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V70 For My Daughter's Christmas

3K views 62 replies 14 participants last post by  ZZZZZZZ 
#1 ·
Greetings from East Central Alabama. Always swore I'd never buy a European car but a friend sold me his black, 2005 V70 for $600. He is the only owner and has a stack of maintenance records which shows that shows that he was lacking in preventative maintenance. Replaced the factory timing belt at 164K miles! The accesory drive belt has cracks on both sides! Changed oil at factory recommended 7500 miles but did not use synthetic or a recommended ILSAC GF-5 oil but oh well. It runs good for having 245,000 miles! It doesn't smoke or use oil. No leaks. I couldn't believe the lack of staining on the underside of the engine or the tranny. Interior is clean and ALL the electronics work!
Just replaced the shocks and struts and am going to have the timing belt and cooling system parts replaced. Am going to start using a better grade motor oil, probably a 10-30 HD oil like DELO OR Rotella or just go with a 5w-40HD and I will service the tranny with the drain, refill, drive in all 5 gears, drain, refill, drive.............until most of the nearly 8 old quarts are gone.
This will be my daughters first car. Even after putting about $1500 in maintenance, if it gives good service til she graduates high school, I figured I got a deal. If she is in a collision SHE IS IN A VOLVO!

The broken flip keys suck though. Thought about just gluing the damned things in the open position!
Gotta to get her ready for Christmas day!
 
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#2 ·
Front End Thunk

Got the struts and shocks installed and a front end alignment on my daughters Christmas present, the 245K miles V70. Rides better but on larger,small and medium and bigger bumps in the road I get a "thunk" from the front end. It doesn't seem to be either side but regardless there is a "thunk" when rolling over imperfections of decent size. Would this be an indication of a need to check the tightness of the subframe bolts? Control arms? Tie Rod Ends?
Any ideas?
 
#6 ·
Greetings to another Alabama Swede. I haven't been on as much as I used to, but pop on when I can. On the flip keys, they're quite fixable. You can buy replacement shells, and/or fix the one you've got. There's some good youtube videos on it. For the clunking, I'd check the LCA bushings or end links (as suggested). But also, did you replace spring seats and strut mounts when you did the struts? Those are both possible clunking points. Also, given the maintenance history (or lack thereof), you should do the rubber glove test for the PCV. Chances are that's gonna need to be done too…
 
#10 ·
Ok, I'll check the PCV. Still hiding the car from my daughter. Thinks she is getting it in February for her B'day instead of Christmas. Got to finish detailing the interior and gotta clean, polish and seal the paint and the "TurboBrick" will be ready. Can't wait to see her face when she opens that box and sees that key Christmas morning.

Tip: Use REJEX after striping the wax off with Dawn diswashing detergent and polishing with Meguiers or whatever. REJEX is the bomb, it, the final word, etc. Been using it for years. It is what they seal the paint on commercial airliners with. Dried bugs will wipe off with a damp cloth! Will protect wheels from road salts and chemicals.
 
#11 ·
OMG!The inside of this thing was filthy. Not obviously. Used 4 cans of Resolve. Started hitting various spots and dirty areas with spot remover and ended up just spot treating the entire carpeted areas with spot remover. The brown just kept coming! The exterior got the "Full Monty". I clay barred the entire car! Yep! My 10 year old, Erica helped immensely with this. The roof was awful. It has sun heated hard water spots that the clay bar nor Meguiers Ultimate Polish could remove. It also had some kind of baked on berry spots that was shat by a bird in the past that was not coming off with clay bar or anything. Oh well. Polished the whole car and then sealed with Rejex. I'll post a picture Christmas morning after she receives. The paint for a 11 year old car is amazing for the most part.
 
#16 ·
You stole it. If you go to the Volvo dealer, you can get a master key (old fashioned key with chip) and avoid the flip-key. Key needs to be programmed with the car.
 
#21 ·
It's about $50 dollars for the key part and last time I checked about $70 to program it. I'll report back as I'm going to have this done to mine soon.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#20 ·
 
#23 ·
Not in anyone's dilusion is it $700.
The most I ever heard of it being quoted is about $500 and that's a rip off.
If you want a complete new switchblade, I will sell you one for about $200 and I will have it cut to your VIN
You will have to deal with your dealer for the two softwares and the "labor" to program it
If you just want the head end with the key portion, I can give you a price later, let me know but figure about half. You still will need one software download from the dealer
 
#26 ·
You are one dedicated dad Bustedup. Here's to some good motoring in your daughter's future!
FWIW, I don't classify Volvos with the rest of Europe's car market. German cars start having issues around 50K, Italians from about 50 miles, and as for the British cars, seems that all that's left is AM, LR and Jaguar, and none of those could be considered "reliable" even in the age of computer diagnostics and bulletproof drivetrains.
As long as that engine and turbo are tight and she waits til its warm to "get on it" and gives it a proper cooldown before cutting the ignition, she could could have a diploma, a degree and a "Just Married" sign in the rear window before it gives up the ghost.
 
#27 ·
If you want to fix the one(s) you've got you, can do this: Key blanks aren't that bad-there are OEM ones on ebay for about $40, knockoff ones for a fraction of that. You just gotta put your transponder into the new one. I've converted two old-style keys to switchblades like this.
 
#28 ·
I just wanted her in a safe car and had budgeted $5K for a used Ford 500 which was built on a Volvo chassis and was therefore a 5 Star Safety Rated car. This thing came along for $600 and I said "what the hell, a turbo brick!".
Sigg, I have researched the "swapping transponder into a new fob by sawing open the old fob" method. However, a shattered right wrist with limited function keeps me from performing many tasks that requires fine motor skills/dexterity and I think this method does so. Like I said, for me the most economical thing may be to just epoxy/JB Weld the switchblade into the open position.
 
#29 ·
Lets see... My R has 310k, my dad's has 208k, my XC has 220k, my mom's XC has 190k, Volvos last if you take care of them... Really the only thing I'd do is considering changing the ATF with Mobil 3309, and use Castrol euro 0w40 motor oil. Also, add a GROM-- no more CDs and you get bluetooth.
 
#31 ·
Hounddogger, what is a GROM? My daughter was wanting to be able to hook up her ipod or smart phone but the 2005 doesn't have an AUX port and I have read horror stories about hooking up an aftermarket radio with the integrated ECM.
Also, what is up with the 0w-40 oil recommendations? It don't get that cold down here in the Heart of Dixie to use a 0W motor oil.
 
#32 · (Edited)
There's several different options for auxiliary input. GROM, USA Spec, etc. They manufacture little devices which can be added to the stock radio which allow you to connect audio devices to the car. A quick google search will yield you what you need to know.

https://www.usaspec.com/volvo-v70-parts.aspx
http://gromaudio.com/

You don't "need" 0W-40. That's a preference. My preference is Mobil 1 5W-30 Full Synthetic High Mileage. Everyone has their opinion. Pick what you like as long as it's a high quality synthetic.
 
#33 ·
Yep what he said. I like the GROM one because its platform agnostic (doesn't care if its an iPhone or an android phone plugged in) as long as you have the right cable it works. GROM gives you a USB port and you supply the cable.

Castrol 0W40 is the cheapest oil you can buy that's made in germany & since the recommended oil weights for the car are 0W30 and 5W30 and 0W30 is very hard to find for low cost many have switched to 0W40.
 
#35 ·
I use 5/30 nearly exclusively and even with the heat & dust, no issues. Even when I changed my PCV @ 135K my indy master tech said it didn't really need to be done.

I did the aftermarket head unit a few years back b/c the HU-613 is buggy. I did a single DIN with the pocket below and love it. They make an aftermarket panel for 05+ that doesn't look half bad, but the OEM panel is the one to have. The only issue is that you have to block the wheels, get the gear shift all the way out of the way, and then pull the battery terminal or else you risk breaking electrical contact on the CCM which will set off the SRS light. I don't even miss steering wheel controls personally.
 
#36 ·
Anyone every replace the horn on this generation V70? This one sounds like a lamb being bludgeoned to death! I see it behind the grill but it looks like the radiator or entire front bumper cover needs to come off to access it, unless there is some way to manipulate the grill insert latches with some special designed tool and remove the grill. Any ideas?
 
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