jules

as a follow up to the last entry - the electrical portion of the ignition switch didn't solve my instrument panel light problem. Went to dealer to get a new rheostat switch . . . $177!! as i had it out i dropped it too, breaking the slider like a knucklehead. I won one on ebay for 8 dollars, but i am suspicious that when it comes it won't fix the problem. I did the cabin filter last weekend & ended up having the fuel filter done & seat back cable w/ an oil change. Really didn't need to do the seat back cable but hey. this week the wife filled the tank and parked in front of the house (we live on a hill). i noticed fuel leak the next morning, seems like the same problems as the threads here w/ fuel tank leaks @ the top of the tank so i need to take a good look to see if i need to replace that hose. Its tooo damn cold out right now though. I did manager to get out there and pull & clear my codes so here they are recorded. #A1 - transmission: --- 2, 3, 2 (missing spedometer signal) i believe this is old, previous owner pulled the instrument cluster out to replace lights. #A2 - engine: --- 2, 3, 2 (long term fuel trim @ idle) & 1, 2, 1 (missing or faulty MAF signal) #A3 - ABS: ---- 2, 1, 3 (no left rear signal on moving: off) & 2, 1, 4 (no right rear signal on moving: off) so i'll give it a bit of time & see which come back, may only be the A2 codes. Have a couple of other issues though that still need to be addressed besides the instrument lights & the fuel tank leak. Still need to solve the scrapping sound in the engine, sounds very much like it is coming from the alternator. I checked the power steering fluid and it is not low. Also, i am still getting a lot of blue smoke @ startup and am going to need to address this as well. I have had to put a bit of coolent into it recently so that may not be a good sign, though i'll keep researching on volvo speed for that issue - flame trap? i also still need to set by boost controller, so i don't bend any bars.

Have the car up again today - going for the following: cabin filter (http://www.volvospeed.com/pollenfliter.php) fuel filter (http://volvospeed.com/Repair/fuelfilter.php) oil & filter change driver's side seat back cable replacement (http://www.volvospeed.com/Repair/seatcable1.php) and the Electrical portion of the ignitian switch (ww.volvospeed.com/Repair/ignit_switch.php) thanks to VS for clueing me into the last one -- my wife had been calling me telling me that the headlights weren't working and i was getting pretty frustrated with her to be honest (hon, turn the switch off the parking lights setting!). we'd had all the problems, difficulty getting it into park, ABS & TRACS lights - seatbelt lights, and headlight issues. well - sure enough on the way to Maine the instrument panel lights went out -- was a bit hard in the snow trying to drive and check the gas gauge w/ a flashlight. hope this part will solve all of that - and also alow me to get my key out of the ignition which sticks, but i didn't see mentioned on any of the pages, so am keeping my fingers crossed that it goes away too. Car is running well since last entry - did have some knocking on the way back from up north a few weeks ago, but that only lasted for about half the trip - was it too much boost?? not sure - i have a blue BC switch in ther and need to get it set - think the thing is totally open right now and if i am not careful i'll push it past 20, especially when the pod doesn't have any light to it! so now i need to find a parkinglot in brooklyn that i can open it up in and set the Boost Controller. Still getting tons of blue smoke on startup tho (usually only the first one of the day tho) i've been reading a bit about the list of things this could be and am rightly concerned that this will an expensive one to deal with - hope i can tough it out a while longer without doing any real damage tho. any thoughts? looking forward to pulling and clearing codes one of these days too . . . and kinda scared! hoping i get nulls. Still have no idea why my cargo area light won't come on either, has me totally confounded. Other than that - baby is running real sweet, and i've been putting her to work too. will need to post some shots, just been too damn busy.

put the hose on yesterday -- my baby is back!!! amazing what a difference it made . . . too bad i was only able to test it out on brooklyn streets, need to get on the interstate! oil change today - also fixing the panel above the pedals which has been hanging too low to wear boots when driving.

Just got the second intercooler hose i ordered from FCPgroton (part num 6842774 - T/Body hose) -- first one had a slight ding in the rubber and Ncik was super helpful - sent another right out w/ return lable. Need to get it on tomorrow, also overdue for an oil change.

I purchased a volvo that was profiled here for a while in September of 06 (here is the link to the original forum http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/Fs-1995-850...rea-t41950.html ). I'm an utter newbie to this site and have seen the frustration that newbies cause to the regular people posting so figured i would start this blog and see if any interest comes from it cause i'd hate to post without searching!! here is the description & the mod's listed on the previous link from the guy i purchased the car from: "Black leather/alcantera interior on Black paint Interior is in excellent/clean condition. No rips/cracks or stains Car is rust-free 6-disc trunk changer 3rd row seat Dash has one small (fixed) blemish Front spoiler has some chipped paint Car was keyed on the passenger side fender (touched-up) Hood has some small paint defects around the water knozzles All wheels have some curb rash No dents, and maybe a few small dings A/C blows VERY cold H&R / Bilstein HD suspension on both front and rear IPD/TME full exhaust system Pod-mounted analog boost gauge Stainless brake lines and slotted rotors up front New/upgraded high-pressure turbo (unknown make) Upgraded ECU/chip (unknown make) Aftermarket downpipe (unknown make) Cone intake filter (no heat shield) Aftermarket keyless/alarm system Dark window tint all-around After purchasing the car, I had a top to bottom inspection done on the car at Rawbear Performance in NJ, a Volvo-only specialist. I wanted the car to be extremely reliable and "set up" properly, if required. The check came back very positive, with exception to the following repairs that I had performed: Inspection of timing belt (checked, recently replaced prior to purchase) Transmission fluid flushed and replaced Passenger side control arm replaced Motor mount replaced Coolant flushed and replaced Rear caliper seized (replaced, along with rotors and pads) Synthetic oil change Instrument panel / speedo gear replaced" The car is great & we love it - but unfortunately i'm a total newbie to this site and to pretty much all these performance upgrades so i am predicting that this blog will be filled with some frustration until i find someone in the area (brooklyn ny) who can help me take care of a car like this beauty. Now for the list of what i have done with this baby since i've had it: i bought the car @ 098696 miles on 9/6/06. a couple of little things had to be taken care of right away, and i took it to my body guy to do this work: replace driving lights (replaced w/ angel eyes -- need to be pointed and are a little too large to really aim them well - but love the blue ring) re-glue gasket around driver side passenger door overall inspection change oil replace/fix cargo light check brakes inspect alarm & quote replacement replace 5th door wagon struts after this work was done i took it to a poor excuse for a mechanic in brooklyn "mitchell's auto" i found this guy on Cartalk's website ( love the guys and used to work for them ) because the service light was on and i wanted someone who worked with volvo's and could get it off. . . taking it to this guy was a BAD IDEA . . . so let me give you some background to justify: I work here in NYC @ a company that does digital retouching for advertising agencies and we do tons of car retouchign ( Jaguar, Saab, Kia, VOLVO, VW, Toyota, BMW, etc). About as far removed from grease and break cleaner as you get. My wife is a fashion designer and we have no driveway, no garage and little time to tinker. This volvo is going to get a work out: hauling K's of LB's of clothing and some aggressive NY driving. Though i am far from slow on the uptake i want to make sure this car lasts and is taken care of - so i'll go into a little story that will explain what the newbie suffers through and get back into my record or repairs: For thanksgiving we were heading down to NC & VA. I had planned to take the car on the Blue Ridge Parkway so definitely wanted to take the car to a mechanic after i had my Body Guy take and the only one i trust here in nYC take a look at it. Ended up changing the front struts. Well the guy never properly torqed the lower bolts and in Roanoke, VA the bolt on the driver's side fell out. Long story short, i ended up getting the recommendation from the x-new jersey manager to change the intercooler hose as it had a ripped. In richmond i popped by Mooers Volvo & picked up a new hose ( part number 9161093 ) to discover that i really needed one from 1994 ( part number 6842774 ). My guess from looking around the site is that i've got the mod to reverse it - whatever that means. Doesn't mean i love the car any less. Back to the repairs: replaced back shocks ( detials to follow ) replace the front struts welded sway bar replaced muffler mount pointed headlights cargo light all done by the guy that can't screw in bolts replaced the rear tires, balanced, alignment all done by sears in brooklyn ( a saga unto itself -- 5 hours and a mess ) so need to deal with the intercooler hose - tried epoxy and that didn't hold much at all, thought the boost is better with some duct tape added. well - that's it for now - wife is home!!! more later