I drove the car to the IPD garage sale yesterday, and left to go to the local pick n pull to buy new (to me) carpet. Drove back to IPD garage sale, and parked.

Car ran fine, showed no real symptoms.

Car sat for about 5 hours and when I went back to the car to leave it started and then stalled and then wouldn't start.

I noticed that the transmission arrow idiot light was flashing. So I googled it, and it sounded like it was a transmission issue (i.e., limp mode) but I don't know why that wouldn't let it start.

I thought it was the lawn mower effect, but in the times I've had this issue before, it A: never showed any idiot light warnings and B: started up eventually within 10-15 minutes.

I looked up other suggestions (car no start, transmission idiot light, etc) and one said that I could try running the shifter through the gears like 15-20 times. It didn't do anything.

I checked the transmission fluid, just to see if it was low. It wasn't. Didn't look strange at all either.

I checked the codes for the transmission (because that was the idiot light) and it through the codes for "Throttle position (TPS) sensor signal too low and Kickdown switch faulty or short to ground".

One thing we noticed, there was a massive amount of corrosion on one of the battery lines. It appears that there are 2 big lines coming off the +battery terminal. On one of the two cables, there was a smaller wire with it. That wire was absolutely toast.

Does anyone know what that second wire does? I don't know the size, but it's probably about 12 gauge (?).

Thankfully a friend of mine works for IPD and he sent over some guys to look. They couldn't figure it out (w/out proper tools, etc).

I had it towed to a local AAA shop, and they'll run a diagnosis on it Monday (hopefully in the process of fixing/figuring out the issue, they'll also diagnose the vacuum leak issue Ive had and that gull-darned squeal).

The tow truck driver thought it wasn't getting any spark (at least I think thats what he said, I was too stressed and hungry to fully comprehend what he was saying at the time).


Could that secondary line on the battery cable maybe feed the coil power?

btw, since I know someone will ask this, I just filled the tank with gas this week. It was getting gas too, they checked that.

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1985 245. 246K Gone..but not forgotten.

Goes to show you, I should've trust my gut.

The guy at the shop tells me the timing belt was worn/tired/burned and oily, due to crank seal leak, etc, and that the harmonic balancer was loose.

So I take off the timing belt shield/cover, and the belt looks perfectly fine. The belt is not oily, worn or burned or anything. In fact, it looks just like it did when I put it in the car 35K ago. And the only spots that have oil in it are at the bottom of the interior shield itself. And that is mostly likely from my spraying lube on the pulleys hoping they'd stop squealing.

Further more, the timing belt shield itself has no signs of oil on it (other than what you'd expect from 240K miles on a car).

Talk about horse crap.

I'm going to look at the other issues the shop claimed I had (CV boots were toast and steering rack was leaking) later today or tomorrow.

If those issues aren't severe, I'm going to call up AAA and complain that they kept my car for 3 days and claimed they found stuff wrong with my car that actually isn't wrong.

Shoulda trusted my gut...
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1985 245. 246K Gone..but not forgotten.

You did infer that the starter motor sounded slower than normal. Go ahead and cut/splice a new end to the small red wire and give it a good connection at the battery. If the starter wasn't getting full voltage/amperage, that might be the problem.

Use baking soda to clean off the terminals and leads. Wipe things down real good and add protective goop as you are putting the leads back on the battery.

Yep, sure sounds like a good shyster outfit. Call AAA and tell them the garage is a total rip off and had no idea why your car wouldn't start.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

the wire they replaced was (I'm certain) the issue.

It starts fine now.

HOWEVER, I just got out from under the car and the "leaking" steering rack, doesn't appear to be leaking. There is oil on it, but it's not from the steering rack, it's from the engine (for f's sake, it has 230K on it, it's bound to have a leak somewhere). the CV Boots that were "torn" didn't appear to be bad.

Granted, I didn't get a look around the boots, but what I did see didn't look bad. I'll know more tomorrow.

So far, the only issue that they have diagnosed was the harmonic balancer (which does wobble a little) and the wire they replaced.

That isn't worth the $$$ they charged me. I will be calling AAA either tomorrow or monday.
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1985 245. 246K Gone..but not forgotten.

I've gotten back the preliminary results.

It was that wire that caused the starting issue, and the coil is tired. Also, the crank seal leaks, which has gotten the timing belt oily.

I'm awaiting the call back from the mechanic. Might end being more than I think the car is worth. :(
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1985 245. 246K Gone..but not forgotten.

Interesting about the crank seal. I wonder why they pulled off the tbelt cover?? You might want to invest in an 8 oz bottle of leak stopper and add it to your oil and see if it helps.

As for the coil, a used one in a P&P should be reasonably priced. I would think that any coil up to 1998 (last year) should work.

If you replace the small red wire, just zip tie it to the outside of the wire cover rather than attempt to route it through its current route.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Ok, got the info I needed.

Harmonic balancer is wobbly, timing belt is thrashed, crank and cam seals are leaking, coil is tired, and PS rack is leaking (tho I replaced that in the last 3 years). I'm sure there is more, but I'll find out when I go to pick it up.

All in all, the cost to have it done is 2.5K

Not worth it to me. I might be able to spread out the cost, have the mechanic fix things and me fix things, but at the same time I'm kind of not super motivated to do that.

But I run the risk of buying a new car that has issues too. Joy.

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1985 245. 246K Gone..but not forgotten.

If you are getting tired of the 1993 but still like the 850's, there are some for sale cheaper than getting your repaired:

https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/d/1997-volvo-850-t5-turbo/6583406107.html
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

funny that you mention that one, I actually contacted that seller recently.

It's tempting, but my preference is now wagons.

There was a nice wagon just last night that I was going to look at today. 110K on it, for 2k. But it sold last night.

One of the good things about Portland is that there volvos' are plenty.

I've started the process of doing a claim on my 850, to see if my insurance will make it worth my while to "total" the car. I doubt they will, but it's worth trying. the damage that occurred is minor, but like someone on here once said, you look at an 850 wrong and insurance companies will total them.

I'll keep people abreast.
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1985 245. 246K Gone..but not forgotten.

Hi; none of the problems are that hard to fix yourself.
I've done each one. crank seal requires a special "tool" to remove the crank pulley. not expensive at all. Cam seals require a cam locking tool. IPD carries one I believe. you have to remove the timing belt to do the cam seals anyway. If you haven't replaced the water pump, when you do this work is a good time to replace it also. it's right there.

I do most of the work on my 95 850 T5R and other than the fact that an absolute idiot installed the engine sideways where it if interesting to say the least to get to some parts, this car is actually fairly easy to work on.

The total parts costs should be a few hundred dollars and should take about four hours labor.

I had them do a 100 point inspection.

I'm sure it's not nearly as bad as it sounds. But it also might end up starting to nickle and dime me.

I'll decide once I hear the complete bill/diagnosis.

Part of me still just wants to replace the engine and transmission (go with a manual). But it's investing money into a 25 year old car...
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1985 245. 246K Gone..but not forgotten.

The 'fat' wire is from the alternator. The 'other' thick wire is actually a group of 6 wires that go to the fuse box. The smaller red wire goes to the starter.

Sounds like there is going to be a bit of splicing at the battery terminal. The starter wire should be replaced completely if it is getting too short.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Hm, if the small wire goes to the starter, wouldn't it not spin when I try to start it?

Could it be that there's just enough wire left in it, to let enough power to go to the starter to spin it, but not enough to spin it quick enough to start?

I didn't hear back from the shop today. Kinda miffed they didn't get back to me.
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1985 245. 246K Gone..but not forgotten.