Hello from sunny South Africa!

[Kix]

Hi all,

I've have just taken delivery of my new (to me) 2005 Volvo XC70 2.5T Geartronic. It has 74 000km or 46 250 miles on it.

White
Black leather
Wood Trim
Sunroof
Seat heaters
That bar thingy that keeps your doggies in the boot.

Anyway, the car has not been driven much, and I see the last service was in 2010! :eek:

So basically, I'm thinking a fluid service at least will be on the cards very soon.

A couple of points I'd like your expert feedback on:

1. The car has Pirellis on the back and Bridgestones on the front. They have more or less the same amount of wear. Will it bugger up the AWD system?

2. The previous owner had to replace something on the L/F suspension to get the car through the roadworthy test. The L/F is fine and quiet, but I'm thinking the same thing is wrong R/F. I have a nasty knock from the R/F suspension. What would the most probable culprit be?

3. They also had to fix a fuel smell and apparently took apart the whole rear of the car to get to the source of the problem. The car still has a feint fuel smell inside. I've read somewhere that the smell might linger for a while. Is this true?

Other than that, the car needs a polish on the outside and that's about it.

I drove it 500km home last night and it really is a sofa on wheels. So so comfy.

My wife drives a 2009 Volvo S40 D5 Geartronic. Lovely car, with a lot of power.

Will try to post pictures of both as soon as I can.

[nickbw]

Hi Kix, Take a look at my post the exploded diagram will help and it is possible you have the same problem I had. The tank was fully fuelled and the car sat in hot sun for an hour with the filler on the downhill of a steeply sloping drive. My theory is that the rubber connecting pipe becomes brittle with age and the expansion pressures ruptured the pipe. All I could really see from under the car was where fuel had run down the aluminium suspension parts from somewhere at the back of the tank.
https://app.box.com/s/pnsn8fo4tbbedjeu3h0j https://app.box.com/s/a1hflyk5qwz7ir1cbm3g

[PierreC]

Hi Kix

Welcome to the club - I have had my 2002 model since new. Finding such a low mileage model was quite fortunate ...

From my profile you will see I am in Pretoria

[bugeye]

Welcome, We have a 2004 XC70. Nice cars.

1. The diameter of the tires should be close.
2. The lower control arm bushings are a known wear item. Best rated are Volvo original arms.
3. ?
Recommended timing belt change is 10 years. Change tensioner and idler rollers.
Change coolant, use Volvo.
Do multiple drain/fills on transmission with JWS 3309 specification fluid.
Check brakes, hoses and flush fluid.
Parking brake shoes are known to delaminate. Easy and little $ to change.
Check and possible change angle gear, haldex and rear differential fluids.
Engine oil - use only synthetic oil change at 5000 miles.

[JRL]

2. The previous owner had to replace something on the L/F suspension to get the car through the roadworthy test. The L/F is fine and quiet, but I'm thinking the same thing is wrong R/F. I have a nasty knock from the R/F suspension. What would the most probable culprit be?

Usually one of these three things
A sway bar end link -cheap
Upper spring seat (Not so cheap)
Lower control arm bushings or a bad ball joint (even more expensive).

The other noise is if a sway bar BUSHING breaks but if it does the entire bar itself and bushings which are a part of the bar are replaced in one shot so it's not that.

Any one of the above is easy to test for.
When one of these parts goes south I always replace both (pair).... as sure as I'm writing this, when one goes, the other is soon to follow!

Can't help you with the fuel smell, sorry

[Kix]

Thanks for the warm welcome and the advice.

Thus far I've done:

* Decent clean and exterior polish. The paintwork was extremely dirty and dry. Looks much much better now.

* After the decent clean (had all the doors open for a couple of hours) the battery died and couldn't be revived. New battery purchased.

* I replaced the dodgy looking Pirellis with two Falken ZE 912's, two more to follow within the month. 6458

* The horrid suspension knock turned out to be the R/F shock mount rubber. Replaced that and now the ride is serene and sublime.

* Going for a service tomorrow.

Some pics:

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k178/barnoaucamp/2014-08-25151702_zps0a7e5e66.jpg (http://s88.photobucket.com/user/barnoaucamp/media/2014-08-25151702_zps0a7e5e66.jpg.html)

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k178/barnoaucamp/2014-08-25151729_zps4adcf374.jpg (http://s88.photobucket.com/user/barnoaucamp/media/2014-08-25151729_zps4adcf374.jpg.html)

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k178/barnoaucamp/2014-08-25151757_zps494ca804.jpg (http://s88.photobucket.com/user/barnoaucamp/media/2014-08-25151757_zps494ca804.jpg.html)

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k178/barnoaucamp/2014-08-25151821_zpsf903ceea.jpg (http://s88.photobucket.com/user/barnoaucamp/media/2014-08-25151821_zpsf903ceea.jpg.html)

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k178/barnoaucamp/2014-08-25151902_zps655110ca.jpg (http://s88.photobucket.com/user/barnoaucamp/media/2014-08-25151902_zps655110ca.jpg.html)

[Kix]

OK so I made a big post with lots of pictures two days ago, still haven't been "approved". Not amused.

Anyway...

Car is pretty much all sorted.

Only thing now is, that I replaced the front tyres with Falken's and I have the Bridgestones on the rear. They have some wear on them, though plenty of tread left. My mechanic also recommended having all 4 tyres the same. Can I drive it like this for a month or so, or would this be a bad idea? Not keen on spending another R2200 right now.

Ideas?

[Kix]

Fitted the two new tyres this morning.

Now it has a complete new set and my mind is at ease.

[Kix]

I knew I had a small oil leak. It was tiny, didn't even drip, only saw it when the car was on the lift.

Anyway, when I had the engine oil service done, they said it was gearbox oil leaking. Now it is making very small drops. I wonder if the garage maybe (over?) filled up the gearbox oil, causing it to leak more. The good news is the oil is a lovely clear pink colour.

They say it is leaking where the engine meets the gearbox and that the box basically needs to come off to repair the leak. Any ideas to get his sorted other than gearbox-out?

Anyway, my first tank I've measured I got 470km before the light came on and filled up with 63 litres. Gives around 13.3l/100km. That's a bit rough for me. I'm going to try and keep it around 12.5l/100km (town driving).

[JRL]

Nope
Just tighten everything up and monitor the leak and the fluid

[Kix]

I was also thinking of tightening, but was wondering if the bolts holding everything together was also of the type that needed a specific torque?

[JRL]

I don't know just tighten it up, see if there is bolt movement
I had a slight leak but it was the seal between the tranny case and the valvebody.
Tightened it up and it's fine
That was about 2 years ago now!

[billr99]

They say it is leaking where the engine meets the gearbox and that the box basically needs to come off to repair the leak. Any ideas to get his sorted other than gearbox-out?

As I recall that isn't a typical place to leak tranny fluid. There is a seal there where the tranny output shaft goes thru the tranny case, but the more typical leak at that spot is the main crank seal which would leak engine oil. As JRL suggests, clean everything up and keep an eye on the various joints on the tranny case and see if you have a leak at any of them. I would suspect the connections for the cooler lines and the valvebody cover first before a seal leak.

Good Luck,

Bill

[JRL]

I should have mentioned that, clean everything off first, THEN tighten every bolt and check it after driving 50-200 miles

[Kix]

Thanks guys, they said it looks like the box was opened before and that's why it is leaking.

[PierreC]

Anyway, my first tank I've measured I got 470km before the light came on and filled up with 63 litres. Gives around 13.3l/100km. That's a bit rough for me. I'm going to try and keep it around 12.5l/100km (town driving).

How is the fuel consumption turning out? On my '02 with only city-driving (lots of traffic lights and up and down hills) I am lucky to get below 14 liters / 100 km ...

[Kix]

How is the fuel consumption turning out? On my '02 with only city-driving (lots of traffic lights and up and down hills) I am lucky to get below 14 liters / 100 km ...

I got about 12.8l/100km on the next tank, then I took a road trip to Clocolan weekend before last, just me and the wife in the car. Got around 9.5l/100km.

This weekend we took another ~400km trip 4 up with my parents and a boot full of luggage. Speed ranged between 130km/h and 155km/h, got 10.7l/100km.

[PierreC]

I got about 12.8l/100km on the next tank, then I took a road trip to Clocolan weekend before last, just me and the wife in the car. Got around 9.5l/100km.

This weekend we took another ~400km trip 4 up with my parents and a boot full of luggage. Speed ranged between 130km/h and 155km/h, got 10.7l/100km.

Wow! The 2.5l engine is definitely more fuel efficient than the 2.4l on my '02 model. I can get consumption just below the 10l/100km mark on a 1200 km trip from my home (at 1.580m above sea level) going down to the coast at a careful, not exceeding 130km/h, but that is unusual. As I said, pure in-town start-stop up-down driving gives 14l/100km or worse.

My long term average, though, over all types of driving, for about the first 150.000km of the car's life was around 12.2l/100km - but now its much worse as it has become mainly a short distance 2nd car ... long distance trips are the domain of the XC60.

[vtl]

Wow! The 2.5l engine is definitely more fuel efficient than the 2.4l on my '02 model.
Don't forget that O2 sensors do age.

[PierreC]

Don't forget that O2 sensors do age.

Mmmm ... good point!

Is there a way to test or just bite the bullet and replace? Both?

[vtl]

Mmmm ... good point!

Is there a way to test or just bite the bullet and replace? Both?
Downstream sensor can be tested with a voltmeter. Upstream is current-based, no easy way to do a response test without cutting a wire.

They are expensive. I decided not to replace them in wife's 2002 V70. I'm not Toyota Prius fan, 10-11 l/100km in average is not something mind blowing for such a large barge like V70/XC70 is. She gets about the same fuel economy out of her 2.4l NA FWD like mine 2.5T AWD. Good enough.