D5 (2005 on) You might want to put the kettle on!

[Jaz167]

Hello, I’m new here. Sorry about such a long first post, hope you don’t get too bored.

I’ve just bought my first Volvo! It’s a 2008 D5 V70 Mk3. It came with a few problems that I am working through and would really appreciate your help.
Firstly, it wouldn’t turn over and had the ‘immobiliser’ warning. I tried all the simple stuff before resorting to taking it to an independent Volvo specialist.

They tracked it down to no power going to the ECM that ended up being a broken wire. Cost me 3 hours labour but much better than it could have been.

Once they got it going I hit the next problem, a very noisy engine. They said it was the alternator clutch. They wanted to put a new alternator on it at a cost of between £500-600. In fairness they suggested I could get done much cheaper so I decided to give it a go myself.

I got a new clutch for £30 and puller tool and managed to do it but it was still noisy. It wasn’t the clutch! I tracked it down to loose bolts on the power steering pulley. Tightened them up and it disappeared but the loose bolts had worn the holes and the pulley was off centre. I’ve sorted this by drilling them out and using some bolts with shanked collars. All good.

The Volvo specialist ran it through VIDA and there were no codes and it was running the latest software upgrade.

I have the following things that I hope you can help with. I’ve searched the site and got some answers. I hope you don’t mind me bundling them all together here for you to help me with.

1. The thermostat housing was leaking from the cover the hose attaches to. I was surprised to discover Volvo don’t supply the gasket for this, instead they sell the complete assembly! Can anyone suggest why? I couldn’t find an aftermarket gasket anywhere so used some Three Bond on the old gasket being very careful there was no excess squeezed on the inside. Unless you can tell me otherwise it seems crazy you can’t get a gasket for the thermostat cover.

2. The other thing I noticed was a plastic arm between a lever on a device mounted on the engine block to the right of the thermostat was not attached at the other end. I located the lever the other end was supposed to be attached to. It was tucked away down the right side of the thermostat and I simply reconnected it. I’m very mindful of why it wasn’t connected and wondered if it had been disconnected deliberately. What does this do?

3. The AC compressor belt was missing. Again, I wondered if it had been deliberately disconnected. The AC compressor turns okay and there was no sign of the old belt sat on the undertray. I put a new belt on and it spins the freewheel with no problem but when I switch the AC on the compressor doesn’t engage. Fuse for the AC (next to the battery) is good. I know sometimes the electromagnetic plate doesn’t engage because of wear but it doesn’t engage when I tease it while it’s running. Any suggestions?

4. When I took it for its first proper run today and kicked down the auto box I got the ‘Engine System Service Urgent’ warning. I’ve read a couple of posts here and have gathered this can be one of many things and I need to get it VIDA’ed for a code. One of the things is the DPF. So I’ve just taken it for a bit of a run and the message has disappeared. I’ve kicked down a couple of more times (but not as harshly as before) and the message hasn’t appeared again. Could this be simply the DPF resetting itself? The car has been started for very short periods while I was working on it. Or, could it be anything to do with the plastic arm I reconnected? I’m thinking it may have been disconnected because of the ‘Engine System Service Urgent’ warning. Or, maybe something to do with the AC compressor being disconnected.

I hope you don’t mind me bombarding you with all this stuff in my very first post. I though about posting the problems separately but, as you can see they may be connected.

Finally, is there any one near me (Weston-super-Mare) with VIDA that would be prepared to check it over?

Thanks,
Jaz

[colinbos]

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=136759

search above and PM the member for VIDA support.

[Thassos]

Sounds like you have a lot of issues .. (2) is a very familiar one on the D5, have a look at the link below for an exhaustive discussion on that linkage ...

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=92301

[Jaz167]

Thanks both. I've pm the local vida member. After reading that thread i know all about swirl rods! My clipped back on the engine side too easily and I guess it's worn. I'll take another look armed with what I've learned. This might also explain the engine service warning, which has now gone away.

[Jaz167]

I'm not getting a lot of feedback - perhaps my opening post was just a wee bit too long.

I've been out for a couple more runs and I get a whooshing noise under load (heavy acceleration and up hill). More so from the left of the car but this may be because I'm closer to that side of the road and nearer the walls reflecting the sound.

Unless I was getting a dramatic power loss then on my first run it dropped into some kind of limp mode. Today, it feels like I'm back in normal mode but still get the noise despite making sure the turbo plastic hose connections are all tight and no apparent leaks. Hasn't dropped into limp mode and no warnings.

Any simple things I should be looking for?

[colinbos]

You definitely need to rectify the swirl flap arm problem. Either by a fix or replacement.

If it's been off a while, you may have excessive carbon build up within the swirl flaps and EGR/Intake. That will need a good clear out.

The whooshing noise. Obviously it points to an air leak, which could be anything from the Intercooler, or split pipe somewhere.

The seals on the Resonator box perish and do give you the noise you describe. There are plenty of posts about this. Their not expensive, but do fail again. There is a Silicone pipe replacement available.

Have a good check around the resonator. That would be my first check.

[Jaz167]

Thanks for the reply. The swirl flap arm hasn't come off after 4 or 5 test runs and the same amount of stop / start in the garage. I guess it would have re-calibrated by now.

I'm on a steep learning curve but all good fun. At the risk of embarrassing myself, what's the resonator?

I watched video about the EGR hoses. It looks like they get coked up. Seems like a fairly straightforward job to clean them out, just time and messy. Are you say the same happens to the swirl flaps? That looks like quite a big job!

I'll try searching again but I haven't had much luck in finding relevant posts using the search facility.

[Jaz167]

Just found a post about the resonator box. Sounds like it could be that. Mine 'blew' in similar circs to the one mentioned in the post. Is the silicone pipe a modification I should consider?

[colinbos]

A good few of us have replaced the resonator box with the silicone mod pipe, Just to keep the a problem from re-occurring. It replaces the 2 seals that can go at anytime, and if you use 2 stainless jubilee clips, top and bottom to make sure it properly on, you won't have any issues of blow by or off again. Worth it in my opinion.

The swirl arm recalibrates every 10 turn off and on's. The stepper motor has some force on it, and if the arms is as loose as you describe, it will pop off if not secured or replaced. There is also a bump stop that I've fitted at the end of the swirl flap travel, at the stepper motor end, again there is a post on this, that just buffers the end travel a little, so as not to over stretch the swirl flap arm and motor. Thats also worth it.

The swirl flap replacement is injectors off, and intake off to get at the flaps. You'd need to replace the intake gasket and swirl flaps, new injector washer/seals The parts are about £100. BUT, if your swirl arm is on, leave it for a while, if its working, and until funds allow.

[S60D5-185]

The swirl arm knuckle often fails at the end closest to the Cylinder head.

As Colin say's, it's caused by the arm being overstretched when it goes through it's recalibration cycle.

I first came across this in 2010 when I bought a 2006 S60 D5 185.

The arm was disconnected and clearly the ball joint was weakened.

Access is extremely tight in that area but what I did was remove the arm completely, and drill a small hole straight through the centre of the affected socket.

I then reconnected everything and got a small nail and heated it up to cherry red and pushed it through the hole that I had just drilled and marked the ball underneath. I then removed the arm again and continued applying the red hot nail to the ball at the point that I had marked until I burnt all the way through it.

I then inserted and small bolt through the entire joint from the end next to the cylinder head and nipped the nut up just enough to keep everything together but still free to rotate. This is a far more effective fix than Volvo's offering and lasted for 60k miles without any further attention until I sold the car.
See Photo

With that fixed it was now time to sort out a stop bracket to prevent the stepper motor from breaking the arm again. It needs to be adjusted so as to allow normal travel but to prevent excess travel during the calibration cycle. Bic1 a previous poster on here identified the issue and I took his advice re a bump stop.
See Photo

I have just bought a 2007 Xc90 D5 185 and the arm is intact but I will be fitting an L bracket stop to it very soon. I also noticed slight weeping from the resonator box seals so yesterday I removed it a replaced it with a silicone hose. This should now remain trouble free.
They are available from various outlets but I got mine from here. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-V70...oAAOSwPe1UEHm1