• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

My new winter beater

ovlov760

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 2, 2003
Location
Midwest - IL
The R used to be my winter beater, but since I'm moving down in the world, the R is now my "good" car. I acquired this 1998 V70 AWD from a family member to be my new winter beater Just had its fuel pump replaced at the dealer to the tune of $2,000. The car smokes a lot and uses oil but otherwise drives fine. Dealer diagnosed it as needing a new turbo. I believe their diagnosis is probably correct based on my experiences with it. The car has 180,000 miles on it.

I bought a ChinaBay turbo to slap on it. I pray it's halfway decent since this job is just a PITA! I got as far as getting the new turbo on and the plumbing hooked up this weekend. I'm also replacing all the intercooler hoses with URO crap hoses. Vacuum lines are getting replaced with silicone lines. The top torque mount is busted so I'll probably stick a poly one in.

The sunroof doesn't work but that can wait till the spring. The body is pretty straight. Interior has all the usual issues the cars suffer from.

x5D4_0409-X2.jpg

x5D4_0407-X2.jpg

x5D4_0410-X2.jpg

So Pretty!
MVIMG_20171029_114916-X3.jpg

Communist turbo.
MVIMG_20171029_114909-X3.jpg

IMG_20171029_151509-X3.jpg
 
IPD poly mount installed. The old mount came out in pieces.
IMG_20171104_151726-X2.jpg


Turbo installed with all the plumbing connected. I struggled a long time with the far oil drain line bolt.
IMG_20171104_181206-X2.jpg


Together enough for a test drive. No more plumes of smoke upon start up or when in boost. Hopefully the chinese turbo lasts as long as I own this car. I still have to install the heat shields.
MVIMG_20171104_181217-XL.jpg


My new problem is a clunk from the rear right side. I'm guessing new sway bar end links are my next purchase.
 
This weekend I'll hopefully get the trans fluid flushed and replace some of the burned out dash bulbs. I still need to get under the rear end and find that noise.
 
I replaced some of the burnt out instrument switch bulbs with LED T3 neo-wedge bulbs. They're supposed to be white but look more blue to me. They are very bright, but the bases are junk. I actually moved LED's into the burnt out bulbs bases for a better fit.

MVIMG_20171113_180619-X2.jpg
 
Had the same in my 940, white leds turned out blueish in the dash, white on the boost gauge and still the old green on the hvac panel. Oh well :)
 
Now that it's dark when I leave work, I've found the halogen headlamps unacceptable. Hid headlights have spoiled me. I installed a pair of LED headlights in the V70... Yuuggge improvement.

I had to bend the retaining bracket a bit to get them in but they do clear the dust caps.

I found water in the rear cargo area after a rain. Next step is to remove the euro rail cover and look at the plugs.
 
Had the same in my 940, white leds turned out blueish in the dash, white on the boost gauge and still the old green on the hvac panel. Oh well :)

I think I found a solution. I tried the same sellers "warm white" T3 bulbs. These are a much closer match to the dim glow of the factory lights. The climate control box is still running the factory bulbs, but the those three switches have warm white leds in them. Pretty good match I think.
MVIMG_20171118_165240-X2.jpg
 
I'm still chasing down sounds. I did note the rear tailgate fairly is loose when closed. I decided the existing latch anchor looked pretty banged up and decided to start by replacing it. Strangely, tasca was selling them for $22.

You can see that black plastic piece is crumbling away and the pads look less beefy on the old one.
MVIMG_20171118_142929-X2.jpg


The tailgate is no longer loose and the rear of the car is much quieter. Now I have a squeak/rubbing sound coming from the front of the car to figure out. The car has new front strut assemblies but probably not much else.
 
I replaced the front sway bar end links. They did not want to come off easily.
MVIMG_20171119_124843-X2.jpg

Cheap AC Delco links.
IMG_20171119_124848-X2.jpg


A T30 socket was the first casualty of this car.
MVIMG_20171119_141040-XL.jpg


Converted the brights to LED as well.
MVIMG_20171119_141705-XL.jpg
 
I was able to fix the leak in the cargo area. It turns out of the bolt holes for the load bars was uncovered. From what I read online there should have been a bolt+rubber grommet there. I put a bolt in with a dab of window sealant. No leaks so far!

I'm still chasing sounds. I know my squeak sound is due to the tailgate panel being lose. The holes where the clips used to go seem to be broken. The best solution is to find a panel in better shape.

The other sound is a hollow knock from the rear drivers side when going over bumpy roads. It almost sounds like something banging on a hollow tube. I can't hear it at all with the windows up. I initially thought it was due to a sagging exhaust hanger that allowed the muffler to bang on the subframe, but fixing that issue didn't make the sound go away. All the body trim feels firmly attached. I can't find anything that feels loose in the rear suspension either. :grrr:

I found coolant on the outside of the overflow tank, which led to me noticing tiny cracks in the cap for the tank. Luckily, I have many spare volvo coolant caps. I bought a new overflow tank to replace the one that's there. I don't want to take any chances with it.

Dumped seafoam in the crankcase and let the motor inhale some before the first oil change. A huge smoke show ensued.

I have noticed some smoking coming out of the dipstick at idle. I've debated replacing the PCV system, but I remember doing so didn't fix this issue with my previous two P80 models. It's a huge PITA to replace on these cars so I guess I'll live with it for now.

I did decide I wanted bluetooth phone/audio streaming so I put a different HU in the car.
MVIMG_20171124_085221-X2.jpg

MVIMG_20171124_110858-X2.jpg

Mic for bluetooth phone
MVIMG_20171124_110903-X2.jpg
 
Wow-that's a lot of keys!

Yeah. Three Volvo fobs, one Volvo key, one garage key, two house keys, two work keys, one work fob and a flash drive.

I ordered two new rear sway bar drop links. I'll see if that helps with noises. I'm wondering if the control arm link bushings also need to get a look. Looks like you need a special Volvo tool to get them out and install the new ones. Grrr
 
Only got very minor stuff done. I saw some dried coolant on top of the coolant reservoir. I noticed the cap had tiny cracks on top so I replaced the reservoir with the new one and found an old cap in my parts collection.
MVIMG_20171210_140415-X2.jpg

MVIMG_20171210_140358-X2.jpg


I've been loading the rear suspension parts canon but haven't had time to even get under there.
 
Turns out the car had a anti-rattle kit previously installed, but a lot of plastic bits were broken.
20171222_144513-L.jpg


I thought the rear wiper motor ran sort of slowly. I bought a used one on ebay that only ran for a second or two before groaning to a stop. The original went right back in. :-(
20171222_135233-L.jpg
 
The tailgate lock was continually giving me issues. The colder it gets, the less likely it is to latch. I found hitting it with heat to be the only way to get it to latch when it's near 0. I ended up replacing it with a JY unit. That seems to have done the trick so far.

Winter beater enjoying winter. I forgot how annoying TRACS is on these models.
x5D4_0001-XL.jpg
 
Back
Top