High mileage XC90
Discussion
So, after saying goodbye to my much loved i30N, the idea was to buy something family (and towing) friendly for about £5k, and spend about £1k on a 50% share with a mate in a cheap track day toy for fun.
We had to sort out the family bit first, and immediately thought about P2 XC90s. We looked at them back when they were current, and although we decided against spending the money at the time (and stupidly bought a POS Renault Scenic II instead), both of us were quite taken with the Volvo, the sheer comfort and practicality of it, and the way Volvo hadn't gone down the BMW route of trying to make an SUV into a sports car. The way the XC90 is unashamedly a soft, comfy, practical family wagon is part of its appeal, in my view.
Anyhow, when looking at sensible stuff for around £5k, I found myself perusing these once again. After a looking at a few, I found this one, and despite the mileage, I knew it was a gem.
It's a 2011 D5 SE Lux auto in Ember Black. A 3 owner car, with the later 200 bhp engine and 6 speed auto, I bought it privately from a chap who'd owned it for 5 years and had what I can only describe as pampered it. It's had a transmission oil change, a couple of injector replacements, 4 recent Michelin Latitudes, new PAS fluid, new coolant, the swirl flaps replaced and various other bits of additional maintenance done, as well as a comprehensive service history. MOT is until March 23, and the history is good. It's only ever failed one MOT in its life (on a damaged tyre) and the past two have been clean passes with no advisories.
The car is in lovely condition overall. The interior is really tidy. There's some creasing to the leather on the drivers seat squab, and a few marks here and there, but it doesn't look like it's done half that mileage. Outside, there's some minor battle scars, most serious of which being some minor damage to the rear bumper, and couple of small dents in the roof above the passenger door, where it looks like something has been dropped putting it on or off a roof rack.
It drives really well. Starts on the key, hot or cold, and settles immediately to a smooth, steady idle with no unexpected noises. Turbo is quiet and boosts smoothly, and the D5 really does get about as close to being a decent sounding diesel engine as I've personally encountered, with a lovely 5 pot growl as the revs build. If I had to nitpick (and I'm terrible at this when running old cars), there's a slight vibration under load around 1500-1600 RPM which I suspect is down to one of the vacuum engine mounts. It's noticeable mostly because the engine is so smooth either side of it (and at idle). Not expensive or difficult to sort if it becomes a problem.
The Geartronic is laggy when moving off (they all do that, sir) but once rolling it shifts smoothly with no bangs or jolts (perhaps just a hint of flare going from 4th-5th but its mild), and the D5 engine feels very strong and delivers more than enough performance for such a tall, soft riding car. I've put about 600 miles on it already, and it's just a comfy, smooth, lazy thing that eats up the miles. It is well specced for an older car as well, with climate control, a rather clunky and ancient, but functional sat nav with a screen that rises out of the dash top, simple Bluetooth connectivity for phone calls, mp3 and aux in on the (excellent) stereo, wonderfully comfortable heated leather seats, cruise control etc etc. It (mostly) all works as well.
I've found a couple of issues that need attending to. Although the electric seat adjustments all work fine, 2 of the 3 memory buttons don't appear to do anything at all. According to live data, they don't even register when pushed, so I suspect it's just the switch panel - a £20 part from an eBay breaker. The drivers mirror doesn't auto fold either. Like the previous owner (who mentioned it) I don't care enough about that to fix it. Maintenance wise, it's not due another service until next year, but the timing belt is coming up due on time (not mileage), and the front pads are on the low side. I'll be tackling both jobs myself. There are no fault codes anywhere apart from one for an interior air quality sensor malfunction. A quick Google suggests this sensor is used by the HVAC to automatically switch on the recirculate function if it detects a drop in air quality, such as when coming to a halt in a tunnel.
Road tax is £360 a year which is steep, but a useful £300 cheaper than it would be on an 06-58 car. After 600 miles total, it's averaging 35 mpg on the computer. I haven't refilled it yet to work out what it's actually done, but 35 mpg average is comfortably more than the i30N ever achieved. Not bad for a 2 tonne lump of lard.
It is however twice as expensive to insure as the i30N using my existing insurer.
Time will tell how reliable it is, but so far so good. I'll start getting the outstanding bits sorted, and just keep on top of other stuff as it arises. In the meantime, early indications are it's just a supremely comfy, smooth old thing that is very relaxing to drive.
Anyway, here it is. Quite a handsome old barge I think for £4,900. I've since removed the wind deflectors as they were noisy, and my wife complained that the one on the driver's side added quite a noticeable blind spot around the A-pillars. The car is much quieter without them.
And this milestone achieved the day after we bought it.
We had to sort out the family bit first, and immediately thought about P2 XC90s. We looked at them back when they were current, and although we decided against spending the money at the time (and stupidly bought a POS Renault Scenic II instead), both of us were quite taken with the Volvo, the sheer comfort and practicality of it, and the way Volvo hadn't gone down the BMW route of trying to make an SUV into a sports car. The way the XC90 is unashamedly a soft, comfy, practical family wagon is part of its appeal, in my view.
Anyhow, when looking at sensible stuff for around £5k, I found myself perusing these once again. After a looking at a few, I found this one, and despite the mileage, I knew it was a gem.
It's a 2011 D5 SE Lux auto in Ember Black. A 3 owner car, with the later 200 bhp engine and 6 speed auto, I bought it privately from a chap who'd owned it for 5 years and had what I can only describe as pampered it. It's had a transmission oil change, a couple of injector replacements, 4 recent Michelin Latitudes, new PAS fluid, new coolant, the swirl flaps replaced and various other bits of additional maintenance done, as well as a comprehensive service history. MOT is until March 23, and the history is good. It's only ever failed one MOT in its life (on a damaged tyre) and the past two have been clean passes with no advisories.
The car is in lovely condition overall. The interior is really tidy. There's some creasing to the leather on the drivers seat squab, and a few marks here and there, but it doesn't look like it's done half that mileage. Outside, there's some minor battle scars, most serious of which being some minor damage to the rear bumper, and couple of small dents in the roof above the passenger door, where it looks like something has been dropped putting it on or off a roof rack.
It drives really well. Starts on the key, hot or cold, and settles immediately to a smooth, steady idle with no unexpected noises. Turbo is quiet and boosts smoothly, and the D5 really does get about as close to being a decent sounding diesel engine as I've personally encountered, with a lovely 5 pot growl as the revs build. If I had to nitpick (and I'm terrible at this when running old cars), there's a slight vibration under load around 1500-1600 RPM which I suspect is down to one of the vacuum engine mounts. It's noticeable mostly because the engine is so smooth either side of it (and at idle). Not expensive or difficult to sort if it becomes a problem.
The Geartronic is laggy when moving off (they all do that, sir) but once rolling it shifts smoothly with no bangs or jolts (perhaps just a hint of flare going from 4th-5th but its mild), and the D5 engine feels very strong and delivers more than enough performance for such a tall, soft riding car. I've put about 600 miles on it already, and it's just a comfy, smooth, lazy thing that eats up the miles. It is well specced for an older car as well, with climate control, a rather clunky and ancient, but functional sat nav with a screen that rises out of the dash top, simple Bluetooth connectivity for phone calls, mp3 and aux in on the (excellent) stereo, wonderfully comfortable heated leather seats, cruise control etc etc. It (mostly) all works as well.
I've found a couple of issues that need attending to. Although the electric seat adjustments all work fine, 2 of the 3 memory buttons don't appear to do anything at all. According to live data, they don't even register when pushed, so I suspect it's just the switch panel - a £20 part from an eBay breaker. The drivers mirror doesn't auto fold either. Like the previous owner (who mentioned it) I don't care enough about that to fix it. Maintenance wise, it's not due another service until next year, but the timing belt is coming up due on time (not mileage), and the front pads are on the low side. I'll be tackling both jobs myself. There are no fault codes anywhere apart from one for an interior air quality sensor malfunction. A quick Google suggests this sensor is used by the HVAC to automatically switch on the recirculate function if it detects a drop in air quality, such as when coming to a halt in a tunnel.
Road tax is £360 a year which is steep, but a useful £300 cheaper than it would be on an 06-58 car. After 600 miles total, it's averaging 35 mpg on the computer. I haven't refilled it yet to work out what it's actually done, but 35 mpg average is comfortably more than the i30N ever achieved. Not bad for a 2 tonne lump of lard.
It is however twice as expensive to insure as the i30N using my existing insurer.Time will tell how reliable it is, but so far so good. I'll start getting the outstanding bits sorted, and just keep on top of other stuff as it arises. In the meantime, early indications are it's just a supremely comfy, smooth old thing that is very relaxing to drive.
Anyway, here it is. Quite a handsome old barge I think for £4,900. I've since removed the wind deflectors as they were noisy, and my wife complained that the one on the driver's side added quite a noticeable blind spot around the A-pillars. The car is much quieter without them.
And this milestone achieved the day after we bought it.
Edited by Limpet on Wednesday 31st August 14:38
Thanks everyone for the comments. It does seem that people who've owned these generally have good things to say, which bodes well.
We've had it a week today, and due to some particular things going on family wise at the moment, it's done about 750 miles, which is about what my i30N did in the last 2 months of ownership! Not found any unpleasant surprises yet. Both Mrs Limpet and I enjoy driving it, and the two surly teenagers seem to enjoy being chauffered in it. Early indications are it is averaging a genuine 33 mpg in mixed use, which isn't bad for a 2 and a bit tonne lump with a slushbox and the aerodynamics of a barn door.
I'm chalking up a list of jobs which I'm going to start tackling over the next few weeks.
Cam belt and water pump. Following Searider's comments I will also change the aux belt and tensioner to mitigate any belt related disasters. I'm going to bite the bullet and use genuine Volvo bits given how critical this all is. Volvo do a timing belt and pump kit which is actually not too badly priced. Good old fashioned timing marks for TDC means no special tools needed to time the engine, but I will have to invest in (or make) the tool to hold the crank pulley when refitting. Job looks really straightforward otherwise. One of the things I remember from my S60 was how logically everything seemed to be engineered, and how easily it all came apart and went back together. Being a car of the same generation, this would appear to be similar.
Replace driver's seat electric adjust / memory function panel with a good secondhand unit.
Replace the front brake pads and discs. Nothing difficult here, but first I have to establish whether my car has the 316, 328 or 336mm discs fitted....
I've also found an intermittent issue with the driver's side electric window. If you use the one touch close function, the window will sometimes close, then reopen by itself, almost as if it has detected something trapped in there. If you hold the close button down, it will close and stay closed. Not earth shattering, but something I will investigate.
We've had it a week today, and due to some particular things going on family wise at the moment, it's done about 750 miles, which is about what my i30N did in the last 2 months of ownership! Not found any unpleasant surprises yet. Both Mrs Limpet and I enjoy driving it, and the two surly teenagers seem to enjoy being chauffered in it. Early indications are it is averaging a genuine 33 mpg in mixed use, which isn't bad for a 2 and a bit tonne lump with a slushbox and the aerodynamics of a barn door.
I'm chalking up a list of jobs which I'm going to start tackling over the next few weeks.
Cam belt and water pump. Following Searider's comments I will also change the aux belt and tensioner to mitigate any belt related disasters. I'm going to bite the bullet and use genuine Volvo bits given how critical this all is. Volvo do a timing belt and pump kit which is actually not too badly priced. Good old fashioned timing marks for TDC means no special tools needed to time the engine, but I will have to invest in (or make) the tool to hold the crank pulley when refitting. Job looks really straightforward otherwise. One of the things I remember from my S60 was how logically everything seemed to be engineered, and how easily it all came apart and went back together. Being a car of the same generation, this would appear to be similar.
Replace driver's seat electric adjust / memory function panel with a good secondhand unit.
Replace the front brake pads and discs. Nothing difficult here, but first I have to establish whether my car has the 316, 328 or 336mm discs fitted....
I've also found an intermittent issue with the driver's side electric window. If you use the one touch close function, the window will sometimes close, then reopen by itself, almost as if it has detected something trapped in there. If you hold the close button down, it will close and stay closed. Not earth shattering, but something I will investigate.
W201_190e said:
Volvo dealers were doing a fixed rate of £425 for the cam belt change.
Thanks for the info, and that isn't a bad price at all. As cam belts go, these really are one of the easier ones to DIY, so I'll be having a crack at it myself next week. There's not much 'stuff' in the way to deal with before you gain access to the belt, and once you get to it, there's adequate room to work. No special tools needed to either time the engine or tension the belt, which is pretty unusual by modern standards. Just need to make (or buy) something to hold the crank pulley with while I wang 300Nm through the centre nut to tighten it 
I believe the book time for the belt for the pros is about an hour, so adding in the pump and it being my first belt on this type of engine, I'm hoping a leisurely morning in the garage will do it.
In terms of parts costs, a genuine Volvo timing belt, tensioner and water pump kit is under £200 from Rybrook Volvo's trade counter on eBay.
What The Deuces said:
I'm running a 2013 D5 SE Lux thats just ticked over 55k miles.
Its a mega family car and i cant see me parting with it even if it gets relegated to just a bus for holidays and days out.
Nice to see your has worn its mileage well.
I've done all the belts and waterpump and serviced the gearbox and its feels really solid.
I'd budget around 15-20k miles for a set of tyres if you rotate them for even wear and a set of disc/pads every 25-30k depending terrain/style.
The new ones are nowhere near as good, sadly aimed at a different type of buyer
Good info, cheers Its a mega family car and i cant see me parting with it even if it gets relegated to just a bus for holidays and days out.
Nice to see your has worn its mileage well.
I've done all the belts and waterpump and serviced the gearbox and its feels really solid.
I'd budget around 15-20k miles for a set of tyres if you rotate them for even wear and a set of disc/pads every 25-30k depending terrain/style.
The new ones are nowhere near as good, sadly aimed at a different type of buyer
Just ordered a set of front pads and discs as they are worn, and they're now starting to squeal at low speeds as well. Went genuine Volvo in the end which at £179 delivered from Rybrook's trade shop on eBay, was actually cheaper than Euros/cp4l wanted for Pagid or Brembo. It was also useful that, being a Volvo dealer, they were able to confirm the discs were the correct size for the car from the reg number. There are three options, and it doesn't seem to depend on any specific thing (wheel size, model, year, engine etc). The only other option was to take a wheel off and measure them on the car, which I didn't fancy doing just for the sake of it.
Nicks90 said:
This is an easy fix. The sensor indicating what is the 'closed position' can go out of whack and the window thinks a finger is in the way and auto opens a bit.
Plenty of YouTube guides on how ti fix it by pulling a fuse when it's gets to the top to reset the position sensor.
Cool, will keep that in mind if the removal of the rogue wind deflector clip doesn't fix it. So far, it seems to have done the trick, but will look this one up. Thank you Plenty of YouTube guides on how ti fix it by pulling a fuse when it's gets to the top to reset the position sensor.
By way of an update, the car is still running and driving beautifully, and we haven't discovered any new issues. My youngest daughter has christened it "Lando". This is because she referred to it as a "Land Yacht" when she first saw it (it's a lot bigger than any car we've owned before), and being a Star Wars fan, she extended it to "Land Yacht Calrissian" which then got shortened to the character's actual first name, Lando. This has now stuck, and is what you get when you live in a household where you are outnumbered 3 to 1 by girls!
Although the brakes felt OK, they were a bit squealy at low speeds, and being mindful that the previous owner said the front discs and pads were due, and with quite a lip evident on the discs, I decided to waste no time getting these sorted. DHL turned up midweek with some presents for Lando. Courtesy of Rybrook Volvo's eBay shop, a set of genuine pads and discs were delivered in 24 hours for the very reasonable sum of £179. Disc size is a bit of a minefield on these things but they were super helpful on this, too and of course nailed it first time.
Set to work this afternoon. Quickly discovered my cheap trolley jack won't go high enough for this beast, so had to utilise the scissor jack in the boot. Just to clarify, as it's not clear in this shot, the car is also supported by an axle stand under the front wishbone mount, and the wheel provides an additional insurance policy. Add to shopping list, a proper trolley jack instead of the Mickey Mouse one I've struggled with for about 15 years.
I even roped Mrs Limpet in on the job for a bit. Her boredom threshold was exceeded in about half an hour, and she inevitably wandered off to do horse related stuff instead, but she tried.
This would have been a legit "Your pads won't last til the next service, sir" conversation! #toast
All done!
While it was all apart, I cleaned up the calipers and carriers, cleaned and greased the slider pins, and checked the hoses etc for bulges and leaks. All looked good. Pistons were nice and free and pushed back in smoothly and easily, although the shocking state of the old discs meant I had to lever a screwdriver in between the old pad and disc to push the piston back enough for the pads to clear the lip. Nothing I haven't done before, but it all adds minutes.
Pretty straightforward job on the whole though. Removing and refitting anti rattle clips is always the worst bit of a pad change. This was no exception!
Next job, cambelt, aux belt, water pump and all tensioners and idlers. I'll go for genuine bits again on this, as the kits are actually surprisingly reasonably priced from the Rybrook shop.
the-norseman said:
Looks a very clean car for its mileage!
We have a 2012 D5 R-Design which cost us almost double what you paid with 111k on the clock at the time. Body work doesn't appear to be as clean as yours either.
Your MPG seems a lot higher than ours, most we have seen is about 34, was a terrible 28 the other week with the roof box on.
I thought the 2011 cars were 185ps, 2012+ 200ps
I think the 185 - 200 changeover was in 2011. The engine code label on ours says D5244T18 which is the 200PS version. We have a 2012 D5 R-Design which cost us almost double what you paid with 111k on the clock at the time. Body work doesn't appear to be as clean as yours either.
Your MPG seems a lot higher than ours, most we have seen is about 34, was a terrible 28 the other week with the roof box on.
I thought the 2011 cars were 185ps, 2012+ 200ps
Edited by the-norseman on Sunday 11th September 09:50
In terms of economy, the previous owner replaced the swirl flaps and linkage and everything is operating as it should, which I believe helps the economy noticeably on these engines. That said, with more mixed use, the economy has dropped to 34 mpg which I still don’t think is bad for such a big lump of metal with barn door aero and a slush box. £110+ refills are taking some getting used to after the Hyundai’s thimble like tank.
GreatGranny said:
We've had 2 of these, both higher tax models which was a pain but they were such good family cars we accepted it.
Used as a towcar for our 1500 kgs caravan which it did superbly however the mpg suffered especially with the bikes on the roof!
Loved the split tailgate and the inside space.
Seats superb, standard stereo very good and trim/seats held up well to the abuse our 3 kids subjected them both to over 5-6 years
Gearbox slow but they all do that you just learn to anticipate when pulling out of junctions and at roundabouts.
Our were both the 185 bhp model, 200 model was just too expensive at the time.
Mpg used to average 30mpg overall.
Yours looks very tidy at 170k miles OP.
That lag moving off is infuriating, although it does at least ensure the Haldex gets exercised from time to time when your boot finds its way towards the floor through impatience/frustration and it suddenly wakes up Used as a towcar for our 1500 kgs caravan which it did superbly however the mpg suffered especially with the bikes on the roof!
Loved the split tailgate and the inside space.
Seats superb, standard stereo very good and trim/seats held up well to the abuse our 3 kids subjected them both to over 5-6 years
Gearbox slow but they all do that
you just learn to anticipate when pulling out of junctions and at roundabouts.Our were both the 185 bhp model, 200 model was just too expensive at the time.
Mpg used to average 30mpg overall.
Yours looks very tidy at 170k miles OP.
Sounds like you had good experiences with yours. They are very likeable cars. For me it really is refreshing given the way cars have gone in recent times that Volvo didn’t try to make it in any way “sporty”. Just a relaxed, effortless and comfy cruiser.
2 months in and I'm pleased to report it's all been very undramatic.
Ticked over 172,000 miles on Saturday, and the car hasn't missed a beat, apart from a brief (half a second or so) "HEADLAMP FAILURE - SERVICE REQUIRED" message after start up a few weeks ago that disappeared as suddenly as it appeared, and never returned. None of the fluid levels have budged, it fires up instantly hot or cold, and continues to be a lovely, comfy, relaxing thing to drive. Economy has settled around 32 mpg indicated with a mixture of short, stop start type stuff, and longer runs across several counties to see family and friends. I've driven it 400 miles in a day on two occasions now, and it really does lap up the miles with very little effort and remarkable refinement once up to speed.
One of the reasons we bought the car was to tow a horsebox occasionally, and having found probably the only XC90 in the UK without a towbar fitted, I've ordered a detachable Witter swan neck towbar, which seems to review well, and looks very straightforward to fit. For electrics, I've bitten the bullet and ordered a genuine Volvo trailer wiring kit, complete with the trailer module which handles all the electrical connection between the trailer lighting and the Canbus system, and can sense bulb outages and report these through the instrument cluster. With a software update from Volvo (which I will enquire about), it also provides Trailer Stability Assist which is essentially an extension of the car's stability control for towing purposes, and will disable the rear parking sensors when a trailer is connected. The main reason I went this route however is that it's plug and play, non destructive and completely reversible. No hacking of wiring, none of those nasty splice connectors, and it all simply plugs into the fuse panel behind the side trim in the boot. The grommet where the wiring passes through the boot floor even comes pre-installed in the right place on the wiring loom.
So, my job for next weekend is, for the first time in my life, installing a tow bar.
Ticked over 172,000 miles on Saturday, and the car hasn't missed a beat, apart from a brief (half a second or so) "HEADLAMP FAILURE - SERVICE REQUIRED" message after start up a few weeks ago that disappeared as suddenly as it appeared, and never returned. None of the fluid levels have budged, it fires up instantly hot or cold, and continues to be a lovely, comfy, relaxing thing to drive. Economy has settled around 32 mpg indicated with a mixture of short, stop start type stuff, and longer runs across several counties to see family and friends. I've driven it 400 miles in a day on two occasions now, and it really does lap up the miles with very little effort and remarkable refinement once up to speed.
One of the reasons we bought the car was to tow a horsebox occasionally, and having found probably the only XC90 in the UK without a towbar fitted, I've ordered a detachable Witter swan neck towbar, which seems to review well, and looks very straightforward to fit. For electrics, I've bitten the bullet and ordered a genuine Volvo trailer wiring kit, complete with the trailer module which handles all the electrical connection between the trailer lighting and the Canbus system, and can sense bulb outages and report these through the instrument cluster. With a software update from Volvo (which I will enquire about), it also provides Trailer Stability Assist which is essentially an extension of the car's stability control for towing purposes, and will disable the rear parking sensors when a trailer is connected. The main reason I went this route however is that it's plug and play, non destructive and completely reversible. No hacking of wiring, none of those nasty splice connectors, and it all simply plugs into the fuse panel behind the side trim in the boot. The grommet where the wiring passes through the boot floor even comes pre-installed in the right place on the wiring loom.
So, my job for next weekend is, for the first time in my life, installing a tow bar.
After a couple of tip runs, and the use of the car by Mrs Limpet to lug horse paraphernalia about, the interior was looking (and smelling) a bit nasty, so I decided to give it a proper going over.
I am still amazed that an 11 year old, 173,000 mile interior cleans up like this with normal household kit and chemicals. Volvo's build and material quality at this time was really quite something.
It (almost) all works as well. The electric seat adjusters and heaters all work, but the memory buttons don't. Live data shows the button press doesn't register at all, so I'm keeping an eye out for a decent secondhand switch panel (in the right colour) on eBay. The illumination on the top right of the climate panel (behind the heated seat and demister buttons) no longer works. I have the exorbitantly priced replacement bulb sitting in my toolbox and just haven't got around to fitting it yet.
Noticed that the freezing weather we had a few weeks ago has killed one of the washer jets. The nozzle inside is nowhere to be seen and instead of a fine mist of spray, water just sloshes out and goes mostly down the scuttle drains. Replacement jets were a whopping £8 a pair and should be turning up tomorrow.
Anyway, I'm sure you'll agree these interiors really do wear their miles well.
Dash
Front seats
Rear seats
3rd row
Boot
Odo
I am still amazed that an 11 year old, 173,000 mile interior cleans up like this with normal household kit and chemicals. Volvo's build and material quality at this time was really quite something.
It (almost) all works as well. The electric seat adjusters and heaters all work, but the memory buttons don't. Live data shows the button press doesn't register at all, so I'm keeping an eye out for a decent secondhand switch panel (in the right colour) on eBay. The illumination on the top right of the climate panel (behind the heated seat and demister buttons) no longer works. I have the exorbitantly priced replacement bulb sitting in my toolbox and just haven't got around to fitting it yet.
Noticed that the freezing weather we had a few weeks ago has killed one of the washer jets. The nozzle inside is nowhere to be seen and instead of a fine mist of spray, water just sloshes out and goes mostly down the scuttle drains. Replacement jets were a whopping £8 a pair and should be turning up tomorrow.
Anyway, I'm sure you'll agree these interiors really do wear their miles well.
Dash
Front seats
Rear seats
3rd row
Boot
Odo
Had our first bit of real grief with the old girl a couple of days after posting the last pics.
Something odd happened a month or so ago when driving, which was a genuine one off that I never managed to reproduce or get to the bottom of. Driving about locally, the car lost all power. The engine was running fine, no errors or warning lights up, just absolutely gutless. After 10 seconds or so, it recovered. I scanned it when I got home and there were no fault codes logged. A quick scout under the bonnet for anything obviously loose or out of place yielded no results, so I did the only thing I could do and promptly forgot about it.
Fast forward a few weeks, and the same thing happened again, only this time there was no recovery. The thing was clearly in some sort of limp mode, and was so painfully slow it could barely get out of its own way, but no smoke, no warning lights, no odd noises etc. I limped it to the supermarket I was going to, locked it up and went in. Came out, and it fired up perfectly normally. Just manoeuvring it round the car park, I could tell it was out of limp mode. Then, on the way home, limp mode returned, and brought some friends with it...
Nursed it home and dug out my scan tool. Which yielded a decent clutch of fault codes for MAF sensor, O2 sensor and transmission communication. Erase the codes which puts out the light and the scary service message, and have a ponder.
Now I'm not a professional mechanic, but I know that the odds of a MAF sensor and O2 sensor failing at the same time are pretty remote, and that these were far more likely not to be the causes of the problem, but symptoms of it. So starting with the inlet side of things, I got the tools out and did some good old fashioned inspection. Tracing the inlet pipework, it didn't take long to stumble across this rather suspect looking joint on the intercooler pipework under the car (complete with tell tale evidence of oil misting)
Turns out, after consulting the Haynes book of Lies, and Mr. Google, as well as the very helpful chaps on the XC90 Facebook owners group that the curved hose to the left of the jubilee clip which runs up the back of the engine and is fed directly by the turbo is actually not a factory fit item. Volvo fit a plastic resonator box here, which is notorious for leaking boost or even popping off the turbo, as the seals soften over time. A common mod is to replace this with a section of hose, of which many exist in the aftermarket of the correct shape and diameter. One of the cars previous owners had clearly been in here before and done this common "mod".
I got Mrs Limpet to fire up the car while I was under there and rev it. And was rewarded by a rush of air and a WHOOSH noise. Aha. A boost leak. And a big 'un.
I started dismantling things to try and find the source of it. And didn't have to look too far....
Continued below....
Something odd happened a month or so ago when driving, which was a genuine one off that I never managed to reproduce or get to the bottom of. Driving about locally, the car lost all power. The engine was running fine, no errors or warning lights up, just absolutely gutless. After 10 seconds or so, it recovered. I scanned it when I got home and there were no fault codes logged. A quick scout under the bonnet for anything obviously loose or out of place yielded no results, so I did the only thing I could do and promptly forgot about it.
Fast forward a few weeks, and the same thing happened again, only this time there was no recovery. The thing was clearly in some sort of limp mode, and was so painfully slow it could barely get out of its own way, but no smoke, no warning lights, no odd noises etc. I limped it to the supermarket I was going to, locked it up and went in. Came out, and it fired up perfectly normally. Just manoeuvring it round the car park, I could tell it was out of limp mode. Then, on the way home, limp mode returned, and brought some friends with it...
Nursed it home and dug out my scan tool. Which yielded a decent clutch of fault codes for MAF sensor, O2 sensor and transmission communication. Erase the codes which puts out the light and the scary service message, and have a ponder.
Now I'm not a professional mechanic, but I know that the odds of a MAF sensor and O2 sensor failing at the same time are pretty remote, and that these were far more likely not to be the causes of the problem, but symptoms of it. So starting with the inlet side of things, I got the tools out and did some good old fashioned inspection. Tracing the inlet pipework, it didn't take long to stumble across this rather suspect looking joint on the intercooler pipework under the car (complete with tell tale evidence of oil misting)
Turns out, after consulting the Haynes book of Lies, and Mr. Google, as well as the very helpful chaps on the XC90 Facebook owners group that the curved hose to the left of the jubilee clip which runs up the back of the engine and is fed directly by the turbo is actually not a factory fit item. Volvo fit a plastic resonator box here, which is notorious for leaking boost or even popping off the turbo, as the seals soften over time. A common mod is to replace this with a section of hose, of which many exist in the aftermarket of the correct shape and diameter. One of the cars previous owners had clearly been in here before and done this common "mod".
I got Mrs Limpet to fire up the car while I was under there and rev it. And was rewarded by a rush of air and a WHOOSH noise. Aha. A boost leak. And a big 'un.
I started dismantling things to try and find the source of it. And didn't have to look too far....
Continued below....
Edited by Limpet on Friday 17th February 15:09
Pretty conclusive, I would say.
So I ordered a 5 layer silicone replacement from an online hose retailer for the princely sum of £30 and waited for it to arrive. Then set about another more minor job that I've been meaning to deal with for ages.
The illumination behind the buttons on the climate control panel for demist, heated rear window and front heated seats has never worked since I got the car. It appeared a bulb had failed, so the climate control panel had to come out for investigation.
At least Volvo made this really easy to do with minimal dismantling needed:
After disconnecting the battery (to avoid airbag errors apparently), you remove the complete stereo and climate panel as one massive, heavy, awkward assembly. You then disconnect the almost unbelievable number of wiring plugs from the back of it, and dismantle it on the bench to get to the bulbs. Or on the dining room table in my case...
After removing the whole lot from the car as one lump, you have to remove the stereo part by undoing four Torx screws and pushing in four spring clips. Once you've done this, you can undo another two Torx screws and pull the climate panel out. Only then can you get to the offending bulbs. Which, by the way, are only readily available from Volvo, and are a whopping £10 EACH!
I'll skate over the part about there being two types of these tiny bulbs with different wattages and sizes, most having a grey base (which is what I ordered), but the law of Sod dictating that the one that had failed was one of the two smaller white base ones (which you can't see are white base and different until you dismantle it all as above). There are no Volvo dealers within 25 miles of here, but fortunately an independent online Volvo/Saab parts specialist had the correct one in stock and it arrived next day.
In the meantime, while I was waiting for this, the boost hose had arrived. This was straightforward to fit, and was retained using the original jubilee clips which were in good condition. After a bit of degreaser to mop up the stray oil, I fired up the engine and had a feel around underneath. No rushes of air. Revved it a few times, scanned it again, and no faults. Happy days. Refitted the undertray and called it done.
Next day the bulb turned up for the climate panel, so I put this in, reassembled the stereo and climate control panel back into one lump, and fitted it back in the car. Which is turns out is a very frustrating and sweary job because not only are there what feels like a hundred multiplugs to reconnect with not quite enough slack on the wires to be able to see what you're doing, but once you've somehow done this, the thing physically needs to go back into the dash in a very specific way, and if you're even a few mill out, it gets stuck and refuses to budge. After much swearing and cursing, it was in. Turning on the ignition, I was delighted to see a full complement of backlighting on the switches for the first time in my ownership. Felt happy.
Which lasted for no longer than it took to turn the key to fire her up to move her out of the garage and go for a test drive, because she then refused to start. Battery was very sluggish (which is something I've noticed of late), but in this case it became obvious that it was going to quit before the D5 fired up. Stop. Swear. Press daughters 1.0 Aygo into service with a set of jump leads, and daughter working the throttle. Crank the Volvo and it's still sluggish to turn over and still refusing to even try to start. Then it occurred to me that the alternator on the Aygo is the size of a Coke can, and the battery wouldn't look out of place in a smoke alarm. Give it a couple of minutes, twist the key, and the old girl belts over and fires up like nothing was ever wrong.
One final check over, and up the road. Feels noticeable livelier, which leads me to believe the boost had been leaking a while. Also the turbo is a lot quieter as well, which is another sign. After trundling round the residential streets, I decide to venture out onto some faster roads. Give it the absolute beans for about 4 miles, and it's running like a Swiss watch. Pulling much stronger particularly past 3,000 RPM than it has probably since I've had it. Still not a fast car of course, but doesn't feel like a particularly slow one either.
I get back home, plug in and am delighted to see no codes. And the dash reassuringly error free.
So, assuming that is the only thing that was wrong (and I really hope it was), all those scary error codes were due to nothing more technical than a good old fashioned split hose, and the fix was just £30. Interestingly, I found a Volvo forum online where someone had the exact same combination of error codes, and the Volvo dealer had him for almost £700 to replace the sensors that had logged the codes. The actual issue, as with mine, was a boost leak.
Job for the weekend is to head off to Halfords with the trade card for a new battery, methinks. It's such a stupid thing to break down for.
EDIT: New Exide Premium 100Ah jobbie winging its way from Tayna for tomorrow. £117 delivered, which is a useful £30 cheaper than Halfords similar spec Yuasa one.
Edited by Limpet on Friday 17th February 15:47
Thanks both. Yeah, she's pretty tidy for the miles. The outside is a disgrace at the moment though. Long overdue a wash.
Wife drove the car yesterday and actually called me to say it feels "like a different car" which suggests the boost pipe had been leaking for a while. Certainly it feels punchier, and the turbo is now almost silent instead of the prominent whistle/hiss it's had for a while.
Now it's healthy again, next job is a quick going over for the MOT which is up in just under a month's time (not expecting anything too drastic there), and to fit the towbar that's been in boxes on a shelf in the garage for 3 months. Mrs Limpet is about to invest in a horse trailer!
Wife drove the car yesterday and actually called me to say it feels "like a different car" which suggests the boost pipe had been leaking for a while. Certainly it feels punchier, and the turbo is now almost silent instead of the prominent whistle/hiss it's had for a while.
Now it's healthy again, next job is a quick going over for the MOT which is up in just under a month's time (not expecting anything too drastic there), and to fit the towbar that's been in boxes on a shelf in the garage for 3 months. Mrs Limpet is about to invest in a horse trailer!
Finally got the tow bar on for Mrs Limpet's horse trailer. I've done lots of things to and with cars over the years, but this was a genuine first. I'd never fitted a towbar before. As it turned out, it's really not too bad if you don't mind grovelling around on the floor (I don't, thankfully.
Opted for a Witter towbar with a detachable towball, as the car will spend a significant amount of time not towing. I know Witter have been around for donkey's years, and thought it was a safe bet.
Fitting is pretty straightforward. The chassis rails had three holes pre-drilled in them on each side, covered by a self adhesive foam pads. You simply peel off the pads, and the towbar mounts attach here, via 3 bolts attached to spreader plates and spacers that go through from the boot side. The mount extends rearwards, and the towbar itself bolts between them.
On the other side it meant dropping the exhaust down out of the way, which was relatively straightforward and then attaching a spacer plate to bring the rear exhaust hanger down by about 5mm to allow the tip to clear the towbar before refitting the hanger, and easing the rubbers back over the mounts. All very logical and easy.
Wiring wise, the XC90 is known for a slightly highly strung electrical system, so not wanting to hack anything, I opted for the genuine Volvo trailer wiring kit, which really is worth every penny. It comes with a pre-wired 13 pin trailer socket, attached to a loom of the correct length, nicely bound and wrapped with plastic and foam, and even with a grommet in the right place to replace an existing one in the boot floor. Of the three multiplugs on the other end, one plugs in to a connector on the boot fuse panel, and the other two to the trailer module that's also supplied with the kit. You then have to insert four fuses at specific points in the fuseboard, and that's it. No cutting, no splicing. All completely non-destructive and reversible.
What they don't tell you is how much trim you have to remove to get to the connector on the fuseboard on the left of the pic below.....
Once in, it's very neat though. A single cable tie tidied it up underneath, and from inside the car, the cable comes up through the boot floor where the factory battery drain would be, then disappears behind the battery and into the side trim. None of this is visible without removing trim panels or getting under the car, but it's still nice to know it's tidy.
Very happy with the end result (excuse the filthy car)
Unlock the towball, twist the handle, and it just pulls out of the receiver on the towbar, with a neat little weather cover popping in its place. Tidy and discreet.
Plugged the trailer electrics in, and everything is working, so just need the number plate to turn up tomorrow and we're good to tow.
Opted for a Witter towbar with a detachable towball, as the car will spend a significant amount of time not towing. I know Witter have been around for donkey's years, and thought it was a safe bet.
Fitting is pretty straightforward. The chassis rails had three holes pre-drilled in them on each side, covered by a self adhesive foam pads. You simply peel off the pads, and the towbar mounts attach here, via 3 bolts attached to spreader plates and spacers that go through from the boot side. The mount extends rearwards, and the towbar itself bolts between them.
On the other side it meant dropping the exhaust down out of the way, which was relatively straightforward and then attaching a spacer plate to bring the rear exhaust hanger down by about 5mm to allow the tip to clear the towbar before refitting the hanger, and easing the rubbers back over the mounts. All very logical and easy.
Wiring wise, the XC90 is known for a slightly highly strung electrical system, so not wanting to hack anything, I opted for the genuine Volvo trailer wiring kit, which really is worth every penny. It comes with a pre-wired 13 pin trailer socket, attached to a loom of the correct length, nicely bound and wrapped with plastic and foam, and even with a grommet in the right place to replace an existing one in the boot floor. Of the three multiplugs on the other end, one plugs in to a connector on the boot fuse panel, and the other two to the trailer module that's also supplied with the kit. You then have to insert four fuses at specific points in the fuseboard, and that's it. No cutting, no splicing. All completely non-destructive and reversible.
What they don't tell you is how much trim you have to remove to get to the connector on the fuseboard on the left of the pic below.....
Once in, it's very neat though. A single cable tie tidied it up underneath, and from inside the car, the cable comes up through the boot floor where the factory battery drain would be, then disappears behind the battery and into the side trim. None of this is visible without removing trim panels or getting under the car, but it's still nice to know it's tidy.
Very happy with the end result (excuse the filthy car)
Unlock the towball, twist the handle, and it just pulls out of the receiver on the towbar, with a neat little weather cover popping in its place. Tidy and discreet.
Plugged the trailer electrics in, and everything is working, so just need the number plate to turn up tomorrow and we're good to tow.
MOT coming up this week, so decided to attend to the occasionally sticky power steering by treating the car to £62 of eBay's finest Chinesium power steering pump (as opposed to a £300 genuine one), and some fresh fluid. Seems to have done the job, with power assistance losing the rather irritating intermittent quality that it had started to gain when manoeuvring at low speeds. I'm going to take the old one apart and see if there's anything obvious I can repair or replace, given the various omens of doom I've heard re these cheap Chinese pumps often having the lifespan comparable to that of a Bernard Matthews turkey.
For now it all feels good, no leaks and no funny noises, so timely correction of power steering completed, we hooked up the horsebox for our first towing experience. 20 mile round trip to the stables where she keeps her third child, and completed without incident.
An extra 900kg on the back didn't seem to upset the car at all, and it coped admirably with the hilly local lanes.
Neither of us had a clue what we were doing when it came to reversing which gave a local farmer in his tractor (who we know well) a source of much amusement as we shunted back and forth trying and failing to turn the thing around. We got there in the end.
MOT booked for Wednesday. I've adjusted up the parking brake (Mercedes style foot operated apply / dash handle release setup on these) to get the travel down to more acceptable levels, and given it a once over as much as I can without ramps. While I'm not about to say it will sail through with ease, if it throws up anything huge I will be genuinely surprised and disappointed.
For now it all feels good, no leaks and no funny noises, so timely correction of power steering completed, we hooked up the horsebox for our first towing experience. 20 mile round trip to the stables where she keeps her third child, and completed without incident.
An extra 900kg on the back didn't seem to upset the car at all, and it coped admirably with the hilly local lanes.
Neither of us had a clue what we were doing when it came to reversing which gave a local farmer in his tractor (who we know well) a source of much amusement as we shunted back and forth trying and failing to turn the thing around. We got there in the end.
MOT booked for Wednesday. I've adjusted up the parking brake (Mercedes style foot operated apply / dash handle release setup on these) to get the travel down to more acceptable levels, and given it a once over as much as I can without ramps. While I'm not about to say it will sail through with ease, if it throws up anything huge I will be genuinely surprised and disappointed.
Edited by Limpet on Monday 6th March 16:02
guitarcarfanatic said:
You have the side steps which was a pricey extra new!
They could do with a bit of a refurb actually, particularly where they go under the sill. There's some pitting and surface corrosion that doesn't look very nice close up. I'll probably pull them off and give them a spruce up at some point, but once I'm sure I won't make them look any worse sugerbear said:
Love my XC90. One year of reliable ownership and it’s had a new battery, two bulbs and a couple of tyres.
Only thing I don’t like is the crashy ride because it has 20 inch rims (intend to swap to 18’s at some stage).
I swapped out the pop up satnav for a roadtop 8.8 car play receiver and it’s just a lovely car to drive.
Your one looks very clean for 170k.
I very much stuck to my own advice on this one and bought on condition rather than mileage or even spec, and I'm glad I did. We looked at quite a few with between 90 and 150k on them and found some that looked OK. Went to see this one and it stood out, both in terms of condition and service history. The owner had had it for 5 years, and was clearly an enthusiast, reeling off the same list of common issues I'd researched, then pointing me at invoices and evidence that they'd all been attended to recently. The service and MOT history are both very good. The only fault I could really find was slightly rough looking rear discs and low pads, otherwise it was all together and drove really well.Only thing I don’t like is the crashy ride because it has 20 inch rims (intend to swap to 18’s at some stage).
I swapped out the pop up satnav for a roadtop 8.8 car play receiver and it’s just a lovely car to drive.
Your one looks very clean for 170k.
I'm 6 months in now, and I've had a fair bit of maintenance type stuff to attend to, but no actual failures other than a split turbo hose which was an easy and cheap fix, and the power steering pump which was intermittently playing up. Otherwise it's been consumables only. Battery, discs and pads all round, handbrake shoes and springs, and a couple of bulbs. I do like the idea of adding some more modern infotainment. The analogue-only radio feels a bit restrictive in 2023, and I haven't owned a CD for over 10 years now. It does have basic Bluetooth integration for calls which works well, but finding (and dialling) numbers is clunky, and I miss proper smartphone integration for things like Waze and Apple Music. I will look into the Roadtop, as losing the inbuilt RTI nav system won't be a hardship when Volvo stopped releasing updates for it in 2016.
chris1roll said:
They are great workhorses and tow cars. My old mans 07 plate xc90 is on 203,000 now.
He is...hard...on cars, to put it mildly. Regular towing, most likely overweight sometimes, quite often off road. never washed. Here it is with me changing the brakes all round last month.
Next time I will insist he takes it to the jet wash first, it was absolutely minging working under there, every time I moved a load of crap fell in my hair.
But it just keeps on taking it!
That one does look like it earns its keep. I bet it still cleans up beautifully though. They are really hard wearing, particularly inside. Paint quality is so much nicer than newer German stuff I've owned, with none of the orange peel effect that BMW in particular seem to serve up. Nicely and logically engineered as well. I find it a joy generally to work on, with everything coming apart and going back together without the fight that I've had on some other cars. My old S60 was the same years ago. Just good, sensible, logical engineering.He is...hard...on cars, to put it mildly. Regular towing, most likely overweight sometimes, quite often off road. never washed. Here it is with me changing the brakes all round last month.
Next time I will insist he takes it to the jet wash first, it was absolutely minging working under there, every time I moved a load of crap fell in my hair.
But it just keeps on taking it!
Edited by Limpet on Wednesday 8th March 16:04
First MOT in my hands today, and a clean pass apart from an advisory for slight wear to the rear bushes on the lower control arms. A very common problem on these 2.2 tonne cars which are very hard on suspension components. Tester said it's very minor, doesn't need immediate attention, and just something to keep an eye on over the coming year.
Otherwise, to quote the tester "She's clean as a whistle". Happy days.
Next job, cam belt and water pump.
Otherwise, to quote the tester "She's clean as a whistle". Happy days.
Next job, cam belt and water pump.
Nicks90 said:
Failing power steering pumps have a nasty habit of shedding bits of rubber and plastic which collect in the steering rack and ruin it in short order.
Replacing the steering rack is mucho mucho expensive, so as you know the pump was starting to break up, I would suggest you flush the steering rack out. Pretty easy to do and easy to get the pipes on and off. Couple of litres back flushing should clean it sufficiently to give you price of mind.
Cheers for the heads up. I've got some fluid left over, so will look into this Replacing the steering rack is mucho mucho expensive, so as you know the pump was starting to break up, I would suggest you flush the steering rack out. Pretty easy to do and easy to get the pipes on and off. Couple of litres back flushing should clean it sufficiently to give you price of mind.
The car asking for a service, the overdue cambelt (on time, not miles) and the auxiliary belt chirp on cold start that was getting worse prompted me into action last weekend. After shopping around, the various Volvo dealer "trade shops" on eBay came up trumps with prices that really don't make it worth chancing aftermarket.
DHL man had a hernia delivering this little lot. Timing belt and water pump kit, auxiliary belt and tensioner kit, 4 litres of coolant, 6 litres of the D5's preferred A5/B5 brew oil and an oil filter. All genuine Volvo stuff, £423 delivered.
So I set to work. Every job has a notoriously awkward bit, and when doing a D5 cambelt, it's widely accepted to be the big 30mm nut on the crank pulley, which is a torqued up to a whopping 300 Nm, located on a component that freely rotates, and accessed via a gap in the wheelarch liner. Fortunately, my trusty Ryobi battery impact, helped by a battery taken straight offf the charger and slapped in immediately, made light work of it, and buzzed it off in a couple of seconds.
Otherwise quite a straightforward job as cam belts go. No special tools needed, and the engine uses good old fashioned timing marks on both crank and cam sprockets. Like most aspects of the car, the cam drive is very logically and robustly designed, as evidenced by the old belt having done coming up on 80,000 miles and showing no obvious signs of excessive wear or cause for alarm.
Shown here with the job finished and the cover ready to be refitted. New belt, idler and tensioner installed, and the obviously shiny new water pump. The latter is fiddly to fit (7x 10mm bolts, some of which are tight for access), but it's not difficult, and the locating dowels handily hold the gasket in place while you manoeuvre the pump into place.
Tensioner is manual and adjusted using an allen key until the pointer aligns with a window/scale on the back plate. There are various positions depending on the ambient temperature. I used the a roughly central position which according to the manual is for 20°C, not a million miles from the temperature in my garage at the time.
In terms of the components that came off, the biggest concern was the auxiliary belt, which had started to break up, and left strips of rubber in the belt grooves on the pulley. It had also worn grooves into the smooth tensioner wheels (old and new tensioners pictured below for reference)
On the timing belt side, both the old tensioner and idler spun freely and smoothly with no roughness or noise from the bearings. No play detectible in any direction either. The water pump had a tiny amount of axial play on the shaft, which you could just about feel if you wiggled the pulley, but again spun smoothly with no roughness, and had shown no sign of leakage. I have to tip a hat to the quality of the components that Volvo specify, and the very straightforward, no-nonsense design of the engine.
I had to invest in a holding tool to prevent the crank rotating while tightening that big crank pulley nut back up to the required 300Nm, but otherwise the job was completed without any special tools whatsoever.
Last but not least, time to remove the all-important sticker from the airbox lid, and attach the new one
Theoretically, by the time this needs doing again the car will be 23 years old, or have 282,000 miles on it. I wonder if it will still be going?
Oil and filter also changed, and the coolant renewed with the proper Volvo brew at the recommended 50% concentration. All bled and topped up, and the car has done 300 miles over the past 4 days without missing a beat.
Edited by Limpet on Thursday 30th March 12:40
Thanks all.
The tensioner is held with two bolts. The top one accessible from above but hard to see so you have to use the new tensioner for reference. Access os ok once you find it. The bottom one is easy to get to through the access flap in the offside wheel arch liner.
The new tensioner will come in the slackened position with a securing pin holding it back against the spring. This makes refitting much easier. Bolt the tensioner up, route the new belt correctly, then using a stout pair of pliers, pull the pin out and the tensioner takes up the slack.
I can recommend an eBay seller if you need a parts source. Genuine Volvo kit was £100 and delivered in 3 days.
the-norseman said:
@limpet how easy is the aux belt to do, my car needs it doing but dont fancy paying Volvo MK ££££ to do it.
Am I right in saying you undo the tension off the belt, remove the belt, undo two bolts, remove old tensioner, refit new one and then replace the belt? whats the access like?
Yes that’s pretty much the procedure. You need a T60 Torx bit to rotate the tensioner back against the spring and slip the old belt off. It’s a very strong spring and access is tight. I used the Torx bit with a shallow 10mm socket on the end of it, which allowed just enough room for a 1/4” ratchet handle to fit on the socket. You just need to hold it back long enough to slip the belt off the power steering pump at the top. After that you can unhook it from the other pulleys regardless of where the tensioner is.Am I right in saying you undo the tension off the belt, remove the belt, undo two bolts, remove old tensioner, refit new one and then replace the belt? whats the access like?
The tensioner is held with two bolts. The top one accessible from above but hard to see so you have to use the new tensioner for reference. Access os ok once you find it. The bottom one is easy to get to through the access flap in the offside wheel arch liner.
The new tensioner will come in the slackened position with a securing pin holding it back against the spring. This makes refitting much easier. Bolt the tensioner up, route the new belt correctly, then using a stout pair of pliers, pull the pin out and the tensioner takes up the slack.
I can recommend an eBay seller if you need a parts source. Genuine Volvo kit was £100 and delivered in 3 days.
Edited by Limpet on Saturday 1st April 21:04
Conscious I haven't updated for a while, but there's been little really to update on. The car is proving to be a reliable, comfy workhorse, and the towbar is being put to good use transporting Mrs. Limpet's third child all over Dorset to various events.
On the same day that was taken, this happened
There are a couple of things coming up that are going to need attention. Firstly, the auto box is becoming increasingly unhappy, flaring between shifts and generally being increasingly dim witted. The towing won't be helping with this. I'm going to try a fluid flush first, but need to get the TVR back together and out of the garage before I can crack on with this. Having spoken to a few people in the know, this stands a pretty good chance of success, and is certainly worth a try before forking out for professional attention. The flush is definitely a job for the next month.
Secondly, I want to sort out some modern infotainment for it. I do use the car for business occasionally, and DAB and smartphone integration would be really nice to have. I'm tempted by the "Legend" kit that an owners club member in Hong Kong supplies for about £300 depending on config. Android based, it is plug and play, looks brilliantly OE, and offers full Apple and Android mirroring, and is supports the factory steering wheel controls, as well as integrates seamlessly with reverse cameras, and can even use the pop up screen for the (now useless) factory RTI nav system as a secondary display. It doesn't throw error codes as it leaves the guts of the OE stereo hooked up and connected to the MOST network, and being Android based, can be customised almost infinitely.
Will have to be done in the near future methinks.
On the same day that was taken, this happened
There are a couple of things coming up that are going to need attention. Firstly, the auto box is becoming increasingly unhappy, flaring between shifts and generally being increasingly dim witted. The towing won't be helping with this. I'm going to try a fluid flush first, but need to get the TVR back together and out of the garage before I can crack on with this. Having spoken to a few people in the know, this stands a pretty good chance of success, and is certainly worth a try before forking out for professional attention. The flush is definitely a job for the next month.
Secondly, I want to sort out some modern infotainment for it. I do use the car for business occasionally, and DAB and smartphone integration would be really nice to have. I'm tempted by the "Legend" kit that an owners club member in Hong Kong supplies for about £300 depending on config. Android based, it is plug and play, looks brilliantly OE, and offers full Apple and Android mirroring, and is supports the factory steering wheel controls, as well as integrates seamlessly with reverse cameras, and can even use the pop up screen for the (now useless) factory RTI nav system as a secondary display. It doesn't throw error codes as it leaves the guts of the OE stereo hooked up and connected to the MOST network, and being Android based, can be customised almost infinitely.
Will have to be done in the near future methinks.
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