Newbie MK1 V70 T5 owner - MEGA mileage!

[NewbieV70T5]

Hey all,

Quick hello, got my first Volvo this week, a manual 1998 V70 T5 with...wait for it....263K!

The current owner had the vehicle for 12 years, purchasing it from its one and only other owner, his father in law. Full Volvo main dealer history until 240K (service book lost) and local garage since.

It's in that lovely dark olive green with beige leather and wood.

It had been sat on the owners drive for 2 years covered in moss etc, so I gave it a really good clean over the last two days and am simply amazed; I've owned hundreds of cars but I've never, ever seen anything to defy mileage like this. Not a mark on the interior leather or switchgear, hardly a stonechip, no a spec of rust anywhere and everything works. Honestly, after a good machine polish I think it could get away with 80k! Are these cars THAT bulletproof??

New battery on, fired into life, no tappet noise, smoke or anything. Simply unreal! And its a manual.

I have some questions:

1 - What oil do I use?? Some of the early Volvo receipts show Castrol SLX pro, but the local garage have been using 10W40 which I'm assuming is the correct spec. Should I stick with this or go to something like 10W60 because of the mileage?

2 - What turbo do these run? I am assuming its life is limited now and would like to secure a replacement. Which do I need and where from? I noticed some cheapies on eBay...

3 - I'm after a nice exhaust for it, what do you recommend?

4 - My 16" 205/50/16 alloys need new tyres but I'd rather the 17" wheels from the R or the 850 R. Anyone got a nice set of wheels for cheap?

5 - What's going to go bang on it? Lol. I hope you all say nothing and that the engine won't fail!

6 - The only spot of rust I have is on the bootlid where the number plate screw has let water in. It would be easier to replace the bootlid. Are there any Volvo breakers I could secure a green bootlid, or do they all rust there?

7 - Timing belt is well overdue! I can find a Gates kit online with the pump, anyone on here save me a bit of money and competent enough to change? I'm in Essex.


Staggered by the quality of this car, it's blown me away!

Advice appreciated guys.

Ray

[oilit]

sounds like a good purchase - I have recently bought a 2000 T5 auto... but with only 120k so you have at least answered the question in my head 'how long will this last if I look after it!)

Welcome to the club!

[willi]

Hi Ray,
Nice one mate.👍👍

[andrewc1267]

Sounds like a good purchase these cars do phenomenal miles if maintenance is carried out properly hope it serves you well any help you need we all have a good knowledge on here

[Supraweld]

Make sure you look after the crankcase ventilation system, and i personally would use 5w30 fully synthetic, like i used in my so far 3 t5's over the years... maybe magnatec c30. Thats whats in my tuned t6.

[RollingThunder]

Congratulations, sounds like good one. Maintenance is the most important thing on these Volvos, the mileage is academic as they'll keep on going if you look after them. If its had a full main dealer service history to 240k miles, then it should be in excellent condition mechanically - you can go to any Volvo dealer and ask them to print out the serveice history summary. Alternatively, have a word with Marc at Bells main dealer - he can give you the original sales spec and sometimes includes the service history in his report - its free https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=297409

Taking your questions in turn -


1 - What oil do I use?? factory spec is 10W40 for the UK. I'd use a good quality 10W40 for now - say Castrol Ultraclean or similar. If you find you're using a lot of oil, then you could consider a 'high mileage' oil but with a main dealer history you should be fine with 10W40. try to stick with semi-synthetic or fully synthetic and change it regularly - if you do it every 6k miles you'll keep the engine in good condition. Use a Volvo or Mann branded oil filter - Mann make the Volvo branded ones

2 - What turbo do these run? You'll need to tell us the engine type - there is a label on the cambelt cover. It'll say something like B5234T3 (thats mine). It'll probably be a Mitsubishi 16T, but the engine type will confirm the turbo type - and its flange which differs according to the year of manufacture.

3 - I'm after a nice exhaust for it, what do you recommend? A reasonable off the shelf system is Jetex. You could get a custom one, or go with a more expensive performance oriented system like Ferrita. Personally I'd go custom

4 - My 16" 205/50/16 alloys need new tyres but I'd rather the 17" wheels from the R or the 850 R. Anyone got a nice set of wheels for cheap? I've just bought and refurbished a set of 16in wheels, so my 17x7.5 Comet alloys and good tyres will be available next week. As the tyres are premium brands (Michelin Pilot Sport 4 and Pirelli) I'll be looking for around £350, but the wheels are very presentable as is

5 - What's going to go bang on it? Lol. I hope you all say nothing and that the engine won't fail! Do the PCV system, cambelt, waterpump, tensioner, thermostat, coolant - basically what we call a 'stage 0'. Check the brakes, brake fluid, steering & suspension. Check for rust around the windscreen, and around the rear suspension mounts. Take the plastic sill covers off and check for rust in the exposed sills. Generally these don't rust, but the sill covers have been known to hide some nasty surprises.

6 - The only spot of rust I have is on the bootlid where the number plate screw has let water in. It would be easier to replace the bootlid. Are there any Volvo breakers I could secure a green bootlid, or do they all rust there? I expect it to be a common issue as the people fitting number plates generally don't go to the trouble of painting the holes that have been drilled for the number plate screws. If the rust isn't too bad I'd treat it with kurust or similar, then prime and paint it - it'll be hidden under the number plate so you're really just trying to stop it spreading.

7 - Timing belt is well overdue! I can find a Gates kit online with the pump, anyone on here save me a bit of money and competent enough to change? I'm in Essex. I'm in Yorkshire sorry

Hope this helps!

[Derek UK]

Best if this thread gets moved to the General section. This one is for Sales. I don't know if the mods can move it?

[sdg1970]

In relation to Question 5: it's imperative at that mileage to inspect all your coolant pipes if you can't see them listed as replaced in your service history!? Heater matrix and associated pipes also. I'm about to do both the latter on mine over the course of the next month - mine is a 97 car (same engine) with 100k less miles and they're still original. Heater hoses going have killed a few head gaskets on these.

The other Stage 0 is as per your service history and what Rolling Thunder says, but get all this nipped first before tackling turbos and exhaust imo. A well looked after engine, will look after the turbo. Just change the oil regular (I do every 2.5k with basic mineral oil, but 6k with synthetic is good) and it should go well over 300k. Nearer 400k imo...

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by RollingThunder

Congratulations, sounds like good one. Maintenance is the most important thing on these Volvos, the mileage is academic as they'll keep on going if you look after them. If its had a full main dealer service history to 240k miles, then it should be in excellent condition mechanically - you can go to any Volvo dealer and ask them to print out the serveice history summary. Alternatively, have a word with Marc at Bells main dealer - he can give you the original sales spec and sometimes includes the service history in his report - its free https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=297409

Taking your questions in turn -


1 - What oil do I use?? factory spec is 10W40 for the UK. I'd use a good quality 10W40 for now - say Castrol Ultraclean or similar. If you find you're using a lot of oil, then you could consider a 'high mileage' oil but with a main dealer history you should be fine with 10W40. try to stick with semi-synthetic or fully synthetic and change it regularly - if you do it every 6k miles you'll keep the engine in good condition. Use a Volvo or Mann branded oil filter - Mann make the Volvo branded ones

2 - What turbo do these run? You'll need to tell us the engine type - there is a label on the cambelt cover. It'll say something like B5234T3 (thats mine). It'll probably be a Mitsubishi 16T, but the engine type will confirm the turbo type - and its flange which differs according to the year of manufacture.

3 - I'm after a nice exhaust for it, what do you recommend? A reasonable off the shelf system is Jetex. You could get a custom one, or go with a more expensive performance oriented system like Ferrita. Personally I'd go custom

4 - My 16" 205/50/16 alloys need new tyres but I'd rather the 17" wheels from the R or the 850 R. Anyone got a nice set of wheels for cheap? I've just bought and refurbished a set of 16in wheels, so my 17x7.5 Comet alloys and good tyres will be available next week. As the tyres are premium brands (Michelin Pilot Sport 4 and Pirelli) I'll be looking for around £350, but the wheels are very presentable as is

5 - What's going to go bang on it? Lol. I hope you all say nothing and that the engine won't fail! Do the PCV system, cambelt, waterpump, tensioner, thermostat, coolant - basically what we call a 'stage 0'. Check the brakes, brake fluid, steering & suspension. Check for rust around the windscreen, and around the rear suspension mounts. Take the plastic sill covers off and check for rust in the exposed sills. Generally these don't rust, but the sill covers have been known to hide some nasty surprises.

6 - The only spot of rust I have is on the bootlid where the number plate screw has let water in. It would be easier to replace the bootlid. Are there any Volvo breakers I could secure a green bootlid, or do they all rust there? I expect it to be a common issue as the people fitting number plates generally don't go to the trouble of painting the holes that have been drilled for the number plate screws. If the rust isn't too bad I'd treat it with kurust or similar, then prime and paint it - it'll be hidden under the number plate so you're really just trying to stop it spreading.

7 - Timing belt is well overdue! I can find a Gates kit online with the pump, anyone on here save me a bit of money and competent enough to change? I'm in Essex. I'm in Yorkshire sorry

Hope this helps!

The service history summary will just show the dates it was serviced, where & nothing else.

I've spoken to Volvo, as I wanted a breakdown of what was actually done on each service on my car. I have a fully stamped service book, but there were no supporting receipts showing what was done on each date, so they've disappeared prior to me owning the car somewhere along the line.

Volvo would only give me the dates the car was serviced, the location & wouldn't provide copies of works completed over the years due to data protection. However, they did confirm that the car has full history by checking their system (this tallied up with the dates & stamps in the service book too).

Its a shame there's no paperwork showing what was done over the years, but its not the end of the world I suppose. I've kept all my records of what I've had done to the car together & I'll provide them to the new owner come sale time.