S60 went into RT today

[S60Chris]

...For a quick oil change. I supplied the parts... Just needed to get a VAT registered garage to stamp the book for warranty purposes...

Understand there has been some negative press on the forums of late in relation to RT but I'm not paying Volvo Stealership prices and they are my local specialist so thought I'd stick it in to them...

Asked them to quick visual inspection of the car whilst it was on the ramp - to see if any bits had worn...

• Power steering fluid reservoir bulged and level low
  
• Fuel flap hinge broken
  
• Tailgate struts broken
  
• Intercooler swollen and will need replacement
  
• Lower torque bushes worn
  
• Steering limiters worn and tyres fouling the inner wheel arches

I have to give it to them, thumbs up for being thorough. I only asked them to take a quick look at my suspension as the car handles a bit wallowy.

I'm concerned about the power steering reservoir though - it was replaced exactly 1 year ago by a main Volvo dealer. Andy at RT said that Volvo had a bad batch of reservoirs, so will be phoning them to see if they will replace on the house.

Looks like a phonecall to Warranty Direct will be in order RE the intercooler and other little bits too...

[adieu]

Get a second opinion !!!!!! Before you part with any cash!

[S60Chris]

Yeah I'll have to anyway...

I say that RT is my local Volvo place, It's my parents local Volvo place and I happened to be down here when I had some time to get my car serviced.

I live in Cambridge so I'll likely stick it in to Marshall's Volvo and get them to a) hopefully fix the power steering reservoir free of charge and b) confirm the problems.

If they confirm what RT have found, I'll either bring it back down to RT when I have a block of rest days, or I can stick it into Kings of Witcham who I think are a Volvo Specialist in Cambridgeshire. As long as they do a courtesy car.

OR

Depending on prices, I could just get the work done at Marshalls Volvo as they are only 5 mins away from where I live.

We'll see.

[s60ben]

Oh dear..

Not paying dealer prices?

No, you'll be paying worse at RF with his cumulative book time scam...
But as you only see the headline rate of his per hour rates.. it may look cheap, but when the job takes 4 hours longer than a dealer would charge..

Not only that, I've seen over 5 cases of parts being charged for, that werent fitted. And that my friend is the tip of the iceberg.

You sound ripe for the picking....

Pas fluid bulging after 1yr, and a faulty batch... Oh really....

Tyres fouling arch liners..

Intercoolers... Think everyone who went to rt ended up with new radiators and intercoolers..

Bugger me, same old money jobs.... Same old russ... Even the parts are a rip off, and he likes using pattern parts.. but charging Volvo prices..

Have a look at the links in the signature below...

[S60Chris]

Perhaps,

But they know that I was only visiting for a couple of days and they told me when they gave me the list that they knew I probably wouldn't come back to them due to where I live and told me to go and speak with the Volvo dealership about the PAS reservoir...

I'm not a mug and certainly will not be taken for a ride by a garage and will always get a second opinion, so i'll throw it into a main dealership to have a look - then we'll see if your suspicions are confirmed or overly sceptical. I understand there are issues, so I wouldn't blame you for being so, but given that they know I am unlikely a repeat customer, I would be surprised if they went to the effort of making up bollocks knowing full well i'd be getting anything fixed elsewhere...

[Nocomplaints1977]

MRG Chippenham.
Not that far down the road on another visit and have an industry award for customer service for good reason.
I believe they also do discount for VOC and definately do for us over on T5D5.
If Heineken made main dealers.........

Worn lockstops. Swap them over from side to side as the other side of them won't be worn. As for the rubbing the arches - it's a known problem with S60's and is listed in the MOT handbook, they have rub pads specifically in the arches for it, even more so on the ones such as my S60R that has the 18" wheels.
Intercooler - Swollen, well ok but it's not leaking yet and may last another year without leaking so don't rush but if you can get a warranty claim then that's all good.
Fuel flap - DIY job, mines gone and needs replacement too.
Power Steering - They leak on the main feed to the pump and they do bulge. You may get a warranty otherwise get the later/superceeded one as they are not as bad for the bulging. You can chance the fluid via serial dilution using a turkey baster. Empty and refil then run car and repeat, It's the easiest way to do it and new fluid is far better than old for heat.
Torque bushes - They'll have to be replaced and easiest way is to get someone else to do it.

HTH

[S60Chris]

Thanks for the reccomendation...

Seems about 2 hours from Hants and 2 hours from Cambs...

Bit further than i'd ideally like to travel.

Anyone have any experience with Kings of Witcham Volvo Specialists?

[S60Chris]

Originally Posted by Nocomplaints1977

Worn lockstops. Swap them over from side to side as the other side of them won't be worn. As for the rubbing the arches - it's a known problem with S60's and is listed in the MOT handbook, they have rub pads specifically in the arches for it, even more so on the ones such as my S60R that has the 18" wheels.
Intercooler - Swollen, well ok but it's not leaking yet and may last another year without leaking so don't rush but if you can get a warranty claim then that's all good.
Fuel flap - DIY job, mines gone and needs replacement too.
Power Steering - They leak on the main feed to the pump and they do bulge. You may get a warranty otherwise get the later/superceeded one as they are not as bad for the bulging. You can chance the fluid via serial dilution using a turkey baster. Empty and refil then run car and repeat, It's the easiest way to do it and new fluid is far better than old for heat.
Torque bushes - They'll have to be replaced and easiest way is to get someone else to do it.

HTH

Just seen your edit...

Thanks for this.

Fuel Flap - couldn't give 2 hoots about this. As long as I can open the damn thing, I'm happy. It pales into insignificance really.

Lockstops - Told RT that I had accepted the rubbing wheels as 'an S60 thing' so i'm not fussed about this.

Intercooler - RT told me that I will know when it starts failing as the car will start smoking. Anyone know what would cause it to start bulging? He said that it looked like a banana at the bottom - as in it was bowing rather than straight.

PAS res - OK, the new one was fitted 1 year ago, will this be the new type? I presume it's leaking if the fluid level is low...

Torque Bushes - No idea what these are. Can you get uprated ones that don't perish?

Anything I need doing I'll claim on warranty for. It's £0 excess and covers wear/tear/turbo items but I have to pay half the cost of the parts and any labour above whatever the limit that they cover per hour is - £60 I think, so should be reasonable rather than painful.

Thanks again.

[dooby]

Hi,

I've only used Kings of Witcham once for some brake diagnostic work, but was happy with their service - they did what I asked. I'd consider using them again.

EDIT They did give me a courtesy car for the day, too.

I've also used Marshalls - got the impression they weren't as interested in working on the older models (mine's an 850) but the parts guys are friendly and helpful. Pricey for work though, as I remember.

EDIT: They also gave me a courtesy car though slightly more restrictions on driver and mileage I think.

HTH, Pete

[RobbieH]

Originally Posted by S60Chris

Intercooler - RT told me that I will know when it starts failing as the car will start smoking. Anyone know what would cause it to start bulging? He said that it looked like a banana at the bottom - as in it was bowing rather than straight.

The standard Volvo i/c is a poor product and a known weak point, especially with diesels which run continuous boost.
Commonly you can see the bottom of the i/c bulging below the level of the air-con rad which is the very front most of the "rad-pack". If you poke your fingers through the bottom grille and can feel oil gunk on the bottom tray the i/c has started to leak and will only get worse. At some point the car may even go into limp mode if the leak gets bad enough but by then you may have noticed black smoke on acceleration.

Originally Posted by S60Chris

PAS res - OK, the new one was fitted 1 year ago, will this be the new type? I presume it's leaking if the fluid level is low...

Whoever fitted it probably just looked up the part number of the existing version you have (assuming you have a <2004 model D5). What you need to ask for is the equivalent part from a facelift version (>2005) which has an improved design. The older ones tended to bulge and leak from the cap or the weld between the two parts of the reservior body or the bottom feed hose.

Originally Posted by S60Chris

Torque Bushes - No idea what these are. Can you get uprated ones that don't perish?

Probably talking about the bushes in the lower gearbox torque mount. Two rubber bushes in there, the smaller of which is known to fail with time. Can be polybushed or simply buy a new part from Volvo (about £39 iirc from FRF).
They might also be talking about the lower front wishbones bushes which are also known to fail with time. If you have an early model vehicle, they may even have been the oil filled variety which leaked with age leading to mushy steering, tramlining, etc. If you look at the wishbones from the front of the ar you might be able to see them covered in a snotty goo which is the leaking oil plus road junk and dust. Even if they're not the hydraulic version, the rubber will perish with time. Again, can be polybushed.

"Poly" bushes are made from polyurethane (PU) rubber which has a better longevity than the other synthetic rubber commonly used for automotive bushes (and there's plenty of varieties). Tradenames are Powerflex and Superflex for PU bushes.The downside is that they are slightly harder so don't absorb so much vibration. However, on another positive side, poly bushing the wishbones does improve the handling and is a common upgrade.
However, no rubber, even PU, will have an indefinite lifetime, all will perish over time with a combination of oxygen, strain, heat, road debris, oil, salt water, etc.