Early morning commuter car hunting..Volvo S60 D5?

[roadie]

rb5er said:

I'm a bit confused as to why you have a facelift car but with a pre facelift steering wheel (cruise and stereo buttons etc).

My father's S60 D5, registered in March 2005, has that steering wheel too, but is a facelift car. I'm not sure if it has the Euro III or IV engine. I will have to check next time I visit!

I do know that the EGR or DPF was recently done along with the cambelt. My father says that this has made an enormous improvement to the car. Worthwhile money spent I guess, and he will be keeping it long term.

[croakey]

It's working just not very cold! I'll look into new compressors just in case!

[rb5er]

croakey said:

It's working just not very cold! I'll look into new compressors just in case!

Mine indeed still says its working and makes the right noises but does not blow cold on a warm day. I never bothered fixing it at it was a cheap car and I'd rather spend the money on cambelt, servicing, tyres and brakes etc. A friend with a d5 had the same problem which was solved with a reconditioned compressor. On my S60R the a/c blows really cold.

[ChocolateFrog]

It's usually the clutch on the compressor that goes. There is cheap fix if you Google it.

As for bulbs I've given up on the brighter halogen bulbs. They go too quickly due to being on all the time. Think I've got some halfords heavy duty ones in there at the moment and they seem ok.

If it's a keeper don't be tempted to buy cheap suspension parts or you'll be doing it again in 10000 miles.

Mines 200000 miles ahead of yours so there's plenty of life left in yours.

[SturdyHSV]

I have a watch list of likely consumables from reputable brands at the best prices I can find, here are some links for you

Front / Rear drop links

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161271021849

New 'Nissen' intercooler

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271548616778

Track / tie rod ends

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150931281189

Lower wishbone with ball joints (replacing the bushes seems a faff so this seemed far easier and better long term!)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121282183064

Cambelt kit

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272204742383

[croakey]

Can genuinely see why these cars are held in such high regard

Managed to reset my trip...




Im guessing it's optimistic but for an 80mph cruise I'm impressed.

Released the free 15bhp.

Edited by croakey on Friday 15th April 12:54

[croakey]

ChocolateFrog said:

It's usually the clutch on the compressor that goes. There is cheap fix if you Google it.

As for bulbs I've given up on the brighter halogen bulbs. They go too quickly due to being on all the time. Think I've got some halfords heavy duty ones in there at the moment and they seem ok.

If it's a keeper don't be tempted to buy cheap suspension parts or you'll be doing it again in 10000 miles.

Mines 200000 miles ahead of yours so there's plenty of life left in yours.

I intend to keep this thing long term, I owes me very little from he outset and I can't think of anything I need more.

Plus the 5 cylinder warble is a sweet sweet thing

[croakey]

SturdyHSV said:

I have a watch list of likely consumables from reputable brands at the best prices I can find, here are some links for you

Front / Rear drop links

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161271021849

New 'Nissen' intercooler

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271548616778

Track / tie rod ends

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150931281189

Lower wishbone with ball joints (replacing the bushes seems a faff so this seemed far easier and better long term!)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121282183064

Cambelt kit

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272204742383

Thanks , I reckon suspension is my first priority.
Sorely tempted to look at remaps but don't think I really need one

[rb5er]

My friend used to average around 40mpg or so which is still pretty good for a big comfy barge.

Would be interested to see your average over a couple of weeks.

[croakey]

I'll not reset it now and see what I can manage.

I commute at odd times, often either 0500hrs or late say 0130hrs (joy of shift work) so for a majority of its driving it can sit on cruise and plod along

[eltax91]

Do "xcarlink" do a kit for your car? Fitted one to my Accord hack last week, it's a little more expensive than the link you posted, but adds SD card and USB as well as AUX. Sound quality is good. They do a bluetooth option too if required.

[SturdyHSV]

croakey said:

Thanks , I reckon suspension is my first priority.
Sorely tempted to look at remaps but don't think I really need one

I've also looked at remaps. Nicest to drive is apparently the MTE remap, sold in the UK by a guy called Don of Kalmar Union.

The factory intercooler is only just up to factory levels, they're a common failure point, and used to be quite expensive. The one in my ebay link there was what people used instead of Volvo ones, same ebay company etc. they used to be £130 and people were still very happy with them, so at ~£60 it's a bargain.

Most people say a remap means it's not a question of if, but when the intercooler will fail, so worth considering too.

You're looking at ~£400 for the remap

[ChocolateFrog]

I get around 700 miles to 70 litres. 100 more on the motorway, 100 less round town.

[djneils98]

croakey said:

2) the steering doesn't like roundabouts, whilst on say 3/4 lock at road speed the wheel bucks backwards and forwards. I'm 90% sure this is front lower arms/ drop link related. I've seen a kit from IPDD that is a bush insert they reckon cures most of the s60's problems

this is could be the steering rack - it's a common problem with them. Many owners just live with it. new rack is expensive - most get a second hand one to fix it.
can recommend the volvo forums here as a great place to get advice etc about these cars
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk

Edited by djneils98 on Friday 15th April 15:12

[blueacid]

croakey said:

I have no idea why it is an odd spec car... It just is I guess. It was registered 31/05/05 so is a very late crossover car.

Used it yesterday for the first time in its new role and it's fair to say I'm sure I've made the right choice, it is a perfect motorway cruiser, comfy seats, cruise control, stable and also plenty grunty enough.

Things I've noticed...

1) headlights are not the brightest. Now I've swapped out of a xenon equipped a4 so I know I'm going to struggle to match it but can anyone give a personal recommendation for bulbs?

2) the steering doesn't like roundabouts, whilst on say 3/4 lock at road speed the wheel bucks backwards and forwards. I'm 90% sure this is front lower arms/ drop link related. I've seen a kit from IPDD that is a bush insert they reckon cures most of the s60's problems

3) the aircon needs a re gas

4) the reset button on the info stalk appears to do nothing

Still... I'm happy with it!

1) Yeah I got used to this... I use Nightbreakers in mine and they do a good job!

2) Hm, the pulsing can be the rack. Replace the PAS fluid with the correct CHF11S stuff (greenish in colour. The wrong stuff will eat the rack seals and make you sad).

3) Depending on your tolerance for your local one, kwik fit might do a good job - my AC was completely not working, and at the time they had a promotion where they'd connect the car up and if the AC got no colder you paid nothing, if it was colder then £50. I ended up paying £50 two years ago and it still works now!

4) Press and hold it when you've rotated the stalk to the option you want to reset. You need to hold it around 3-5 seconds.


Oh and I used the cheapest GROM adaptor in mine, think it had the AUX-3 cable. I didn't much fancy having some clever integration for whatever phone I currently had, I wanted it to be nice and generic. So I've got a 3.5mm audio input cable, and a Brodit Proclip holding the phone over the central vents. Job jobbed!

[bjh345]

My V70 had the same juddering steering, turns out all it needed was the tyre pressures evening out.

[octane83]

They really are a great car however like all 'prestige' marques you'll need to keep on top of some critical issues.

One thing to watch out for (if it hasn't been done already) is the parking brake shoes in the rear hubs tend to disintegrate whilst on the move, potentially locking up the wheel as the whole assembly falls into the hub and it locks up solid (seriously!).

If this hasn't happened yet I would replace the brake shoes with non-oem ones. Unfortunately I learnt this the hard way on one side, but managed to find a whole hub assembly from a breaker on ebay and got the whole lot done on both sides for around £150.

The battery in the alarm sounder leaks, causing the 'alarm' to go off randomly after locking the car (the alarm itself won't sound because the sounder will have been knackered) causing the hazards to flash. The fix is a new sounder off ebay or bend over at the dealers. Another potential alarm issue is caused by a loose contact in the interior motion sensor in the roof lining.

The roof lining can sag but this isn't a huge problem, just looks a little tatty.

Turning circle is at oil tanker levels, as mentioned by other posters.

One curious thing is that on almost ALL S60 facelifts I've seen the driver's side headlight goes all foggy (not passenger side), I've never seen an explanation as to why. Fix is to buy a Meguiars headlight restoration kit from Halfords for £20.

The engine and manual gearbox are bulletproof (EURO 3). These engines were also adapted for use in the marine industry (under the name Volvo PENTA to denote the 5 cylinders) due to their robustness.

Lastly, these things eat front tyres for breakfast, lunch and dinner and torque steer like a pig when the boost comes in.

EDIT: I don't think the steering wheel/button config vs Model Year is that odd. I'v seen a few cars with this combination, they seem to be a batch of VERY late EURO 3 built into the very first facelifts. Its the best combination to have.

Edited by octane83 on Saturday 16th April 16:56

[croakey]

All good to hear...
Previous owner has paid out over £200 for a replacement alarm siren unit and related resets etc. He also checked the rear handbrake shoes a short while ago and noted no wear (he even threw in a set of replacements should i need them)

I've not noticed the misty headlamp but I'll have a look when I get chance.

I'm also going to double check tyre pressures as that could be a nice easy fix!

It's still an absolute monster for motorway hacking

[croakey]

So 2 weeks in and 1000 miles down



It still amazes me how little I paid for this car and quite how good it is!

Plus:

• Comfiest seats ever (heated which is doing wonders for my bad back)
• decent fuel economy
• the noise... Greatest Diesel engine ever imho
• no one looks twice at it, gets dumped all over the place and blends in

Minus:

• cruise control dents the mpg but sometimes is necessary
• steering is odd, still have the odd feedback on tight right bends
• is going to need a wheel bearing soon and some lower arms as well



Saving on my parking charges, at £6 a day it's building up well!

... And introduced it to its older brother






Shows how big the 940 is!



So I now have

A family car (for an incoming sprog)
A work car (s60)
A "doing work" car (940)
.... And no fun car!

[croakey]

There was a discussion as to what mpg will these old boats do on a run.

So this is 1000 miles of 90 mile round trips mostly on dual carriageway/motorway and some on cruise which dents the economy a bit all at 75-80mph average.



Happy with that!!!