Does the 850 use CAN bus?

[KenAnderson]

I do not own a Volvo.
I'm interested in getting an 850 wagon with the purpose of doing an EV conversion to it, but I do not want to deal with CAN bus issues.
I have used the search facility, but can't find an answer to my noob question: Does the 850 use CAN bus?

Thanks,
-Ken

[DaveNP]

Hopefully someone with better knowledge will be able to confirm but as far as I'm aware it's not CANbus. The 850 did not even have an OBDII port (and whilst the subsequent V70 in '98 had an OBDII port it wasn't truly compliant). Wikipedia lists Mercedes as having the first CANbus vehicle in '91 and the 850 ran from 91 to 97. Haynes makes no mention of CANbus in the general info on fuel injection (Bosch LH3.2-Jetronic, Motronic 3.2 or Fenix 5.2 systems), ignition or body electrical systems or lighting.
I expect it would be quite hard to find a definitive statement 'The 850 does not have CANbus' as when it was first produced CANbus was hardly known, and neither would they advertise that it didn't have the latest innovation.

If you do go ahead I'd be interested to read how you get along, driving an old V70 the idea of an EV conversion did occur to me and whilst it will have its difficulties and may not make a totally ideal vehicle, when I considered even small cars like the Nissan Leaf they have similar power available and the 850/V70 should be able to accomodate a fair few batteries.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by KenAnderson

I do not own a Volvo.
I'm interested in getting an 850 wagon with the purpose of doing an EV conversion to it, but I do not want to deal with CAN bus issues.
I have used the search facility, but can't find an answer to my noob question: Does the 850 use CAN bus?

Thanks,
-Ken

No it doesn't that came in late 1998 on the S80 and from then onwards all models from then with the BLUE volvo front grille badge had it.

[Goupil]

iirc the CAN appears with the electronic throttle body. So if it has a mechanical one (850, S/V/C70 up to somewhere in 98) it doesnt have CAN.

[Simmy]

Originally Posted by DaveNP

Hopefully someone with better knowledge will be able to confirm but as far as I'm aware it's not CANbus. The 850 did not even have an OBDII port (and whilst the subsequent V70 in '98 had an OBDII port it wasn't truly compliant). Wikipedia lists Mercedes as having the first CANbus vehicle in '91 and the 850 ran from 91 to 97. Haynes makes no mention of CANbus in the general info on fuel injection (Bosch LH3.2-Jetronic, Motronic 3.2 or Fenix 5.2 systems), ignition or body electrical systems or lighting.
I expect it would be quite hard to find a definitive statement 'The 850 does not have CANbus' as when it was first produced CANbus was hardly known, and neither would they advertise that it didn't have the latest innovation.

If you do go ahead I'd be interested to read how you get along, driving an old V70 the idea of an EV conversion did occur to me and whilst it will have its difficulties and may not make a totally ideal vehicle, when I considered even small cars like the Nissan Leaf they have similar power available and the 850/V70 should be able to accomodate a fair few batteries.

my 850 hos an obd port under the coin holder.its the same shape as an obd 2 port but i believe its what they call obd zero or o not many readers can interface with it but there are some that can .

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by Simmy

my 850 hos an obd port under the coin holder.its the same shape as an obd 2 port but i believe its what they call obd zero or o not many readers can interface with it but there are some that can .

I got the impression with the early V70 that the OBD port functioned by the same tech as the older two matchboxes under the bonnet of the 850 (hence the 'flash code reader' method of checking fault codes) and Volvo put the OBD port in ready for when they evolved the V70 a bit further to include functional OBDII.