitting that is commonly used for repairing air lines: it is barbed on one end to stick inside the hose and has 1/4" NPT threads on the other. This was secured to the hose with a stainless hose clamp and a 1/2" hole was drilled in the extra master cylinder cap to receive the other end of the fitting. The fitting was secured to the cap with a 1/2" long brass NPT straight connector, adding a rubber washer on both sides coated in RTV for good measure. I was going to add a pressure gauge, but never got around to it. It seems to work fine with just enough pumps to get things moving a bit.

Sucking out the old fluid- Turkey baster

Pressure bottle. Learn how to make it HERE.

Volvo 850 Bleeding the brakes

Bleeding hose attached

NOTE: Use only DOT 4 grade brake fluid.

1) Raise and support vehicle. Fill master cylinder reservoir
to maximum mark. Bleed brakes in sequence. See
BRAKELINE BLEEDING SEQUENCE. After bleeding brakes, depress
brake pedal with a force equal to an abrupt stop.

2) Pedal travel should not exceed 1.57" (40 mm). Brake
warning light should not illuminate. If air is still present in
system, repeat procedure.

BRAKELINE BLEEDING SEQUENCE TABLE
850 ..................................... LR Or RR, RF, LF

The adventure begins

The Car

Volvo Man's daily ride.

Formerly just a normal 1996 850. A few enhancements were made for the commute to crime stopper central, Volvo Man's nation wide crime buster electronic network in Valley Forge.

Various Volvo 850 parts

Torque Rod Bushing (suspension bushing)

Front Strut

ABS Module

Volvo 850 VIN information

MODEL IDENTIFICATION

VIN LOCATION

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is located on the
left side of the dash panel at the base of the windshield. The VIN
chart explains the code characters.

VIN CODE ID EXPLANATION

Numbers preceding the explanations in the legend below refer
to the sequence of characters as listed on VIN identification label.

See VIN example below.

 (VIN) Y V 1 L S 5 5 1 X P  1    0   0   0   0   0   1

           1  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17


1 - Manufacturing Country

       Y  *Sweden Or Belgium

2 - Manufacturer

       V  *Volvo

3 - Vehicle Type

       1  *Passenger Vehicle

4 - Vehicle Series

       L  *850 Sedan

5 - Body Style & Restraint System

    S  *850 4-Door Sedan W/ Driver & Passenger Airbags
    S  *850 4-Door W/ Dual Airbags & Pretentioners
    W  *850 5-Door Wagon W/ Driver & Passenger Airbags

6-7 - Engine Type

    55  *B5254S 2.4L 5-Cylinder
    57  *B5234T 2.3L Turbo 5-Cylinder
    58  *B5234T5 2.3L Turbo 5-Cylinder

8 - Emission Control System

    0  *Three-way Converter, Heated Oxygen Sensor, W/O EGR
    1  *Three-way Converter, Heated Oxygen Sensor, W/EGR
    2  *Three-way Converter, Heated Oxygen Sensor, W/EGR, Airpump

9 - VIN Check Digit

    *Computer Generated

10 - Vehicle Model Year

    P  *1993
    R  *1994
    S  *1995
    T  *1996

11 - Assembly Plant

    0  *Kalmar, Sweden
    1  *Torslanda, Sweden
    2  *Ghent, Belgium
    3  *Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
    A  *Uddevalla, Sweden

12-17 - Serial Number
    *Sequential Production Number

Volvo 850 timing belt replacement

2.4L 1996 

ENGINE IDENTIFICATION
Engine may be identified by using Vehicle Identification
Number (VIN) stamped on a metal pad, located near lower left corner of
windshield. The sixth and seventh character identifies engine model.
Engine identification number, located on left side of
cylinder block below cylinder head, may be required when ordering
replacement parts.
ENGINE IDENTIFICATION CODES TABLE
 ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ Engine Code
2.4L (Non-Turbo) ...................................... 55
 ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ ✁ 

CAUTION:Failure to replace a faulty camshaft timing belt may result
in serious engine damage.

The condition of camshaft drive belts should always be
checked on vehicles which have more than 50,000 miles. Although some
manufacturers do not recommend belt replacement at a specified
mileage, others require it at 60,000-100,000 miles. A camshaft drive
belt failure may cause extensive damage to internal engine components
on most engines, although some designs do not allow piston-to-valve
contact. These designs are often called "Free Wheeling".
Many manufacturers changed their maintenance and warranty
schedules in the mid-1980’s to reflect timing belt inspection and/or
replacement at 50,000-60,000 miles. Most service interval schedules in
this manual reflect these changes.

Belts or components should be inspected and replaced if any
of the following conditions exist:
*Cracks Or Tears In Belt Surface
*Missing, Damaged, Cracked Or Rounded Teeth
*Oil Contamination
*Damaged Or Faulty Tensioners
*Incorrect Tension Adjustment
Volvo recommends replacement of the camshaft timing belt at
the following intervals:

CAMSHAFT TIMING BELT REPLACEMENT INTERVAL TABLE
Application Interval (Miles)
1993 ................................................... 50,000
1994-96 ................................................ 70,000

TIMING BELT
Removal
1) Remove spark plug cover and 2 fuel line clips. Lift out
expansion tank and place on top of engine. Remove front timing belt
cover. Remove auxiliary drive belt. Remove right front wheel and
release wheel arch liner to gain access to vibration damper. Remove
vibration damper guard. Turn crankshaft clockwise until all timing
marks are aligned. See Fig. 8.
2) Remove tensioner upper mounting bolt and loosen tensioner
lower bolt. Twist tensioner to free pulley. Remove lower bolt,
tensioner, upper timing belt cover and belt.
3) Remove tensioner upper mounting bolt and loosen lower
mounting bolt. Twist tensioner to free plunger/pulley. Remove lower
bolt, tensioner and belt.
CAUTION:DO NOT turn crankshaft or camshafts while belt is removed.
Inspection
1) Spin tensioner and idler pulleys and listen for bearing
noise. See Fig. 11.
2) Ensure pulley surfaces in contact with belt are clean and
smooth. Check tensioner pulley arm and idler pulley mountings, and
tighten bolts as necessary. See  TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS. Check tensioner
for signs of leakage, no resistance when depressed, or a plunger that
cannot be depressed.

Installation
1) Compress tensioner and tighten center nut. Wait until
compression has taken place and insert a 2 mm locking pin in plunger.

Install tensioner and tighten mounting bolts to 18 ft. lbs. (25 N.m).
Place timing belt around crankshaft pulley and right idler. Place belt
over camshaft pulleys. Position belt around water pump and press over
tensioner pulley.

2) Rapidly remove tensioner locking pin. 

To complete installation,
reverse removal procedure. Turn crankshaft 2 revolutions to ensure
timing marks on crankshaft and camshaft pulleys are aligned.

WATER PUMP
Removal
Remove expansion tank cap and drain coolant. Remove timing
belt. See TIMING BELT. Remove bolts holding water pump to engine
block. See Fig. 13. Remove water pump.
Installation
Remove old gasket from cylinder block. Install water pump.
Tighten mounting bolts alternately to 15 ft. lbs. (20 N.m). Install
timing belt. See TIMING BELT. Fill engine with coolant. Start engine
and check for leaks.