Comfy Volvo Content
Discussion
dandam said:
How’s the Volvo been since it’s big bath ?
Seems fine thank you. It's covered a few miles up and down to Carfest last weekend (it was rather useful getting out of the field) plus have been out and about with family this week and it's seemed fine. Only thing that may or may not be connected is that its reluctant to start in the morning. It seems to just take a few extra seconds to turn over and you can hear the battery starting to drain. I thought this might have been the battery on its way, but a test shows it to be "great"
Next to check is the earth strap as they have a tendancy to corrode, which would tie in with it getting wet a few weeks back. After that, it's injectors I guess.
Ignoring the occasional slower start, and the fact the shonky Impreza is still on my driveway I decided to give the headlamps some love. It's a common problem on the later Volvos, as the headlamps are plastic rather than glass thanks to Ford cost cutting circa 2004 iirc.
Anyway. I spent £15 on a Turtle Wax headlamp restoration kit. It was s
t. This is how they looked afterwards.
I've lived with it for a few weeks, but they really did need some love. New units are £hundreds, so I thought I'd give the local bodyshop a chance. He only wanted £30 so I let him have a go. It didn't take him long, he used a few grades of paper and then some compound on a rotary polisher. Whilst the results are not perfect they are significantly better than before. I can live with that. I also took the opportunity to replace a bulb which blew the other day.
T-6 weeks till Paris
Anyway. I spent £15 on a Turtle Wax headlamp restoration kit. It was s
t. This is how they looked afterwards.I've lived with it for a few weeks, but they really did need some love. New units are £hundreds, so I thought I'd give the local bodyshop a chance. He only wanted £30 so I let him have a go. It didn't take him long, he used a few grades of paper and then some compound on a rotary polisher. Whilst the results are not perfect they are significantly better than before. I can live with that. I also took the opportunity to replace a bulb which blew the other day.
T-6 weeks till Paris
Davie said:
Great read and must admit, have been debating one for a while now too and should a face-lift manual with the 163bhp D5 appear in a good colour combo, it will probably happen. My current V70 D5 is all of the above, minus the slightly improved off road prowess and whilst I've tried to tell myself it's as capable 90% of the time... it grounds out on the track abd wife has managed to bog it in the paddock at her mother's place twice. Would also be rather unstoppable during winter on the right tyres, which is a factor as we're a good few miles from the nearest treated roads with a baby... that and an XC90 is just a bit too massive. Good work, good read.
Thanks. We seem to have a very similar taste in cars. I look forward to reading about your new purchase soon... Davie said:
Indeed!
I've always been a "quick / Volvo / estate" man and current position if life dictates I need a reasonably modern, large, substantially built estate car that isn't that dear to buy or run and the P2 V70 model on the whole does the whole estate thing rather well... and the upside is, there's plenty variations on the theme to appeal to the ever changing needs. My D5 has been a fantastic tool but there have been a few occasions where I've found myself thinking that an XC would do everything it currently does, plus that wee bit more... and would probably sit well alongside the R, which continues to be brilliant at emptying my bank account.
It's nice to know you can, even if you don't need to I've always been a "quick / Volvo / estate" man and current position if life dictates I need a reasonably modern, large, substantially built estate car that isn't that dear to buy or run and the P2 V70 model on the whole does the whole estate thing rather well... and the upside is, there's plenty variations on the theme to appeal to the ever changing needs. My D5 has been a fantastic tool but there have been a few occasions where I've found myself thinking that an XC would do everything it currently does, plus that wee bit more... and would probably sit well alongside the R, which continues to be brilliant at emptying my bank account.
Can't send you a PM, but might be worth joining here https://www.facebook.com/groups/1604736183145051/
BugLebowski said:
Ah the fabled picnic table and booster seats. I had mine for about 6 months before discovering them 
That's quite impressive!I gave these a good clean and feed and fitted this evening. So easy to do, just unclipped the two red clips and out they pop. Probably took 5 mins in total, and that includes refitting the isofix seats (btw, I retro fitted the isofix brackets earlier in the year, don't think I mentioned that)
So out with the old
And in with the new (which are actually older)
Kids will be chuffed they've somewhere to put their stuff on the way to Paris
Another small job ticked off the list. Replacement rear light as old had a small crack, water ingress and the led strip that you can see from side on didn't work. The only replacement I found was £95 on eBay, but a post on the XC70 owners club yielded a replacement unit for £15, including postage!
A pig of a job to fit with trim being removed left right and centre but happy now it's back together.
Before
After
A pig of a job to fit with trim being removed left right and centre but happy now it's back together.
Before
After
Not sure anyone is reading about my trusty Volvo, but it's worth posting to keep a record.
Anyway, today was an expensive day. Given how much I messed up with the shonky Impreza I'm now banned from buying new cars. This works for me as I'm actually quite happy with the XC70 in hindsight, so I might as well spend a bit of cash on it.
Today was the turn of the engine mounts to be replaced. You may know that the two main mounts under the car are vacuum mounts. I don't confess to understand how they work, but ever since I've had the car I had a feeling they needed replacing. Idle would make the car shake, as would reverse. I'd nothing to compare it to, but I just wasn't convinced they were overly happy. Well it turns out they weren't. Unfortunately the mounts are £100 each, plus fitting etc. I also had fuel filter changed at the same time. £400 later it was like a different car. Those mounts were utterly shagged. Gone are the vibrations throughout the car, replaced with a much smoother feel to the whole drivetrain.
Anyone with one of these cars should really check the engine mounts. They usually last around 100k apparently.
Anyway, today was an expensive day. Given how much I messed up with the shonky Impreza I'm now banned from buying new cars. This works for me as I'm actually quite happy with the XC70 in hindsight, so I might as well spend a bit of cash on it.
Today was the turn of the engine mounts to be replaced. You may know that the two main mounts under the car are vacuum mounts. I don't confess to understand how they work, but ever since I've had the car I had a feeling they needed replacing. Idle would make the car shake, as would reverse. I'd nothing to compare it to, but I just wasn't convinced they were overly happy. Well it turns out they weren't. Unfortunately the mounts are £100 each, plus fitting etc. I also had fuel filter changed at the same time. £400 later it was like a different car. Those mounts were utterly shagged. Gone are the vibrations throughout the car, replaced with a much smoother feel to the whole drivetrain.
Anyone with one of these cars should really check the engine mounts. They usually last around 100k apparently.
Edited by S100HP on Wednesday 10th October 07:55
Well that turned out to be an expensive 10 days! Having had the mounts replaced last week for £400 the general feel of the car was much better. Gone was the really clattering vibrations throughout the car, replaced with a very annoying metal on metal rattle between 1500 and 1800rpm, which was nice.
It went back to the garage who'd original done the work and they checked their work over and confirmed that all was right and they asked me to bring it back after the weekend for another look. Over the weekend, apart from being driven up the wall by the noise I had a poke around, which included removing part of the trim from the door as it was loose. The noise was still there. I then poked around the top engine mount and saw it moved side to side fairly freely.
On Monday I took it back to the garage and suggested they look at the top mount. They poked around the car again and when I collect they thought they'd found the issue. A power steering pipe was knocking against the body. They clamped it up and sent me on my way. The noise was still there....
Monday evening I chopped up a bit of rubber and stuffed it around the top mount to see if the noise went. It did so I jumped on ECP, ordered a new mount for £48 and fitted it on Tuesday evening via head torch. Noise was gone. Delightful. It appears that lifting the engine in the new mounts made the top one show how buggered it was.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6pJrR9zM51K87nYu6
Whilst it was in the garage they did note that the Alternator clutch pulley was seized, which was causing another type of noise. It also made the engine feel more lumpy than it should. Back into the garage today and I now have a new OAP (as it's apparently known). Upon starting the car, it feels totally different. The combination of the above works has made it feel much smoother and much quieter, so much so you can hardly hear it running when stood at the front of the car. The bloke commented that it feels like a totally different car now. I'm also pleased to report that the slow starting issue has gone away after replacing the fuel filter, so worth doing too. That was another £138 making best part of £600 in the last few weeks, eeek!
One last thing to do before our trip to Paris tomorrow and that was to try to reattach the trim panel I pulled off earlier (and broke the clips). New clips wouldn't work as they're integrated with the trim, so I resorted to adhesive.
And back in place. How well? We'll find out tomorrow, as our trip to Paris is finally here! It's going to have a 350 mile test!
It went back to the garage who'd original done the work and they checked their work over and confirmed that all was right and they asked me to bring it back after the weekend for another look. Over the weekend, apart from being driven up the wall by the noise I had a poke around, which included removing part of the trim from the door as it was loose. The noise was still there. I then poked around the top engine mount and saw it moved side to side fairly freely.
On Monday I took it back to the garage and suggested they look at the top mount. They poked around the car again and when I collect they thought they'd found the issue. A power steering pipe was knocking against the body. They clamped it up and sent me on my way. The noise was still there....
Monday evening I chopped up a bit of rubber and stuffed it around the top mount to see if the noise went. It did so I jumped on ECP, ordered a new mount for £48 and fitted it on Tuesday evening via head torch. Noise was gone. Delightful. It appears that lifting the engine in the new mounts made the top one show how buggered it was.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6pJrR9zM51K87nYu6
Whilst it was in the garage they did note that the Alternator clutch pulley was seized, which was causing another type of noise. It also made the engine feel more lumpy than it should. Back into the garage today and I now have a new OAP (as it's apparently known). Upon starting the car, it feels totally different. The combination of the above works has made it feel much smoother and much quieter, so much so you can hardly hear it running when stood at the front of the car. The bloke commented that it feels like a totally different car now. I'm also pleased to report that the slow starting issue has gone away after replacing the fuel filter, so worth doing too. That was another £138 making best part of £600 in the last few weeks, eeek!
One last thing to do before our trip to Paris tomorrow and that was to try to reattach the trim panel I pulled off earlier (and broke the clips). New clips wouldn't work as they're integrated with the trim, so I resorted to adhesive.
And back in place. How well? We'll find out tomorrow, as our trip to Paris is finally here! It's going to have a 350 mile test!
Stedman said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Unless an average of 28 mpg makes you cry, I can emphatically recommend the T5; I love mine.
28mpg isn't too bad considering the engine, weight etc.What do the diesels do real world? My parents are looking at these as a stop gap
Anyway, we made it to our hotel and it's very nice. It took 4hrs to get from Southampton to the tunnel due to several crashes on the M25 and then it took 4hrs to get from the tunnel to the hotel due to my darling fiancé taking us to the wrong hotel and onto the peripherique at rush hour. I was not amused. I twigged as we past the Stade de France. It should have been around 6hrs driving, but ended up about 8...
Car was exceptional. Ran very well all the way and as mentioned averaged 38mpg. Sat most of the France bit till Paris at 130kph. Total journey was around 360 miles. I love those seats.
Only photo taken in France. FUN radio and pepsi max. What more do you need for a roadtrip?
Edited by S100HP on Friday 19th October 22:19
Fin. 720 miles door to door, average speed of 31mph and averaged 37.5mpg.
The return journey was much smoother than the outbound. Left Paris at 1100 this morning, stopped in Amiens for around 90mins to stretch the legs and look round the cathedral. 1720 train and back in Southampton at 1930. 3h40 mins in France, 2h30 mins in UK. Bit better than the 8+hrs on the way!
Cathedral was nice
As was this C6 on the tunnel. Still want one. This one had been to Germany.
Volvo was faultless for the whole journey. Really pleased with it, and glad I had the work done last week. Only complaint is that it was pulling to the right in France. Once back in the UK that had gone, something to do with the roads?
The return journey was much smoother than the outbound. Left Paris at 1100 this morning, stopped in Amiens for around 90mins to stretch the legs and look round the cathedral. 1720 train and back in Southampton at 1930. 3h40 mins in France, 2h30 mins in UK. Bit better than the 8+hrs on the way!
Cathedral was nice
As was this C6 on the tunnel. Still want one. This one had been to Germany.
Volvo was faultless for the whole journey. Really pleased with it, and glad I had the work done last week. Only complaint is that it was pulling to the right in France. Once back in the UK that had gone, something to do with the roads?
Boring update time if anyone is interested. Volvo seems to take life in its stride shocker. It just does everything so well without fuss, which I appreciate.
After our French trip I decided it deserved a quick clean, which is exactly what I did. Unfortunately I came home from work the following day and found it covered in concrete dust due to next door having a slab laid. Very grumpy, so I had to give it another clean. Had a bit more time so went to town on it. Wash, polish and waxed. Ready for winter. You'll note my bodged exterior trim repair is still holding too. Great success.
Now, anyone who's owned a Volvo of this vintage will be aware of the next issue. They blow bulbs for fun. Unfortunately mine did it the other evening when I had a 30 mile cross forest drive to do. I now carry spares, but I couldn't change it in the dark. I tried, just couldn't get it unclipped correct. The following morning it became apparent why, I'd unclipped the wrong end of the spring and it got tangled up. I only worked this out after the brainwave of using my camera to show me what was going on. Managed to get it replaced anyway.
This brings me to today. Ever since the work on the mounts I'd complained of more nosie in the cabin and a graunchy noise when rotating the wheel. A little investigation lead me to learn that there is a plastic ring located in the shaft as shown below. Mine had worked loose. A bit of prodding confirmed that when "home" the engine noise was reduced, so I set about fitting it correctly, which was as easy as you'd imagine.
And once fitted
I also covered the joint in spray grease to be doubly sure. Bliss, the graunchy noise was gone, but the difference it's made to the engine noise inside the car is incredible. It's practically silent now. I wish I'd investigated before we went to France, as my main issue was the noise which I called a lack of refinement. It's totally different now. I've no idea how it works, it's probably magic, but I don't care! So happy right now.
And that is where we are now, up to date. Another 500 miles or so and we can join the 150k club. I took this to celebrate, which caused an argument about sun simulation. There are some weird people about.
After our French trip I decided it deserved a quick clean, which is exactly what I did. Unfortunately I came home from work the following day and found it covered in concrete dust due to next door having a slab laid. Very grumpy, so I had to give it another clean. Had a bit more time so went to town on it. Wash, polish and waxed. Ready for winter. You'll note my bodged exterior trim repair is still holding too. Great success.
Now, anyone who's owned a Volvo of this vintage will be aware of the next issue. They blow bulbs for fun. Unfortunately mine did it the other evening when I had a 30 mile cross forest drive to do. I now carry spares, but I couldn't change it in the dark. I tried, just couldn't get it unclipped correct. The following morning it became apparent why, I'd unclipped the wrong end of the spring and it got tangled up. I only worked this out after the brainwave of using my camera to show me what was going on. Managed to get it replaced anyway.
This brings me to today. Ever since the work on the mounts I'd complained of more nosie in the cabin and a graunchy noise when rotating the wheel. A little investigation lead me to learn that there is a plastic ring located in the shaft as shown below. Mine had worked loose. A bit of prodding confirmed that when "home" the engine noise was reduced, so I set about fitting it correctly, which was as easy as you'd imagine.
And once fitted
I also covered the joint in spray grease to be doubly sure. Bliss, the graunchy noise was gone, but the difference it's made to the engine noise inside the car is incredible. It's practically silent now. I wish I'd investigated before we went to France, as my main issue was the noise which I called a lack of refinement. It's totally different now. I've no idea how it works, it's probably magic, but I don't care! So happy right now.
And that is where we are now, up to date. Another 500 miles or so and we can join the 150k club. I took this to celebrate, which caused an argument about sun simulation. There are some weird people about.
Small update from me to me it seems...
Went to Costco. Stocked up for Brexit with 102 tins of beans, 20kg of porridge, 10000 tea bags, 20kg of ketchup and 20kg of HP brown sauce. Stanced yo!
Thankfully the Nivomats work and raised the arse whilst in transit. Very clever stuff actually:
It’s a little known fact that many Volvos have self-leveling rear suspension equipped from the factory. Most owners are unaware of this system as it is fully self-contained and has no external parts such as a compressor or air lines. The Nivomat self-leveling system that Volvo uses is designed and manufactured by Sachs/Boge. The heart of the system is the Nivomat self-leveling shock which works in conjunction with a lightweight coil spring. In simple terms, the Nivomat shock pumps itself up to normal ride height when loaded. For example, if you put a couple of hundred pounds in the trunk or cargo area of your wagon, the back will sag down a couple of inches. It will stay this way until you begin driving. As you drive, the normal movement of the suspension will gradually raise the rear of your car to the normal height, usually within a mile or two.
Once unloaded it looked like a lifted XC70, but soon settled back down. As I said, its a clever system, but it is expensive when they need replacing!
Along with stocking up for Brexit I took an old dining room and 4 chairs to the dump. My life really is thrilling. I've also just had the power steering fluid replaced as I noticed it was full of red ATF fluid, which is not recommend apparently. Something to do with killing the rack. I've no idea how long it had been in there, but thought it worth replacing it with CHF11s fluid which is green. Probably too late to undo any damage that may have been done, but feel better knowing it is correct.
See, thrilling.
Went to Costco. Stocked up for Brexit with 102 tins of beans, 20kg of porridge, 10000 tea bags, 20kg of ketchup and 20kg of HP brown sauce. Stanced yo!
Thankfully the Nivomats work and raised the arse whilst in transit. Very clever stuff actually:
It’s a little known fact that many Volvos have self-leveling rear suspension equipped from the factory. Most owners are unaware of this system as it is fully self-contained and has no external parts such as a compressor or air lines. The Nivomat self-leveling system that Volvo uses is designed and manufactured by Sachs/Boge. The heart of the system is the Nivomat self-leveling shock which works in conjunction with a lightweight coil spring. In simple terms, the Nivomat shock pumps itself up to normal ride height when loaded. For example, if you put a couple of hundred pounds in the trunk or cargo area of your wagon, the back will sag down a couple of inches. It will stay this way until you begin driving. As you drive, the normal movement of the suspension will gradually raise the rear of your car to the normal height, usually within a mile or two.
Once unloaded it looked like a lifted XC70, but soon settled back down. As I said, its a clever system, but it is expensive when they need replacing!
Along with stocking up for Brexit I took an old dining room and 4 chairs to the dump. My life really is thrilling. I've also just had the power steering fluid replaced as I noticed it was full of red ATF fluid, which is not recommend apparently. Something to do with killing the rack. I've no idea how long it had been in there, but thought it worth replacing it with CHF11s fluid which is green. Probably too late to undo any damage that may have been done, but feel better knowing it is correct.
See, thrilling.
Well it's been a since I purchased the XC70. It has now done 151k, meaning I've covered 10k this last year. Very little to report, it's still giving sterling family service.
It has probably cost me around £1000 in maintenance in that time (fag packet calculation) but this includes items that won't need doing again for some time, including engine mounts and cambelt.
He is to another year.
It has probably cost me around £1000 in maintenance in that time (fag packet calculation) but this includes items that won't need doing again for some time, including engine mounts and cambelt.
He is to another year.
Stedman said:
Apologies as I haven't read back through the thread, but did you do the aux belt at the same time as the cambelt?
Yes, and the water pump. Will probably stick some new discs and pads this year along with a new set of tyres. I've run winter tyres since purchase as they were cheap, but they're also old.
Edited by S100HP on Sunday 20th January 17:54
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