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Have now driven quite a bit with the new tyres including a trip up to near Gatwick and back the other day. The difference these tyres have made is immense. The ride quality is significantly better, gone has the harshness as you hit the imperfections in the road. It's also much quieter and mpg seems to have increased from 32/33mpg to 38mpg. Really happy with it right now.
Snapped this today after cleaning it earlier. Think it looks great from this angle.
Snapped this today after cleaning it earlier. Think it looks great from this angle.
A very satisfying update (for me anyway). When I got the car the little bits of trim where the seatbelts enter the B pillar had been broken and half missing. A very common issue, which resulted in the seatbelt becoming damaged earlier in the thread.
Anyway, I'd been sort of hunting for some replacement bits, but never got round to buying them. After the seatbelt issue I decided to look a bit harder and purchased a replacement pair from a breaker for £15. Chuffed as nuts I went to install them only to find them too small for the space. It appears they changed this part on the later runs for a bigger one.
I then decided to contact Volvo and order via them. The parts were ordered and once they arrived I went and grabbed them, only to find them also too small for the space. The parts department ended up contacting Volvo for a technical bulletin to find the correct part. Eventually the correct parts turned up last week and I fitted them immediately. A minor detail but it's been a bit of a mission to get the right parts. So satisfying and stopped some rattling too.
Apart from that, all is good. Drove on a beach today just because I can.
Such a great car.
Anyway, I'd been sort of hunting for some replacement bits, but never got round to buying them. After the seatbelt issue I decided to look a bit harder and purchased a replacement pair from a breaker for £15. Chuffed as nuts I went to install them only to find them too small for the space. It appears they changed this part on the later runs for a bigger one.
I then decided to contact Volvo and order via them. The parts were ordered and once they arrived I went and grabbed them, only to find them also too small for the space. The parts department ended up contacting Volvo for a technical bulletin to find the correct part. Eventually the correct parts turned up last week and I fitted them immediately. A minor detail but it's been a bit of a mission to get the right parts. So satisfying and stopped some rattling too.
Apart from that, all is good. Drove on a beach today just because I can.
Such a great car.
Looks a fairly benine leak, may get away with a smear of sealant on the offending weeping gadget / joint. On another note, I too found Quatrac 5's to be brilliant, especially for our random climate plus the odd mild off road foray. And on another note, interesting you should say about the MPG, my recently binned off V70 D5 Geartronic with the 185bhp was pretty terrible... it'd only just crack 40MPG on a steady run but door to door, low 30's. Maybe it had issues. No wait... it had issues.
Davie said:
Looks a fairly benine leak, may get away with a smear of sealant on the offending weeping gadget / joint. On another note, I too found Quatrac 5's to be brilliant, especially for our random climate plus the odd mild off road foray. And on another note, interesting you should say about the MPG, my recently binned off V70 D5 Geartronic with the 185bhp was pretty terrible... it'd only just crack 40MPG on a steady run but door to door, low 30's. Maybe it had issues. No wait... it had issues.
I did think about sealing it but there is quite a bit of residue there suggesting it's been leaking for a while. I'm just going to change to whole housing and fit a new gasket. I actually quite like this car and don't see me selling it for some time so I'd rather just sort it properly.I've been impressed with the quatracs too. Much better ride than the old rubber I had and grip much better in the wet. MPG has settled around 36 now. Far from good but it's a massive car with an auto box so I guess it'll do. Wonder what difference a remap would do?
In other news I've finally sorted the sat nav. I'm sure I mentioned a few pages back that I took the old nav out to have a go at fixing the lense. That didn't work so in a rage I chucked it, not knowing they were coded to the car. I purchased a replacement, which didn't work (got a refund) and then purchased another which turned on and made the screen pop up, but the controls didn't work. These units seem to sell around £90 normally.
Anyway, a few posts on a Volvo forum and I was given a selection of unit codes which might work. Well a bit of backward and forward with a bloke on an XC70 page resulted in me receiving a replacement unit with one of these codes, for just under £50. He assured me it would work. I had my doubts.
Well to my surprise it bloody did work. Once connected the screen popped up. With trepidation I went and pushed the buttons on the back of the wheel and the cursor moved. To say I was over the moon would be an understatement. To make things even better my 2016 eBay special disc which I purchased when I originally tried to get the nav to work also worked. The software on the unit was updated and I now have working nav.
Now I totally appreciate the built in nav is utter crap. You can't even enter postcodes and it doesn't do traffic, but frankly I don't care. For me it was more about if you have something, it should work, and now it does. So now I can actually enter an address and see where I'm supposed to be going.....I just can't actually drive anywhere currently...
Edited by S100HP on Friday 14th June 09:31
Having done a little research, changing the thermostat housing on a D5 isn't for the feint of heart. I've done it before on other cars, but this one requires the serpentine belt to be removed and the power steering pump to be moved.
f
k that.
Instead I paid my friendly Volvo man to do it for me, and whilst he was there asked him to change the oil filter as it was weeping slightly less than I am, having paid for this work along with the hammering my card has taken fixing my soon to be wife's car.
I guess I could have smeared a little sealant on the housing but I'd always be concerned it would leak again, so asked him to replace the whole lot. I'd rather know it was good, and shiny is good right?
f
k that.Instead I paid my friendly Volvo man to do it for me, and whilst he was there asked him to change the oil filter as it was weeping slightly less than I am, having paid for this work along with the hammering my card has taken fixing my soon to be wife's car.
I guess I could have smeared a little sealant on the housing but I'd always be concerned it would leak again, so asked him to replace the whole lot. I'd rather know it was good, and shiny is good right?
Edited by S100HP on Monday 17th June 20:26
Ever since I've owned my XC70 I've been keeping an eye out for the rear picnic table. It was a rare accessory. They tend to sell for around £100 on eBay and the like. I've seen a few go around £70, which frankly is too much for something that I'll probably use once, but I wanted one.
Well last week one popped up on eBay. I made an offer of £15 which was accepted. My only issue is that it was advertised for a XC90. I'd no idea if it would fit, but it was worth a punt. I figured they'd be the same thing anyway, and thankfully is.
So here we are. Something I've no need for, but I wanted anyway. Need to hunt down the cushions now.
Well last week one popped up on eBay. I made an offer of £15 which was accepted. My only issue is that it was advertised for a XC90. I'd no idea if it would fit, but it was worth a punt. I figured they'd be the same thing anyway, and thankfully is.
So here we are. Something I've no need for, but I wanted anyway. Need to hunt down the cushions now.
Paul S4 said:
That table is amazing....not really practical for my C30 though !!
Typical Volvo/Swedish design, ingenious !
We got to use it tonight! Pizza in the boot. What more could a kid want?Typical Volvo/Swedish design, ingenious !
Not much else to report in Volvo land. All is going well. Replacement rear pads were fitted a few weeks back as they were very low. It has just has its yearly service with nothing to report except a replacement numberplate bulb.
I also purchased some new mats, carpet style opposed to rubber but I'm not keen, I suspect they'll be off pretty soon. I also refitted the original rear seats in the back in the car as I could no longer cope knowing the rear bench didn't have blue stitching!
I've been browsing autotrader lately, there really is nothing out there without breaking the bank that I want. I guess I might make it to 2 years with this one at this rate.
Edited by S100HP on Thursday 15th August 22:06
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