V70R Project Daily Driver

I picked up a poor old 1998 V70R in the early spring of this year. The old girl was in a pretty poor state of repair, with the current owner having no clue how to properly maintain a Volvo and attempting to do some home-brew repairs that were only making things worse. He proudly announced that he had replaced the two front tires and moved the old worn ones to the rear. Crap, way to possibly destroy the AWD system buddy! Anyhow, I was looking for a daily beater to park in my tiny work garage and I love working on the P1 cars, so I drug her home. Oh yeah, it had 290k miles on it!

After some quick internet searching I realized this car has a long history on the various Volvo forums (the turbobricks sticker on the hatch tipped me off), so that's a plus.

Initial observations: oil everywhere, timing belt was way overdue, no boost, poor idle, tires mismatched, shocks/struts completely toast, keyless entry not working, ignition switch non-functional, ABS lights on, etc. etc. etc.

I've been spending an hour here and there tinkering on her for the past few months and have managed to replace/fix the following: timing belt, idler pulleys, water pump, MAF sensor, full silicon boost hoses, rebuilt ABS module, rear wheel speed sensors, fuel filter, new front springs/struts/strut mounts/bearings, front flexible brake lines, full FCP cooling system refresh, plugs, cap and wires, transmission flushed (correctly), full synthetic fluid, new wheels/tires.

Still needs:
- not boosting, I think it needs a new turbo control valve, all the tubing has been replaced to no avail.
- Exhaust leak at downpipe/manifold junction (pipe is cracked) - why can't there be an affordable downpipe option???
- New ignition tumbler
- Boost gauge install
- Right rear wheel bearing is squealing, of course this one needs the bearings pressed out and back in instead of a simple hub swap. Darn.
- Headliner is dirty/sagging; going to redo in some fun plaid
- Parking break cable is broken

Major plus: the AWD system was apparently recently redone; everything is new from the angle gear back. Thankfully the dumb PO didn't drive it enough to hurt anything with the mismatched tires. It all works perfectly with no noises.

How it sits currently:


I know the Volans aren't period correct, but I love them.

Just this morning I noticed this new V60 Polestar, so I figured I should get a picture with the old girl next to it.

Nice. My brother has a 98 saffron v70r. Same high mileage. Were going to swap in an m66 and a rebuilt engine with H beam rods.

They're nice cars. Just watch those tires!

Yeah I'm going to make sure to keep them properly rotated. I have an Audi Avant Quattro with a manual and it's shocking how much more robust that AWD system is. Oh well!

The engine actually has nearly perfect compression across all cylinders and is more quiet than a new Honda. I'm impressed by that. Burns zero oil.

Good luck. I always say that these cars, as well as my S60R are like adopting a hot 22 year old girl. Awesome eye candy, but oh so needy (and expensive).

By the way, this is not a P1 car. It's known as the P80 series. The P1 is the S40 / V40.

Oops, meant Gen-1.

Parts are (relatively) affordable and these things are FAR less finicky than a VAG product, so I'm happy with it being the beater.

Check for turbo shaft play while you're at it. I've seen turbine wheel broke off on TD04HL turbos.

Nice work, seems like it has (or had) all the usual P80 problems.

Having worn tires on the rear is terrible for handling and safety but it probably didn't hurt the AWD system. The viscous coupling only engages when the front wheels are spinning faster than the rear. Having slightly smaller tires on the back (due to wear) wouldn't engage the AWD because the rear wheels would be turning slightly faster than the front.