New Joiner with 850! And a few questions

Well I’m completely new to Volvos having owned VAG for many years. I have bought myself a 1996 850 T5. Comes with the following mods:

- m4.4 ecu - I believe it was done by Oblark (greetings!)
- sports stainless exhaust
- i think they are Eibach coilovers adjustable, not sure
- poly engine mounts

The previous owner has looked after it very well a credit to him and the iwner before that. Really pleased so far.

I have a few questions -

I have the original ECU as well as the m4.4. I’m told that the m4.4 which is in the car did not enable the A/C to work. Reading up about this on other forums it seems common. Is there a way I could get A/C to work with the m4.4?

I am used to VCDS software which has been amazing for VAG cars allowing me to download fault codes but also plot and log boost graphs etc. Is there an equivalent for Volvo that anyone would recommend?

I’ll try and get a few more pics but here it is (against my octavia vrs tsi remapped to 300bhp). The volvo keeps the octabia honest!

Welcome to the forum!

Nice looking T5 you have there (and in the best colour :) )

There should be a way now to get the AC working (going on the Volvospeed forum tuning) but will need the ecu mapping again

Hey thanks Dave, just had a look at your 850 project, looks great. Look forward to following that.

Do you know if there are any companies out there that I could send it to for remapping again?

The AC on my dash is the more basic AC on/off switch type with fan speed adjustment not the other type which looks more like climate control where you dial in a temp. As a stop gap fo you know if there is a way to hardwire an on/off switch to the compressor or is it not that simple?

Thanks, there's still a lot of things to do on it unfortunately :(

Tuning companies probably wouldn't know how to remap the M4.4 for a M4.3 car with AC.

Over on the Volvospeed forums the Tuners Rejoice thread covers the homebrew hacked M4.4 software which opens up the potential of the ecu and there is an AC modification that can be applied to the map to get it working. This is maybe something you could do yourself (if you are IT/technically minded) but you would need the original map Oblark put on it to keep the settings for your car.

I think there is a way to get the compressor clutch to work by applying a voltage to it but bypassing the control systems could probably result in burning out the AC pump or damaging something in the system.

Thanks Dave, appreciate you getting back.

Do you think its something Oblark or anyone else on the forum here would do? I’d be happy to pay. I’ve not done something like this before and would rather get help.

In the meantime I also got the original ECU as part of the sale and the previous owner said the AC worked fine with the original ECU. Is it ok to swap directly or will it cause any problems?

Cheers

Hello and welcome, you bought my old car from my buddy Mitch - Drop Oblark a PM on here as he's the one that programmed the M4.4 ECU, I did send it back to him for the bin file to enable the A/C, but since it's a few years back I cannot definitely say that it worked or was tested.

You might want to check my threads on here as I kept quite a lot of the detail on updates/upgrades for this car, it's a good one!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by attila

Thanks Dave, appreciate you getting back.

Do you think its something Oblark or anyone else on the forum here would do? I’d be happy to pay. I’ve not done something like this before and would rather get help.

In the meantime I also got the original ECU as part of the sale and the previous owner said the AC worked fine with the original ECU. Is it ok to swap directly or will it cause any problems?

Cheers

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Swapping the old ECU back in to check A/C is an easy job with no real risks (don't force it back though and make sure it's the correct way around).

In answer to your suspension, they are Koni with Eibach springs (bought from another member on here).

For logging and data, plus fault codes, I used an OBD II reader off ebay (under a fiver, the blue ones) plus the torque app on your phone, works a treat and I did the same with this exact car and M4.4 ECU.

Once again, search my name/posts and there will be some info on here.

Hi kmb, i’ve just had an enjoyable train journey back from work reading the history of this car! Blimey, it was certainly well looked after! A credit to you and HippoHead!

Good to hear that it was done. I did PM Oblark as soon as I joined but not got an answer, imagine he’s very busy.

It may be a fuse or similar then as the A/C switch light does not come on so will have a look.

Thanks again and hope to keep the forum updated on how it goes.

Plans so far are:

- enjoy it!
- get the steering wheel retrimmed in leather
- possibly look at retrofitting rear parking sensors


Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by attila

Hi kmb, i’ve just had an enjoyable train journey back from work reading the history of this car! Blimey, it was certainly well looked after! A credit to you and HippoHead!

Good to hear that it was done. I did PM Oblark as soon as I joined but not got an answer, imagine he’s very busy.

It may be a fuse or similar then as the A/C switch light does not come on so will have a look.

Thanks again and hope to keep the forum updated on how it goes.

Plans so far are:

- enjoy it!
- get the steering wheel retrimmed in leather
- possibly look at retrofitting rear parking sensors


Thanks again.

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Very happy to hear it's gone to a good home, look forward to hearing your updates - The steering wheel retrim will be a great touch.

Oblark (Rob) does pop on occasionally so it might be a while before he gets back to you, sounds like your early steps might sort it out before then.

For the parking sensors it's worth practising against a bamboo cane stood in the ground, it's surprising just how far you can reverse and how good visibility is to the edge of the car.

Well I have been busy!

Work done so far:

Air Con practically fully rebuilt! New compressor, accumulator, new evaporator and high pressure sensor (£1200)
Cambelt and aux belt and brake fluid change and MOT- £400
Passed no issues.

Next things to do:
Gearbox fluid change
Replace front right caliper (nipple stuck)
Remove fuel tank and sort vent pipe
Sort out idle control valve (revs sticking after acceleration)

Goodies I have bought:
Wooden steering wheel in amazing condition!!
X5 Volans that need refurb.

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