Post: #1

I figured I oughta make a project thread for this thing, instead of cluttering up the 5-euro thread.

Anyway, this is a '98 V70XC with 208K on the clock. The mileage is pretty high, but it was dealer-serviced until 175K and it shows-it runs well and it doesn't have the typical valvetrain clatter on startup that a lot of higher-mileage whiteblocks seem to exhibit. The charcoal interior is clean and the leather isn't destroyed, which was a huge selling point for me-most 70-series cars in this area have gross tan leather that's beyond saving. The body has a few dings, but for $2500, I can't complain.





Look, ma, no peeling!



The engine compartment needs cleaning, but there aren't any major leaks.



The to-do list, so far:

-Replace a control arm and swaybar endlink
-Add a drain to the angle gear and/or change the fluid
-Get new tires and (eventually) wheels
-Replace driver's side headlight assembly
-Replace the hatch struts
-Wipe down errthang inside the car with 303 UV protectant
-16T, injectors, tune, manual swap (way in the future)

I don't think I'm gonna lower it unless it ends up looking ridiculous with larger wheels installed. The only major cosmetic change I'm considering is redoing the faded plastic trim on the doors, bumpers, and side skirts in the dark navy color that Volvo used on the later XC70/90 models. If it doesn't work out, I'll take 'em back to black.

Post: #2

Last year for a throttle cable if I recall correctly. Way better than an electronic throttle. Car looks very good. Wish you well with it.

Post: #3

What's wrong with the control arm? I have fairly new ones on my kersploded 850. Come trade me they should bolt up, of course you do the hard work while I drink beer, provide tools, and watch from a more comfortable atmosphere.

Post: #4

(10-24-2012 06:54 PM)dl242gt Wrote:  Last year for a throttle cable if I recall correctly. Way better than an electronic throttle. Car looks very good. Wish you well with it.

That's right-it's a cable throttle. Thanks for the well wishes!

(10-24-2012 07:00 PM)142autox Wrote:  What's wrong with the control arm? I have fairly new ones on my kersploded 850. Come trade me they should bolt up, of course you do the hard work while I drink beer, provide tools, and watch from a more comfortable atmosphere.

One of the ball joints is busted. I appreciate the offer, but I think this uses different mounts than the 850 control arms-it's got the 4-bolt style. If they're the same, though, I'm there.

Post: #5

This thing got its first ziptie tonight. The passenger door wasn't opening from the inside, so I took it apart and found that the clip that holds the latch cable into the door handle had gone AWOL. I slipped the ball end of the cable back into the slot in the lever, drilled a hole in the side and bottom of the corner of the latch assembly, ran a ziptie through the holes, and locked the cable in place. With this arrangement, the ball end can't pop out of the lever, and there aren't any fiddly plastic clips to break, so it should last.

Post: #6

I installed some fresh Bosch copper plugs tonight and reinstalled a vacuum line that had slipped off the turbo intake hose. The old plugs weren't in terrible shape, but they were Volvo-branded, so they had been run for at least 30K, going off the last dealer service stamp. It seems to be running a little better, but that could be due to fixing the vacuum leak as much as anything. Better safe than sorry, though.

Post: #7

That's a whiteblock. Stick with the OEM plugs.

Post: #8

(11-02-2012 02:46 PM)scottyd Wrote:  That's a whiteblock.

You don't say...

Quote:Stick with the OEM plugs.

It runs way better with the new Bosches than it did with the old OEM plugs, but I'll order some from Tasca when I get new control arms.

In other news, I found an M66 from a car with 20K on it in a nearby yard for $650-I'll be grabbing it if it sticks around...

Post: #9

Manual swap XC? Sounds like fun

Post: #10

Should be, if I can swing it. The VS/TB guys in my area have all swapped their WWD autoboxes for M56/66 setups, so we have the experience-I've just gotta rustle up enough cash to get the parts together.

Post: #11

After putting some miles on this thing, I noticed that the turbo wasn't really spooling at low revs, which usually points to a bad boost control solenoid/turbo control valve. Instead of buying an OE replacement, I took the advice of some guys on VS and picked up an ACDelco solenoid that was used on the GMC Typhoon and some other turbo GMs from that era. It's much cheaper than the OE Pierburg and works a lot better, so given the minimal rewiring required, I figured it was worth a shot.

Out with the old:



In with the new:



After resetting the ECU, I took the car out and drove it gently for about 10 minutes before hammering on it so that the ECU could adapt to the new part. The difference it makes is pretty noticeable-the turbo spools much earlier than with the old part, and the boost is rock-solid. I'd definitely recommend it for anyone with a turbo 850/70.

The part number for the solenoid is Delco 214474, GM 1997152. There's plenty of info on VS about the install procedure.

Post: #12

I junked some redblock stuff earlier, which I'm regretting a bit because I ran into some major trouble while trying to replace some of the vacuum hoses related to the turbo. Maybe I'm just a shitty mechanic, but in the process of getting the intake apart, the vintage-1998 PCV hoses cracked clean off about a foot back from the place where they connected to the intake tube, so now I'm stuck waiting until I can get a kit to replace the whole thing from the dealer/FCP/wherever, since the intake manifold has to come off to fix it anyway and it needed addressed. To add insult to injury, once I got all the vacuum hoses off the side of the engine, I found that the rear cam seals were leaking, probably due to the ancient PCV hardware. Hopefully the RMS isn't going, too...

This isn't the end of the world by any means, but I'm beginning to feel like I rolled the dice and lost on this car.

Post: #13

Got this apart to the point that the PCV stuff can be replaced, following this writeup. There are a couple things I did differently, though. First off, it's crazy not to remove the fuel rail from the manifold-the extra access it allows is worth having to replace the injector o-rings (which probably need replaced in a 15-year-old car anyway). I didn't need to remove the upper radiator hose, either-with a long extension, I was able to thread a socket under the manifold and on to the leftmost intake manifold bolt. Finally, the bolts on the underside of the intake manifold (for the dipstick tube and the support bracket) are a piece of cake if you have a ratcheting wrench. Even with a conventional combination wrench, it should be pretty easy to get them out-I don't know why he went to all the trouble of trying to remove them from underneath instead of just buying a wrench while he was at the parts store.

After a couple days away from it, I'm thinking that this was a blessing in disguise. The PCV hoses were all pretty badly clogged up and fell apart while I was taking them out of the car, so they were definitely due.

Post: #14

Hole!



Still waiting on parts to come in so that I can replace the PCV system.

Post: #15

How long did it take you to get the manifold off?

Post: #16

I'd guess it took about 45 minutes. It looks complicated, but once you disconnect the fuel rail, the throttle spool, and the vacuum tree, it's pretty straightforward to get it unbolted.

Post: #17

And with the breather box out, this is what you're left with:



To make it easier to get out, I unbolted the bracket that sits next to the box in the bottom center of the previous pic. After that's loose, there are two bolts holding it in (one's hidden behind the positive cable that runs to the alternator) and there are two clamps on the hose that connects the breather to the bottom port in the block. Some people say you can clean and reuse the breather box, but the one I took out had gotten spongy enough from oil and heat that the bottom port cracked clean off while I was trying to remove it. Fortunately, neither block fitting was too gunked up.

Post: #18

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but someone who wrenched on this car in the past forgot to reinstall the bolts that hold the radiator to the core support, so all the cooling stuff was resting on the subframe and/or the undertray without anything holding it in place aside from the hoses. $5 in hardware later and it's back together as it should be; the bolts are M8X1.25 and 40mm long, in case anyone needs to buy some.

Post: #19

Oetiker clamps!

Post: #20

It's running again. I still need to go through and triple-check for vacuum leaks, but at least the PCV system seems to be working now. What a stupid design.

Post: #21

I've driven this for ~4000 miles now since I got it. I'm kind of stunned by that number, but I guess that's what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere and split time between two cities.

Anyway, the next big repair on the docket is the oil cooler hoses that run between the block and the radiator-they're both leaking, and the cooler fitting on the block seems to be seeping a little too. I'm debating whether to stick with the radiator cooler or swap to the style that came on later ('99+) whiteblocks-instead of pumping oil to the radiator, there's a heat exchanger attached to the oil pan that connects to the coolant pipe running along the back of the engine. It would be easier to stick with what's there already, but going with the later-style cooler would make for a cleaner engine bay (and a lower likelihood of failure to boot).

Post: #22

No pics, but I finally replaced the driver's side front brake caliper (the seal was dead) and the front brake hoses and flushed the system with new fluid yesterday, which it doubtless needed-the old stuff was nasty. The braking performance isn't much better, but I do seem to be getting better mileage on the highway already-the old caliper must have been dragging.

Tonight's project was the oil cooler hoses. I ended up getting a set from a VS poster (jdlc) who refurbishes them with new hose and crimps, and I'd recommend him if anyone here ever needs some. They were well done and he included new clips, o-rings, and the rectangular gasket that goes between the cooler thermostat and the block.

As for the job itself? The worst part was getting that rectangular gasket to stay in place while reattaching the thermostat. The hoses aren't too tough to remove and replace as long as you pay attention to the routing. The only obstacle to getting them out is a bolt that holds them to the block; it's obstructed by the AC compressor and takes a u-joint or wobble extension to access. Once that's out it's not too bad.

The next project is going to be fixing the o-ring where the oil drain goes into the block. The angle gear for the AWD is all sorts of in the way, so I'm not looking forward to tackling that.

Post: #23

Thought about getting the oil cooler hoses from him for the R, figured I'm going to cheap it out though and cut the swedge on each end and replace the hose, then re-clamp it myself. Easy enough to do, may have a spare line to figure out the hose diameter, plus it saves having to deal with that BS attachment down on the block. Whoever thought up that scheme should be shot.

Post: #24

I was chasing a big oil leak in this car that I thought was related to the turbo, but it turned out to be one of the rear cam seals. I'm surprised that it was leaking as badly as it was, but I'm glad it was something simple.

Post: #25

Boring update: pulled the timing cover since I was bored and felt like double-checking the timing belt replacement that the previous owner had done. I was pleasantly surprised to find an OEM Volvo water pump and tensioner, so that's one more thing I can check off the maintenance list.

While I'm writing this, I would also recommend against using the rebuilt oil cooler lines as a long-term solution. A friend of mine was running them in his S70, and one of them failed recently. Fortunately, he got it shut down before any lasting damage occurred, but the mess was incredible. I guess the clamps holding the hose to the fitting loosened up sufficiently that the hose just slipped off.