Other 70 Problem: Fixing up a old car

[alexstanleyv50]

Hi everyone!

A few months back I bought myself an 02 V70 SE with the 2.4l N/A (170bhp) engine FWD. She had 141000 on the clock, NO service history AT ALL, and I scooped her up for £750.

She was in a bit of a sorry state with alsorts of problems, but I had a limited budget and could no longer stand driving the horror that was a Vauxhall Vectra.

My first problem arrived driving 30 mins after I had just bought the car. The alternator failed and I was stranded for 14 hours awaiting recovery (thats another story!). I had the old alternator removed, refurbed and fitted for £140 and so far all is well!

Then this happened http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...95#post1411995 again fixed for £3!

Next was the rear suspension (shockers to be exact). They were totally shot - but again I have her booked in for replacements next week at the cost of £150 (is this a good price?).

The only other thing I think I should do is a timing belt change (should I have the water pump done as well???) and I've been quoted £270ish.

I also am unable to unlock or lock the rear doors on the central locking but can open from the inside. Oh and the nearside headlamp wiper doesnt work.

And now I must turn to the Volvo community to see what else I should be concerning myself with. I was thinking along the lines of changing bushes to improve the ride, colour coding the black trim, and anything else along the way.

I know I know - a bit of a rant but hey any sugestions?

[alexstanleyv50]

It probably worth mentioning that I have changed oil & filters, and that the engine pulls like a train - gearbox is a bit klunky - bit of a delay in going from P to D when cold and can somtimes delay in changing from 2 - 3rd. Its a fully automatic gearbox.

Ta!

[ShadeTek]

Only the Diesel water pumps give up and have to be replaced. I've not heard of any other pumps failing yet....but feel free to chip in anyone.

[nickbw898]

Originally Posted by alexstanleyv70

Hi everyone!

A few months back I bought myself an 02 V70 SE with the 2.4l N/A (170bhp) engine FWD. She had 141000 on the clock, NO service history AT ALL, and I scooped her up for £750.

She was in a bit of a sorry state with alsorts of problems, but I had a limited budget and could no longer stand driving the horror that was a Vauxhall Vectra.

My first problem arrived driving 30 mins after I had just bought the car. The alternator failed and I was stranded for 14 hours awaiting recovery (thats another story!). I had the old alternator removed, refurbed and fitted for £140 and so far all is well!

Then this happened http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...95#post1411995 again fixed for £3!

Next was the rear suspension (shockers to be exact). They were totally shot - but again I have her booked in for replacements next week at the cost of £150 (is this a good price?).

The only other thing I think I should do is a timing belt change (should I have the water pump done as well???) and I've been quoted £270ish.

I also am unable to unlock or lock the rear doors on the central locking but can open from the inside. Oh and the nearside headlamp wiper doesnt work.

And now I must turn to the Volvo community to see what else I should be concerning myself with. I was thinking along the lines of changing bushes to improve the ride, colour coding the black trim, and anything else along the way.

I know I know - a bit of a rant but hey any sugestions?

I would first get the car read by someone who has Vida/Dice and see what codes are present. This will tell you which faults are persistent, which are intermittent and which are serious. For the door lock problems I would guess the rear door mechanisms are faulty. These fall into two generic types, those with deadlocking auto-child lock and those without. They can be found new on ebay but I have never changed them. The gearbox does not sound very good to me and it would be my priority to do several drain and fills and then a Gibbons method flush several months apart. If the clunking etc goes away after all that, then you will be lucky. For the water pump I believe Volvo only changes them when there is a sign of weeping or the bearing seems rough, say every second belt change. However I do not like the idea of having cam and serpentine belts and their respective tensioner pulleys changed only to have a failure down the line because a pump sizes and a belt breaks. These are interference engines. In sum these cars are only as good as the state of their gearbox!

[alexstanleyv50]

Thanks for the info so far guys. If anyone has anything else to say please let me know.

I managed to get hold of a service record from Volvo showing the timing belt was done at 80,000. I currently have 142k on the clock. Should I concern myself with getting this changed now or wait? I have had a look and it doesnt look too bad.

Fortunatly it was serviced by Volvo at 120k so it looks like it has been looked after until the past 20k.

I am planning a gearbox fluid drain and fill as soon as I get the time! I need ATF 3309 right?

Thanks again!

[Georgeandkira]

Hello, The 3309 spec is correct. Toyota Type-IV and the Millermatic offering you have over there is good to use too. Over here we even have a Castrol Multi-Vehicle Import transmission fluid with the Toyota Type -IV spec.

If you can do a drain & fill you surely must be able to do rear shocks.

Before you do ANYTHING ELSE, remove both rear rotors and check the condition of the parking brake shoes. If they're cracked and/or partially missing, replace them. A piece can break free and cause £otsa headache$.

Check the engine mounts. Examine the steering rack for leaks. Pull out the cabin air filter and see how clogged it is. Check the axle boots (accordion-pleated rubber parts) for rips. Make certain the battery terminals are clean and tight. Examine each calipers glide pins. It's easy to do and will prevent you from having a "stuck caliper". Removing, cleaning and re-greasing them is a great way to inspect all the stuff down there.

Kira

[alexstanleyv50]

Ok, so I had the rear suspension changed out on saturday and boy does is make a difference!

I never realised just how well these cars handle for their weight! I just assumed they naturally 'wollowed' around corners.

So its another job off the to do list. Just the gearbox fluid change and then we will see how she gets on through an M.O.T

[alexstanleyv50]

So another update....

MOT passed! Three advisories though:

1: Rear breaks will need changing soon.

2: Exhaust rusted along entire length (not blowing and pssed emissions with flying colours)

3: Nearside driveshaft gaitor showing signs of wear but preventing the ingress of dirt.

Now for the age and milage (plus I dont really know the full service history) I'd say thats pretty good.

I plan on finally getting round to changing my gearbox fluid this weekend, and having looked at all the info I am going to simply drain the box whilst the car is on ramps and then refill with the same amount that came out. I may then look at doing the same again in 6 months depending on if it makes it any better.....

Can anyone tell me if the clunk I am experiencing when the box goes from P to D may be solved with new torque mounts??? The clunk has got worse. I guess that the flare between 2nd and 3rd will be made better with a drain and fill.

Thanks for any info!

[kwk]

Before you spend a small fortune on the car, I would have the gearbox checked properly. If it has a major fault, the cost could write the car off. See the post Have I bought a lemon?

[alexstanleyv50]

Thanks kwk for the link - what a saga! I wouldn't say that my gearbox is behaving in quite the same way as paul's did. Infact it is normally solid as a rock.

I have checked the ATF level, colour and smell and it seems pretty good. I genuinely feel that a bit of fresh oil may do the trick.

Yes I do get a flare from 2nd to 3rd but only under REALLY light throttle - when giving it the beans the box uses all the revs and changes are exquisitly smooth - I couldn't do half as good a job myself in a manual.

As for my clunk into D from P - this is intermittent and generally only happens when cold (after a night stading on drive in temps below 5c) but I dont get the issues Paul experienced when comming to a stop and then accelerating - again when I come to a round-a-bout and come to a stop, get a gap to get out and give it some welly I'm off the mark quicker than a scolded c**k.

The link has clarified what I thought may have already been done - she has deffinately had the stop - neutral software fix. I contacted my local dealer and they have done a lot of leg work for me to scrape together any service history from other dealers and the software update was done in 2009 at its 100K service so it is probably due an upgrade anyway.

In summary - my gearbox when driving under normal (part urban/part rural) conditions kicks down beautifully, changes up perfectly under acceleration and generally sound and feels good. It is just when in heavy slow moving traffic (less than 10mph) that the box flares between 2nd & 3rd, and when changing from P to D (but no other) when cold I sometimes get a delay.

I am going to contact the dealer and a local indi to get some quotes on a ATF change and software update and see what I get back.

If it costs a small fortune I may look at doing this myself - however, I have read that the box needs putting into adaptive mode and the fluid counter needs resetting - how would I go about getting this done? I know I would need VIDA (not sure which way round the letters go!?) could I just take it to a garage and pay for them to update software and put into adaptive???? I have a copy of a post explaining the process of teaching the box how to work under adaptive mode.

Any help is always welcome!

Ta