Volvo XC70

[surveyor]

Stiff and sore today after fitting 1/2 a towbar. Unfortunately, missing bolts stopped play...

[bracken78]

surveyor said:

Stiff and sore today after fitting 1/2 a towbar. Unfortunately, missing bolts stopped play...

Which towbar did you go for as I plan to fit one on our XC70 later this year.

[surveyor]

I went for a cheap as chips £120 Italian make off Ebay. Hoping for the best. It's tested etc. Instructions not the best, and missing two bolts before I can finish it.

Electrics were cheapest from Volvo themselves.

[bracken78]

surveyor said:

I went for a cheap as chips £120 Italian make off Ebay. Hoping for the best. It's tested etc. Instructions not the best, and missing two bolts before I can finish it.

Electrics were cheapest from Volvo themselves.

Many thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Accelebrate]

surveyor said:

Electrics were cheapest from Volvo themselves.

Are Volvo fitting the electrics? I'm still confused about if the trailer module requires 'coding' to activate it, or not.

[surveyor]

Accelebrate said:

surveyor said:

Electrics were cheapest from Volvo themselves.

Are Volvo fitting the electrics? I'm still confused about if the trailer module requires 'coding' to activate it, or not.

Nope. They said they would need coding, but I'll cross that barrier when I come to it...My suspicion is the coding will enable sway control, and parking sensor cutout, and maybe bulb failure logic

[surveyor]

Towbar is a mare. I’m not that happy with the end result, which looks a long way off the boot.

Likewise I’m struggling with the electrics.

Hopefully it needs coding as otherwise I’ve stuffed it up
Somewhere or missed a connector.

On the plus side I’m a dab hand at getting the bumper on and off!

[surveyor]

Towbar fitted and working. My cheap test kit showed the electrics as not working, so I ended up having it coded. £95 at the dealer - VIDA says it can do it - but you need a 400 euro subscription to go along with it!

Annoyingly my cheap tester still showed it as not working. Yet all is well plugged into the caravan. I'm not sure if it needed coding or not - I did not try it with the caravan before the dealer visit.

I'm not at all nervous about a 500 mile tow to Le mans, first of the season with no prep time at all. Not at all!

[Accelebrate]

surveyor said:

I'm not sure if it needed coding or not

Glad you got it sorted.

I've been doing some towbar research recently. From everything I've read the genuine Volvo module does need to be coded. There are aftermarket vehicle-specific modules that connect to the same connectors that apparently don't need to be coded. What you gain with the Volvo module is the stuff you previously mentioned like disabling PDC and the rear foglight when a trailer is connected and monitoring of the trailer bulbs.

[surveyor]

While since I updated this thread. It did need coding. Interestingly, even coded my cheap plug in tester does not work. It needs to be connected to something that provides a load. Like a caravan.

We made it to Le Mans and back with no issues and beat the non-towers with more interesting metal. Which was nice.



Recently we went to Anglesey. Which was warm..




I remembered this morning that August was MOT month. Actually, it was 3 weeks ago. Oops! An emergency appointment with Halfords saw a clean pass sheet.

I could do with finding a specialist. I have a gentle rumble under low power at speed. I think it is related to the 4wd system.

[Mij91]

Have you serviced the Haldex unit? My wifes XC60 drives so much better now I have changed the Haldex oil.

[idealstandard]

I've had two of these, a T6 and a D5 in the same colour. Moved up to a Discovery due to 3.5 tonne towing, but loved my time with the XC70s.

[Garett]

surveyor said:

I could do with finding a specialist. I have a gentle rumble under low power at speed. I think it is related to the 4wd system.

Depending where you are based I use Craig Rawse in Bradford, small family run business and very knowledgeable and competent. I take my V70 there and before that my S60.
Worth driving into Bradford for!

[surveyor]

A rare trip to a site today. Nearly off-road, though not at all testing for the car.

IMG_7703 by David Powell, on Flickr

[surveyor]

And it's gone. Although it had never gone wrong, it was making me nervous... The replacement gets picked up on Saturday..

[Doofus]

surveyor said:

And it's gone. Although it had never gone wrong, it was making me nervous... The replacement gets picked up on Saturday..

Have you swapped it for a Mercedes SL?

That's what I did.

[surveyor]

Doofus said:

surveyor said:

And it's gone. Although it had never gone wrong, it was making me nervous... The replacement gets picked up on Saturday..

Have you swapped it for a Mercedes SL?

That's what I did.

That would have been ace. I need to stick to an estate due to a black and white pet. So Bmw 520d touring..

From the ad.

[bracken78]

surveyor said:

And it's gone. Although it had never gone wrong, it was making me nervous... The replacement gets picked up on Saturday..

Out of interest, what was making you nervous?

[surveyor]

bracken78 said:

surveyor said:

And it's gone. Although it had never gone wrong, it was making me nervous... The replacement gets picked up on Saturday..

Out of interest, what was making you nervous?

I read too much about the aux belt snapping and taking the cambelt out.
The gearbox made the odd bad gearchange between P and D, especially when hot.
I always thought the diff was a bit noisy (not driven another so can't compare).
I had a random clonking after a sharp right turn, which did not go until I did a sharp left turn.

I may well have been over-sensitive. But it stopped me from enjoying driving the car...

[Bannock]

surveyor said:

bracken78 said:

surveyor said:

And it's gone. Although it had never gone wrong, it was making me nervous... The replacement gets picked up on Saturday..

Out of interest, what was making you nervous?

I read too much about the aux belt snapping and taking the cambelt out.
The gearbox made the odd bad gearchange between P and D, especially when hot.
I always thought the diff was a bit noisy (not driven another so can't compare).
I had a random clonking after a sharp right turn, which did not go until I did a sharp left turn.

I may well have been over-sensitive. But it stopped me from enjoying driving the car...

You've probably done right. My sister has had three of these XC70s - no idea why she kept persisting as they all presented major, expensive faults which ended her ownership of them all. Gearbox was one of those failures, it started going with similar symptoms as you mentioned. I like them the idea of these cars, and they look great, but nah, I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole. I don't think they're as robust as people make out.

Good luck with the BMW.