New pride & joy
 

Hi,

Just bought this on Tuesday, a 1997 V70 T5:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02217.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02218.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02219.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02220.jpg

It's pretty dirty as you can see, and a bit tatty round the edges, but it will be getting a little holiday in my garage in the next few weeks where I will do a complete valet inside and out, polish it etc. - the centre of the bonnet is very dull, so that'll get some attention from Mr. Farecla etc. It has no real service history, so high on the priority list is to do a full service and cambelt change and sort out a number of other faults. I'm not driving it far until this is done.

Specific things it needs at the moment (in addition to above) are:

Tailpipe cracked where it meets back box - weld this.

Replace/repair rear exhaust hanger

EML is on permanently - I'm getting a fault code reader so I'll read/clear the codes and go from there. Also getting a service light re-set tool.

Brakes are soft & spongy with too much travel - I'll investigate this as part of the service, which will include full brake strip-down, new pads where required (and I think they will need it at least on the front) and full fluid change/bleed. I'll see what happens, hopefully this will fix it.

LH headlamp wiper arm missing - I have a new one, will fit it.

RH Headlamp wiper not moving - will take apart and investigate

Various minor internal bulbs blown - will replace

Red warning light on drivers door smashed - I have a new one to fit.

Slight knocking from front suspension - will check out, hopefully just drop links.

Suspect CV gaiters might be shonky, will check and replace if necessary, also possible lower ball joint boot split.

Load cover missing - on the lookout for a replacement.

One or two minor bits of trim broken or missing, I'll try and pick these up 2nd hand, or you guys might be able to help.

That's about it. The car drives well with lots (and I do mean lots!) of power, and the body is totally straight - just very grubby.

I paid £900 for it which I'm happy with - do you think this was a good deal?

Whaddya think?

Thanks for the help on the forum so far, it's much appreciated, expect to see more daft questions from me over the next few weeks/months - I'm a fairly experienced mechanic, but not worked on a V70 before.

Cheers!

Looks like you got a bargin nice looking motor & most of what you have listed are only small jobs
The bottom ball joints however are all part of the lower arm about £50 from GSF dearer if you go genuine

Lovely car - I'm going to admit I was looking at this one myself a few days ago on Autotrader!

Yeah - I quite like working on a car with lots of little jobs, I just hope there doesn't turn out to be anything expensive eh?

Thanks for the tip about the ball joint - the only reason I mention it is that on the last MoT there was an advice about perished/split ball joint boot, I have some spare boots so I may be able to just replace it, but I'll check for play and pay GSF or ECP a visit if I have to.....

Cheers!

Nice one, mate...I'm sure you'll enjoy it.!

Neil

Hehe - that's the one! I beat you to it, it's only 3 miles down the road from where I live and I was at home on Tuesday so I went, I saw, I bought!

Plenty more out there.....:thumbs_up:

Yeh exactly! I noticed it had the "Prancing Moose" stickers on it, thats why I took a glance.

Was the old owner a member of VPC? Just going on the stickers in the boot window ;)

No, he was definitavely not a Volvo enthusiast, but I reckon those stickers indicate that it was once owned by someone who was - could be a good thing in that it might have been maintained well, on the other hand maybe they ragged it like they stole it - however, it seems sound enough mechanically so that's good enough for me at that price.

Cheers!

My favorite colour,a car you can realy make something off by the look of it,nothing major to fix(we hope) and a bargain price enjoy.:wac_wink:

looking good mate:thumbs_up:,nice one.

love the colour,looks like you bought a good one hope things go well on the tinkering front.

:animal-smiley-027::animal-smiley-037:

Hi Luxobarge, nice to see you here:thumbs_up: Cracking purchase I reckon. Great colour. Your list sounds relatively minor, but will make all the difference!

If your front end clonk is when travelling at relatively slow speeds, odds on drop links! Got mine from GSF for about £9 each, they were v-tech make. Seem fine.............so far!

If you do the rear brakes/discs, add handbrake shoes to your list, chances are yours (if not already replaced) will be breaking up. Friction material detatches from the shoe - a very common issue.

Braydons ( http://www.braydonmotors.co.uk/ ) do a repair mounting clamp thing for the rear exhaust 'hangar', only about a tenner or so.
Good luck:thumbs_up:

Hi Paul - nice to see you over here too!

The PO told me it had new rear calipers, pads and handbrake shoes last year, so I'm expecting them to be OK.

Thanks for the tips on exhaust hangers and drop links too - I'll do just that.

Got a couple of hours free today so made a start on cleaning - gave the inside a thorough vacuum and it already looks a lot better. The worst stains are on the boot floor, but it all comes out so I'll clean it all up in the bath and see how it comes out - I'll post pics to show if I remember.

While fiddling in the boot I found that the wheel brace was loose inside, so that should reduce the rear-end rattling that I noticed on the test drive!

The car has now officially cost me only £899.51, as I've now found a total or 49p in coins tucked away in crevices and on the floor.

I had the ignition on position I listening to the radio while I was cleaning the inside, and also wound the seats backwards and forwards to gain access ('lecky seats both sides), I then went to start the car to move it and the battery's flat - seems a bit quick to go flat, so I reckon I might be in for a new one before long, it looks like it's been there for years. Hey ho - that's not Volvo's fault eh?

Cheers!

with regards to the rear exhaust hanger you could do what I did only cost about £3 if that, bought an exhaust clamp 55 mm I think found an old Mini bonnet stay in the shed for the cross bar & bit of welding job done

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...hotos001-1.jpg


I had simalar problem with my battery a few weeks ago I had been working on the car with all doors & tailgate open which pulls a lot of power from the battery with 4 red marker lights on the doors 4 interior lights 2 footwell lights plus the tailgate light, my battery is only 2 years old I put it on charge over night & it's been fine since

Nice looking motor mate, well done.

Been there, done that! When I got my 940 I swapped the cloth interior for leather, replaced all the door cards and gave it a good clean, took me the best part of a day. Battery was only a few weeks old too! Mind you, i'd had the radio going for a while too!

Looks like you have a nice car there Luxobarge. I picked up a '98 V70 AWD about three weeks ago, and my repair list is very similar to yours. Must check the handbrake shoes too, adjusted it 'tother day and its still not holding properly.

Yeah - the previous owner tells me that mine had rear brake calipers, pads and handbrake shoes last spring, and the handbrake certainly works fine so hopefully that's one of the few jobs I won't have to do!

Cheers

...you might want to replace the grey reservoir cap with a new green one as the grey ones crack and leak.

Where can i Get Prancing moose stickers???

Current eBay listing: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Volvo-Prancing...#ht_500wt_1156

Hope this helps.

I found just the opposite to be true.I got a new green one and after less than 2 years it was splitting and leaking.Put an older grey one on and no problems since.No worries mate.

That's the same colour as mine! Everyone likes it. Bet yours is a tiny bit faster though...
Now I want alloys, spoiler and sunroof. I've always wanted a sunroof. I can never seem to get a car that has one.

lol, tiny bit faster? haha its way faster stock not to mention how fast it is now.

Mine certainly goes like stink - I took it out briefly yesterday, and couldn't resist putting my foot down (on a straight empty bit of road of course) and all hell broke loose - it was spinning the front wheels quite easily - and the road was clean and dry. Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to rag the thing, (I couldn't afford the tyre rubber!) but you can't resist it from time to time can you?

Given that the stickers would seem to indicate that it's been owned by a Volvo performance enthusiast in the past, I wonder if it's been chipped or "enhanced" in some way in the past - not sure if there's an easy way to tell. Not bothered TBH, it goes well that's all that matters.

However, I won't be taking it out again until I've sorted at least the spongy brakes and the exhaust tailpipe. I wish I wasn't so busy, I'm gagging to get on with it and work through the list of stuff to do! I've made a start on cleaning the interior - pics to follow.

Cheers all.:thumbs_up:

OK, spent the morning fiddling with the car today, some progress and some new problems - always the way eh?

First off, I decided to warm myself up on this freezing day by cutting and polishing the bonnet. It was VERY dull, looked like someone had cleaned it with a brillo pad. A couple of hours hard work and it's a lot better:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02226.jpg

While I was doing this the postman arrived with my new Autel MS509 scanner. So a quick scan of the instructions, plop a PP9 battery in it and plug it into the car. It came up with no Auto Box codes and just one for the engine - P0108 MAF circuit high. I cleared it, started the engine and ran it for 5 minutes, it didn't come back so that's good news so far, and even if it does come back later, the MAF can be cleaned or replaced really easily, so I'm a happy bunny now. This is the message we all want to see on our scanners:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02228.jpg

I got it from discountdiagnostics for about £70 - happy with that, a mate has a V70 2.5 and his EML doesn't come on at all, so we reckon someone has taken out the bulb - we'll soon see if he has any codes!

Let it be said that if anyone wants the services of my scanner, they're welcome to drop round and I will do the honours, just let me know - I'm near Gatwick in Surrey.

Next the news got not so good: The N/S headlamp wiper was broken off, and I'd bought a new one and so I fitted it today. Fitting it was easy of course, but I find that it only occasionally moves when you wash the headlamps, and the O/S one doesn't move at all. When you try to move them by hand the N/S one won't move at all, but the O/S one moves freely with no resistance. I guess I'll have to pull the motors out and investigate, but I reckon I'm in for a pair of replacement motors - anyone got any spare? And are they easy to get to?

Next, the red warning light on the driver's door was smashed, so I replaced that with a new one. However, neither of the red lights on the front doors appear to come on at all, I tried it with the headlamps on, with/without ignition, but nothing. Fuses are all OK. Anybody got any ideas?

In a similar vein the driver's side footwell light isn't coming on - I assume it should come on at the same time as the passenger's side but it doesn't. I expected it to be the bulb, but that's fine. Replaced the bulb anyway, but still no go. Again, fuses are fine. Can anybody tell me where the control unit for the interior lights is? There must be one, that has the timer in it etc. as I suspect that this might have some dodgy contacts - I noticed the other day that the main interior lights above the rear view mirror weren't operating quite as advertised, they're OK now but it's made me suspicious.

Also replaced the front number plate screws with stainless ones, and cleaned the rusty stains off the plate - looks a bit smarter now!

Now I've got to get on with building work in the bathroom or my wife will kill me - more anon!

Thanks for all the help and kind comments - there's a lot more help I need!

Cheers :thumbs_up:

Deffo going to polish up my car - that looks great. What did you use? I've always liked Autoglym but others swear by Meguirs(?)

Also, the code reader - how did you choose that one? There's too much choice so I haven't bought anything yet. I also want it to read newer cars as well.

Cheers

spot on mate got the overalls ready to pop up and help out catch you soon gareth...

The drivers side foot well light and the red door light I think are worked off a micro switch inside the door lock mechanisim

Aha! that would make sense.... Now how do I get to that microswitch? Sounds like an easy fix if I can get to it

Mind you, I'll try slamming the door a few times first, even if it only works intermittently after that, it will prove the diagnosis.

Thanks!:thumbs_up:

Forum member georgem recommended it in this thread:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=114864

My service light reset tool has yet to arrive - I'll post back how that goes. I read up on a few other forums about the Autel scanner, and it seemed to be well liked, but apparently there are some cheap chinese imitations around that don't do everything the genuine article does (like have an internal battery to store information for starters) so I decided to go to a reputable supplier - very quick delivery too. Well happy with that for £70, and it will/should deal with anything that's EOBD II compatible, i.e. pretty much anything in the last 10 years including CAN bus vehicles.

Polishing - I used T-cut and a lot of elbow grease to get the bonnet flat to start with, and sinished off with Autoglym Super Resin polish. I like Meguire's too, but generally use it on a surface that is already in good condition and just needs waxing/protecting. Basically, my car hasn't seen a bottle of polish in years, if ever, and so pretty much anything would have made quite a decent difference!

Cheers.

Hehe - Gareth, you'd always be welcome! Do you have any ideas on why my headlight wipers don't work? I'm thinking probably kanackered motors, I don't suppose you have a couple of spare motors do you?

You're a top man! Cheers :thumbs_up:

OK, an update: I had the day off work today, so spent it playing with the Volvo - what better!

First off, as mentioned earlier the exhaust has broken off where it enters the centre box. Taking both parts out was quite easy once the car was jacked up, as it's broken in two. I cleaned up the broken joint with a wire brush in a drill and this is what I was faced with:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02234.jpg

So, after much heaving and pushing, I managed to wedge both parts together on the bench in what seemed close to the right position, and welded them together. Not the prettiest weld I've ever done, but believe me it's strong!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02236.jpg

Gave it a quick coat of high temperature manifold paint to keep the worst of the tin worm at bay:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02237.jpg

I also took the opportunity to polish up the tailpipe trim while it was out - took quite a bit of polishing with a big polishing wheel on a drill, but came up OK:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02235.jpg

Then tried to fit it back into the car. Well..... it's about 15 feet long and weighs half a ton, and there was no way on God's sweet earth that it was going to go back in without dropping half the rear suspension. It's just possible that it would go in if I had it right up in the air on a ramp, but in my garage it's simply too dangerous to hoist the car that high, so I decided to introduce an additional joint in the system. I cut it in between the centre box and the rear box, and welded a galvanised steel sleeve to it with a slit down one side:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02238.jpg

As you can see, also with some HT manifold paint to keep it neat. I found that one of the centre box rubbers was knackered, and I needed a clamp to hold the new joint together, so I popped out and got those (thanks Camberley Auto Factors and Unipart!) and then proceeded to fit it all back in. With the new joint it was a doddle, hung the centre box on its new rubbers first, then slid the back section into my new "custom" joint, hung that on its rubbers, added a wipe of exhaust paste on the joints and did them all up tight and all done! And it all lined up perfectly thank goodness, my welding must have been pretty accurate. Here is the new joint all installed:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02239.jpg

While the rear of the car was up in the air I also changed the fuel filter preparatory to the full service I'm planning.

I've mentioned previously that I also have a very soft spongy brake pedal, so I was planning to do a full brake service and fluid change/bleed. Well while the rear was in the air I had time to pull the rear brakes apart and bleed some new fluid through - I used my Gunson Eezi-bleed which worked just fine. The rear brakes were in fairly good nick as they had new calipers, pads and shoes less than a year ago (allegedly) but I cleaned them up and re-assembled with coppaslip anyway. Started the car up, and it runs quiet and smooth, and already the pedal seems a good bit firmer - I suspect they weren't bled properly before. I'm expecting even more improvements when I do the fronts, I have new pads for them too.

So - progress! I want to finish the front brakes next, then get on with the rest of the full service. I'll be glad when this is done, as I hate exhausts and brakes - filthy jobs!

Cheers all :thumbs_up:

Thats what i like to see Luxobarge,real hands on stuff,your weldings ok,as good as mine is anyway:wac_wink:.A real good right up,and has given members loads of good ideas,thanks.:wac_biggrin:

Hi Luxo'B

Great stuff, wishing I knew how to weld! My 850's exhaust is very rusty & I'm told the 'throatyness' from it is due to the baffles in the silencer collapsing. Not an MOT issue I understand. I've been wondering about wire brushing & painting it if it goe's through the next 'Contrôle' in March. Would be interested to know the details of the HT manifold paint if poss'?

I replaced the pipe on 'Tank' (my 240) & found it not too bad a job. I understand on 800's the fitters take around 2 hrs, & as you say it is a heavy item, so maybe not really a home fit job on ramps? I just know having one fitted here is going to be close on 1/2 of the price I paid for the car lol.

Thanks for the great thread, I & others are enjoying it 'big time':thumbs_up:

Hi Paul,

It's POR 15 "Factory Manifold Gray" - from our friends at www.frost.co.uk

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02240.jpg

It takes a while to dry, and needs to be heat-cycled to cure properly. I did the first stage of this by running a hot-air gun through the exhaust while I was doing other things, seemed to work.

Glad you're enjoying the "blog" - I enjoy doing it!

Cheers :thumbs_up:

Nice looking car..... :)

Update:

A bit more tinkering today, driving it around a little tells me that the brake pedal is now firm and about where it should be - that shows that bleeding/flushing the rear brakes yesterday cured it. I reckon they weren't properly bled when the calipers were changed last year by the PO.

I still have the front brakes to service/flush/bleed too, so I'm expecting it to get even better when I've done that.

Also - my "Draper Expert" service light reset tool arrived today - followed the instructions and it worked first time - no more service light! Happy days.

Edit: Even happier days - the PO has just phoned me to say he's found the service book and one of the remote control plippers, he's local so he will drop it in at some point. Top man!

More tinkering this afternoon hopefully....

Another request from me! If I may. I shall be replacing my 850's front discs & pads. Done the rears & all 4 on my 240.
Got my 7mm alun key ready, but a few pics of yours would help me tremendously. I've not yet tackled the style of front callipers on 850's.
Thanks.

Hi Paul,

OK, these brakes are the same design as found on loads of different makes, for example they are the same as on my Jaguar! They're pretty easy to work on. Sadly I didn't see your request until after I'd done the job, so I've got you two "after" pictures only. This is a picture of the ourside of the caliper:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02243.jpg

The wire anti-squeal spring just pings off with a screwdriver.

Here is a picture of the back of the caliper:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02242.jpg

You see at the back near the bottom there is a black cylinder thing, about 1/2" diameter - there's another one hiding behind the flexi-hose union, the ends are covered by plastic grommets, flick these off and inside are the stainless steel guide pins. These need a 7mm allen key to undo, use a good quality one as I've always foudn they need a whack with a heavy hammer to get them moving. When undone, fish them out with a screwdriver and clean them thoroughly - cover them in copper slip when re-assembling.

Then "twist" or "rock" the caliper slightly to move the pads back into the calipers a little to give you clearance to withdraw the caliper. Remove the pads and hang the caliper on a hook from the road spring - NEVER let it dangle by the flexi-hose (badger).

Clean up the caliper and caliper carrier, I always pay special attention to the little surfaces where the pads locate on the carrier and caliper, to make sure they will move freely, and these are the areas that most need copper slip when re-assembling.

If you're changing disks, then the caliper carrier will have to come off too, this is held in by two bolts (can't remember the size, about 17mm?) and again use a good quality spanner as this will also need a whack with a manchester spanner to get them off.

Re-assembly is the reverse of the above, as it says in HBL!! - Talking of which, this is amply covered in the manual.

It's an easy job provided you've got decent tools, but sure is messy - I use latex gloves and still get covered in muck.

Hope that helps!

More tinkering this afternoon:

Last week I'd stripped out the floor carpeting from the boot and washed and scrubbed it in the bath - it was filthy with some vile stains, but it's come up all right. I fitted it this afternoon - pretty happy with that:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02241.jpg

I finished bleeding and flushing the front brakes, and did a strip down and re-fit of them too - the pedal feel is brilliant now, so that's that sorted! See post above for details....

I also decided to change the anti-roll bar drop links as there was a distinct rattle from the front when going along a bumpy road slowly.

15mm spanner required, again it needed a whack with a manchester spanner to get the nut moving, but then it just moves the whole bolt around in the hole, so it needs a 16mm open-ended spanner slid in between the rubber and the ARB where there are some flats to hold it still. Here's the top one with both spanners being used:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02244.jpg

Note the use of the trolley jack, to raise the suspension just enough to take the tension off the ARB so that the links come out easily - even more important for fitting the new ones!

Popped the new ones in, these needed a 5mm allen key to hold them still while tightening instead of the flats behind the rubber, but it worked fine. Here they are all nice and new:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...o/DSC02245.jpg

The N/S one was pretty well knackered, so I reckon my diagnosis was about right - we'll see when it's back on the road again. I have the same job to do on my Saab 9-3 too, hope it's as easy!

Final job today (no pics) was to secure the two front mudflaps which were doing more "flapping" than they are supposed to. I took out the huge pop rivets that someone has bodged them with in the past, and used proper plastic expanding fixers in the holes, squirting a bit of waxoyle behind them first for good measure. Now nice and solid and one more thing that won't rattle! There was a missing fixing on the plastic inner arch too, which was rattling, so I replaced that as well.

Happy days! - next job is the oil change, plugs, dizzy cap/rotor, airfilter etc.

More anon. Cheers! :thumbs_up: