recently found a 96 855 with turbo and 4 speed auto. The owner and the indy shop he had it repaired at have both swore that the car has been maintained faithfully, except for the a/c evaporator which has a leak.

THe car has 129k miles and the owner doesnt' run syn, just regular changed at 5k intervals or sooner. Should I worry about this car as a potential buy? I dont' want something that I'll anticipate a turbo replacement in the near future.

Also, does anyone know the going rate for an evap. replacement job on a 96 855? The owner wants a mint for the car, and I want to anticipate the total cost for replacing everything on the car that might need maintenance within the next 10k miles.

TIA!

P.S. Is it just me, or does the 850 look alot nicer than the newer v/s70's?

"NOTE:
Volvo does not recommend the use of oil additives.
Synthetic oil is not used when the oil is changed at the normal maintenance intervals except at owner request and at additional charge. Please consult your Volvo retailer."

BTW, the newest 850 is about 10 years old, now.

-BTC

'98 V70 T5 5-speed, 170k mi, Mobil-1 synthetic since new. Still doesn't use any oil between changes.

The 850 had "crisper" lines. I like the looks of mine.
Turbo failure is rare. Sludge build up is not, an that is due to the American speed limits and the engine seldom reving above 3,000. This is a fast car and is meant to drive fast. I suggest replacing the oil separator and cleaning the vacuum lines.
No, synthetic is not mandatory, but it is hard to find a good oil at 5W30 or 5W40 depending on air temp. I change mine at 10K intervals and it still looks clean. If you continue to use regular oil, change it every 3K miles. Or at least the filter, and then top off with new oil.
The AC evap requires the entire dash to come out of the car. About 10-12hours of mechanic time, it they know what they are doing. I just add more r134a when it needs it.

Klaus
--
1975 164E running? 1995 854T sweet 1998 V70 R work horse

Syn is recommended in the owners manual for Turbos. Also, Syn doesn't build up sludge as readily which can result in a positive effect on your oil trap and associated lines. If these plug, you will eventually lose your rear engine seal which is expensive to replace.

Oil is cheap--I use only Mobil 1 and change it every 5K miles even though some say this is overkill. I also use Mobil 1 ATF and flush the tranny every 30K miles.
--
96 850T, Bilstein HD, IPD swaybars-HD endlinks

jack43,
I totally suport your comments. I always wanted to ask the folks with clogged oil separators and PCV systems(leading to leaking main bearing seals) about their oil change practices. I have put hundreds of thousands of miles on turbo volvos(from 240s to S80s using synthetic (Mobil-1 and now Amsoil 2000) changing at the "overkill" 5k intervals and never had a clogging problem or leak, let alone a turbo bearing problem. Cheapest insurance you can buy!!
LarryP

With 5k oil changes, I think synthetic is overkill. The internal engines on these cars rarely fail, and the turbo's health is based more on how well they were allow to cool down before shutting the engine off. And posts over the last several years here suggest that turbo failures are also very rare. My 850 turbo (LPT) bought second hand now has over 130,000 miles and I doubt the original owner let it cool down since they seemed to be oblivious to anything mechanical.
--
1993 240 Classic; 1992 240; 1997 850 GLT; Mitsubishi 4 cyl.