1998 C70 2.3 - a nice intro to Volvos / small overhaul

[Juular]

This is my first Volvo, purchased in August 2020.

1998 C70 T5 2.3 Auto






Pretty happy with it so far. My initial thoughts are that it's a real quality machine. Despite being over 20 years old everything still feels quite new. In line with most Volvos of this era it quite likes a drink, but it does have plenty to show for it. The auto box is very smooth and the 5 cylinder engine sounds absolutely great whether it's just burbling away or snarling up to an overtake. I'm impressed with how quick it is.

I've done quite a lot of work to it which I'll journal here with some photos.

When bought the suspension was a little bit tired. There were quite a lot of clunks, squeaks and bangs and it really crashed down the road. The timing belt hadn't been done since 2009 but otherwise it had been clearly looked after.

Despite its age there is no chassis rust to speak of and everything is quite clean.



I set off on a noise elimination mission, and to do the timing belt and water pump while there.





The first of many clunks was tracked down to the ARB which was moving freely around in the bushes.



The old ones were well past it.



The correct bushes didn't fit as apparently the car has an uprated / aftermarket ARB.



The ones which eventually fit were from an S60 I believe.



I went to replace the inner tie rods but they were actually OK.



The noises were all coming from the track rod ends, which were replaced.





A new top engine torque mount was put in to try and eliminiate a rattle in the area.



Next up is the timing belt, water pump and coolant change.

[Juular]

Upon taking off the arch liner to access the crank pulley, I noticed that the lower engine mount looked quite poor. When I took it off it disintegrated into 3 pieces.



I had to order this part so I cracked on with the timing belt. The previous tinkerer had helfpully highlighted the cam sprocket TDC marks.



Removing the crank pulley was a real battle with hand tools. The 4 small bolts were easy with a pair of wrenches.



The centre nut would not budge though. I decided to make up a tool of sorts to counterhold the pulley while I stood on a breaker bar, but it didn't help.







I was determined to remove the pulley as I didn't want to pinch or squeeze the timing belt past it, being warned that this could cause it to wander on the sprockets and even grind on the timing case.

Eventually I got there using a 240v impact wrench which span the nut off without issue.



The pulley needed a fair bit of persuasion with a hammer and a good overnight soaking in some ATF/Acetone mix, but it came off without drama.



Spark plugs loosened to remove compression forces.



Crank marks lined up - you really need a phone camera to get in there.



Camshafts lined up.



Belt and tensioner off.





Aux tensioner and timing belt idler removed.





All of the pulleys and tensioners seemed a little bit tired and rough, so everything is being replaced.

Time to dump the coolant. The radiator drain screw is very brittle and I didn't want to cause a major headache, so I just pulled the bottom hose off, and also opened the drain on the back of the engine.







Water pump off.





Lots of tiny bits of baked on gasket to be removed. This was time consuming. I used brake cleaner and a mobile phone screen prising tool to scrape it all off.



New pump



Gasket on



New pump on



At this point I put the new belt and tensioner on. You have to start at the crankshaft, feed the belt round, keep tension between the crank and camshaft at the front of the engine and feed the belt over the cams, finishing with the tensioner. I set the tensioner adjustment to the middle setting - ambient temperature outside was about 16C.

I don't have photos of this part as it was quite engaging with only one pair of hands! A helper at this point would have been useful.

I then ensured the crank and cams were still in alignment.





I then turned the engine over by hand 3-4 times to make sure nothing dramatic was going to happen next!

I then replaced the coolant using Volvo OEM green stuff. The stuff that came out of the car was pretty mucky and cloudy.





Finally the lower engine mount arrived and was replaced.



Since the track rod ends were replaced I did the wheel alignment using axle stands and fishing line, which got it pretty much spot on!







Nervously I started it up and took it a run with the heaters on full to bleed the system - no major explosions thankfully! It did empty its coolant header tank and the warning light came on, probably because of an airlock. I just topped it back up with some more coolant and it has been fine since!

[volvo again]

Great write up and photo's, thanks...and welcome to Volvo's

[ITSv40]

Some good work going on there. A lovely looking C70 and a good choice for your first Volvo. I have had many models over the years starting with a 145S and without doubt the C70 is the best built of them all.

[RnR]

excellent article and very clear pix. I have had my 2002 C70 (T3) for just over a year now, I bought it because it was a cheap convertible for our summer but have been very pleased with it as far as comfort and performance is concerned. The Aisin 5 speed auto transmission was rubbish and I didn't care when I bought it, but now I have replaced the valve body because I thought the car deserved it.
Oh, I also found I guy who could fix the CD player which was the only other bug worth mentioning.

[400-ascona]

Originally Posted by RnR

excellent article and very clear pix. I have had my 2002 C70 (T3) for just over a year now, I bought it because it was a cheap convertible for our summer but have been very pleased with it as far as comfort and performance is concerned. The Aisin 5 speed auto transmission was rubbish and I didn't care when I bought it, but now I have replaced the valve body because I thought the car deserved it.
Oh, I also found I guy who could fix the CD player which was the only other bug worth mentioning.

Which model CD player did he fix for you and who was it? Thanks Rob

[turboboy]

Great information and pictures.

Good to see that I am not the only one who has to work outside!

[colnet]

Great work, you won't regret it, had mine a few years now and have loved every minute, totally different to the convertible which is also a fantastic car.

[RnR]

Originally Posted by 400-ascona

Which model CD player did he fix for you and who was it? Thanks Rob

It's the sc901. He found a circuit board with the laser installed on it on a german website, and after fitting that to the unit and tweeking the gain a bit, it worked. I won't reveal his name because I know he is not looking for more work, but if you can't find the website from google I will try to get that info from him.
Rick

[Juular]

Thanks for the kind responses.

I've been really enjoying this C70. I can't get over how nice the 5 cylinder engine sounds, almost like a muscle car.

It flew threw its MOT the other day, not even an advisory.

I did do a little bit of work to it in terms of a suspension refresh : new shocks, top mounts and spring seats. The spring seats were particularly nasty.









Gave the tranny a sump dump and fill as it was flaring occasionally. The fluid was black.





I refilled with Smith and Allan 3309. So far there has been a vast improvement in smoothness and I'm quite happy with it.

The only issue I have is a strange noise at startup - like a sort of loud whirring which goes away within a minute or two, or if you rev it above 2500rpm it just stops. It's especially bad when cold outside but I'm almost certain it's not from the drive belt area. I replaced the belt, tensioner and pulleys to no avail. It increases with revs, but not always and not exactly in proportion to RPM which is quite confusing.