The Swedish revolving garage door: Exit the Saab, enter the Volvo

After amusing myself with my 1989 Saab 900S for several years, it has gone to a new home with Son of 914Driver. In its place - because I'm dumb and can't just use the cars I have - is this 2006 Volvo V50 T5 AWD.

I'll get better pictures tomorrow, but it's got 200k miles on it, records of at least some work (timing belt, spark plugs, complete rear brakes, control arms, tie rods, and some other stuff) and is in pretty good shape for its mileage. Came with newish Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s, and newish General Altimax Arctics on steelies (which are sort of crusty and need to be cleaned up and repainted). Also included were a GROM Bluetooth integration module and a Chinese knockoff DICE unit. Probably need to change some fluids, give the headlights a polish, and give the whole thing a thorough Level 1 Tidy, but it drove pretty well over the 100 miles it took to get it home. I'm sure there's stuff that will need doing, and eventually I'd like to add some driving lights and a roof rack, but it should stay out of the project category while being useful for hauling stuff, as well as providing solid winter transportation, which is really all I ask of it.

More photos and details to come.

I wonder if the electronics are similar enough that you could use one of these:

https://www.autometer.com/dashcontrol-obdii-display-controller-volvo-s60-2005-2009.html

Where are you? If you are nearish Cleveland/Columbus/Detroit I could let you try mine to see if it works.

Looks nice. 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I'm in NY, so unless I'm road-tripping out your way, I don't think that's going to be an option, but thanks for the offer.

In reply to Woody :

It's not as nice as your V70R, that's for sure. It's rough enough that I won't feel bad about using it the way I want to.

So a few initial questions for the Volvo people:

- I know the oil was changed recently, but the condition of the rest of the fluids is unknown. Rear brakes were just done, so there may be new fluid in there, but I haven't checked. At a minimum I want to change the transmission and driveline fluids before winter. For the trans, the FCP Euro kit is 4 qts of Aisin fluid, which I'm thinking is enough for drain-and-fill, not complete replacement. I've read something about resetting the trans computer if the fluid is changed - is this necessary for just changing a portion of the fluid? For the bevel gear and diff, do I need the special Haldex fluid, or is it just gear oil in a fancy bottle?

- There's some vibration at idle. It doesn't change in or out of gear, and it goes away once on the move. Low RPM/low throttle is pretty much the only condition where it's apparent while driving. I'm thinking this is motor/trans mounts. At 200k miles, is it advisable to just replace them all (my instinct is that it is), or is there one that's the usual culprit?

- The expansion tank sprung a leak on the test drive (I saw it not leaking before we drove, and leaking after, so I know it just happened). The PO was only able to get an aftermaket Dorman unit in time for me to pick it up on schedule. Is that a ticking time bomb, or can I expect it to survive about as well as the OE part (which is not exactly robust)?

- Since I've got the DICE adapter I might as well figure out how to use it, but I have no idea where to start. I understand that I need to install VIDA on a computer (there's a CD), but I've read something about needing a subscription to make it work, which sounds prohibitively expensive for occasional use. Does it do anything at all without a subscription, or is it useless without paying Volvo for the privilege of fixing my own car?

More photos of the car as received:

That's nice!  Could use a bit of eggplant color pin striping to break up the black a bit.

Cool car, I've always liked those.

When I looked into it a few years ago, the VIDA hack was to load an expired version into a dedicated laptop with the BIOS date/time reset to a pre-expiration point in the past...  it sounded pretty sketchy to me but who knows?

 I'll be curious to know if there's an easier way.

Angle gear is just gear oil.  There is no drain plug, you will need a vacuum extractor, or pick the car up on its right side and shake it out through the fill hole 

If you are adventurous, remove the whole gear assembly (right axle, six driveshaft bolts, then five bolts to the trans, one of which is a pain without a swivel socket, short extension, and another swivel and extension) and clean the rust from the splines and heavily goop the splines up with moly paste.  This is to prevent future headaches.  You will notice that the only thing locating the gear assembly to the trans IS the splines, and they are "dry".  The splines fret, the powder turns to rust, which is jeweler's rouge, a fine abrasive.

The diff has two fluids, gear oil and Haldex juice.  The Haldex fluid is kind of expensive ($60/l, uses half a liter) and should be changed every 20k along with the filter.  It has probably never been changed because Volvo does not specify a service interval.  Either FCP Euro or ipd sell a service kit with a new filter.  I drain it by removing the filter (much easier on a P1 than a P2) and running the car on the lift so the pump activates and blows all the fluid out.

In reply to 02Pilot :

While I can't offer a lot of wisdom here, as your car is very different from mine, I will say that when I changed my motor mounts, the lower mount was substantially worse than the others. It was basically two pieces of metal at that point. Replacing just that one part made a huge difference.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Good advice there. I take it you feel pulling the angle gear housing is worth the effort? I found the kit for the diff on FCP Euro; it is obvious where the gear oil and the Haldex fluids go on the diff? I don't have a service manual yet, and the only thing I could find is Haynes, which is suboptimal. Any thoughts on the transmission fluid change? That's the component I'm most concerned about, since I believe with all my heart that auto boxes run on voodoo and happy thoughts, and that fluid changes are just a form of (un?)holy sacrifice.

In reply to Woody :

Good to know. Different mount setups I'm sure, but the same engine, and likely supported at more or less the same points. If I have time to get under there and check I will, but I've been stupid busy lately, and may just fire the parts cannon so I don't have to drag myself under there twice.

In reply to bludroptop :

That seems suitably convoluted. I really wish a simple scantool with Volvo coding would work, but such a thing doesn't seem to exist. My Foxwell scanner has BMW programming, and I'm going to get the module for Mazda for my Miata and my GF's 3, but there's no Volvo module available it seems.

In reply to 914Driver :

I agree that it's a lot of black. I'm not really a pinstripe guy; I did consider wrapping the roof in a Swedish flag motif, but that seems excessive. In an ideal world I'd find a wrecked R Design and pull the aluminum roof rails, mirrors, and grill off of it, but that's probably fantasy land.

In reply to 02Pilot :

Different mounting setups for sure, but quite possibly the same parts bin.  

Mounting is very similar to Focus/Mazda3.  Volvo chassis mount the drivetrain on top of the subframe, P1s hang it from the body.  Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

The power steering pump is electric like a Mazda3 (may even be same unit) and it is in front of the right front tire like a Mazda3 but you need to remove the headlight to check/add fluid.  I mean, they did not have anywhere else to cram it.

As far as angle gear service is concerned, IMO if you are mechanically inclined enough to tear into it, it really should be done before it fails, which is an eventuality.  My 200k mile old S60 had the splines worn razor thin but at least there was no lost height yet.  The collar on the trans is replaceable but the angle gear is serviced as assembly, the ring gear and shaft and splines are all one unit.

The Haldex is pretty self explanatory, the front half is Haldex fluid and the back half is gear oil.  It will make sense when you poke around at it.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Thanks. Right now I'm working purely on what I've read - I'm sure it will be more logical with a first-hand sense of things.

From your description, I think I should be able to get the angle gear housing out. I'll feel better knowing it's been done.

In reply to 02Pilot :

You will hate that it is turbocharged.  Now, granted I have only had the angle gear off of my own car, which has a slightly bigger gear unit and a significantly bigger turbo sitting on a separate exhaust manifold, but the dang thing is in the way of swinging a wrench on the upper two bolts.  There are five.

You would think it is the top one that you can't see that is the real pain, but you can sort of get a straight shot at it with a swivel socket, once you find it by Braille.  It is the next one clockwise in this view that is the difficult bastard to access.

02Pilot said:

So a few initial questions for the Volvo people:

 

- The expansion tank sprung a leak on the test drive (I saw it not leaking before we drove, and leaking after, so I know it just happened). The PO was only able to get an aftermaket Dorman unit in time for me to pick it up on schedule. Is that a ticking time bomb, or can I expect it to survive about as well as the OE part (which is not exactly robust)?

Not a Volvo person, but that header tank looks identical to my '08 Mazda 3, to which I fitted a Dorman in 2018, and it's still pressure tight 4 years later (only done about 22k kms though, but that has been in the high temps / standstill traffic of Peru).

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Great, thanks for the pic and the detailed guide. To be perfectly honest, I don't even know if the AWD is working at this point, but nothing is making noise or otherwise indicating a problem. I guess I'll find out more once I dig into it.

In reply to paul_s0 :

I know some parts interchange, and that could well be one of them. Good to know the Dorman isn't likely to fail in a week or two.

I just looked up part numbers and they're different   I'd assume the construction is pretty similar though, for what it's worth!

Finished up the interior cleaning. The front seats still show their age, there are some small imperfections in the plastic trim, and the driver's floormat is beyond help (worn clean through), but otherwise it's pretty decent for 200k miles of use. Replaced a burned out taillight bulb, got my phone paired to the GROM audio setup, and figured out stuff like the automatic wipers. I found the window sticker in the folder of receipts - apparently the car has the Climate Package and the Premium Package, and was $35k new; I paid just over 10% of that.

On to the mechanical side of things, I notice that starting from cold there's a weird sort of squeal that sounds like it's coming from the back of the engine or transmission area. It only lasts a few seconds. Not sure what that's about. The engine vibration is pronounced, but a used a prybar on the one engine mount that's easily accessed, and it seems fine. Based on Woody's comment above, I decided to start with the lower mount; if that doesn't cure it, I'll do the others. Got trans, diff, and Haldex fluids coming, plus some other basic maintenance bits and a set of Volvo rubber floor mats to replace the worn out originals.

My gut says PCV system is the cause of the squeal.  If the squeal is reproducible, see if removing the oil cap makes it not do it.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Good thought - I'll check that out. FWIW, I did pull the cap off while running at one point and the vacuum into the crankcase is slight. I understand the PCV on these can be problematic. Is it worth cleaning out, or is it just a waste of time? I did see that the diaphragm is available individually through IPD, but it doesn't seem like it makes much sense to change that if everything else is gunked up.

Also, I found a receipt for installation of a Magnefine inline transmission filter. I'd never heard of them before - anyone care to render an opinion on these?

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Started it with the oil cap off - no change. Almost sounds like belt squeal. I may not be accurately locating it, and that engine bay is pretty cramped.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

That was my feeling. Hopefully it's not something that's going to blow up.

Remove the oil cap with the engine running and put a rubber glove over the hole.

If it sucks it in, the PCV is working.

If it fills with air, PCV needs to be serviced.

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

I did that - light suction only. I think the PCV is OK.

I did find a post on the IPD forum that points the finger at the exhaust manifold gasket. This is probably it, as I know there is a little tick on cold startup, and it matches the localization of the sound. Not planning to fix it, but I feel better.