1997 Volvo V70 T5 200,000 miles

[Magnum0]

With an ongoing engine conversion project on my mk1 VW Caddy taking much longer than I originally anticipated, I eventually got fed up of driving around my little Vauxhall Combo van that was meant to be a temporary runabout until the Caddy was finished. More than a year later I just had enough, decided that I wanted to replace the van with something fast, fun and roughly the same value of the van (£1000 give or take). I spent a few hours online scratching my head, considering everything from e36 BMW's, Fiat Coupe's to MX5's. I then remembered how highly a lot of people speak of Volvo T5's so began my search and found one on eBay less than an hours drive away.
With 200k on the clock I was a little sceptical about whether or not this would be a good idea, but the car had only two owners with the same Volvo enthusiast owning the car for the past fifteen years and servicing it every year using his fault code reader.
I went to view the car (with cash on me just in case) and was really impressed with the condition, the bodywork is straight bar a few marks on the passenger door, clean interior, no rust or leaks in the engine bay. He took me out for a drive in it and it definitely put a smile on my face when he showed me some of what the engine is capable of. No knocks from the suspension which is one of the main things I was looking for. He was honest about the work he had done on the car and told me what to look out for with maintenance.
I was sold, I wanted this car. After a bit of a chat I convinced him to end the auction early with an offer of £750.
The only problem with the car so far is a lack of boost once the engine warms up, the boost is still there but there is a slight dead spot. The previous owner did warn me about this and said he reckons a de cat would sort it out. A de cat is probably the only mod I plan to do on the car in the hope it sorts out the boost. Oh, and removing the tow bar.
Enough waffle, here's some pics:

[anonymous-user]

Can't see a decat curing a problem with boost then it's warm, it's more likely something like a dodgy boost hose or an issue with the PCV system.

[Nigel_O]

Also watch out for blown turbo seals if you decat it - standard journal-bearing turbos use pressure differential oil seals - ie they need exhaust back-pressure to seal - remove the back pressure and it'll smoke badly

When I decatted my Fiat Coupe, the turbo was smoking within a couple of miles

The alternative of course is to fit an uprated turbo....

PS - nice old barge - there's just something about five-pot lumps

[Magnum0]

Thanks for the replies. Done a fair bit of research online today and thankfully everyone with boost problems on these engines solve it with an easy fix. Will check vacuum pipes and intercooler pipes tomorrow. Checked the turbo earlier and the actuator is fine, so that's one thing ruled out.