XC70 2004 AWD Issuees

[draghstone]

Recently changed my trusty 11 year old V70 classic having hunted high and low for a nice 54 plate (05MY) XC70 with 43K on the clock from a dealer in Leicester with full VSH in my budget. Initially delighted until skiing holiday this week, and guess what - stuck in the snow in the ski resort with lots of wheel spin and no rear wheel drive. I know this is nothing new to the forum, but I started having kittens about what was likely to be wrong and how much it was going to cost (my warranty has a 1K claim limit).

Took a deep breath, went to my local dealer (Essex Motor Group Billericay) this morning having driven overnight back from France. Despite it being a Saturday and a car they had never seen before, they were fantastic. Took the car straight in, did the VADIS, removed oil pressure sensor for AWD, cleaned connections and got the rear wheel drive back. It still needs to go back to have the oil in the AWD topped up (not in stock), but they have assured me that mechanically everything is OK, which was a huge relief, and a £100 bill, not the £2-3K I was preparing myself for.

Whilst there are lots of horror stories about XC90 drive trains and sleeve failures, there is less for the XC70. Do I need to get the sleeve changed as a preventative measure on my car,as I plan to keep it for the long haul ?

[TiredGeek]

If you plan on keeping it, and have the money, then I'd change it.

You don't know how it's been driven before you had it, and while the car is lighter than an XC90 so put's less strain on it, the thing can be stressed by hard acceleration. It's a lot easier to change a slightly worn one than a totally kna**, I mean very worn one
Relatively cheap for the peace of mind IMO.

[Richard Swinney]

Piccy of what they look like when they have gone to heaven..........

Swapped 19/02. From My S60R.

No noise - No Fluid Loss, No vibrations, just no RWD

Appologies for the quality. All my webcam could manage.

[draghstone]

Thanks guys for your advice and the picture.

May I ask what you paid for the sleeve change, and did you have it done at the main dealer?

[Richard Swinney]

By all Means.

It was done at a Volvo dealer, and cost £460 after 10% VOC discount, which was partly covered by warranty, which was nice. I decided to do that because they should have the right "tools" to do the job, and my warranty pays dealer rates

That said, if you research angle gear failure or 4wd failure you will hear horror stories of these things being seized on the transmission lay shaft, and taking people hours and hours to get them off.
I figured 4 hrs at the volvo dealer with the right tools could be cheaper than 10hrs at an indie at £45/hr. Bottom line is you pay the piper either way.

It worked out like this.
1 x Service Kit ( part no V31256246) @ £102 containing new oils seals and an uprated spline sleeve (V31256008) is the part no on the box
1 x Transmission oil @ £10.40
The rest was labour and VAT

I must admit, I is nice to get 4WD back, It just hunkers down and goes. I only noticed something was wrong because it started to spin it's front wheels on a steep gravel covered road in the Welsh mountains.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Richard