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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    NY Upper Catskill Region
    Posts
    62

    Default New Member, 2004 XC70: an intro and some questions.

    Hey folks, I'm new to the Volvo world (thought not quite completely) but my reaction on seeing XC70 back in 2001 was love at first sight. It became an instant dream car for me, but a little out of my realms of possibility. I already had a Ford E-150 (my dream van) and a '94 Miata M-Edition, so the idea of a third car (for a single guy) seemed kind of ludicrous. But as time went by I though more and more of getting a Subaru wagon as a winter beater to prolong the life of my van. But when I finally made up my mind to start casually looking around, I found that to get anything halfway decent with under 100k, I was looking in the $10k range. Then suddenly the lightbulb inside my head lit up and I thought, "Why not look for an XC70 instead?!" I know what you're thinking now; no this car is not a beater, but if it shares winter duties with the van (which goes anywhere with 4 studded snows), then both cars will last a lot longer. I'm sure I'm gonna tend to baby this one though, haha.

    So here I am. I bought a Metallic Blue over Beige, 2004 model with 79k that presents itself very well cosmetically. It's friggen gorgeous! Not perfect mind you, but quite satisfactory. It had a clean carfax, no accidents, good service records, a new timing belt, and came from NJ, which is what we call a "southern car" up where I live, where the roads can stay salty for weeks at a time. Cars last twice as long there as they do here, and she looks clean as one could possibly expect- looking at the undercarriage and other tell tale places to look for the beginnings of rust.

    So here are my questions and issues: Three days home, I started it up and it stalled immediately and failed to kick over after that. I tried a couple of times over the day but only got ignition once, then it stalled once again after 5 seconds. I just left it in the driveway (Sunday) and called AAA the next day and had it towed to my regular service garage. They told me it started right up when it got off the truck. The long and the short of it was that they found nothing wrong except a computer to computer communication problem that they claimed they fixed with some dielectric grease on the wires. It seems fine now.

    But now it failed emissions. They asked me whether I had ever changed or ran down the battery. Of course I didn't know, and the PO never got back to me. Apparently the device which "readies" the car for the emissions testing machine had not reset itself. They told me to drive it some more, and leave it running without any accessories for a while in my driveway to hopefully trigger those emission sensors to reset. Anyone know anything about this? are these issues related?

    Anyway, I'm happy to be here on this forum among kindred spirits, lol. I hope I can contribute with some of my own knowledge about cars. I'm pretty active on the Miata forum as well and it's even possible some of you know me.

    Thanks in advance for any help!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    1,927

    Default

    Welcome to the forum and getting one of your dream cars. Not too expensive these days but for a good reason as they do need frequent attention. Some DIY would save you some money as repair costs likely are higher than your F150 and Miata.

    Not sure what your emissions tester is talking about with emissions device reset. Never heard of it. If it fails Emissions, then you should be a check engine light? and the codes can be read by a generic OBD2 reader.
    Past Volvos : 01 V70 T5, 01/02 V70XC, 02 V70 NA, 00 V70XC
    Current EV/Hybrid : 13 Tesla S85, 11 Gen3 Prius
    Friends cars under my care 17 Audi A4 Quattro DSG (B9) 05 Audi A4 Manual 6sp Quattro (B7) 04 e320 V6 Auto, 05 Accord 2.4, 08 Element 2.4, 08 Camry Hybrid
    Past Others : 01/03 VW MK4 Turbo/NA/01M. Gen1 Prius, Gen1 CRV, Gen2 Rav4, 02 Town&Country, 06 Corolla, 12 Audi A4 Quattro (B8), 07 Civic 1.6
    https://sites.google.com/view/howardsvolvos

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Pacific NW
    Posts
    41

    Default

    As far as I know, these emissions test basically just check that all the sensors on the intake and exhaust are functioning, including MAF, MAP, FPS, oxygen sensor etc.

    If it failed, its likely due to an error code associated with one of these. It's possible that simply clearing the codes with a VIDA reader would remedy the problem.

    If there actually is a problem with one of these components, you'll want to replace it before trying the emissions test again.

    For instance, my car was getting 21mpg with a faulty FPS and now 24+mpg after I replaced it. The bad fuel trim and FPS codes would have likely failed emissions testing (maybe excess CO/NOx and unburned fuel in exhaust as well).

    The generic OBD2 might help some, but if you really want to know what's going on, spend the $80 and get a DiCE VIDA setup. Lots of info on these around the forums.

    If it died and failed to start, there is probably some mechanical problem (not sure how di-electric grease would help in either case). Unless you know the history of these items, I would recommend:
    New Engine Air Filter
    Clean MAF
    New Spark Plugs
    New Fuel Filter

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    GA
    Posts
    1,420

    Default

    Your car needs to finish a "drive cycle" to pass it's own emission test, or reset the codes someone just erased before selling you the car Then the state plugs in and verifies it was completed. Google "volvo drive cycle" to find the fastest way to complete yours.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    NY Upper Catskill Region
    Posts
    62

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by hoonk View Post
    Your car needs to finish a "drive cycle" to pass it's own emission test, or reset the codes someone just erased before selling you the car Then the state plugs in and verifies it was completed. Google "volvo drive cycle" to find the fastest way to complete yours.
    This, it turns out, is the correct answer. I brought it in today to be retested, and all of the codes had been reset after one final drive. When I brought it in at first, she told me that it had cleared all but one code, so I took it for a 50 mile drive, came right back, the reader showed it to be ready to be hooked up to the emissions testing machine, and it passed with flying colors.

    Now I'm all set. And thank you guys for the welcome posts. Yes, I'm going to need to start learning a lot more about this vehicle so that I don't have to pay someone $70 an hour to help me out. I have a friend who is a Volvo enthusiast who is also an excellent, hard core shade tree mechanic. I believe he just picked up a vintage 240, and I've promised to help with body work and painting in exchange for other stuff. I'm actually fairly handy, but handicapped by the lack of a real garage to work in, only the shed for my Miata. That other vehicle is an E-150, a van, not a pick-up. It's my work truck and previous daily driver. Those things are so reliable, it hardly costs me anything to maintain. The Miata is the same way.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Pacific NW
    Posts
    41

    Default

    Huh. Didn't realize the car has its own emission test... And this has to be completed after every code reset?

    If that's the case you should keep an eye out for whatever codes the previous owner wanted to erase. I don't think they would bother if it wasn't something more serious (or that would trigger the check engine light).

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Devon PA
    Posts
    11,409

    Default

    EVERY car after 1996 is the same
    Once a light is cleared, battery disconnected, etc the car has to be driven to reset the emission parameters.
    Some will do it in a few miles, some take a bit longer.
    A P2 Volvo turbo will usually reset after about a 15 mile drive
    All emails please use: jrl1194 (at) aol.com

    2007 V70 2.5T White/Oak, 112K miles. My daily driver and GORGEOUS
    2000 V70R wife's. Won't sell, now at 148K miles !! and still (almost) perfect.
    2000 S70 GLT SE with 29,000 miles!!! A time capsule, V70R front bumper, Volans, etc. SOLD!!! (I Will regret selling this!)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Pacific NW
    Posts
    41

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JRL View Post
    EVERY car after 1996 is the same
    That's a bold statement, JRL.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    1,196

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by OslosisJones View Post
    That's a bold statement, JRL.
    Every car sold in US.
    2002 V70 (sold)
    2005 XC70 (Telos Road took it. Did a chassis swap)
    2016 XC60 (sold, P.O.S.)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Devon PA
    Posts
    11,409

    Default

    EVERY CAR sold in the US from and after 1996 model year
    You fell better now?
    Nothing bold about it, this is over 20 years old now, nothing new here, in fact very OLD requirements.
    I think most or all Euro countries have the same requirements
    All emails please use: jrl1194 (at) aol.com

    2007 V70 2.5T White/Oak, 112K miles. My daily driver and GORGEOUS
    2000 V70R wife's. Won't sell, now at 148K miles !! and still (almost) perfect.
    2000 S70 GLT SE with 29,000 miles!!! A time capsule, V70R front bumper, Volans, etc. SOLD!!! (I Will regret selling this!)

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