New Owner an Have Some Questions.

[Motas88]

Hi all,
Vary pleased to have purchased a C70 about four months ago and after making a list of everything I need to do I came across some questions.

First of all it was registered in 2000 and I know a lot of parts are compatible between the S/V70 and somewhat with the 850 but I keep getting asked if it’s 96-00 or 2001-04. Does anybody know which is the correct generation to choose?

Have also found that main dealer parts aren’t as expensive as I thought, in some cases cheaper than online parts, anybody else found this or am I just searching the wrong part numbers?

Third thing is, I got the car for a reasonable price and have only a few niggles but I do have one that is worrying. Only developed it 2 days ago, it has been losing coolant but very little over a long time (put it down to a weeping hose as they seem to be original), but they other day she was smoking on start up and was running quite rich. Left her running for a minute or 2 and switched off. Second start, still smoking but much less, still smelled slightly rich. Third start and run no smoke or smell.
Have kept an eye on it but this time of year you can’t tell whether it’s smoke or condensation coming out the exhaust. Was also wondering if this could be anyway related to the PCV system?

She’s a 2000 2.0LPT with 121000 on the clock. Have limited service history but changed the fluids and filters except for coolant as yet. Oil is a good golden colour, no residue under the oil cap and no exhaust fumes in expansion tank.
Thanks in advance.

Regards

Tom

[Luxobarge]

Congratulations!

Head gasket failure is VERY rare on these, unless the engine has been properly cooked due to a coolant leak, so I very much suspect that your "smoke" etc. is just the normal symptoms of a cold engine running on a cold day.

Coolant loss is more something to worry about, check in all the usual places, but these are known for having leaking heater matrices, so have a good poke around under the dash where the matrix is, it should be totally dry, check the thick padding under the carpet too. If it's leaking then replace it with a good quality item, the good news is that this is actually quite easy to do, not the nightmare it is on many cars.

Also many cars have an oil cooler built in to the radiator, and two if it's an auto. The seal/joint between the cooler and the rad often goes, allowing the two to mix, but as you're saying the oil is clean then it's unlikely to be that. Check the autobox fluid too if it's an auto. As I say unlikely, but rads do go on these quite regularly, and again it's a fairly easy job although a bit harder than the matrix.

Let us know how you get on.

[SteveSarre]

Hi Tom,

As far as I know the V70s changed in about 2000 but the C70s didn't change until 2005. Many parts are the same as 96-00 V70s and S70s, but not so many are the same as 850s (but I hardly know anything about 850s).

If yours is 2000 then it could have a old style throttle cable and distributor and spark plug leads, but more likely it is fly-by-wire with individual coil packs (and no distributor and spark plug leads).

Some Volvo prices are good, but some are very high which drives people to aftermarket or used.

HTH
Steve

[turboboy]

Congratulations on your new toy. I always fancied one but could never justify having another addition to the fleet.

Not having owned/run one of these I can only give general answers from experience on other models and makes (and some experience in the trade).

You are correct in thinking that main dealers are often less costly for parts on older models. This is often mentioned in posts on here when someone is looking for recommendations on where to buy a part. This has the additional advantage of getting the correct part first time (as I can attest from buying V40 front strut top mounts / bearings from a well known distributor of European car parts. At least they got it right after the fourth attempt!).

Steam from the exhaust is common on a cold engine in cold weather and you will often see it for some time after starting, even during a run when you stop at lights etc. I was told during my apprenticeship that the first gallon of fuel burnt produces a gallon of water, so is a common cause of rusting exhausts. So, providing that your PCV is not blocked then I doubt that you have any problem.

[Motas88]

Thanks for the detailed replies.
I’ll keep an eye on it and see, hopefully get a coolant flush and maybe replace the hoses if I can find some for a decent price before Christmas.

Any thoughts on getting Volvo to do a health check just out of curiosity?


Regards

Tom

[Clogs]

If you have your car serviced by a Volvo dealer (pricey but comes with free breakdown assistance in UK and Europe - which is beneficial for any car over 10 years old because most organisations like the AA charge very high daily rates for Europe or simply don't cover Europe) they should do a health check as a matter of course, but perhaps you may need to ask if they don't tell you this in advance, plus they usually wash and hoover the inside. You won't get any change out of £300 for a simple service. Independents will do this for less and there are specialist Volvo independents around who do a better and cheaper job than dealers. I've never had a breakdown in Europe (thousands of miles on holidays over the past 7 years) or the UK needing roadside assistance despite the car being over 20 years old and now 170,000 miles, so the dealer servicing has been quite good.

A cheap health check is of course a pre-MoT check, but it won't pick up things like slight leaks of coolant unless they are apparent because it's wet somewhere they poke around under the car.

As for coolant leaks, if it's the heater matrix, you can usually smell the antifreeze. If the coolant isn't clear (Volvo coolant is a 50:50 mix and usually blue) because someone has put stop leak gunge in the radiator, then you'll have a permanent seepage and eventually a major leak as that stuff blocks pipes and collects in places it shouldn't be. The temperature gauge should always be at 3 o'clock regardless of how hot or cold it is or how hard the car is driven (I've been up summer Alpine passes and the cooling fan is going like the clappers when stopped and ignition key removed for up to 10 minutes, yet the gauge is still 3 o clock, nudging a bit to 2.30!).

[Motas88]

Thanks.

Not wanting a service was just thinking a health check, but I guess an independent would be a better way to go.

Thought about the heater matrix but no smell and carpets are dry as a bone. No excessive condensation on the inside either. Think I’ll tough it out till I’m off and then give the coolant a drain and flush.

Gonna employ an Occam’s razor approach to this and guess the 2 problems are not linked. Think the coolant is a leak somewhere as the I have no rough, no loss of power and no other symptoms of a head gasket failure. She is definitely running rich on start up though, no smoke today but a real petrol stench out of the exhaust on start. Can anybody tell me how easy these engines throw an EML?
Guessing if I can smell it’s running rich the lambda sensor or something should have thrown a code?
Could the MAF be faulty or would that Throw a code?

Forgot to mention, it’s a manual. Came with 10 months MOT and no advisories for corrosion or leaks. Haven’t noticed any oil or other viscous leaks from the under side.

[Derek UK]

Check the clamp on the lower hose to rad joint. These can rust through and let go without warning. If looking at all suspect replace with a good quality stainless steel one.

[DaveNP]

The other point I've found for minor coolant leaks is the join between the metal core and the plastic end caps of the radiator, leaks most as the rad warms up and once up to temp can dry as quickly as it leaks, so look for the blue/white residue around the join and check as the engine warms up.

And whilst I'm no expert on C70s, they have a lot of common parts with the S and V 70 before 2000 with the same design being carried on in the C70 until 2004, the S/V/C70 was evolved from the 850 with the most noticeable change being the bonnet and front wings while the rest of the body stayed the same. Volvo had a habit of evolving cars (they did with the 240/740/940) so underneath the early 70 was the practically same as an 850, but then the body stayed the same while they changed some of the underneath such as going from a mechanical throttle cable to a 'fly by wire' throttle.

[Motas88]

Thanks for the advice so far.

Not sure whether to start a new thread for this but another thing I forgot to mention is the window seals. Have a whistle from off side at motorway speeds and slight noise from the near side.

Have noticed that closing the door seems to flex the window up into the seal, is this normal or is it supposed to drop and raise when opening and closing doors?

Also any recommendations for getting new seals or at least getting rid of the noise? Is beginning to irritate me!

Thanks.

Regards

Tom