Is the exhaust fumes black or sooty and is the bodywork around the tailpipe stained black ?
If so, its runnig abnormally rich.
I had this problem on my 100,000m 1995 2.5 20v manual estate and a new oxygen sensor sorted it.
But it could be a different problem like clogged air filter or faulty fuel pressure regulator or injector.
I now get up to 32mpg on a long run and around 20mpg around town.

You didn't mention where & how you drive... city driving lower MPG, quick starts/stops lower MPG. I also notice cold northeast winter weather can lower MPG. I take it that with 168 hp base model we are not talking turbo? Turbo also get less MPG then my following non-turbo comments.

The worse MPG my wife's '94 5speed 850 wagon got was 19 towing a 2500lb camper in the Adirondac Mtns. Typically she gets about 27 (a little higher when winter tires come off), if we notice lower we look for other problems. One time we found a caliper was not releasing properly and in effect she was driving with the brake on. To check this simply drive for a while and when stopped put your hand near each tire to feel any excessive heat off the rotors. If it glows red get it checked!

On my '93 850 GLT with 173,000 miles on it, anything under 25 has me changing plugs, oil, distributer and rotor. Typically I get about 29, but then I do mostly highway miles.

Both cars run 87 octane gas with Mobil One in the crankcase. And both have had transmission (1 manual & 1 automatic) fluids changed at 100k.

Hi,
I have 94 850 TURBO w/K&N fiter, and relocated horns. I get city driving only between 19 to 19.6 mpg ( those are actual mpg not from trip computer which is about 0.5 mpg higher) on 93 octane gas. I live in South Florida and my A/C is on all the time. 3 weeks ago I replaced front 02 sensor and my milage improved by 1 mpg.

I also drive pretty hard and I use Mobil 1 15w50 oil.

One of the thing people overlook is tire pressure. Make sure your tires are not underinflated.

Good luck,

Zee

94 850 Turbo, 78K miles

Spark plugs, throttle body cleaning, fuel system treatment, revving the engine above 4k RPMs sporadically to get the valves turning... all these things will combine to give you more efficiency. Also, new rotor/wires can't hurt. Maybe you should look at your engine while it's idling at night/dark garage (remember ventilation) to see if a spark is jumping a wire to the block.

With all this I get 17.5 to 18.5 in cold engine, hilly, hard city driving. '97 850 T5.

Matthew
http://www.evenfive.com/volvo

Wow!!!

You might want try to reset your MPG meter on your comp.

J- I have a 97 T5A and I get between 14-16 city on regular gas. I have over 100K miles now and I figure thats not too bad since I drive hard(it's good for MY engine)sometimes. On the turnpike it goes up to 21.6. I suggest you do a few things: put a can/bottle of STP complete fuel system cleaner($7.5) in tank and fill 'er up; turn trip indicator to mpg position and reset by holding button for a few seconds; turn trip indicator to "miles to '0'" and it should indicate over 320 miles. If need be replace gas filter(really simple and cheap). Start car and drive a few miles(preferably on the highway) and take a reading. Over the next few days recheck to see if any improvements over pre-fix. IMHO, grade of gas don't make any major diff. in MPG. The key is to keep the entire system clog free and run you car hard(say, 70-85mph) sometimes to work the injectors and burn off condensation on your plugs. I know that car manuals say "19/25" mpg, but that S*&% is only for new cars, pal. Most people don't get those numbers from their cars due to many factors. good luck, BD

That all you will get around town... and normal driving...

on longer trip than you will get around 25-30


that what I get with mine 1994 turbo town 14-15 max