What to do with near EOL v50?

[mark2410]

So, my v50, it has been an endless money pit and i tihnk ive just about had enough. Its insurance is due for renewal in 3 weeks and im contemplating not bothering to. However, if i do that im pretty much ending its life arent i? if not insured cant take it to a garage to have any more attempts at finding the cause of the limp mode issue when hot and applying power.

So if i dont reinsure it am i really calling it a day on it? i dont really want to give up on it as was my first car so a little attached to it but do i really want to spend £25 on road tax and circa £35 on insurance a month for it to just sit there doing nothing.

is there any other option? i dont want to bin it but i dont want to keep throwing money at it either.

[Greenclaws]

Originally Posted by mark2410

So, my v50, it has been an endless money pit and i tihnk ive just about had enough. Its insurance is due for renewal in 3 weeks and im contemplating not bothering to. However, if i do that im pretty much ending its life arent i? if not insured cant take it to a garage to have any more attempts at finding the cause of the limp mode issue when hot and applying power.

So if i dont reinsure it am i really calling it a day on it? i dont really want to give up on it as was my first car so a little attached to it but do i really want to spend £25 on road tax and circa £35 on insurance a month for it to just sit there doing nothing.

is there any other option? i dont want to bin it but i dont want to keep throwing money at it either.

Don't give up it's probably something simple.
What error codes is it showing ?

[mark2410]

Originally Posted by Greenclaws

Don't give up it's probably something simple.
What error codes is it showing ?

varies but whatever its reported in the past and changed, including a whole brand new turbo has never actually cured the limp mode issue so while it may be something super simple and i may be near to it going 50k miles with not an issue...... ive thrown over 10 grand at it and im fed up. the moeny pit has to stop.

oh and as a bonus the boot has decided suddenly to not want to open

[FunkyMelon]

It sounds like you've wasted lots of money replacing parts that dumb garages have suggested with little to know effort going in to finding what's causing the actual problem (no judgement, we've all done it).

Has the car been hooked up to VIDA? As above, what codes are you getting? Sadly with these cars you won't get very far with generic code scanners or even the higher end Bosh units that most garages use, you need VIDA.

There is a map somewhere on the forum with members who have it, see if you can find someone local to you and get a code scan for some beer money. Failing that, it's probably worth taking to Volvo just for a read out (if nothing else).

The boot will more than likely be the wiring loom, it's bit of a bugger to replace but DIY-able. The replacement loom is about £35 new from Volvo.

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=208492

[Greenclaws]

Originally Posted by mark2410

varies but whatever its reported in the past and changed, including a whole brand new turbo has never actually cured the limp mode issue so while it may be something super simple and i may be near to it going 50k miles with not an issue...... ive thrown over 10 grand at it and im fed up. the money pit has to stop.

oh and as a bonus the boot has decided suddenly to not want to open

Think of all the money and new parts it's hard...why sell now so the new owner gets the benefit ?. If you have spent 10k that's all the more reason to fix it now and recoup some of the value in the car.
Instead of handing a blank cheque to the garages get
yourself an Icarsoft CR Pro scanner ..for me it was £225 well spent. Its already paid for itself resetting the abs light and if i need to it can regen the dpf, check soot levels etc. and read fault codes...plus it works on other cars too. I can check for fault codes on every system i can think of and i dont need to mess around with laptops. You can even check live data so when the car goes into limp mode you can check temps , turbo pressures, signals from crank/cam sensors arent breaking down etc to see what is going on..

Really needs the basics going over...fault code read, check the vacuum hoses especially the one to the turbo, earth connections, CEM connections under the glovebox is worth checking on any V50 imo. Boot light could be a break in the tailgate wiring give it a waggle where the boot goes between the body and door.My 1/2 p worth!!

[mark2410]

oh i have Vida and have had various codes say its this, or that, then had said part replaced. the last time i bothered to look at Vida it claimed it was the turbo which had just been entirely replaced. What i ithkn it needs is soemone to spend the time to go through everything, checking and looking for issues manually but no garage is going to do that without charging a ton in labour.

[Greenclaws]

Originally Posted by mark2410

oh i have Vida and have had various codes say its this, or that, then had said part replaced. the last time i bothered to look at Vida it claimed it was the turbo which had just been entirely replaced. What i ithkn it needs is soemone to spend the time to go through everything, checking and looking for issues manually but no garage is going to do that without charging a ton in labour.

The garage is incompetent..it would be easy to check before condemning the turbo that:-

-the turbo wasnt excessively noisy
-its not leaking excess oil into the inlet
-no obvious damage on the rotors with minimal play in the bearings
-the variable nozzle mechanism is free to move

Forget Daz or Baz down at your garage and especially main dealers they are NOT the answer.. they are staffed by the kind of people at school who couldn't sit still for 5 minutes.. so they got shunted off to do motor vehicle studies to stop them being a nuisance...

So the turbo pressure referenced to the ECM map is too high or low?. .
Either a leak of pressure, vacuum or a sensor fault... What specific fault code relating to the turbo have you?..need to clear all the codes and drive until the fault returns ?

[Familyman 90]

No, but at least Daz at the dealer gives a lifetime warranty on the parts he fits with a mix if self tappers and cable ties, and tends not to resort to component substitution at the punters expense as a routine means of diagnosis.

[mark2410]

Originally Posted by Greenclaws

The garage is incompetent..it would be easy to check before condemning the turbo that:-

-the turbo wasnt excessively noisy
-its not leaking excess oil into the inlet
-no obvious damage on the rotors with minimal play in the bearings
-the variable nozzle mechanism is free to move

Forget Daz or Baz down at your garage and especially main dealers they are NOT the answer.. they are staffed by the kind of people at school who couldn't sit still for 5 minutes.. so they got shunted off to do motor vehicle studies to stop them being a nuisance...

So the turbo pressure referenced to the ECM map is too high or low?. .
Either a leak of pressure, vacuum or a sensor fault... What specific fault code relating to the turbo have you?..need to clear all the codes and drive until the fault returns ?

its been to two garages, both seemingly well regarded, voltech in glasgom adn craig moncrieff in edinburgh. i dont recall what the last turbo related error was, its been a while since i last tried to see what was up as to date everything its said is the problem, then when that part is replaced the issue remains it just blaims something else.

if you are interested ni the codes you can have a look at the various other threads ive started, most are bout this cars issues.

[Simmy]

10k i havent spent that in the last ten years on 3 different cars my current v70 iv had for 7yrs i think you have been very unlucky but at 10 k you need to stick with it join v50 owners club maybe someone there can help you with your problems . garages like to take money off customers its what they do best .i hope you can fix it good luck and keep posting with your progress