General: C70 Buying advice - any tips?

[Bonefishblues]

I can't find the one that I viewed I'm afraid, but there are 1001 of them on YouTube, all saying very similar things.

In my case, the cause of my leak seemed to be an impact on the top of the lens (maybe the over-vigorous closing of the bonnet?) which had caused a small split on the lens, maybe 1.5 cms of so, and a consequent break in the seal between lens and housing.

I did take the step of checking for any/all leaks, which is, literally, to fill the front of the unit with water (after taking off all electricals, of course...) through a bulb hole. This told me that it was seeping from about a 2-3cm of failed seal, not just the split itself.

Dry the unit out using a cold/cool setting hairdryer blowing through a bulb hole. I used plain water, which hasn't left any marks, but if concerned about that, you could use boiled and cooled or de-ionised water, I guess. If it's obvious where your leak is, then no need to do this step.

Because I had the small crack on the lens I used headlight tape to cover over it. Something like this stuff:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142791110...MAAOSwYPpeRUvV
I made sure that I used a razor blade to cut it cleanly at the edge of the lens. It's lasted a year so far, no problems.

Final step was to clean up the section that was leaking - I had some IPA to hand. Mask it off both sides of the seal, front and back with masking tape - I had some 3M blue from detailing duty which is ideal as it's very low tack, and then use a suitable clear or black silicone seal smeared along the length you need to fix*. I use Loctite SI 595 for this, which has been perfect.

*Tip - because (I guess) of capillary action, it's advisable to seal a longer section than you may think necessary, unless, as in my case, you might want to repeat the process!

Hope helpful.

[zapcity1]

Good tutorial . I did roughly the same but used Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure (just because I liked the name!!).

Good logic on the cause of the crack. Very probable as mine cracked in the same place.

[TimS996]

Thanks for the walkthrough. You can see the damage to the lamps below with two vertical cracks on them. There may be more but I need to take them and out dry them first. Did the same with Passat headlamps but they weren't as badly cracked so I hope this works ok.

Once I've leak tested, I was wondering if I could glue the crack itself as well?
I don't think I'd be happy sanding it down and refinishing it all though, so maybe the tape would be a better stopgap.

Also I've just seen a video with a guy covering refurbished headlamps with clear film protector, which covered the whole lamp. No idea if it would keep water out though.

[Bonefishblues]

Yes, they're pretty much identical to mine. I'd not worry about gluing them - I'm not sure that the glue would get into the crack very well, but the tape has , IME, done a very good job of stabilising and sealing the crack (and not larruping to bonnet down, too, I guess!), but it won't seal over the edge of the lens, hence cutting it off flush with the edge and letting the silicone take the strain for the rest.

Excuse the reflection in the below - it's a bit 'Hall of Mirrors', isn't it...and the car needs a wash, which isn't helpful, but you get the idea.

As I say, it's been on a year without deterioration, incl. an MOT without issue.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Simmy]

you could try some volvo breakers 2 good ones are evolve in preston. and huddersfield volvo breakers. might be worth a phone call ...

[Bonefishblues]

Originally Posted by Simmy

you could try some volvo breakers 2 good ones are evolve in preston. and huddersfield volvo breakers. might be worth a phone call ...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I made a similar enquiry last year, the regular lenses were expensive (£200+, and the OP's rather more), but I guess they may have come down.

They are thin on the ground, that's the problem, I think. Worth floating it on BreakerLink - costs nowt.

[TimS996]

They still are, but it would be good to get the lens itself which i could attach, rather than the whole thing if they were available.

[Spacemonkey]

Nice car- personally I think the black wheels look ok on it! I'll be fixing my lense crack with superglue gel and Captain Tolleys sealer on the edge just in case as it fixed my leaking VW van windscreen perfectly!

[eagle58]

Originally Posted by Spacemonkey

Nice car- personally I think the black wheels look ok on it!

I've agonised over wheel colour.

I bought a second hand set of Volvo Tethys wheels.

I just wanted an alternate to the standard wheels. I thought black originally but have gone off the idea.

Now thinking Anthracite is the way to go.

[TimS996]

So bit of a good/bad thing going on today.
Enquired about the discs to upgrade the satnav from 2011 as per the Volvo website and the dealer service told me in his opinion there is a 50/50 chance doing so will 'brick' the unit if it doesn't have a world symbol on it!
At a cost of £1000 to fix if it goes wrong.

But these are still advertised on the Volvo site, so has anyone heard if its true?

Also no chance of getting lamps for less than £400 each so its on with the temporary repairs for now.

Wheels are growing on me but the ride round Manchester makes everything squeak so it's out with the silicone lube and do the seals and windows at the weekend. At least until I can swap them for smaller.

Other than that got 10 minutes of sun today so the roof came down and it was a pleasure!