Got myself a V70 2.5T SE

[4x4]

Originally Posted by Dibble

We had a little chat at Glencoe...

Hi Bob, Yes I remember. Glen Coe was a good day out and you certainly bagged a bargain with your V70 purchase. 42mpg was good. I managed 37.97mpg round trip with mine that day, calculated not a computer generated guesstimate.

The V70 keeps good company with the 850 which you have seen at a few shows we have both been to. No doubt we will catch up again next year at some of the classic shows


@ 2.4TSE
Thank you for your kind words, your car looks like new, I'm truly impressed that it has that mileage and is looking so good, that engine bay looks amazing. Don't worry, the posts will keep coming although they will slow as I've almost caught up with the most important jobs that were required (spoiler... it's going to see a specialist on Monday for a fault I know nothing about and I don't wish to do any damage so leave that to those who know...)

@ irishcarfan
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed reading my thread, old Volvos aren't the most exciting cars and sadly they seldom get the care they deserve. I always said I would buy a brand new car when I reached a certain age, but truth be told I'm not in the slightest interested in them so I'm stuck in the age of cars that can be worked on and are not over complicated

If you click the link in my signature below it will take you to my website, enjoy...

[2.4TSE]

Thank you, 4x4, for your kind words too. I especially appreciate them, knowing that you clearly understand that this doesn't happen by accident and requires continuous attention.

Your comment to irishcarfan resonates very well with me, too. I tend to buy high quality products suitable for me to proactively care-for and maintain, and keep them until the end of their useful life - so as a small amount of thread drift, still own my 1998 Honda Hornet CB600F motorcycle too, also from new and which also still looks like new bar a small amount of unavoidable staining on the exhaust headers. Even the gold anodising on the brake calipers is original. Pic from departure for the Czech Republic and back, last summer.

Back to the thread; I like the patina of use - so on the V70, things like creases in leather seats and the small area of chipped paint on the slam panel where the bonnet latch strikes it are fine - but I otherwise keep my vehicles spotlessly clean down to nooks and crannies, and use cleaning them as an opportunity to spot what needs doing before it needs doing. Carpet floor mats are lifted out and brushed with my hand before being put back at the end of every journey, so at over 20 years also look like new bar a small area on the edge of one where my daughter used to catch it with her shoe as a toddler and has torn the tufts away from the rubber backing.

I had the wheels completely stripped and refurbished 8 years ago but as you have seen, they still look they were fitted today. The key things here are avoiding kerbing, tyre changing with trusted fitters who take care, and annual application of Autoglym wheel protector with the wheels off the car and surgically cleaned on every exposed face first. This is awesome stuff at stopping brake dust bind, and at the annual deep clean the brake dust and dirt wipes straight off the parts I could not otherwise reach. I also wash the wheels (incuding as best I can through the spokes) as soon as there is a hint of brake dust grey on them - so several times per week after first jet-blasting them to remove grit. I admit to specifying Amalthea wheels (standard fit) over the other options because being smooth-spoked without any ridges and with every gap big enough for fingers and sponge, they would be the easiest to keep clean.

The same regime applies to my wife's 2008 model year Passion red C30 T5 (Purchased in Slough, but previous owner local to you in Tillicoultry!) that we've owned since it was 3 years and 50,000 miles old. It is now 16 years old and at 152,000 miles, but also looks and drives like new. To my astonishment, it is still on the original drop links and front dampers (but its third set of front springs with corrosion leading to tails snapping off, and third nearside front wheel bearing despite the first replacement being the modified design intended to stop water ingress).

We have had no intention of replacing either car, but with seventeen year old twins wanting to learn to drive and no insurer wanting them behind the wheel of either Volvo, will soon be replacing the T5 or adding a third car to the stable - which will not be electric as they wisely want manual gearbox licenses given the next decade will be one of transition that likely includes ICE vehicles with manual transmissions.

Thanks for confirming that you will make further posts, even if less frequently with most jobs now done. On two jobs you have done; great minds think alike on how to stop the boot cover cassette from rattling. I smiled wide when I read this post of yours! On broken fuel cap retaining straps I took the route of deciding that this is what my tailgate spoiler is for during refuelling, so cut the strap off completely. Perhaps I should revisit!

Thanks again too for such a fantastic thread.

[4x4]

@ 2.4TSE
Reading your post, you sound almost as obsessive as myself, not sure if it's a good thing or not, but it keeps me out of the pubs... I've never had or been interested in motorbikes. When I was 16 I asked my dad if I could get a motorbike (16 was the age for a bike license) and was told in no uncertain terms that wasn't going to happen. He was a motorbike guy before he was married, he rode for the Royal Signals speedway team when he did his national service in Egypt, he then rode for Glasgow Tigers Speedway when he was demobbed and he had a BSA 500 road racer with interchangeable gearbox when he was dating mum, so he knew what biking was about and didn't want me being scraped up off the road, that was the last time I ever bothered with motorbikes.

Not sure why my car had so many rattles and squeaks but 'I think' I've found them all now. The most annoying noise which took longest to pinpoint and solve was a soft rumble sound from somewhere at the back, it seemed to be worse in hot weather or after a long drive when everything was completely warmed up. I had the car on the ramp many times checking bushes, drop-links, suspension components and whatever else I could grab hold of to no avail. Then when I removed the boot floor tray to change the battery I bumped against the space-saver wheel and it started vibrating ever so slightly. I had removed the wheel a couple of times and always made sure it was refitted and tightened up when I put it back so it required further inspection.

The wheel is clamped directly to the boot floor and towards the rear of the car there are two black/charcoal coloured polystyrene wedges the wheel sits on to level it out. Over the last 18 years the wedges have compressed ever so slightly, just enough of a gap to cause a vibration. I think as the metal heats up from the exhaust or on a hot day it expands and is more flexible, therefore prone to vibrating more when warm. I cut a couple of pieces of matting and placed it between the wedges and the tyre and my rumble has completely disappeared.

[irishcarfan]

Guys, 4x4 and 2.4TSE, both your cars are spectacular! My father has a '98 940 and C70 T5 owned from new and I've owned my Saabs for 10 years so I understand your views precisely..! Keep up the good work!

[2.4TSE]

Thank you, irishcarfan. Appreciated sentiment.

4x4 - You are not going to believe this, but a few months ago my V70 developed rattle when the left-hand rear wheel was taken over a washboard surface or hit a pothole. At all other times there is no rattle. It looks like I have worked like you to find the cause. All the same steps, but not yet the space saver spare wheel, only the things stored on it and inside the rear wings. Let me check tomorrow!

On motorbikes, thanks for sharing your story. I am lucky as it is in the family DNA, my mum included. I call my Mum an 85 year old teenager as she still rides with me and hops straight on - and on Saturday, along with my son, is coming with me to Motorcycle Live at the NEC.

However, She and Dad got me to drive, and paid everything despite not having cash to throw around, the nanosecond I turned 17. When I became a motorcyclist 17 years later, they admitted this was to keep me off two wheels until I was an experienced road user, and well before then, member of the IAM. Now, my 17 year old son is asking for a motorcycle and financial and practical help to learn. The big difference is that he has tens of thousands of miles of pillion experience with me since he was eight (Now including on the total weapon that is the BMW S1000XR that I purchased this year) , and a greater awareness and maturity than many road users. His observation and anticipation (we have an intercom, so he tells me what he sees) are top notch - but he still has a 17 year-old's wiring in his brain and is my son who I love...

Time to decide.

[2.4TSE]

4x4, you are a bloody genius. 120 miles driven this evening, a fair amount of which was on flaky A-roads, rutted B-roads and a few country lanes.

No more rattle.

Finding that the two foam supports had pronounced indentations from the space saver spare wheel - even down to being able to read imprints from the sidewall writing - I turned the supports upside down so that the void on each was now in free space vs the wheel well floor, and the supports effectively restored to being the same height as from the factory. I also placed the part of the spare wheel that rests on the floor on top of a rectangle of cotton hand towel normally kept in the wheel well along with a pair of industrial rubber gloves incase I need to change a wheel.

Job done!

If I am ever up Fife way on two wheels or four, I will send you a PM as I owe you a beer!

[4x4]

@ 2.4TSE: Glad to have been of assistance. Not something that is normally on the list to check and only by accident I found it. Mine was more of a rumble than a rattle and never when starting off from cold. I did think about flipping my wedges but they are so well glued in that it was easier just to pack them at the top.

If you're ever in the Glasgow area it would be good to meet up...

@ irishcarfan: I've hankered for a Saab since the 80s, maybe some day when I run out of jobs to do on my Volvos I might take the plunge.

[4x4]

Not a good news day today...

When I changed the torque rod a couple of weeks ago I noticed undertray was covered in oil. Looking around I saw the bottom of the turbo was covered in oil, I wiped it dry and took the car for a drive, sure enough there was more oil leaking when I returned. The turbo drain on these cars are prone to leaking at the seal but mine was dry, the oil inlet feed banjo bolt was also dry so that is as much as I know about turbos and decided to book the car into a turbo specialist for further inspection.

I dropped the car into the specialist this morning and just had a call to tell me the thrust collar bearing on the cold side is leaking and needs rebuilt. I as told I could have left it for a while without doing any harm but the leak would just get worse. He was surprised that this was the cause as he thought it might have been an intercooler problem. The car won't be ready until the end of the week.

[stuart bowes]

That sucks, mind you at least your pro active attitude means you caught it now rather than going on a long journey and it sh.tting itself halfway down the M1

[2.4TSE]

Originally Posted by stuart bowes

That sucks, mind you at least your pro active attitude means you caught it now rather than going on a long journey and it sh.tting itself halfway down the M1

Total agreement from me. Such an approach is the cornerstone of reliable motoring at minimised cost, and clearly something you have in abundance, 4x4! I'm sorry to read of the issue, but glad that it is caught in time.