1996 850 turbo. My speedo and od are fine car is US based. when I bought this one Sunday the outside temp read in celsius, no problem I pushed the m and h at the same time and got Farenhiet. Problem solved, NOT. It appears the avg miles per gal, miles, and mpg are in liters or metric. Now for the kicker. The instant miles per gal go up to 16-19 when I floor it. and go down to 6-10 when I am coasting. My ave is around 10. the opposite of what one would think. What's up, did someone reverse a set of wires? The car appears to be getting around 20-22 mpg; by using the method of computing mpg prior to trip computers. You know, use a calculator and divide miles by gallons. HELP

LOL. Seems PO bought a new computer from Canada or Europe. Your computer is based on Kilos and Liters! There is no button to push to change it to Miles and Gallons.
Compare the miles driven on the trip odometer with the amount driven on the computer. Then divide the computer 'miles' by 8 and multiply that result by 5 and you should have the same number of miles on the odo.

Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

Disconnected battery for about 1 hour and now it is fine . reading in U S

Now you have my curiosity. That means the PO did something to the computer to get Km and Liters, and when you "re-booted" the computer, it went back to its original state.
I wonder what he did, and how he did it. My pocket data booklet has nothing in the A7 port for that. Perhaps when you get your PC conected you can figure this one out. Some of the Europhiles on this site might want to be able to jump back and forth between MPG and L/100Km.

Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

your right again. when my od says 1 miles my trip says 1.6. 1.6/8x5=1. can it be changed with a scan tool or by the dealer? I don't mean the unit ,I mean the software. Thanks Rick 3/850's 94,95,96 turbo sedans

I never did like that snobby dealership in your area, but you need to call them and ask. I didn't see anything in the pocket data booklet that would let you change the setting. At least it doesn't affect drivability.
Have fun,
Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

which snobby dealership? barrington volvo. the dumb ass said to hold the m and h button. It doesn't do crap except change the time and temp

Open the door and look at the build plate. If there is a maple leaf on it, it is a Canadian car!
I just got off the phone with Borton, my local nice guys, and they said it would be very expensive to swap in an American instrument panel. There is no programmable memory.
Sorry,

Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

No Maple leaf on door... but there is a bunch of dings from seat beat being smashed in the door jamb.

Called Patrick Volvo The service guy asked a tech; might be able to do it myself, but the tech says it needs to be programed and needs a PIN # (?). Boils down to they will do it for $54.00. Thanks you all. I am going to buy a obd2 and see what I can come up with. This is not the end of the world; the car runs great. yo, Klaus or any one else, which one shoud I get (ob2) ?

If you have a laptop, try this:
http://brickboard.com/AWD/index.htm?id=923978

Laptops with a connector are best, easier to program and monitor all systems on your car.
There is a guy in the Brit Volvo Club who builds his own scanner! Most scanners cost less than $150, but you will have to figure out what features you want/need.

Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

I disconected the battery to do some ipod satilite wiring, when I put it back together the frickin' trip computer is reading in U S not metric. Note to self... a good old battery diconect can save alot of typing.

Sounds like maybe the thing is reading in liters per 100 km. Don't the Europeans specify their fuel usage in this or a similar way (inverse of the US way?)

you may be right. any idea how to change it to the U S mode. I got the temp. changed to ferinhight sp?

According to the manual, the trip computer can be toggled between degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit, and 12 hour and 24 hour time, but not miles/km displays.

It's apparently hard-wired into the unit depending on which country it's going to. You'll have to get a different driving computer unit.

I may mis-remember this, but several years ago I was shopping around for a computer to put in my GLT and the US and Canadian ones had different part numbers.