154k Volvo V70....R you feeling brave?
Discussion
Quick little update:
The climate control started playing up last weekend when it was really hot! It was working fine but then when I went to turn it on again the lights on the control panel lit up, but the fan wouldn't work. I restarted the car and tried again and the fans went on fully, but then wouldn't turn off. I parked up and they continued despite the key being removed from the ignition. They carried on for approx 90 seconds then shut down. I did a bit of research and it looks like the heater blower motor resistor could be the culprit, so I've ordered a replacement but am yet to fit it. Apparently the fans remaining on is also a feature of the car, but I'm not convinced.
I've also ordered new number plates as the front one is cracked, and both front and rear are mounted on number plate surrounds which I dislike.
Hopefully will have a chance to fit this weekend.
The climate control started playing up last weekend when it was really hot! It was working fine but then when I went to turn it on again the lights on the control panel lit up, but the fan wouldn't work. I restarted the car and tried again and the fans went on fully, but then wouldn't turn off. I parked up and they continued despite the key being removed from the ignition. They carried on for approx 90 seconds then shut down. I did a bit of research and it looks like the heater blower motor resistor could be the culprit, so I've ordered a replacement but am yet to fit it. Apparently the fans remaining on is also a feature of the car, but I'm not convinced.
I've also ordered new number plates as the front one is cracked, and both front and rear are mounted on number plate surrounds which I dislike.
Hopefully will have a chance to fit this weekend.
dme123 said:
The fans staying on is indeed a feature of the car! It's done to stop condensation forming inside the evaporator and making that muggy damp smell you often get.
Ah, good to know. I guess they remained on full blast as I'd had the AC on full for the previous 10mins as I was unable to turn it down?kapiteinlangzaam said:
Its a cool Volvo feature (the fans staying on).
They can also randomly switch on about 30mins after parking up if the system thinks it necessary.
That is pretty cool. I'm assuming not being able to turn on the fan, then not being able to turn it down whilst driving isn't a feature however. Hopefully the part ordered will fix it.They can also randomly switch on about 30mins after parking up if the system thinks it necessary.
Have also just ordered 2 x gas struts for the built in dog guard as mine don't hold the guard up.
rb5er said:
kapiteinlangzaam said:
If you get to the point of really really liking it, take a look at the Volvotech.eu CanBus Function Extenders... they add a lot of added functionality to the car.
Never seen that before. Some handy features, I'm very tempted myself but not sure if I'm keeping the car when my new one arrives.Productive day today. Went and collected some new gas struts for the dog guard from Volvo, which were cheaper than anywhere else I found, and by luck they are the correct colour too, rather than black. Took about 5mins to change. One foldable dog guard.
My new plates also turned up. For some reason I'm really fussy about plates. I dislike badges, I dislike boarders and I dislike number plate surrounds. I even dislike the fact that number plates are supposed to have the postcode of where they are made now, so I ordered a set of show plates online. They are standard font etc, but you can remove the postcode.
So my little helper and I fitted them together, and here is how they looked before and then after. Much happier with that, just looks cleaner to me.
Might give it a clean tomorrow.
My new plates also turned up. For some reason I'm really fussy about plates. I dislike badges, I dislike boarders and I dislike number plate surrounds. I even dislike the fact that number plates are supposed to have the postcode of where they are made now, so I ordered a set of show plates online. They are standard font etc, but you can remove the postcode.
So my little helper and I fitted them together, and here is how they looked before and then after. Much happier with that, just looks cleaner to me.
Might give it a clean tomorrow.
dme123 said:
rb5er said:
The days of big bills for suspension work on these are gone.
I've heard that, and it interests me because I've actively avoided P2 and P3 cars with the active suspension. Do you know where these cheaper dampers come from, I've had no luck finding them.Took a friend up to Leamington Spa this evening to pick up a new car, and I was heading up the M3, A34 etc at 6pm on a Sunday I decided to go into eco mode. Managed a respectable 35mpg according to the obc.
Excuse the dead fly...
On the way home the roads were a bit quieter and a hell of a lot wetter, but the car was so compliant I sat quite a bit higher than on the way up. It's the first time I've had the chance to really give the V70 some stick over some distance and it was utterly incredible. I'd switched the ride to sport which removed the floaty feel and stiffened it up. The steering was spot on and the grip through sweeping bends was immense, despite the roads being drenched. It felt so good that once I was into the corner I could push on even more. You could feel the grip being sent to the rear. All this whilst sat in comfy seats with a cracking stereo. They really are a fantastic car for the real world.
Covered 220 miles tonight. MPG dropped to under 30mpg on the way home however....
Excuse the dead fly...
On the way home the roads were a bit quieter and a hell of a lot wetter, but the car was so compliant I sat quite a bit higher than on the way up. It's the first time I've had the chance to really give the V70 some stick over some distance and it was utterly incredible. I'd switched the ride to sport which removed the floaty feel and stiffened it up. The steering was spot on and the grip through sweeping bends was immense, despite the roads being drenched. It felt so good that once I was into the corner I could push on even more. You could feel the grip being sent to the rear. All this whilst sat in comfy seats with a cracking stereo. They really are a fantastic car for the real world.
Covered 220 miles tonight. MPG dropped to under 30mpg on the way home however....
Edited by S10GTA on Monday 20th June 00:10
3.5 months later and I still own the V70R, which in itself is shocking. The lack of updates too are a good thing, however I have a minor update.
Since owning the car I've heard about the 2.5 engines tendency to split liners and as always these things play on your mind after reading about them. A few weeks after buying the car I noticed the coolant was at the min line and my initial thought was worse case: cracked liners, engine rebuild, ££££. s
t.
So I did what anybody who plays bangernomics (appreciate the purchase price was a bit more, but that's just because they seem to hold their value. This one was the cheapest in the country by a good grand) and topped up the coolant to max. It just might have been low in the first place right?! I checked the coolant a couple of weeks later and it had settled in the middle, maybe it was just an airlock, and tried not to think about it again. I'd not seen signs of a leak.
This morning I thought I should check it again, it had been a little while and I had been meaning to, and it was again on min. st. I topped it back up and drove to work, fearing the worst: cracked liners, engine rebuild, ££££. st.
Having done a bit of research it seems that the symptoms of cracked liners is a bit more dramatic than loosing 500ml of coolant over several months, it disappears in minutes. It was suggested that I might have a leak, probably from the waterpump area. Whilst out grabbing some lunch I walked past my car and noticed a small patch under the car.
I've never been so happy to see a puddle under my car
A bit more investigation showed a small leak around the expansion tank. I can't quite work out if its the cap or the tank, but its clearly wet around here.
I thought I'd start with the cheaper option so have ordered a new cap, which my other half has collected for me. I'll change it over tonight then monitor the results.
Good news!
Other than that, very little to report, which I quite like
Since owning the car I've heard about the 2.5 engines tendency to split liners and as always these things play on your mind after reading about them. A few weeks after buying the car I noticed the coolant was at the min line and my initial thought was worse case: cracked liners, engine rebuild, ££££. s
t.So I did what anybody who plays bangernomics (appreciate the purchase price was a bit more, but that's just because they seem to hold their value. This one was the cheapest in the country by a good grand) and topped up the coolant to max. It just might have been low in the first place right?! I checked the coolant a couple of weeks later and it had settled in the middle, maybe it was just an airlock, and tried not to think about it again. I'd not seen signs of a leak.
This morning I thought I should check it again, it had been a little while and I had been meaning to, and it was again on min. s
t. I topped it back up and drove to work, fearing the worst: cracked liners, engine rebuild, ££££. st.Having done a bit of research it seems that the symptoms of cracked liners is a bit more dramatic than loosing 500ml of coolant over several months, it disappears in minutes. It was suggested that I might have a leak, probably from the waterpump area. Whilst out grabbing some lunch I walked past my car and noticed a small patch under the car.
I've never been so happy to see a puddle under my car
A bit more investigation showed a small leak around the expansion tank. I can't quite work out if its the cap or the tank, but its clearly wet around here.
I thought I'd start with the cheaper option so have ordered a new cap, which my other half has collected for me. I'll change it over tonight then monitor the results.
Good news!
Other than that, very little to report, which I quite like
XRMike said:
Excellent choice of car! I myself have a face lift 2004 S60 D5 which has really got deep under my skin! Have you considered a remap for it? Mine was done two years ago and I have never looked back!
I'm not sure it really needs it to be honest, I quite like it as it is. I'd worry that once I'd upped the boost I'd be asking for the liner issue, apparently it happens once you get closer to 350bhp rather than the standard 300bhp.
Following on from the previous page, I've now changed the expansion tank.
Old one was a bit manky and had a hairline crack. Very simple job to change, just undo 2 clamps, whip the old one out and stick the new one in.
Only criticism is the new one doesn't feel as secure in place as the old one. I guess that's genuine vs reproduction.
Had a blast down to Brighton and back on Thursday and the car was faultless, except for the comical turning circle in the narrow car parks of Brighton.
Old one was a bit manky and had a hairline crack. Very simple job to change, just undo 2 clamps, whip the old one out and stick the new one in.
Only criticism is the new one doesn't feel as secure in place as the old one. I guess that's genuine vs reproduction.
Had a blast down to Brighton and back on Thursday and the car was faultless, except for the comical turning circle in the narrow car parks of Brighton.
As reported back in May time the heating control went a little haywire, to the point I couldn't turn the aircon off despite removing the key. A little bit of research showed the heater resistor have a habit of failing. I took a punt and purchased the required part. It's sat in the spare room since, until today.
I've managed to get by with intermittent heating/aircon since May by just removing the fuse if stuck on or dropping the windows if hot. Today I had a spare few hours and rather than delay any longer I decided to attack it.
What followed was possibly the hardest 2.5hrs ever of working on cars. Bugger me it's an arse to get to. I ended up upside-down with my head in the footwell. Managed to get the old one out without breaking anything, and the blower back in only cracking one plastic lug.
I didn't take any pictures except the old resistor pack in its sorry state. I was however impressed with how well put together this area of the dash is. I had to remove the glovebox just to get access.
Once back together I gave it a test and the blower was again working. A good hutch.
In other news some has keyed the passenger door in the last few days. I'm gutted. It's a 12 year old volvo ffs.
Apart from that, not much else to report. Will be off for its annual service in the next few weeks.
I've managed to get by with intermittent heating/aircon since May by just removing the fuse if stuck on or dropping the windows if hot. Today I had a spare few hours and rather than delay any longer I decided to attack it.
What followed was possibly the hardest 2.5hrs ever of working on cars. Bugger me it's an arse to get to. I ended up upside-down with my head in the footwell. Managed to get the old one out without breaking anything, and the blower back in only cracking one plastic lug.
I didn't take any pictures except the old resistor pack in its sorry state. I was however impressed with how well put together this area of the dash is. I had to remove the glovebox just to get access.
Once back together I gave it a test and the blower was again working. A good hutch.
In other news some
has keyed the passenger door in the last few days. I'm gutted. It's a 12 year old volvo ffs.Apart from that, not much else to report. Will be off for its annual service in the next few weeks.
rb5er said:
Doesn't look like a malicious keying to me. More likely some dappy woman with a handbag.
I did wonder but it can only have happened out the back of my house between Sunday and Thursday, it didn't move in this time. There is no reason for anyone to go near it except the feral kids who live out the back. I'm still annoyed 24hrs later.
rb5er said:
Fair enough. They certainly are great solid and comfy cars with some real pace but not exactly thrilling in the bends. So surefooted, I don't think I've ever managed to break traction (understeer or oversteer) in mine even when I really try.
Whenever I look whats out there to replace it with as a daily I struggle to find anything with such good performance stats and solid build quality. They are real bargain performance cars.
Depends what you call fun. I like the insane level of grip it provides, it feels incredible in advance mode on a nice twisty bit. It's far more impressive than it has any right to be. I don't want it to break traction, it's too big and I'd be going too fast to recover.Whenever I look whats out there to replace it with as a daily I struggle to find anything with such good performance stats and solid build quality. They are real bargain performance cars.
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