As Johnny Bench would say, “No runs, no drips, no errors.”
This is going to make a huuuuuuuuge difference if Volvo ever gets around to sending me that Customer Satisfaction Survey.
As Johnny Bench would say, “No runs, no drips, no errors.”
This is going to make a huuuuuuuuge difference if Volvo ever gets around to sending me that Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Woody said:Violet immediately notices that new Yokohama Avid Ascend GTs smell new.
We both notice that the ride is now substantially quieter and far more comfortable than it was on the Stone-Aged Michelins.
Be glad violet is female. Every time I put new tires on a car they get marked by some neighborhood dog the first day.
It's amazing what new tires do for ride quality, and how hard it is to convince people that tires are part of the suspension system as much as the shocks are...
So, with the car back and better than ever, we hopped in and headed to the park for our morning walk.
There was a night and day difference on the highway with the new tires. Violet likes riding in the car, and gets more and more excited the closer that we get to the park. We finally pulled into the lot and found our favorite, shady parking spot. She could already see some of her friends out on the path. I grabbed the bag of snacks and walked to the back of the car. Violet couldn't wait to get out and start our walk. As I opened the door to the back seat, I immediately discovered that I had left her collar, leash and water dish back at home. There would be no walk without them.
And that, my friends, was when the dog learned why we searched so long for a station wagon with a turbocharger.
In reply to Woody :
"OMG no doggy paraphernalia?"
*BOOOOOOOOST*
Woody said:
And because the car is new to me and I hope to keep it for a long time, I grabbed a sample of the old oil as it drained and sent it off to Blackstone Labortatories to get a better idea of what's going on inside. We should know more in a few weeks.
Hey! Remember this? The results came back and here's what they said:
"We don't see any problems developing for your V70R. Universal averages show typical wear levels
for this type of engine after about 5,600 miles on the oil. Metals match up nicely with that benchmark and
that's generally a good sign that the mechanical components are healthy. The oil looks just fine physically
with no fuel or coolant contamination. The viscosity is in the 5W/30 range. Low insolubles and silicon show
excellent oil and air filtration. We'll see how things look after a known oil run, but the engine looks fine at this point."
That is great news!
The tailgate trim panel keeps coming loose, and I needed to get in there to do some other work anyway, so I added an IPD Tailgate Repair kit. Very simple and less than ten bucks.
Not very elegant, but should be functional.
Awesome ride Woody. I agree with your sentiment on a 21 year old European car. Yes, the electronics need to be gone through throroghly. Yes, it leaks and things will need to be replaced. Yes, all the plastic trim starts to fall apart and deteriorate. Read more in my confessions of owning the last MY E36 M3 LOL. It truly is a testament to patience.
It looks like you find a pretty awesome example of a V70R despite it's shortcomings from the previous owner. Thanks for the great read.
There are no junkyards around here that let you walk around and remove parts yourself. This makes it really difficult when you need something small or obscure.
Fortunately, I have a new friend. He's the guy who sold me the rear seats, and he has a friendly junkyard nearby. I reached out him with a couple of requests, and on his next trip, he found what I needed for a very reasonable price.
Behold! A pair of European side marker lights with harnesses, a spare rear lamp relay (NLA/ Permanent Backorder from Volvo), and a very important plastic link that will enable me to (finally!) lock the car.
I recently saw a V70R on FB Marketplace for parts, did you see that listing? If not, I can try to find it again.
In reply to dj06482 :
Thanks. I didn't see either of those. There's really not much that I need at this point, and I'm not sure what would be compatible from the New York car. The Massachusetts car is very similar, but it doesn't sound like there is much left.
I cleaned up the connections on those side marker lights and harnesses today. Before I started any kind of installation, I tested the lights, only to discover that one didn't work. Suspecting a dead bulb, I tried popping the lens off with a screwdriver and it broke apart in my hands. Looks like it may be glued on. I guess they are a non-servicable item.
One of the moderate annoyances with this car centered around the tailgate locking mechanism. Shortly after buying the car, I discovered that the key fit into the rear lock cylinder and turned easily, but it didn't feel like it was attached to anything. This wasn't a huge concern, because the hatch also has a door style locking knob, plus it is connected to the central power locks. No problem, right?
Wrong. The knob worked fine when operated by hand, but the aluminum rod that connected it to the locking mechanism got bent at some point (possibly by me during an early attempt to fix the CHMSL). The power lock actuator had enough juice to lock the tailgate, but not enough to push the rod back up again. The rest of the doors would unlock, but not the hatch. This was a major problem when I had the dog with me, as I would need to drop the dog fence, fold down the seat and crawl back there to unlock the tailgate for her, and then put the seat back up and reconnect the barrier. Not acceptable.
Upon disassembly (again) of the hatch cover, I found that there was broken plastic piece around the key lock cylinder, and the rod that was supposed to attach that to the lock mechanism was missing. That's why the key turned so easily.
So...off to the Volvo dealership.
Unfortunately, I was able to order the rod for about $4, but the plastic clip was part of the lock cylinder assembly and unavailable on its own. A new lock assembly would be $180 and take at least six weeks because Volvo takes your VIN and sends you a lock cylinder that matches your original key. Nice, but more than I was looking to spend.
I reached out to my friend with the seats and he was able to find a replacement in the junkyard, which was no easy task as this thing is really hard to access.
Installation took about ten minutes and everything works as it should. After two months, I can finally lock the doors.
Treats have arrived from our friends in Portland Oregon!
In reply to Woody :
I recently found out I live ten minutes from them! It was nice to be able to pick up brake hoses for my dad's '84 244 right there.
I'm really enjoying this vicarious V70R ownership. Waiting to see which way it pushes the desire to actualize...
Today was Plugs/Wires/Cap and Rotor day.
This job cost a little more than it could have, but I probably made the best choice. My typical modus operandi is to go with NGK wires, which were on clearance from Rock Auto, but no where in the specks could I determine what gauge the wires were. I ended up ordering the IPD Performance 8mm silicone wire kit, which I have mixed feelings about. I have no doubt whatsoever that they are an excellent product, but the thicker wires were a little hard to stuff under the pretty Volvo 20V cover, and they were too fat to use the nice little plastic separators that came on the original wires (and new ones would have come with a genuine Volvo replacement set for about the same money). I still tried to reuse the old clips, but they were old and brittle and broke in my hands anyway.
Not knowing how long the old plugs had been in there had me really worried, as I feared that they might have fused themselves to the aluminum head and could tear out the threads. I decided that my best option would be to use a very gentle touch with an impact gun set on low, rather than just trying to twist them out by hand. I'm not sure if it made a difference, but a few quick taps on the trigger got them moving and the aluminum threads stayed where they were supposed to.
The old plugs had some rust on the threads, but the electrodes looked really good, almost perfect in fact. The gap was even on the money. I'm guessing that they were right around the 30k mile point, which is the recommended replacement interval.
This is another place where I spent more than I could have. Again from IPD, I bought genuine Volvo spark plugs, because I read multiple positive reviews on them from trusted sources. I decided that they were worth it.
Cap and rotor were standard Bosch units. The old parts looked pretty crusty and may have been original. The wires certainly were.
The whole job took a little longer than I had expected, but wasn't that difficult. This was mainly due to the fact that you need to remove the airbox to gain access to the distributor, and because the wires are a little tricky to route under the tubing and brackets, all while insuring that everything will fit under the aforementioned cover.
Also, the rubber gasket around the oil cap is known to be a source of leaks, so I replaced it with a silicone one.
It may be my optimistic imagination, but the car does seem to accelerate more smoothly. Based on the condition of the old plugs, I don't think that new ones made much of a difference, but the new wires, cap and rotor certainly did. One things's for sure, this engine loves the cooler autumn air.
BONUS!!
I also discovered that if you go here...
...and do this...
...you can make the hood do this!
Like the hood opening feature, here is another. Im not sure on yours but on my 1995 Volvo 850 wagon...
At the headlight switch there is a little screw head. One way makes your car have daytime running lights, the other way turns them off.
In reply to John Welsh :
Yup, looks like our car has the same thing!
If you go to Valenti Volvo of Watertown to buy parts, say "Hi" to Mike. He's been selling Volvo Parts his entire life, and knows a ton of stuff. Good guy.
car39 said:If you go to Valenti Volvo of Watertown to buy parts, say "Hi" to Mike. He's been selling Volvo Parts his entire life, and knows a ton of stuff. Good guy.
Good to know, thanks.
Woody said:
Love those hoods, same as on a Benz.
Today's ride confirmed that the engine is unquestionably running smoother than it was before. Very happy.
Sunday Summary:
Minor victory, minor defeat, minor stalemate.
This morning, my attention returned to the rear brakes. There were still at least three things bothering me about them: The crossdrilled and slotted rotors spun in the opposite direction as the fronts, the parking brake was defying all attempts to get it properly adjusted from inside the car, and there was blue paint on the calipers (tolerable) and everything around them (pads, shims, brake lines, springs, etc...intolerable).
In spite of the fact that I have access to a lift, I decided that jackstands might actually be quicker for this project.
In short, I ended up with mixed results. I was able to swap the almost new rotors side to side to correct the improper rotation / OCD problem (victory), but I was unable to adjust the parking brake (defeat).
The parking brake is adjusted from two different places; first at the rear, where there are tiny drum brakes inside the hat of the rotor, and then where the cable attaches to the handbrake lever under the armrest. Unfortunately, the hole to access the adjuster at the rear was missing from the fancypants aftermarket rotors. I tried going through one of the lug bolt holes, but couldn't get the star wheel adjustor to move.
There was no way to reach the primary adjustor for the drums. And there is not enough adjustment at the parking brake lever to make up the difference. I have resigned myself to life without a parking brake, at least for the short term. Eventually, I may replace the blingy-but- nearly-new rotors for a pair of Genuine Volvo units.
The stalemate came from the blue paint. I actually kind of like the painted calipers, but I hate the fact that there is so much paint overspray on everything else. In fact, it goes beyond overspray on the pads. The pads and shims are almost completely blue, and it makes me look like a hack mechanic.
Now, one of the reasons that these cars appealed to me is the fact that the '96 850 GLT that my father bought new had fantastic brakes, and they were among the easiest that I've ever worked on. No lie, it took longer to jack up the car and remove the wheels than it did to change the pads.
These cars came with calipers from one of two different suppliers: Girling or whoever supplied the calipers on my father's car. I didn't know this until after the fact, but this car came with the Girlings, which aren't quite so quick to change. They don't look difficult, but they're not the super easy ones either. And the blue caliper paint that the previous owner used was super hard. I was going to try to remove it from (at least) the pads and shims, but it doesn't really want to come off. I cleaned up the dust shields a bit, but I just put the pads back on as they were.
At some point, I will swap in some new pads, if only for their lack of paintyness. I'll call this a stalemate.
In the midst of my disappointment, I failed to take any more pictures.
You'll need to log in to post.
