What did you do to your 850/X70 today???

[ITSv40]

Today didn't quite go to plan.

Took the two wheels to the wheel re-furbishers. Got them out the boot and the first comment, ''a nice buckle there you have''. I hadn't noticed one of the wheels had a pronounced buckle on the inside edge, but when it was pointed out , quite obvious. Lucky it was on one of the wheels to have new tyres fitted. Wheels now being straightened and powder coated - two week turnaround. They are stacked out with work and the workshop had a Maserati, Ferrari and Porsche in, so can understand they are busy.

Spent the day cleaning the rear window switches. I did the door switches some years ago, but left the rear ones as they were quite clean. However, they had become so sticky, they were as if a little kid had played with them after eating Candy Floss. Isopropyl soon sorted them and now squeaky clean.

Next carry on with the brakes service while the wheels are away.

[Rich850R]

Finally got round to putting the 850 back on the road last week, with moving house and job changes the 850 has been neglected and because of that threw a wobbly when presented for its ticket, first fail in years, nothing major just lots of niggly bits, presented again for ticket again once id sorted all the fails, and passed with 1 advisory or rear tyres slight cracking on the outer shoulder, the Michelin's are a great tyre but are prone to premature ageing, may consider another performance tyre when i change them early summer, any recommendations gratefully received.

Took some new images for insurance agreed valuation purposes (pics took before MOT) Pesky ABS light illuminated, and now using the 850 at any given opportunity

[Luxobarge]

Yesterday I replaced the spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor with original Volvo items - eye wateringly expensive (from FRF Volvo) but at least I know I have the best quality fitted. The old dizzy cap didn't look bad at all inside, it was fitted about 35,000 miles ago but the plugs were surprisingly fouled, lots of white crusty deposits. I do a LOT of short journeys unfortunately, so that's probably the main reason.

Also noticed a recent loss of coolant. Having looked around the engine bay it seemed to be coming from around the top hose area on the rad, so I replaced both top and bottom hoses. However, sadly this hasn't fixed it, after a short journey to bring it all up to temperature there is still visible coolant dripping from the bottom of the radiator on the right hand side (same side as the top hose connection). So given where the coolant is dripping from, I can only conclude that it's a crack in the radiator at that end. There doesn't appear to be any oil/coolant mixing in either direction, so at least I'm lucky that it's a straightforward leak and I won't have to flush the oil or coolant to clean it up.

So if it's dripping from the radiator and it's not the hoses, it must be the radiator, right? Just checking in case I've forgotten anything stupid.

Was I tempted to just chuck some stop-leak in there? You bet I was, but temptation resisted, I know it probably wouldn't last and I'd be forever worried that it's going to dump its coolant on the motorway or in a traffic jam, and I don't need that stress.

A bit disappointed with this, as it had a new radiator a few years ago (that time it WAS engine oil and coolant mixing) and I'm a bit miffed that the radiator didn't last longer than that. However, it should be a relatively straightforward job as a) I've done it before and b) due to having done it before, I know the two main mounting bolts will come out easily, which is the normal PITA with this job. I had that trauma last time, ended up smashing the old radiator mounting lugs off, cutting the old bolts out with a grinder and welding new nuts on to the body bracket which was painful and probably doubled the time the job took. I reassembled using stainless bolts and some grease on the threads, thinking that the next person to take this apart will thank me, I didn't think it would be me though! Anyone who has changed a radiator on one of these will know what I'm on about.

Ordered a new radiator from PFV online (very expensive) and will fit it in the next few days when it's arrived. Also ordered a pair of front disks and OEM Volvo pads, as the brakes are quite poor, (I mean even poorer than usual) probably due to the inside faces of the disks (where you can't see it!) have corroded quite badly and the pads on the inside are probably sweeping only about half of the area they are supposed to. I'll probably do that job too while it's off the road, and also fit the new steering stops onto the wishbones, that have been sitting on my bench waiting to be fitted.

Altogether a bit of a pain, but I suppose I don't begrudge the old girl some expense and love from time to time, it's such a great car the rest of the time and at 27 years old and 190,000 miles I can't complain.

Cheers all!

[Luxobarge]

So, relating to the above post, I've spent the last few days with the trusty Volvo in the garage having some TLC.

I replaced the radiator, all went pretty well really, it helped having done the job before. However, having done it before and having previously coated the threads of all bolts in grease I expected them all to come out easily, and was surprised that the left hand main radiator mounting bolt was stiff, as is very common with this job. I persisted, and sure enough "ping" the captive nut broke free. The Right one did that last time, and I welded the nut part back on, so I had to do this again on the left side. It was relatively easy, as the bolt had already come out half way so after sawing off the plastic radiator bracket to get the rad out (rad is scrap anyway) there was plenty of bolt thread to get at to cut the bolt off and remove the nut part on the bench. Access is easier on the left side so it was a fairly quick job to clean up the nut and mounting surfaces, I used an old bolt to hold the nut firmly in place while I put a series of welds around it to hold it securely. This really is a poor bit of design, the "nut" is just a round threaded item that is simply pressed into the sheet metal of the bodywork, and comes loose far too easily. I finally re-assembled it with a new stainless bolt that won't corrode and will come out easily like the right one did.

Apart from that it all went smoothly, this time I took it out and replaced it from underneath, I found that leaving the intercooler attached made life easier, being able to remove the rather inaccessible 10mm attachment bolts once it's off the car. Re-filled it, topped up engine oil and auto box fluid and took it up to temperature to burp it, and all is well with no leaks anywhere. Not really a difficult job all told, the most time was spent in cleaning the mud and filth from the various bits taken off, notably the fan shroud, but it does look nice now it's all back in, clean and tidy.

While it was in the garage I also replaced the front disks and pads, as I'd previously noted that the inner surface of the disks had rusted so that the pads were sweeping far less of an area than they should do, reducing the efficiency of the brakes which aren't great to start with. I got all the parts (rad and brakes) from PFV Online, and this time chose original Volvo pads, which I thought might work better than aftermarket. I did note one big difference to the aftermarket pads in that the Volvo ones are "handed", one pair for the left side and one pair for the right. The pads are also chamfered on one side, I suspect this is trhe reason for the "handing" - this is usually done to reduce squealing. While I was under there I also replaced the steering limit stops (white on my V70 T5) as the old ones were a bit worn. They are Volvo items, but the pop rivets supplied are a joke, nothing like long enough and rather too thin too. I have some long pop rivets, but only in 5mm, and the holes in the arm are 4mm, so I simply drilled them out to 5mm which was quite easy. No wonder these stops often come off, I think mine are now pretty securely riveted on.

So all done, a non-eventful test drive and we're done. I'll just keep an eye on the coolant level in case it burps/bleeds some more though, experience has shown that it needs at least one and maybe two heat cycles to fully self-bleed.

I said previously that I was a bit miffed that the radiator needed replacing *again*, my perception was that it hadn't lasted long, but I checked my records and found that it was in fact exactly 13 years ago that it was last changed, so I suppose I can't complain too much. Which reminded me that was about the last time I changed the cam belt!!! So that's on the list to do again before long.

Cheers all!

[ITSv40]

That all sounds like satisfying work done.

Like you I keep an excel service record for all our cars: date, mileage, work done, parts fitted and supplier and cost.

I often think work done was recent, but on looking back it was several years ago. I then think 'is it really that long ago since I did that'.

[stevepcar]

After a couple of years being less than impressed with the low pressure from my front windscreen washer pump, I finally tackled replacing it with one from my donor car. I ended up taking the reservoir out of the car & soaking it in a diluted bleach solution, to remove the years of black gunk that was probably clogging everything up. I also blasted the washer lines through with my compressor. All back together now & the jets now squirt half way up the screen instead of the first 6 inches. Conclusion: stop using cheap pre-mix washer fluid & get some Prestone concentrate. It works out cheaper & much more efficient at keeping everything clean. ( no I am not sponsored by them)

[ITSv40]

Originally Posted by stevepcar

After a couple of years being less than impressed with the low pressure from my front windscreen washer pump, I finally tackled replacing it with one from my donor car. I ended up taking the reservoir out of the car & soaking it in a diluted bleach solution, to remove the years of black gunk that was probably clogging everything up. I also blasted the washer lines through with my compressor. All back together now & the jets now squirt half way up the screen instead of the first 6 inches. Conclusion: stop using cheap pre-mix washer fluid & get some Prestone concentrate. It works out cheaper & much more efficient at keeping everything clean. ( no I am not sponsored by them)

I converted to Prestone several years ago - after suffering from cheap washer fluid that went to jelly and clogged everything up. I also use diluted Prestone for all the house window cleaning - diluted 1:9 water. It also cleans the household mirrors without any streaks and leaves a positive shine to them. Better than any proprietary window cleaner I have tried.

[ITSv40]

Collected the wheels from the re-furbishers this morning. they quoted a two week turnaround when I dropped them off, but Easter and a breakdown with their oven meant it slipped to three weeks. The original Volvo finish was a solid grey colour on the rear of the wheel and silver metallic on the front. The re-furbishers standard finish is metallic all over, front and back. I asked if they could replicate the original Volvo finish which they have done to perfection. New boots fitted and balanced.

Fitted the wheels and road tested the car. The new handbrake shoes needed some minor adjustment, so car back in on the lift, wheels off, adjust shoes at the hubs and all is now good. A smear of copper grease on the wheel boss where it mates to the hub, a spot of oil on the wheel bolts and all torqued up.

MOT booked for Monday. Attachment shows it a little washed out, due to the sun unusually shining.

[ITSv40]

Clean MOT today. Funny how every time I take one of the cars for its mot, it always seems to run rough on the way there - I'm sure there is a suspension creak, the brakes not so good, the engine not running quite so sweet etc, etc,.

Then on the journey home with a clean ticket it runs like a well oiled sewing machine.

I did notice on the way home the steering wheel was a little out. Instead of it being at 15mins and 45 mins on the clock face it was sitting at 14 and 44mins. I suspect the wheels being brought from the back to the front and the refurbed ones put on the rear have had some effect. Tomorrow is forecast to be wet, so will check and adjust the tracking.

[ITSv40]

Checked the tracking today. The rear was spot on so didn't need any adjustment. Front toe in was 30minutes, so needed both track rods screwing in one flat. Toe in is now 15minutes. Seven exposed track rod threads both sides and the steering wheel appears to be sitting straight. Too wet to road test, but if it needs tweeking, it will be a simple job to slightly adjust the track rods each side.