XC70 - Daughter's First Car

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One other thought, not at all related to oil.

The climate control blower fan will come on and run for several minutes precisely 50 minutes after engine shut down. This clears the evaporator and air box so you don't get that musty smell when it stays wet.

Don't freak out the first time you hear that...
 
Originally Posted By: Mark_Walk
I had read some info earlier in the week about how sensitive the PCV systems are in these cars and, Astro, you have mentioned it too. So, out of curiosity, I was looking around under the hood with a flashlight. The oil recovery box under the intake is immaculately clean on the outside. No gunk or even dust or dirt. Obviously this means nothing concerning the inside of the system...just an observation. The hoses to this box are also in "like new" condition. I can also see the outer edges of the intake gasket and it appears new looking. This is wishful thinking on my part but I'm going to contact the dealership and have them print off a report showing all service work done to this car. Knowing the timing belt was done last year I'm hoping they went ahead and did the PCV system at the same time. Definitely will be running full synthetic on the next change.


If it's been done, you've really done well in buying this car. That's a $700+ job at a dealer, and most folks blow it off and/or trade the car. Then the next buyer wonders why it leaks oil...
 
With the engine fully warmed up I just did the plastic bag over the oil filler hole test. It is definitely pulling a vacuum. No positive pressure at all. Hope to get the service records tomorrow.
 
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As for oil, I'm already using the M1 0w40 in the wife's BMW so will probably switch to that on the Volvo. It's on sale at Wally World for $25.xx per 5 qt jug.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
One other thought, not at all related to oil.

The climate control blower fan will come on and run for several minutes precisely 50 minutes after engine shut down. This clears the evaporator and air box so you don't get that musty smell when it stays wet.

That's awesome. I wish other manufacturers would implement this.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Astro14
One other thought, not at all related to oil.

The climate control blower fan will come on and run for several minutes precisely 50 minutes after engine shut down. This clears the evaporator and air box so you don't get that musty smell when it stays wet.

That's awesome. I wish other manufacturers would implement this.


It is a nice feature...and it works well in keeping the evaporator dry.

But at least half of the posts by new members to the Volvo forums say something like; "Help! My fan comes on all by itself! What's wrong with my Volvo?"
 
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Originally Posted By: Astro14
But at least half of the posts by new members to the Volvo forums say something like; "Help! My fan comes on all by itself! What's wrong with my Volvo?"

Sounds like when soccer moms graduated to the Mercedes ML vehicles and that was their first experience with after-run cooling, too.
wink.gif
The worst part is that the buddy who took the Audi when I was finished (which had after-run cooling) got an ML and was all confused by it. I told him we were through this before.
 
I noticed a discrepancy in the paperwork that came with the car. Between the Owners Manual and the Warranty/Service Booklet, one of them says oil capacity is 5.8L and the other says 5.8US Qts.....which is correct?
 
Originally Posted By: Mark_Walk
I noticed a discrepancy in the paperwork that came with the car. Between the Owners Manual and the Warranty/Service Booklet, one of them says oil capacity is 5.8L and the other says 5.8US Qts.....which is correct?

According to Amsoil, it's 6.1 quarts, which would be about 5.8 liters.
 
Finally got a print out of all service done for the last 40,000 miles or so....
Purchased car at 136,760 miles. Service done, working backwards.

136,760 Oil Chg with 5w30 Magnatec.....$178.75
130,269 Oil Chg, 4 New Tires, Four Wheel Alignment....$905.23
116,836 Oil Chg, all new brake pads and rotors....$416.14
114,419 Oil Chg, head light bulb, bleed brake fluid....$226.20
101,500 Oil Chg, replace frt. right spring seat, replace entire PCV system, head light bulb.....total visit......$921.56
92,848 Oil Chg, air filter, pollen filter, fuel additive....$254.63

Needless to say....very happy to see PCV system done!
 
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Mark - with the PCV and timing belt done, you've got an exceptional example of the XC.

Most XCs come on the market at about 8 years/120K when the owner chokes on the cost of the timing belt service quoted by the dealer. If the car needs a PCV as well, a $700 service, then that same owner type will often walk away.

Most Volvos aren't owned by "car people", so thing like a timing belt replacement seem exorbitant, and they had no idea it was coming...because they don't read the owners manual...
 
Originally Posted By: typ901
Wow-nearly 180 bucks for 6 quarts of semi-synthetic and filter.


Yep.

And with a 7,500 - 10,000 mile OCI. That tends to be ignored/delayed by typical Volvo owners. And people wonder why the PCV systems end up plugged with sludge on these cars...
 
The service record said that it came in with a plugged PCV system. Parts and labor for that portion only was I think $675, so right at what you mentioned. Labor was the biggest part of the job.

I found it interesting that they only replaced the right spring seat. I may take a look at the left one.

I think right now I'm going to order a case of Mobil 3309 and start doing some drain and fills.
 
I feel very fortunate that we stumbled upon this car. When I researched it's value, with all the extras like leather and the moon roof the retail book values were sort of all over the place....

KBB was $7100
Edmunds was $7300
NADA was $8800

Dealer was asking $9000 and I was able to negotiate down to $7700. At the time, not knowing all the other work had been done, I was willing to go $7700 because it was obvious it had new tires and the brakes looked relatively new.

I've had a long discussion with my daughter about how she should drive this car to get the most life out of it. She lets it run a a minute or so to let oil get up to the turbo before taking off and she also lets it idle a bit before shutting it off.
 
You know, my first turbo car, a 1985 Volvo 240 wagon, had an owner's manual that said to do that very warm up and cool down that you describe.

Now, that B21FT engine had a turbo that was only oil cooled, and I retrofitted it with a water cooled bearing housing and plumbing, but I still think that advice is good for a turbo. Good oil flow is critical to turbos, so the warm up is important. And they can get very hot if pressed hard, so the cool down is important if the car has been run hard.

My wife's XC has 202,000 miles on it with the original turbo. I can't tell you if that long life is due to the good quality oil (Pennzoil Ultra) or the warm up/cool down, but I think you're prudent to include both in the car's care.
 
I always liked the 240's and actually test drove a few but never bought one.

The owner's manual for this car also mentions the cool down after running it hard, say on the interstate.
 
I've been trying to locate a front bumper tow hook cover for this car but all I can find is the cover for the back bumper.
 
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