I have got my car back

[nmonk]

Hi all

2001 XC70 2.4T
This is a super big thanks to all your helpful posts. I have just finished swapping just about every part I can get to. I had three issues; knocking sound at about 1500 rpm under load, loss of power under acceleration (most noticeable on hills or towing), and weird idle (up and down by about 50 rpm). After getting nowhere with dealer, in Hastings NZ. I started looking at this forum and trying things myself, here is the list of what I did. Please keep in mind I am not a mechanic and this is the first time I have EVER worked on a car.

Replaced ETM with Xmodex
Replaced MAF with Bosh
New TCV from IPD
New Bosh Plugs (all five)
New Coils from IPD (performance ones)
New Silicon Air intake lines from IPD
New Battery

Oil Change and New filter (ok I admit to having the service agent, not volvo, do this)
After all this the car did not seem any better, but we have just taken it for a long run of about 300km and now it goes almost perfectly, all issues are gone. We still have some slight shifting hesitation but we are about to do a transmission flush next week. Overall the car drives like new.

This car has done over 160,000km and before anyone asks no it did not throw any codes, perhaps it just needed to relearn after all the changes. i think the last change, the tcv and coils has made all the difference.

Many thanks for all your help.

Nathan

[sikbrik]

Great story, Nathan! Congratulations on your first real "mechanic" experience. You've reminded me why I keep my '01...it's just as fixable as any other car, with the help of the board members here. Stick with this forum and you'll be a DIY technician in no time.

[Astro14]

Always good to hear of another's success!

I am curious, though, what are parts shipping and prices like in NZ? I hear the Canadians tell us all the time that parts are much more expensive in Canada than in the US (and I don't think that they're cheap here...).

[nmonk]

Yes well shipping is higher (and slower) than US or Europe. For my last order of the tcv, silicon tubes and coils(x5) it cost me $54 USD shipping. Not bad I guess. The Local Volvo dealer wanted $800 NZD for the MAF plus $180 labour, that works out to $800 USD just for that bit. A little extra spent on the shipping seemed to be a good investment. My biggest issue was the local dealer seemed to have no idea. Their solution was to run 95 or higher octane in the engine. We are back down on 91 now (as low as you get in NZ) and she is just purring. The funny thing is that if we could not have figured it out we would have gone right out and got another one. It just would have been slightly newer. We love this car as it does everything we need.
1. Inbuilt booster seats for the kids.
2. AWD, prefer this on our roads and we go skiing.
3. Third row seats, for when we cart extra adults or kids.
4. Built like a tank.