V70 D5 eBay purchase

[smn159]

I've been idly thinking about what to replace my Renault Zoe with when the lease is up at the end of the year. Then the Mrs said that she wanted to go to the Lake District at half term, which gave me the problem of how to transport 4 people and a dog in either a Zoe or a Mini.

Anyway, a bit of eBay browsing last night saw me putting in an impulse bid for this;



Which I duly won for about £1900. This was a bit more than I wanted to pay, but seemed to be a one owner car, with a stamped up history so I took a punt.

Took the day off of work today and got the train up to the Midlands to collect it. First impressions were good - drove straight and pulled well with no noises. I stuck £50 of diesel in it and the computer said that it had 620 miles of range left when I got home, having driven 120 miles. I'll work it out properly at some point.

I had a better look when I got home. Good points;
- fully stamped up service history, mainly main dealer
- One owner
- Drives well
- straight bodywork
- Much to my surprise when I whipped the wheels off there was plenty left on the brake pads
- Ice cold A/C. In fact I had to turn it off as it was too cold (later under bonnet inspection revealed what looks like a new compressor and pipework)

Bad points
- Needs two front tyres
- Radio doesn't work on FM, although AM is OK (aerial?)
- Smells a bit musty inside. <1000 miles in the last year and appears to have stood for a while. Polish car wash has improved things a little, but I hope to do better
- Handbrake travel is too long
- MOT advisory on front suspension arm bushes
- Wheels are scabby and need a refurb
- Looks like someone has repeatedly stuck something sharp into the glove box lid and centre console. It's not too bad, but I'll try and find some better replacement trim at some point.
- I'm sure that there's more that I haven't found yet!

It's in the garage at the moment, with the Zoe being relegated to outside. Was thinking of insuring it temporarily for the trip up to the Lakes, but I may look at sending the Zoe back early and running this as an everyday.

Pleased with it so far

[smn159]

Yes good point - it's a manual 163bhp model

[smn159]

surveyor said:

Although the earlier gearbox is a bit special. and breaks.

Have a look at the amplifier for the radio

Will do, although a quick Google suggests that it might be the aerial, which is in the rear bumper apparently!!

I'll check the connections to the amplifier as well (assuming that I can find it!!)

[smn159]

croakey said:

You did well for £1900.

I've got an equivalent cross over s60. Love it

Thanks. I've had a couple of Volvos before, including a Phase 1 V70R and a V40, both of which I was very happy with. I only sold the previous V70 because I was commuting heavily in it and couldn't justify the 22mpg fuel costs. This might be the best of both worlds, in a slower sort of way.. It already feels very familiar.

Priorities before our trip to the Lakes will be the tyres, sorting the radio and maybe a look at the handbrake and even the control arms if I get a day free. Need to start collecting a few parts

[smn159]

Maz_uk said:

Mileage?

145k - just run in (I hope)

[smn159]

Thanks!

I've just placed an order for a couple of control arms, some handbrake shoes and an adjuster kit. I'll have a look at the steering arms and drop links while I'm under there but I suspect that they will need doing as well...

I guess that I might as well do the steering arms while the control arms are off, but that the drop links can be done independently later?

[smn159]

Whipped off one of the control arms this afternoon



Bushes did seem soft, so worth changing and an MOT advisory last time.

Found something else wrong as well while I was under there - presumably some sort of engine stabiliser? Anyway it's goosed so I need a new one



Found that one of the track rod end gaiters was split as well, so have orders a couple of inner and outers - plus a tool to fit them.

Will keep me busy for a while anyway..

[smn159]

Found it - lower engine stabiliser. Ordered one of these as well.

[smn159]

Control arms finally on, along with new drop links

[smn159]

rxe said:

Nothing like screwing new suspension bits on a well used car for job satisfaction. Handle any better?

Haven't driven it in anger yet( apart from a long trip home when I bought it...)! I still have a Renault Zoe on a lease which I'm using daily but will be going back soon. I've temporarily insured the Volvo for a family trip up to the lakes next week, so I'll find out then...

I'm going to do the mod to add adjusters to the handbrake when I get back as the travel is too long, then it should be good to go

[smn159]

Garett said:

I have an equivalent S60, it was on 92k when I bought it nearly 6 years ago, now sitting on 190k and will still do 50 mpg on a long run.

I'm on my 2nd set of front ARB drop links, cheapos lasted less than 30k before they started rattling again! I replaced them again, this time with Meyle HD as a lot of people recommend them and they've done 45k so far no problems. Buy cheap buy twice!

Intercoolers aren't up to the task and distort under the pressure eventually causing leaks, although mine seemed to last longer than most but has recently been changed. Handbrake shoes can be troublesome too and delaminate, jamming the wheel and potentially snapping part of the rear hub!

Other than that they are pretty solid and should provide very comfortable and relatively trouble free motoring.

Just checked the invoices and the control arms are Lemforder and the drop links Meyle HD, so will have to see how they last. Looks as though there has been some recent work on the A/C as the hoses as new and it still blows ice cold, so I may be lucky there for a while at least!

[smn159]

OK, so the temp insurance kicked in today so I took the beast out for a run to charge the battery up and generally check things are OK.

Seems a bit smokey on hard acceleration, plus I have couple of warning messages - Engine service required and alarm service required. Both cleared OK and haven't (yet) returned, so will see how I get on following a long run and more regular use next week - hopefully just a symptom of having stood for a while, but possibly some more work needed!

[smn159]

Steering felt a bit odd on my test drive, so I whipped it down to Kwik Fit for a look at the alignment..



Turns out that it needed adjustment both front and rear, so hopefully will feel a bit better now

[smn159]

The Crack Fox said:

Great cars. I had one that looked identical frow new, same colour, same wheels, but with the 185bhp engine. I utterly abused it 24/7 for 2 years and nothing went wrong. Quick, comfortable, economical and spacious. I really miss it. Good choice and when you come to sell, drop me a PM as I am bored of this huge old Galaxy I'm rattling round in.

Thanks - will do!

Still working my way through a list of jobs for now; still to do are:

Sort the radio - FM reception is poor
Fit handbrake adjusters and while I'm there new handbrake shoes / rear disks and pads
Keep an eye on the battery - bit sluggish to start this morning, so in two minds whether to change the battery today before travelling tomorrow
'Alarm Service' light came on again and needs sorting

On the plus side, there was no 'Engine Service' light this morning, so maybe yesterdays blast has fixed or at least suppressed it for now!

[smn159]

Bit the bullet and splashed £99 on a new battery. Probably wouldn't have done (yet) if we weren't going away for a week tomorrow, but I checked the voltage and it was only 12.26v after a run so didn't want to chance it.

£99 to avoid the risk of a car full of unhappy family members seemed worth it

[smn159]

_Nathan_ said:

smn159 said:

'Alarm Service' light came on again and needs sorting

5 years ago I turned this off on my S60 using one of these :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUTEL-MAXIDIAG-EU702-EOB...5kAAOSwCGVYBK0z

I think that all this will do is turn off the warning, which I appear to be able to do using the button under the speedo. I think that my options are;

a) fix it by soldering in a new battery from Maplins
b) disable it by removing the relevant fuse (no.38?)
c) ignore it

c) is my current course of action, which I will likely follow up with b) when I get back..

[smn159]

lost in espace said:

Anyone tell me which year/model/gearbox is best for the V70? And is it bigger than my 2004 A6 Avant which I hate with a passion, its got very low sports suspension which is horrid.

It's big. Very big. Like driving a big armchair.

My Google research before I bought mine suggested that the 163bhp model was the one to go for, as the 185 is a bit thirstier and also has a DPF, which will clog up unless you do regular longer journeys. That wouldn't have been a problem for me as I have a 30 mile each way commute, but being tight I wanted to use as little diesel as possible.

I went for a manual as that's what came up first. Apparently slightly more economical and I read somewhere that the auto gearboxes can be trouble - but it's all relative and lots of people have no issues.

[smn159]

First long journey of 250 miles has been accomplished without drama, with the OBC showing an optimistic average of 57mpg. Previous Volvos that I've owned have over read by around 10%, so if that holds good for this one that's not too shabby at all with 4 people, a dog and associated luggage.



Not entirely good news though. The slightly strange steering sensation which I felt on a short drive the other day (which prompted me to get the alignment checked) feels now like a slight pulsing through the wheel on long sweeping bends, which Google tells me could a sign of a failing steering rack

Bugger

[smn159]

/\/\/\/\/\

Thanks - good point and I'll check the belts when I get back. Might try a PS fluid flush as well.

In other news, the clutch and handbrake were fully tested this afternoon when we decided to take a trip to Ambleside. Sat Nav said 17 miles, but unfortunately did not say that this would involve crossing some sort of mountain range on a road barely wider than the car, nor that I would spend a considerable part of the journey in first gear staring at the sky.

Clutch passed OK, handbrake less so.

[smn159]

OK thanks, I'll flush the PAS fluid... although I'm almost tempted to change the rack if I can confirm the issue; reason being that I've got until February before I need the car everyday and I can park it in the garage and fiddle at my leisure for a few months. Once I start using the car as my daily it almost certainly won't get done

Does anyone have experience of changing these racks? I assume that the subframe needs to be dropped?

I've struggled to find a good DIY for this online, so need to invest in a workshop manual. Is the Haynes one OK or do I need something else?