New pride & joy

[B00ST CR33P]

Originally Posted by ShadeTek

...you might want to replace the grey reservoir cap with a new green one as the grey ones crack and leak.

I found just the opposite to be true.I got a new green one and after less than 2 years it was splitting and leaking.Put an older grey one on and no problems since.No worries mate.

[SHI]

That's the same colour as mine! Everyone likes it. Bet yours is a tiny bit faster though...
Now I want alloys, spoiler and sunroof. I've always wanted a sunroof. I can never seem to get a car that has one.

[B00ST CR33P]

Originally Posted by SHI

That's the same colour as mine! Everyone likes it. Bet yours is a tiny bit faster though...
Now I want alloys, spoiler and sunroof. I've always wanted a sunroof. I can never seem to get a car that has one.

lol, tiny bit faster? haha its way faster stock not to mention how fast it is now.

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by B00ST CR33P

lol, tiny bit faster? haha its way faster stock not to mention how fast it is now.

Mine certainly goes like stink - I took it out briefly yesterday, and couldn't resist putting my foot down (on a straight empty bit of road of course) and all hell broke loose - it was spinning the front wheels quite easily - and the road was clean and dry. Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to rag the thing, (I couldn't afford the tyre rubber!) but you can't resist it from time to time can you?

Given that the stickers would seem to indicate that it's been owned by a Volvo performance enthusiast in the past, I wonder if it's been chipped or "enhanced" in some way in the past - not sure if there's an easy way to tell. Not bothered TBH, it goes well that's all that matters.

However, I won't be taking it out again until I've sorted at least the spongy brakes and the exhaust tailpipe. I wish I wasn't so busy, I'm gagging to get on with it and work through the list of stuff to do! I've made a start on cleaning the interior - pics to follow.

Cheers all.

[Luxobarge]

OK, spent the morning fiddling with the car today, some progress and some new problems - always the way eh?

First off, I decided to warm myself up on this freezing day by cutting and polishing the bonnet. It was VERY dull, looked like someone had cleaned it with a brillo pad. A couple of hours hard work and it's a lot better:



While I was doing this the postman arrived with my new Autel MS509 scanner. So a quick scan of the instructions, plop a PP9 battery in it and plug it into the car. It came up with no Auto Box codes and just one for the engine - P0108 MAF circuit high. I cleared it, started the engine and ran it for 5 minutes, it didn't come back so that's good news so far, and even if it does come back later, the MAF can be cleaned or replaced really easily, so I'm a happy bunny now. This is the message we all want to see on our scanners:



I got it from discountdiagnostics for about £70 - happy with that, a mate has a V70 2.5 and his EML doesn't come on at all, so we reckon someone has taken out the bulb - we'll soon see if he has any codes!

Let it be said that if anyone wants the services of my scanner, they're welcome to drop round and I will do the honours, just let me know - I'm near Gatwick in Surrey.

Next the news got not so good: The N/S headlamp wiper was broken off, and I'd bought a new one and so I fitted it today. Fitting it was easy of course, but I find that it only occasionally moves when you wash the headlamps, and the O/S one doesn't move at all. When you try to move them by hand the N/S one won't move at all, but the O/S one moves freely with no resistance. I guess I'll have to pull the motors out and investigate, but I reckon I'm in for a pair of replacement motors - anyone got any spare? And are they easy to get to?

Next, the red warning light on the driver's door was smashed, so I replaced that with a new one. However, neither of the red lights on the front doors appear to come on at all, I tried it with the headlamps on, with/without ignition, but nothing. Fuses are all OK. Anybody got any ideas?

In a similar vein the driver's side footwell light isn't coming on - I assume it should come on at the same time as the passenger's side but it doesn't. I expected it to be the bulb, but that's fine. Replaced the bulb anyway, but still no go. Again, fuses are fine. Can anybody tell me where the control unit for the interior lights is? There must be one, that has the timer in it etc. as I suspect that this might have some dodgy contacts - I noticed the other day that the main interior lights above the rear view mirror weren't operating quite as advertised, they're OK now but it's made me suspicious.

Also replaced the front number plate screws with stainless ones, and cleaned the rusty stains off the plate - looks a bit smarter now!

Now I've got to get on with building work in the bathroom or my wife will kill me - more anon!

Thanks for all the help and kind comments - there's a lot more help I need!

Cheers

[SHI]

Deffo going to polish up my car - that looks great. What did you use? I've always liked Autoglym but others swear by Meguirs(?)

Also, the code reader - how did you choose that one? There's too much choice so I haven't bought anything yet. I also want it to read newer cars as well.

Cheers

[gdphillips]

spot on mate got the overalls ready to pop up and help out catch you soon gareth...

[JimDay]

The drivers side foot well light and the red door light I think are worked off a micro switch inside the door lock mechanisim

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by JimDay

The drivers side foot well light and the red door light I think are worked off a micro switch inside the door lock mechanisim

Aha! that would make sense.... Now how do I get to that microswitch? Sounds like an easy fix if I can get to it

Mind you, I'll try slamming the door a few times first, even if it only works intermittently after that, it will prove the diagnosis.

Thanks!

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by SHI

Deffo going to polish up my car - that looks great. What did you use? I've always liked Autoglym but others swear by Meguirs(?)

Also, the code reader - how did you choose that one? There's too much choice so I haven't bought anything yet. I also want it to read newer cars as well.

Cheers

Forum member georgem recommended it in this thread:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=114864

My service light reset tool has yet to arrive - I'll post back how that goes. I read up on a few other forums about the Autel scanner, and it seemed to be well liked, but apparently there are some cheap chinese imitations around that don't do everything the genuine article does (like have an internal battery to store information for starters) so I decided to go to a reputable supplier - very quick delivery too. Well happy with that for £70, and it will/should deal with anything that's EOBD II compatible, i.e. pretty much anything in the last 10 years including CAN bus vehicles.

Polishing - I used T-cut and a lot of elbow grease to get the bonnet flat to start with, and sinished off with Autoglym Super Resin polish. I like Meguire's too, but generally use it on a surface that is already in good condition and just needs waxing/protecting. Basically, my car hasn't seen a bottle of polish in years, if ever, and so pretty much anything would have made quite a decent difference!

Cheers.