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

[Andys101]

Originally Posted by volvo-express

Hi all,

Was at Lakes today and with help from another regular at Lakes we converted the unused section of the 850/V70 light cluster.

Just thought it would be fun to do......what do you guys think!?

I like that, got any more info?

[RollingThunder]

Had my first calamity with the 850R yesterday! Went to fill up with fuel and the flap didn't unlock

We had a boot full of shopping, so we had to go home to empty the boot before I could use the internal pull ring to manually pop open the catch. It was a bit stiff, but the flap opened ok and its opened every time afterwards...? I don't think it was frozen - it wasn't that cold at the time.

Do the locking pins need lubrication? Can they be lubricated? I've never had this problem on any Volvo in 30+ years so its new to me, but Volvo have predicted it by fitting that fantastic ring-pull as std equipment.

[Simmy]

yes iv had fuel door sticking in cold weather more so if the car has recently been washed use a good dry lube like the ones they use on cycles.

[Martin Cox]

Went to start the V70 Tdi and it was rather reluctant to do so. Most unusual since it normally starts within a turn or so whatever the British weather throws at it. When it did start it ws rather rough at first but soon settled down. Something wasn't quite right.

Once it had warmed up, the giveaway was the odd whiff of diesel whilst driving at which point I remembered this had happened before. Sure enough, on removing the engine cover I found what I was expecting; a leaking injector spill off hose. I usually carry a length of the stuff with me and had enough to replace the suspect looking one which seemed to sort it.

When these hoses leak, air finds its way into the system which makes the engine hard to start. I'll replace the rest of them tomorrow.

The original hoses lasted 18 years and 220,000 miles and were only replaced because I had to remove the cylinder head and injectors. Replacements seem to last a year or two if I'm lucky. Admittedly they're not genuine Volvo ones but Diesel spill-off hose bought from Halfords in some haste.

Martin

1998 V70 Tdi Auto

[Martin Cox]

Hoses now replaced and all seems well.

Martin

[aarongs]

After weeks of wondering why Volvo chose not to illuminate some of the dash switches , the penny dropped and I bought some 'grain of wheat' bulbs.

Today I have replaced the little bulbs in about 5 of those switches. Including the Info switch, that one was a bit less fun than the others.
Lovely to see them all illuminated again and will be very useful on these dark nights.

[SwedishBus]

Originally Posted by Martin Cox

Hoses now replaced and all seems well.

Martin

Hi Martin, have you tried some better-quality hose that is bio-diesel compliant? Although I keep a lot of the "basic" spill hose on a reel, I got fed-up with my TDI keep rotting it out under the acoustic cover every few months.

You can find some pretty good stuff through a certain auction site; just look for bio-diesel or methanol compliance to a decent BSAU spec. from one of the big component/kit-builder companies.

If you struggle, send me a PM, I can chop some special hose off my reel and send it down to you to try. I found that once I was into changing these hoses over each time, the process never seems to stop, not until I fitted this latest stuff. It isn't cheap, but nor is being stranded hundreds of miles from home with diesel pouring down the front of the engine!!

[Martin Cox]

Many thanks SwedishBus.

I hadn't thought of biodiesel compatability. I'll do some research and I may get back to you about your kind offer.

Martin

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by aarongs

After weeks of wondering why Volvo chose not to illuminate some of the dash switches , the penny dropped and I bought some 'grain of wheat' bulbs. ...

Made me chuckle but quite understandable.
When I had a 940 they have the dash illumination fader near the headlight switch, very easy to knock it while turning the lights on and off, as I recall there was a reasonably regular question in the 940 section along the lines of 'Help my dash illumination has died!' with the response 'Have you checked the fader?', I did it to myself on several occasions too

[brickman]

Originally Posted by Martin Cox

Many thanks SwedishBus.

I hadn't thought of biodiesel compatability. I'll do some research and I may get back to you about your kind offer.

Martin

Most tubing available most places in the UK for petrol and diesel cars is effectively useless. The current fuels rot them out or harden to the point they crack from vibration in weeks or months, never longer. Diesel its not so bad, its just annoying, petrol, plenty of cars and motorbikes have had a bonfire or worse.

Would take the guys offer or buy some from one of the diesel places.
https://brickwerks.co.uk/
Have some, they also have some other 2.5 tdi parts that are getting harder to find other places.