What Did you do to your XC this week .

[Skater]

New pads and rotors on all four wheels. Went with drilled and slotted rotors from R1 Concepts, after reading several good reviews on them. They feel good with a good initial bite and no noise. I have to say doing the entire brake job on a Volvo was the easiest brake job I have ever done. I was getting a service brakes message, and a low brake fluid level warning, and the dealer said it was because my pads were so low (<2mm on all four corners!) and the rotors were too thin, that the fluid was too low. They were actually right, as the warning has disappeared.

[DakotaMike]

I plowed ice and snow. We got 4 inches of ice and then 9 inches of snow. I wish the XC70 were a little higher so that the radiator inlets don't act as scoops. Maybe a Badswede lift kit is in my future. I bought the car for just these occasions and it did great.

[Volvoholic]

Nothing (but I imagine the XC is scheming, plotting, what part it wants replaced next while I'm humbly bragging about how nothing has broken in a while. Soon...soon. )

[dperry]

Let's see, this past Saturday on my 2003 XC70 I:
changed brake pads
flushed with new brake fluid (using Motive power bleeder)
changed out fuel filter
changed out one of the three TCV hoses with the blue from IPD
changed the oil
rotated the tires (even though manual says Volvo doesn't recommend it?)
changed out the pretty messed up transmission mount

Still dealing with the DIM. Looking for the best site to not have to pay 400+.
Also, gearing up for coolant flush. Sticking point is how to do it (via the
Prestone kit) without putting coolant everywhere.

Question about the power bleeder. I will be honest, I was underwhelmed with
the response. I pressurized it up to 20 pounds, and on the front left and both
rear wheels got miniscule flow. I broke down and pushed the brake pedal to
drive some flow to get rid of the old, and everything seems to be fine. Is
that the response I should expect?

Other than that, things seem to be okay for a car with at least 196K miles (I
would say the actual but the DIM refuses to display the odometer )

[JRL]

I added a UR strut brace AND the two small poly engine brace bushings and I have to say these made one heck of a difference!

I've had this combination before but on my Sonic V70R 6 speed. I wasn't sure if it would do very much, if anything installed on an XC, it DOES!
Steering is quicker and more direct with a lighter feel, The turn in is much sharper and now the entire front end is better balanced in relation to the rear which has an S60R rear sway bar.
Bonus
NO ADDED VIBRATIONS AT ALL!
Highly recommended, but if you need to choose one, go for the $30 engine brace bushings to make that bar stiff, they work!
You have to understand how they work. Now with the big brace being solid, the engine does not rock side to side (forward to rear in the car), this tightens up everything but especially the steering.

That ugly decal will not come off cleanly. I may just bite the bullet, remove it, sand it down and paint it white to match the car and the strut towers.

This is a 6 minute install, 3 minutes for each

[madbill683]

For some time now, I've been smelling oil near the front of my '07 XC70 after I park it. Finally noticed the culprit, the crankcase breather hose was broken in two near the flexible part. Ordered a new hose (PN 8692217) from Tasca, and installed it today. Not looking forward to doing any maintenance on this system, it's pretty tight in there.

[JRL]

That hose is a bit of work to get it in there properly, is it installed correctly?
Did you buy a new clamp
Out of curiosity, you said for some time now....

Why wouldn't you have looked there earlier?

[shinola]

JRL,

IF you don't mind my asking, where did you get the strut bar at? Would that happen to be the one that ViVA sells? I installed the poly insterts a few weeks ago and would agree that it makes a great difference.

[JRL]

Came on another car but yes, it's the same one that George sells.
I really think the bushings do more if you only could choose one, but the combo of both is awesome

[madbill683]

That hose is a bit of work to get it in there properly, is it installed correctly?
Did you buy a new clamp
Out of curiosity, you said for some time now....

Why wouldn't you have looked there earlier?

Jim,

I guess I was not expecting a bad hose on a 6 yr old car. I used narrow stainless screw-type aircraft clamps on both ends. The car does no use oil, and I've been changing it at about 5000 miles since changing to M1. I've had this car since Jan 2011. After a drive today, the oil smell near the front of the car is gone.

BTW, I like your strut bar.

Bill