New pride & joy

[C70 98]

Mine does that metallic whirring noise too, but only when cold/wet and it goes away after a few seconds. Maybe time to investigate further.

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by C70 98

Mine does that metallic whirring noise too, but only when cold/wet and it goes away after a few seconds. Maybe time to investigate further.

Indeed.
Best/quickest way is to make/borrow/buy a tool for releasing the tension on the aux belt tensioner, and release the tension while the engine is running. If the suspect noise disappears whent he belt stops then it's something in that belt line, if the noise is still there then it's something else (possibly cam belt pulleys, waterpump etc.) The stethoscope will help with pinning it down to a particular pulley or other unit.

[Luxobarge]

Passed another MoT today, only advisories were a tiny chip in the windscreen (which has been there for years) and a marginal handbrake, which will almost certainly respond to adjustment as it hasn't been done for 2 or 3 years - a 20-minute job.

Also re-gassed the aircon, so that's nice as it's a hot day today. Last time it lost the gas in about 6 - 9 months (and there was nothing in it this time) so I doubt it will last very long, but it passed the vacuum test so we'll see how it goes, and if (when!) it stops again I'll get the UV detector on it and see where it's leaking from. Happy with that.

Result!

Cheers all.

[Luxobarge]

Several more MoTs since last posting on this, the old girl keeps chugging along, not much to report apart from a few aircon problems, sorted with a new compressor.

However, recently when driving in this cold weather it's been really difficult to demist the screen, all the more surprising as I know the aircon is working now, after a mile or so the screen gets more misty than it was to start with, and even wiping it, it mists up again.

So, last weekend we did quite a long journey, long enough for the whole thing to heat up properly, screen was still misty but this time I could smell a faint smell of coolant.

So - heater matrix time. I got one from PFV, seems like a good item, comes with the foam strip and spare O-rings, I also ordered a new thermostat as mine seems to be taking longer than it should to get to the beloved "3 o-clock" position on the guage, and as I was draining the system I thought I'd do both at the same time. I've seen several stories on here of new thermostats going faulty quickly, so I opted for the more expensive genuine Volvo item - and it does look precisely the same as the one that came out, so happy with that.

The under-dash panels had been butchered by a previous owner, so just pulled down by hand - I'll repair them properly tomorrow so they fix as they should. Other than that, the process was pretty painless, took a couple of hours but (as usual) would be quicker next time after having gained the experience.

Best help was this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lKq7c5I5GU

Really well shot, well explained and was a HUGE help, make the whole thing very straightforward. He even tells you what size torx bits to use!

Bolts on the thermostat housing were VERY reluctant to come out, but using a technique of first hitting them downward with a club hammer (but not too hard!) then trying to tighten them up before undoing them, I managed it without chewing them up, and then the job was very easy. I cleaned up the old housing with a wire brush in a drill, put some copper grease on the cleaned bolts and mating surfaces, and it all went together again just fine.

Ran the car up and no leaks, lots of hot air from the heater etc. and no misting - job done!

Oddly, on the last long trip the car also put the engine management light on with a code for the cam sensor. The code disappeared when I reset it and hasn't come back, but as this is one of those sensors that will stop you dead if it goes completely I decided I should change it, so I've got one of those too and will change that tomorrow.

All in all a good day - will post back with how tomorrow goes, repairing the under-dash panels and fitting the cam sensor.

Cheers!

[acshortt5]

FYI volvo do new high tensile bolts now for both the thermostat and for the cam sensor.
You may also want to obtain a replacement cam seal as if it is leaking it could be the cause of the failing sensor.

[Luxobarge]

OK, so continued on with repairing the under-dash panels today, using a combination of chemical metal, aluminium sheet strengthening/repair pieces and pop rivets - totally good repair, probably stronger than original now, and at least no chance of the panels falling down on my feet now! Took a while, but worth it.

Then moved on to replacing the cam sensor - easy peasy, max 20 minutes, job done.

@Ashcortt - yeah, the bolts on the thermostat were fine when cleaned up, no need to replace, they're not under much strain, and the cam sensor bolts were as new.
Good shout on the cam seal, actually I put a new cam seal in there a couple of years ago as there was a mahoosive oil leak, and so this time the old sensor looked clean, dry and tidy inside, so no idea why it gave me that one spurious code - new sensor in now, though I've kept the old one just in case.

Off out tonight and looking forward to a mist-free screen!

Cheers all.

[Luxobarge]

So, another bit of tinkering this morning - for almost as long as I've had the car, the tailgate won't stay up by itself, especially in cold weather, so I'd made a specially cut-down piece of broom handle that I kept in the boot to prop it open. However, this isn't very elegant and rather shouts "old banger" so as I'm in the mood I decided to change the struts today.

Got a pair from PFV for £54 delivered, they seem good enough quality, time will tell. I won't describe the whole process of changing them here, if you're going to do this job just search you-tube, there are loads of good videos on how to do it. I watched one or two and it looked pretty easy to me.

And so it proved - very easy, 40 minutes from start to finish including taking time to be careful and cleaning the inside of the trim pieces before replacing them. The only way I departed from the video was to unbolt the forward locating lugs for the strut and then pop the ball joint off on the bench - just found this a bit easier than levering them off with a screwdriver in-situ. The lugs are held on with 12mm bolts. You need to remove 4 x T25 torx screws to get the trim off, then it pops off really easily and I didn't break any fasteners even though it's a cold day which makes plastic pieces more brittle.

Only other thing to note is that the videos do stress the importance of propping the tailgate up with a piece of wood properly, as if you don't do this (or the prop becomes dislodged) the tailgate can come down very fast and do you some serious damage - it's VERY heavy! I simply used my existing broom handle device which worked fine.

Job done! It's only a bit above freezing right now, and the tailgate rises on its own and stays there no problem, there seems to be lots of "push" in the struts, time will tell if this lasts but I see no reason to suppose it won't be a good long-term fix.

Another job off the list! Some bodywork repairs next, as some s*d put a huge gouge in the front LH wing, I have a new wing but it'll need spraying, and I'll get a few other bits on the car done at the same time I think.

Cheers all!

[Luxobarge]

OK, update: a few months ago I noticed that someone had pranged into the front LH wing and put a big dent in the wheelarch, so a while back I got a replacement 2nd hand wing from Lakes (£65) - in VERY good condition.

This week I finally got around to getting the car off to the local paint shop, £600 later and I have:

- Fully painted new wing
- Repainted spoiler (lacquer was peeling badly)
- Repainted bonnet (paint OK, but was perpetually matt/dull, I think it had been re-sprayed badly before)
- Repainted front bumper (usual scrapes and stone chips)
- rear bumper corner painted (the usual scrapes)

I'd previously removed the washer jets and front grille from the bonnet to make things easier for the sprayer - both of which are really easy - so re-fitted those in a matter of minutes.

I also re-fitted the spoiler today (easy, 4 x torx T25 screws) and swapped the wings over. This is a much easier job than I'd anticipated, when re-fitting the new one it's good to have an assistant pull out the edge of the front bumper so the new wing can be slid in easily without scratching anything, and also have a bag of 5mm wide-head pop rivets handy for re-fixing the inner wing liner. Other than that, super easy, took about an hour and a half including washing out all the road muck from behind the wing once I'd got the old one off.

Looks a picture now (sorry I haven't got one to upload) and is much smarter - so much so that I wish I'd also had the wing mirror covers painted too, as they let it down a bit now.

Very happy - nothing else to do on the car for the foreseeable, it's all spot on.

By the way, with regard to recent post about changing the heater matrix and thermostat, I swear the car is actually running better now, it really seems much smoother and more poky. I reckon the old 'stat was sticking open too much and never allowing the engine to get up to full working temperature, it certainly took a long time for the temp needle to get up to (around) 3 o'clock, whereas now it's there in little more than a mile. Heater works better too, and demists brilliantly. Overall well worth the money and effort - as is usual with these cars.

[Clogs]

I too got fed up with the tailgate falling on my head. as Luxobarge states, it's not a difficult job, nor expensive to get the struts from PFV.... The six foot 2x1 piece of wood which was always in the back has gone into the wood pile again in case a bit of fencing needs attention.

After 18 years the gas leaked out. The dog guard needs new struts now as well... not that important, but another little job that needs doing one day.

[Bigfella666]

Good afternoon Luxo

Just come in after an hour or so outside. Your recent post inspired me to fit the tailgate struts to the R which have sat in a box for 18 months ! Just yet another job to get round to.

Knicked a length of floorboard from next door and wedged it in the tailgate interior latch void, followed your tip for removing the struts ( none of my top banana king dick or Britool spanners were of the correct gauge to remove the fore ball head and I do not have my hub spanners here ) by removing the 2 x 12mm bolts and pulling the retaining bracket down.

Spot on advice gratefully received and a perfectly fitting and functioning tailgate !
Many thanks.