1997 Volvo V70 T5 - Budget Boost 'n Boot
Discussion
My 15th car in 10 years of car ownership.
It's a 1997 Volvo V70 T5 CD with 128k miles and a manual gearbox. And it cost me just £420.
Of course like all the best cars it was miles away, so a train from Bristol to Norfolk was required followed by a very comfy and uneventful drive back.
It's my first Volvo and Initial impressions are very good, it's quick, well equipped and very practical. I'm already building a list of the jobs to do.
Bodywork- It's a London car and it shows, there are scraped corners, lacquer peel and a re-profiled rear door. This is all fine by me and adds to the appeal, I'll likely touch in anything bare metal to avoid rust.
Mechanical- There's good history, but no cambelt receipt so that'll be on the list if I'm keeping it. Also the ABS and Tracs lights are on which seems to be a common fault that can hopefully be sorted by someone competent with reflowing solder (not me). There's a strange rubbing/rattling over some bumps that needs investigating too
Electrical- The heated seats and cruise control aren't working and since those are two of my favourite spec items on a brage I may try to reinstate them.
It's a 1997 Volvo V70 T5 CD with 128k miles and a manual gearbox. And it cost me just £420.
Of course like all the best cars it was miles away, so a train from Bristol to Norfolk was required followed by a very comfy and uneventful drive back.
It's my first Volvo and Initial impressions are very good, it's quick, well equipped and very practical. I'm already building a list of the jobs to do.
Bodywork- It's a London car and it shows, there are scraped corners, lacquer peel and a re-profiled rear door. This is all fine by me and adds to the appeal, I'll likely touch in anything bare metal to avoid rust.
Mechanical- There's good history, but no cambelt receipt so that'll be on the list if I'm keeping it. Also the ABS and Tracs lights are on which seems to be a common fault that can hopefully be sorted by someone competent with reflowing solder (not me). There's a strange rubbing/rattling over some bumps that needs investigating too
Electrical- The heated seats and cruise control aren't working and since those are two of my favourite spec items on a brage I may try to reinstate them.
For your ABS-TRAC light, check the bolts that hold the cv joints in the hubs. (Volvo don't use nuts for this) The bolts on the early cars did not have a rubber insert that helps lock them in place and loosened off at times allowing the joint to move about upsetting the ABS pick up so much it throws a fault warning.
128k plenty of life left in that yet, It's just run in.
128k plenty of life left in that yet, It's just run in.
The cruise control didn't work on mine either unless I put my foot under the throttle pedal pushing it upwards to take out the slack in its movement and then pressed the cruise button, after that manouvre which admittedly got somewhat tedious over time I could adjust the speed with the +- buttons.
Worth a try I reckon.
Great purchase and a real bargain and the T5's are pretty fast.
Worth a try I reckon.
Great purchase and a real bargain and the T5's are pretty fast.
The Don of Croy said:
Orange light says 'cruise' at bottom left of dash when engaged.
Guess that's the first thing to figure out then.I forgot to mention, I'd quite like to make it faster (faster is better as we all know) and there are plenty of remapped cars out there. 280bhp would be nice, but not if it's going to cost more than the car. Suggestions welcomed.
kapiteinlangzaam said:
Lack of cruise will probably be related to the ABS-TRAC light.
128k is absolutely nothing!
Lovely car.
Thanks. The ABS TRAC is the more pressing issue, so I'll look into that first and then see where I am.128k is absolutely nothing!
Lovely car.
It's s lot lower than most I've seen. I was looking through the history (had to break out the handbook to figure out where the sunroof control is!) and it had a clutch in February which cost more than I paid for the car.
kapiteinlangzaam said:
Lack of cruise will probably be related to the ABS-TRAC light.
This.The exact same set of symptoms were related to an ABS sensor on my C70 (same chassis), and were cured pretty quickly and easily. I'd suggest investing a tenner in an OBD2 scanner as your first port of call.
W00DY said:
Thanks. The ABS TRAC is the more pressing issue, so I'll look into that first and then see where I am.
It's s lot lower than most I've seen. I was looking through the history (had to break out the handbook to figure out where the sunroof control is!) and it had a clutch in February which cost more than I paid for the car.
Sounds like a bargain then! It's s lot lower than most I've seen. I was looking through the history (had to break out the handbook to figure out where the sunroof control is!) and it had a clutch in February which cost more than I paid for the car.
Genuinely 128k is nothing, my Dad bought a T5 auto a few months back and it has over 200k. It still drives better and more quietly than my 75k mile Impreza estate
Congrats on the purchase OP! That's a lot of car for less than £500 (even with the issues stated).
With regards to a power increase, Tim Williams or Shem Green (shemtek) are the people to speak to. You should see 280bhp just from a remap along as everything is healthy enough!
Although one thing I would say, make sure you've got some quality rubber up front, otherwise you'll just spin away the extra grunt
With regards to a power increase, Tim Williams or Shem Green (shemtek) are the people to speak to. You should see 280bhp just from a remap along as everything is healthy enough!
Although one thing I would say, make sure you've got some quality rubber up front, otherwise you'll just spin away the extra grunt
C70R said:
This.
The exact same set of symptoms were related to an ABS sensor on my C70 (same chassis), and were cured pretty quickly and easily. I'd suggest investing a tenner in an OBD2 scanner as your first port of call.
Great, one problem is better than two. I have an OBD2 thingy, but it is a bit unreliable so I might try another one, but they all seem a bit hit and miss.The exact same set of symptoms were related to an ABS sensor on my C70 (same chassis), and were cured pretty quickly and easily. I'd suggest investing a tenner in an OBD2 scanner as your first port of call.
Snazzyjake said:
Congrats on the purchase OP! That's a lot of car for less than £500 (even with the issues stated).
With regards to a power increase, Tim Williams or Shem Green (shemtek) are the people to speak to. You should see 280bhp just from a remap along as everything is healthy enough!
Although one thing I would say, make sure you've got some quality rubber up front, otherwise you'll just spin away the extra grunt
Cheers, yeh I'd like to make it really good again since whilst it's cheap enough to be throw away motoring it really is too good for that. I will look into those two. I had a Saab 9000 Aero with 290bhp and it loved to smoke the tyres so I'm used to it and it'd give me an excise to change the mix of tyres on there currently!With regards to a power increase, Tim Williams or Shem Green (shemtek) are the people to speak to. You should see 280bhp just from a remap along as everything is healthy enough!
Although one thing I would say, make sure you've got some quality rubber up front, otherwise you'll just spin away the extra grunt
W00DY said:
Cheers, yeh I'd like to make it really good again since whilst it's cheap enough to be throw away motoring it really is too good for that. I will look into those two. I had a Saab 9000 Aero with 290bhp and it loved to smoke the tyres so I'm used to it and it'd give me an excise to change the mix of tyres on there currently!
Definitely recommend a full stage 0 before you map it - or do any performance mods for that matter!Eyersey1234 said:
Nice car you have there OP. What have you had previously?
Apologies in advance, but I went on a little trip down memory lane1. '65 Beetle.
2. '90 BMW E30 318IS (not actual car since I lost the pics)
3. '81 Mexican Beetle 1641cc
4. '90 Jaguar Xj40 4.0 Sov
5. '87 Peugeot 309 GTI
6. Opel Monza 3.0E
7. Citroen CX 2400 Pallas
8. Mercedes 230E
9. Saab 9-3 2.0T
10.Mercedes 300TE 4Matic
11. BMW 528i SE
12. Saab 9000 Aero
13. Ford Probe GT Turbo (Still Own)
14. Renault Espace Quadra
Cookeh said:
W00DY said:
Cheers, yeh I'd like to make it really good again since whilst it's cheap enough to be throw away motoring it really is too good for that. I will look into those two. I had a Saab 9000 Aero with 290bhp and it loved to smoke the tyres so I'm used to it and it'd give me an excise to change the mix of tyres on there currently!
Definitely recommend a full stage 0 before you map it - or do any performance mods for that matter!Cookeh said:
Definitely recommend a full stage 0 before you map it - or do any performance mods for that matter!
It had a big service last year and runs spot on, but I will make sure everything's looking good before I look for more power. probably best to wait until after Winter at any rate.strangehighways said:
You car history is one of the most interesting I've seen! No-one could accuse you of not being into cars.
Thanks. I have a pretty broad taste in cars and always like to try something new.Eyersey1234 said:
You've had some nice cars, I especially like that Mercedes estate
It was a great car. Over 200k miles when I sold it and it took me to the Alps no problem.Anyway, my first Volvo fix is a success! New battery in the remote fob and it works perfectly.
Dull update warning.
Recent weather had helped to finish off the battery and after enlisting the help of some friendly Merc technicians to bump start it the other day. I got a new battery which at £88 is over 20% of the cars value. Happily it has meant that the lackluser starting has ceased and it's running well.
A few checks reveal the upper engine mount is f
ked so that's on the list alongside getting a new OBD II and figuring out the ABS/TCS issues. Spending will only go up from here I fear, but it has proven to be a comfortable, quick and practical workhorse so I think it'll be well worth it.
I do wish it'd do more than 28MPG though, but you can't have it all.
Recent weather had helped to finish off the battery and after enlisting the help of some friendly Merc technicians to bump start it the other day. I got a new battery which at £88 is over 20% of the cars value. Happily it has meant that the lackluser starting has ceased and it's running well.
A few checks reveal the upper engine mount is f
ked so that's on the list alongside getting a new OBD II and figuring out the ABS/TCS issues. Spending will only go up from here I fear, but it has proven to be a comfortable, quick and practical workhorse so I think it'll be well worth it. I do wish it'd do more than 28MPG though, but you can't have it all.
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