G/box: AWD: Reliability

[liamcafs]

Hello, first post.

I have a '99 V70 AWD 2.5 non-turbo. It has 155k miles on it.

I was talking to a breaker guy I bought some stuff from and he said that the transfer box in the AWD is a real weak point and that I should remove it and essentially turn it into a regular v70. He adds that I will gain around 8MPG too.

Anyone heard of this before?

Many Thanks

Liam Mc

[Jod T5]

Originally Posted by liamcafs

Hello, first post.

I have a '99 V70 AWD 2.5 non-turbo. It has 155k miles on it.

I was talking to a breaker guy I bought some stuff from and he said that the transfer box in the AWD is a real weak point and that I should remove it and essentially turn it into a regular v70. He adds that I will gain around 8MPG too.

Anyone heard of this before?

Many Thanks

Liam Mc

Im not sure about the MPG gains, but if your transfer box expires you will only have 2WD anyway..
Yes they are renown for being weak....and the buisiness with the Tyre tread depth would drive me mad...

Sorry

Jod

[Muscas]

Originally Posted by liamcafs

Hello, first post.

I have a '99 V70 AWD 2.5 non-turbo. It has 155k miles on it.

I was talking to a breaker guy I bought some stuff from and he said that the transfer box in the AWD is a real weak point and that I should remove it and essentially turn it into a regular v70. He adds that I will gain around 8MPG too.

Anyone heard of this before?

Many Thanks

Liam Mc

It would not be practical to remove the transfer box as you would then have no drive to the R/H fwd wheel, the front wheel drive goes through the T/F box. The breaker may have been suggesting you remove the prop shaft which is connected from the T/F box to the viscous coupling, this would provide you with performance gains and likewise improved MPG, but would come at the cost of not having AWD at all.

In practice there are a geat deal of weak links on these cars but I have never experienced any problems with the AWD system. I do rotate the tyres front to back about every 5K miles or so but in practice it would be very hard to achieve a 2mm difference between the front and rear. From my observations and experiences the AWD is the least of your worries.

In essence, I would not bother, anyhow the AWD is fantastic in the winter months and IMHO really makes the car what it is.

Hope this helps.

Patrick

[liamcafs]

Many Thanks Guys

When you mention tread depth issue and 2mm, I am assuming you are meaning the cars sensitivity to different wheel diameters? Is it really as big a deal as the book says it is?

[FCPGroton]

oh see, it is a very big deal. I drove my 98 XC70 with a donut for 10 miles and it blew the angle gear. If the system is fine, leave it. Once it goes, then remove the driveshaft.

[liamcafs]

probably a stupid question, how will I know if the viscous coupling has blown?

Once again thank for the advice

[saturnuranus]

Could you not remove the transfer box and replace the shaft with a 2WD version with the bearing carrier? That's what I plan to do with my dad's V70R AWD if that ever packs up, along with the replacement of the rear axle with a standard one. Most of the bits we've stockpiled over the last 12 months expecting the inevitable!

[dooby]

Hmm, doesn't that assume the fitting of the driveshaft into the diff would be the same as whatever stuck out of the angle transfer box into the diff? I would be concerned that since the gearbox is also different (M58 is it for AWD?) there's no guarantee a 2WD long driveshaft meant for an M56 (say) would mate up.

Interesting idea though, be good to know either way.

Cheers, Pete