Got myself a V70 2.5T SE

[Nick6262]

Originally Posted by amorlv70

You did well to find those rubber mats, I have been looking for some for over a year

Same here. The holy grail is the picnic table and seating cushions though

[amorlv70]

Originally Posted by Nick6262

Same here. The holy grail is the picnic table and seating cushions though

Found some of those the other day!! Black, popup child seats and picnic table.

[4x4]

Power steering flush today on the V70. I decided before doing the flush I would remove the fill bottle and clean it out with brake cleaner and compressed air and let it sit in the sunshine for a while to ensure it was completely dry inside. There's a filter at the bottom return port that you can't change and if it gets blocked will cause the pump to fail.

Bottle off and ready to clean out


I decided to do the wheels in the air and turn the steering wheel method with the engine turned off and used 2 litres of Volvo fluid.


It looks worse in the picture than it actually was but certainly time for a change


All back together and another job ticked off the list


Old oil vs fresh oil

[4x4]

Went to my local Volvo dealer today to collect a serpentine belt and tensioner I had ordered yesterday afternoon.



Came back and my spare key guy arrived to programme the new key to the car, he's Volvo registered and uses Volvo software, he has to call Volvo to get a security code to programme the key, all very technical and took over an hour to complete. He removed all the missing keys from the system and I now have two keys and one clone linked to the car.



When doing the power steering fluid flush a couple of days ago I removed the serpentine belt to check the tensioner and when spun it sounded rough therefore needed changing sooner rather than later.

I'm glad I did decide to change it as there was only the one bolt at the bottom of the tensioner holding it on, the top bolt was missing which I can only assume was from when the cam-belt was changed. It was the original tensioner dated 2005 and I suspect the original belt so at least I know they are now good for another few years

Belt# 30731808


Tensioner# 31251250


Looking at the old tensioner the T60 Torx fitting has cracked, I'm glad I managed to get to off before it split wide open


Belt routing for 2.5T

[4x4]

Never a good sign when it's a red/pink colour in a Volvo



System flushed 5 times with soft Scottish water, (if it's good enough for whisky manufacturing it's good enough to flush the Volvo) 2 times with de-ionized water then filled with 4.5 litres of Volvo concentrated coolant

[4x4]

Picked up a set of Volvo Mimas 16" wheels and bought 4 new Continental WinterContact TS 870 tyres 205/55/16. Dropped them off at the powder coating company this morning and they should be ready tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday at the latest

Currently running 225/45/17 so the rolling radius is almost the same and the extra profile will make for a smoother drive on the pothole ridden roads during the winter

[4x4]

Wheels are back from EK Blast and Powder Coating and looking good. All waxed and tyres dressed ready to store until autumn

[myfirstv70]

They look great....it will ride like a magic carpet this winter!.....Winter tyres still amaze me how good they are....maybe it's just me

[4x4]

@ myfirstv70

Not sure nowadays but it used to be recommended to go down a wheel size and up a tyre size for winter tyres to give a smoother ride and better grip. The winter tyres have an almost exact same cooling radius, they are almost 1 inch narrower than my summer tyres which will reduce the rolling resistance in the snow and the higher sidewalls will make for a smoother ride over rough roads giving that 'magic carpet ride'.

I've never understood why more people don't use winter tyres, the difference is night and day and there are huge handling benefits once the temperature drops below 7°C which happens a lot in Scotland.

[stuart bowes]

Probably if you live in Scotland it's more likely to snow for enough of the year to make it worthwhile

Here in the deep south I don't know anyone who does it probably because it's not worth the cost for that 1 day of the year with a 30% chance of white stuff

I actually went too far the other way and accidentally bought a set of summer tyres which I've had on constantly for 3 years now, I'm keeping an eye on them for signs of cracks or excessive wear and will replace with cross-climates when the time comes