The Volvo thread

[DRM]

Now I'm not 100%, but pretty sure Volvo coolant is green, not brown like hot chocolate Had an hour on the 'R' this afternoon and drained the coolant, did one flush and then filled with leftover unbranded coolant. Radiator hose coolant drop only gets rid of about 50% on the 7 litre capacity, and no time for doing the block drain too. Had to play safe and get some antifreeze in for the next few nights of cold weather.

Make sure you don’t mix coolant types, if you do certain combinations react and turn to gel, I would flush the whole lot out with a hose, as you don’t know what has been put in in the past, iirc green is the stuff for older cars.
https://mechanicbase.com/coolant/mix-different-anti-freeze/

 

[Drago]

When I did the coolant on the 90 I had the same issue - dropping the lower rad hose only dumps half the coolant.

SomI reverse flushed the system with a hose, reconnected the rad hose, and was able to squeeze in 3.5 litres of new coolant. With the fresh water in the vlock and matrix that was a perfect 50:50. The 90 self bleeds, which is nice.

 

[cosmicbike]

Make sure you don’t mix coolant types, if you do certain combinations react and turn to gel, I would flush the whole lot out with a hose, as you don’t know what has been put in in the past, iirc green is the stuff for older cars.
https://mechanicbase.com/coolant/mix-different-anti-freeze/

I did a flush through the radiator, top and bottom disconnected, and also flushed through from the coolant tank to radiator bottom hose, so comfortable I flushed all the old out. When time permits it will be another drain down including the block, but for now I'm happy there is at least some antifreeze in the system, particularly with the sub zero temperatures due this week.

 

[cosmicbike]

When I did the coolant on the 90 I had the same issue - dropping the lower rad hose only dumps half the coolant.

SomI reverse flushed the system with a hose, reconnected the rad hose, and was able to squeeze in 3.5 litres of new coolant. With the fresh water in the vlock and matrix that was a perfect 50:50. The 90 self bleeds, which is nice.

Apparently the P80 series don't need bleeding either, I'll know in the morning..

 

[Drago]

Been spending some quality time with the V70 today. A good clean, new Bosch wipers, realign the drivers wiper arm, replace some missing trim fasteners eith genuine Volvo items, new drivers door mirror glass.

If the weather stays good ill be doing all new belts, idlers and tensioners this week. Its a straightforward job, the book time is less than an hour, but I don't have the benefit of a two-poster ramp so i reckon a good solid morning, including tea and pipe smoking breaks.

 

[cosmicbike]

I'm slowly gathering a big box of bits for the R. I figured whilst I was doing the PCV I may as well do the cambelt, so whilst in there might as well do the water pump, and the auxiliary belt. And why not do a gearbox fluid change too. Just waiting for bits in the post, and a clear day.

 

[Drago]

Im thinking I might finish the V70, flip it, take my money and get a C70 T5. Id prefer the coupe but most seem to be ragtops, which would please Mrs D. That could well be my next project.

 

[PaulB]

When I got my first sales job covering a large area, I was pleasantly surprised to see the range of cars being offered. As we had a young child at the time, I went for Volvo due to the reputation for safety they had. All other considerations were secondary to me. It was a 360 and I loved that car so when it came time for renewal, I got another. Then we had another child so I wanted something bigger and went for the 240, then a 260, then the 850 came out so I went for one of those which I'd have to say remains the best car I ever had. When the kids left home, I moved on to BMW and have always liked them.

For the kids' sake, my wife got a V40, then another V40 but when they left home, she found the VW Golf and now the Mini are more suited for her work requirements but our 'retirement car' will be the XC40 electric.

The Volvo dealers always impressed us and the reliability of those cars was superb. My colleagues all used to boast about the speed and the bird-pullability of their cars but spent as much time moaning about their unreliability and the fuel costs.

 

[figbat]

I had a V40 when our first child came along - it was not a cavernous load-lugger but was practical enough and so very easy to drive, being comfortable over any distance. I loved that car. We went away from Volvos for a while but came back to the XC60 (great car, once they fixed the boot struts that, unusually for Volvo, failed in cold weather) and now have a XC40. The replacement is likely to be a Volvo PHEV of some kind (BEV is out as we have to pull a caravan).

I've said before, I have worked directly with Volvo in a professional capacity and it's just a nice company to deal with.

 

[Drago]

Is that the original V40 Figgers, the sort of 3 series sized wagon? Even now, nearly 2 decades after they ceased production, there are plenty of good ones about. If they get regular servicing and even just a whiff of TLC they wear very well.

The T4 was also quite interesting.

 

[figbat]

Is that the original V40 Figgers, the sort of 3 series sized wagon? Even now, nearly 2 decades after they ceased production, there are plenty of good ones about. If they get regular servicing and even just a whiff of TLC they wear very well.

The T4 was also quite interesting.

Yep, this one - the estate version of the S40, developed with Mitsubishi.

Talking of the S40, for one company car replacement event I spent a lot of time researching and test driving. I was after a hatch or small estate with a big engine. I test drove a few cars:

- Audi A3 3.2 quattro; OK but bland
- VW Golf R32; OK but stodgy handling
- Saab 9-3 2.8 Turbo estate; disappointing, felt like it was from the 90s
- Mazda 6 MPS; truly terrible, narrow power band with mismatched gearbox ratios
- Volvo S40 T5; truly surprising, utterly compelling, quick and very nearly won out but was pipped by...
- BMW 130i; this was a truly great car - whilst the Volvo was very good, it couldn't compete with the naturally-aspirated inline 6 of the BMW. Loved that car.

 

[PaulB]

Yep, this one - the estate version of the S40, developed with Mitsubishi.
View attachment 625814

Our first one of those was a lovely light brown colour. We were worried about one of our neighbours who spent an unusually long time staring at it. I mean, day after day early mornings and late at night. We were suspicious about him but it turns out he liked it so much, he was in a quandary whether to buy one himself, but he eventually did which kind of proved his claim to be true rather than him being a rubbish spy trying to pry some information out of it as it was parked on our drive.

I also forgot that when I set up my own company I bought an S40 which I really loved but it had to go when I sold the company. That's when we converted it to our first V40.

 

[cosmicbike]

Im thinking I might finish the V70, flip it, take my money and get a C70 T5. Id prefer the coupe but most seem to be ragtops, which would please Mrs D. That could well be my next project.

I like them, had a C70 T5 as a loaner from Phil Whittaker cars before he retired, really quite fun. Was a hardtop mind.

 

[cosmicbike]

Somewhat sleepy after a night shift, so keeping it simple. Fitted a new indicator unit, the old one was rattling all the time. Whoever changed a lamp in it last removed the fitting sideways and snapped all but 1 of the retaining clips. Next up was a pair of tailgate struts to stop it shutting on my head all the time, rather pleasing to strip 3 big bits of interior plastic trim with no breakages, no mean feat on the older cars. Fuelled by coffee I tackled the gearshift lever position indicator lamp. One of those annoying Volvo things, a very specific lamp with a built in holder which comes as a built unit, rather extortionate at £8 but ho hum. Centre console stripped out, lamp replaced, illuminated shifter so I know what positions it's in now.
Final effort, remove the spark plug cover, including one bodged bolt. I found the missing bolt wedged down the back of the engine stuck between the block and the exhaust manifold, result Fair crack of oil under the cover, and either from the PCV connection of the oil filler cap, so all cleaned up.
Getting there, all the belts and PCV next, time permitting.

 

[gavroche]

Did any of you know that Volvo is now owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding since 2010?
Just saying.