My wife owns a '95 850 with 82K miles on it. I just reassembled the car after replacing a defective transmission input seal. While I had it disassembled, I replaced the rear main seal, and the clutch assembly.

While I had the car apart, I found a broken upper engine mount, a really loose right front wheel bearing, and the outboard CV boot for the same right front torn. Has anybody encountered similiar problems? Looking at Kino's Volvo page it appears the upper mount fails quite often. Unfortinately, the wheel bearing is nonadjustable, and to order it, it's part of a hub assembly, which set me back more than $150!

It's been a good car, with minor trouble. This summer I noticed the AC compressor kicking off and on when the ambient temperature is 95 degree's or higher. It makes it uncomfortable waiting for the AC to kick back on. Is there a temperature overheat sensor I should check? I checked the freon pressures, and I believe they are in the proper operating range.

The only other problem was a leaking heater core. My father in law poured stop leak into the cooling system, which stopped the leak, but reduced the efficiency of the heating system. That's my next big project.

One more thing I'll tackle soon is replacing the timing belt. Are there any words of wisdom before I tackle this job? I asked the Volvo dealer if I could purchase special tools required to do the job, and he said he didn't sell them. I guess my next stop is the Snap-on dealer. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Kevin Richards

Copperas Cove, Texas