1997 VOLVO 850 Complaints

SIMILAR TO NHTSA ID NUMBER: 10365806. WHEN FUEL TANK IS FILLED COMPLETELY, THERE IS A STRONG ODOR OF FUEL OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE AND SOME FUEL ODOR IN THE TRUNK. NO ODOR WHEN TANK IS ONLY PARTIALLY FULL, E.G., 80% FULL. ODOR NOTICED WHEN VEHICLE STATIONARY. NO ODOR IN PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. ISSUE ONGOING FOR ROUGHLY LAST 7 YEARS (NOT SURE). NO DRIPPING FUEL OBSERVED. LEAK MAY BE AT FUEL PUMP QUICK-DISCONNECT FITTINGS. LEAK MAY HAVE STARTED AS A RESULT OF EVAP SYSTEM REPAIR IN LATE 2009--NOT SURE. DEALER CLAIMED TO HAVE FIXED LEAK AT FUEL PUMP FITTINGS IN 2011, BUT ODOR ISSUE PERSISTS IF TANK COMPLETELY FULL. NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ISSUES SINCE 2011. I AVOID FILLING TANK COMPLETELY TO AVOID ODOR. IF I INADVERTENTLY FILL TANK COMPLETELY, ODOR RETURNS. "WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN" DATE I ENTERED IS JUST A ROUGH GUESS OF WHEN THE ISSUE STARTED. VEHICLE IS STORED OUTDOORS AND DRIVEN INFREQUENTLY, ~ ONCE PER WEEK AVERAGE. ODOR IS EASILY NOTICEABLE OUTDOORS WHEN TANK IS COMPLETELY FULL.

GENERAL ALTIMAX RT43. I HAD 4 TIRES IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS AND 6,000 MILES DEVELOP SIDE WALL BUBBLES CAUSED BY TIRE PLAY SEPARATION AND BANDS BREAKING. I TIRE HADE BEEN REPLACED AND IT DEVELOPED A BUBBLE IN LESS THAN A MONTH. NO HARD DRIVING ON THE CAR AND NO POTHOLES OR RAILROAD TRACK IMPACTS. THIS IS A COMMON THREAD AND IT IS TIME FOR THE NHTSA TO INVESTIGATE. I HAVE NOW BOUGHT SIX TIRES IN SIX MONTHS TO REPLACE THE DAMAGED TIRES. I AM STILL WAITING TO HERE IF GENERAL WILL REPLACE ONE UNDER WARRANTY AND HAVE ANOTHER IN THE TRUNK OF MY CAR THAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED WHILE I DRIVE AROUND ON THE SPARE TIRE. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN UNDER NORMAL USE. PRIOR TO THIS I HAVE DRIVEN APPROXIMATELY 1MILLION MILES AND HAVE NEVER HAD TO REPLACE A TIRE DUE TO SIDE WALL BUBBLES.

THE TIRE DEALER RECOMMENDED MICHELIN PRIMACY MXV4 AS A REPLACEMENT TIRE FOR MY 1997 VOLVO 850 (NORMALLY ASPIRATED) SEDAN. THE MICHELIN WEBSITE DESCRIBED THIS TIRE AS AN "ACCEPTABLE SUBSTITUTE" FOR THE TIRES SPECIFIED BY VOLVO BECAUSE MICHELIN NO LONGER OFFERS HIGH PERFORMANCE TIRES IN MY SIZE. STOPPING POWER IS MUCH WORSE WITH THESE NEW MICHELIN TIRES. THEY SQUEAL EASILY, EVEN AT VOLVO'S HIGHEST RECOMMENDED AIR PRESSURE (36PSI). I HAD DIFFICULTY STOPPING FROM 50MPH IN AN EMERGENCY, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY 17 YEAR OWNERSHIP OF THIS VEHICLE. I BLAME THESE NEW "COMFORT ORIENTED" TIRES. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 VOLVO 850. THE CONTACT STATED WHEN FUEL WAS DISPENSED INTO THE FUEL TANK TO THE FULL CAPACITY LEVEL, SHE WOULD SMELL A STRONG ODOR OF FUEL INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. IN ADDITION, THERE WOULD BE FUEL LEAKAGE ON THE GROUND UNDERNEATH THE FUEL TANK. THE FUEL WAS DISPENSED TO THREE QUARTERS OF A TANK TO AVOID THE FAILURE. THERE WAS A RECALL ASSOCIATED WITH NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 04V368000 (FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE). THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL DEFECT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000.

UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. CAR IN NORMAL DRIVE, JUST STARTS TO ACCELERATE. ALSO SOMETIMES ENGINE RACES WHILE IN PARK OR IDLE FOR NO REASON. OCCURS RANDOMLY, BUT HAS BEEN RECURRING DAILY FOR TWO WEEKS. HAVEN'T TAKEN TO DEALER YET. *TR

IN A PARKING GARAGE I TURNED MY WHEELS TOWARDS THE LEFT TO DRIVE INTO A PARKING SPOT; I GAVE THE CAR A LITTLE GAS WHILE DRIVING OVER A SPEEDBUMP AND SUDDENLY THE CAR ACCELERATED AND SHOT FORWARD AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. THANKFULLY THE CAR WENT INTO THAT PARKING SPOT AND HIT THE CEMENT WALL AND STOPPED. I THOUGHT IT WAS A ONE-TIME OCCURRENCE BUT WITH ALL THE REPORTS OF TOYOTA ACCELERATION PROBLEMS, NOW I WONDER IF THIS CAN OCCUR IN ANY CAR AT ANY TIME. I HAVE A 1997 VOLVO STATION WAGON. WITH SPEED BUMPS ON MANY STREETS NEAR SCHOOLS, IF THIS CAN HAPPEN ON ALMOST ANY CAR, THEN THE POTENTIAL FOR MAJOR ACCIDENTS IS UNLIMITED. I WILL ALWAYS KEEP MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL WHILE GOING OVER ANY SPEED BUMP FROM NOW ON, AND AM JUST THANKFUL THAT I WAS JUST A COUPLE OF FEET FROM A CEMENT WALL AND HAD ALREADY TURNED MY WHEELS. FOR THOSE REASONS, NO DAMAGE WAS DONE TO EITHER THE WALL, MY CAR OR THE OCCUPANTS. (IN THE MILEAGE AND SPEED INFO. ON THIS FORM I CAN ONLY GUESS AT THE MILEAGE AT THE TIME OF INCIDENT AND THE SPEED AT WHICH THE CAR ACCELERATED.) *TR

ABS MODULE FAILED. LOOKS LIKE MAJOR DEALER REPAIR. THIS IS A MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE VEHICLE AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH AND NO LONGER TREATED AS AN ACCESSORY ITEM. FOR THESE DEVICES TO BE CONSIDERED AN "ACCESSORY" THEY SHOULD THEN BE MADE AS USER REPLACEABLE WHICH IS NOT THE CASE. THEN AGAIN, IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE EVERY SUNDAY-MECHANIC REPLACING SUCH A CRITICAL ITEM? I HAVE HAD AN ABS WARNING LIGHT FOR OVER TWO YEARS NOW. DIAGNOSTICS SAY ITS THE ABS ELECTRONICS. I DO NOT HAVE THE BUDGET OR EXPERIENCE TO REPLACE IT. SEVERAL WEBSITES POINT TO FAILING OR DEFECTIVE CAPACITORS ON THE ELECTRONIC MODULE ITSELF. *TR

MY DAUGHTER USED FAMILY CAR, VOLVO 1997, 850 WAGON AND THE ACCELERATOR FAILED WIDE OPEN. SHE NARROWLY MISSED 5 YOUNG CHILDREN PLAYING STREET HOCKEY. CAR IS INOPERABLE AND MUST BE TOWED TO SERVICE STATION FOR EVALUATION AND REPAIR. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 VOLVO 850 WAGON. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A SERVICE STATION FOR TIRE REPAIR AND THE FOLLOWING FAILURES WERE DISCOVERED: BOTH REAR BRAKES AND CALIPERS WERE SEIZED AND COMPLETELY INOPERABLE, THE EMERGENCY BRAKE WAS ALSO INOPERABLE, AND BOTH FRONT INNER AND OUTER TIE RODS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE ESTIMATED REPAIR COST WAS $1,230. THE VOLVO DEALER DIAGNOSED THE FOLLOWING FAILURES: BOTH FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARMS AND THE DRIVER SIDE TIE RODS FAILED, AN ALIGNMENT WAS NEEDED, THE FRONT AND REAR BRAKES FAILED, INCLUDING THE ROTOR AND CALIPERS, AND THERE WAS AN EMISSIONS ISSUE AS WELL. THE VEHICLE NEEDS COMPLETE EMISSION REPAIR. THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED ON JUNE 21, 2008 AND PASSED INSPECTION ON JUNE 25, 2008. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 127,700.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 VOLVO 850. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO VIBRATE FOR APPROXIMATELY 5 TO 10 MINUTES. THE TREAD THEN BEGAN TO SEPARATE FROM THE TIRE AND CONTINUOUSLY STRUCK THE FENDER OF THE VEHICLE. THE FENDER, PASSENGER SIDE DOOR, AND ROCKER PANEL WERE DAMAGED. THE CONTACT HAS NOT NOTIFIED THE TIRE MANUFACTURER. THE VIN, PURCHASE DATE, ENGINE SIZE, AND NUMBER OF CYLINDERS WERE UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 240,000.