New owner - MY2003 XC70 - minor snags.

[Oli S]

Morning all, new owner here and new to the Volvo marque too.

Due to recent family expansion the old car has had to go up for sale (Honda S2000... sob!), while that happens I've been fortunate enough to find a diesel estate car that I've always had a liking for - in this case a 2003 version of the XC70 with 123k miles on it. I test drove a 2008 Saab 9-5 1.9TiD and a 2007 Mondeo 130 TDCi but honestly both were dogs in comparison to the Volvo so I bought it there and then after being impressed with how well it had been cared for.

Currently I'm commuting from Cardiff to Birmingham and on my first long trip a few issues have become apparent and this is where I'd like to draw on your collective experience and knowledge:

- Steering twitching while driving around corners and roundabouts. Track rod end ball joints and suspension arm bushes? The steering is relatively wooly as is.

- Radiator fan stayed on for a good 5 minutes after a recent drive. Thermostat? MAF sensor?

- Rear wiper motor and arm deteriorated. New OEM replacement or blueprinted motor from somewhere?

- 1st to 2nd gear and vice versa. Slight clunk at low speeds, e.g. In traffic when it changes up or down at low rpm.

- HU803 (inc' 10 disc boot module) modernisation. There's a few threads on older methods of adding USB compatibility & Bluetooth but I'd imagine posts & hardware from 2010 are out of date.

- Windscreen trims are not satisfactorily secure and rattle in the air flow around the screen. Easy fix?

- Anything else a new owner should look out for, common problems etc? I've seen there is a sticky for handbrake issues so I'll have a read of that as mines particularly weak.

Other than that though she's a flying machine and feels like driving a monster truck! Thanks for your help and expertise.

[S60D5-185]

With regards to the gearbox, I would immediately change all of the fluid unless it is a real cheery red colour. I will almost guarantee that it will be dark brown/black and stinking ( never been changed ) ( IT MUST BE JWS3309).

You can either do a series of sump dumps ie empty the gearbox sump via the drain plug and replace the 3.5 ltrs that came out
( additional 3.5ltrs remain in the torque convertor at all times )with fresh fluid via the gearbox dip stick hole.

Do this every few hundred miles until the fluid is cherry red. Alternatively use the Gibbons method ( search on here ) to replace all of the fluid. Either way you will need approx. 20 ltrs.

Change the Diesel filter

If there is not good documentary evidence showing that it has been done ( every 98 k miles or ten years from memory), change the cambelt , roller and tensioner as well as Aux belt kit


All of the above are VERY much DIY

[Tommyzoom85]

Regarding the steering,

I can't tell you what's wrong with it unfortunately, but mine does the same on my s60 d5 2005 185. When I bought it, one of the track rod ends was knackered so I assumed it was that. However, I replaced it and checked the other side and it was fine. The steering has a very slight leak but I can't pinpoint where it's coming from, but I'm sure it's very near the rack. I have done a steering fluid change as the old stuff was thick and brown. This should help the life of it.

So check for any leaks and check the steering fluid also.

[MarvinMitt]

The twitching in the steering most likely comes from the power steering. Many people here have experienced this problem and solutions have varied from flushing the steering fluid to changing the steering rack. First, if your steering fluid looks anythng else than transparent green, flush it, drive a few hundred miles, flush it again, see if that helps. Easiest way is to disconnect the return hose from the power steering fluid container and divert it to some container (preferrably with extension hose as it's gonna burst out fast). If there's two of you, one starts the engine, and other pours new fluid to the container, never letting the container totally empty to avoid pump sucking air. If you're alone, just start the engine for 3 seconds and turn off, fill the container and repeat. All until there's clean fluid from the return hose. 2L oil should be enough to flush the system and still be able to fill the container.

HU-803 is a very good head unit, I wouldn't advise to change it to aftermarket (you probably didn't think so either) but use an additional device to act as the CD-changer. You might want to sell the changer and fund the new device, as mostly you can't use both at the same time. The good one is GROM audio, good features and good audio quality. Reads FLAC and other lossless formats from USB so you really don't need to compromise from quality and additional bluetooth antenna will make it hands-free/Spotify etc phone compatible. There are cheaper devices such as Yatour and ali-express stuff, probably work fine, but not so clever interface and functions.

I would look for the rear wiper arm from the breakers first.

[Oli S]

Thanks guys that's very helpful.

Just looking into a transmission flush - 20litres sounds like a lot and at £30 per 5 litres from the auto store it's not cheap either but I understand the requirements. The 20l Mannol barrels off eBay for £70 seem like a good solution so I've gone and bought some 12.5mm vinyl tubing to get the ball rolling. Previously this year the car had a health check at Volvo which specified a £8,300 transmission job due to AOC & DEM messages (had to look up what they were!) but it was sorted by changing faulty ABS ring units, not sure how this set off the aforementioned messages but there we go. It certainly goes well and the fluid is dark red.

Steering wise, I jacked it up and found no significant play or bush deterioration so that would indeed point more toward PS pump fluctuation. Hopefully as suggested a fluid change could solve this rather than an entire new unit!

Just found a small but old parrot unit and paired it to my phone but it only works for phone calls and not Spotify/audio, as expected. Might have been fitted by a primate too as the wire tuck is hilariously bad along the pax pillar. Plus side there's a small OEM amp under the drivers seat! Bonus. I'll be keeping the 803, it's a nice bit of kit and aftermarket audio is a bit of a money pit, however the GROM unit looks ideal. Would anyone actually want the 10 disc changer though? I certainly don't.

On that note, is it possible to get the pop up TV/NAV unit working for anything useful?

Another bonus - found the isofix on both sides. Excellent.

EDIT - what I also meant to ask was if the timing belt and aux belt kit was an easy DIY job? I've done engine swap outs and clutches et on my old GT4 WRCc but by no means a mechanical ace, more of a persistent chimp with a hammer.

[Theeggman]

Originally Posted by Oli S

On that note, is it possible to get the pop up TV/NAV unit working for anything useful?

If you fit a reversing camera from volvotech the screen is used for that.

[S60D5-185]

The Mannol is perfectly fine. It's what several of us on here have been using and is good value for money.

[Brendan W]

Rear wiper spindles have a habit of seizing. Open it up and lubricate the spindle.
P/S fluid flush sorts lot's of issues. If you have the high level return reservoir check that the internal elbow hasn't fallen off. If you have the later low level return you will have to think a bit more about the flushing method.
Handbrake shoes delaminate, some evaporate and some lock the hub and wreck it. If the lever feels funny, travels high but variable and or makes funny clunks reversing from parked get in and have a look.
Five minutes seems a bit long fro the rad fan to go on. What kind of day was it and what was the last five miles of the journey like ?

[Oli S]

Thanks Brendan, I'll have a look at the PS flush situation.

The last 5 minutes of the two hour drive were primarily in traffic, in the humid rain, with the AC on.

It's had new antifreeze at its last Volvo service earlier in the year but I'm leaning toward pulling the thermostat for inspection and re-doing the antifreeze. I just don't trust garages to have carried out half the work they charge people for.

I'd love to know how close to the quoted power the engine is actually making too. Nothing to compare it to.

[Brendan W]

The heater blower on some of these cars can start up after shut down to dry the evaporator.
I believe it can happen up to half an hour after the car is locked up.
Tricky bit with the D5 belt is the crank nut is 300Nm, single use. That is 3/4" drive territory and you will need a tool to counterhold for retorquing.
Apart from that it's straightforward. No locking tools required.
I replace the aux belt and tensioner and alternator pulley at the same time. The tensioner pulleys are a bit of a weak spot and if one fails it can take out the timing belt.