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JaredR's Dad's 1999 V70 NA M56LK

55K views 443 replies 51 participants last post by  JaredR 
#1 · (Edited)
Welcome to the most boring progression thread ever! Looking for lots of HP? Move right along. Looking for lots of crazy mods? This thread is probably not for you. This is a thread to document the life of a working V70 and what you can do with it.

Ok, now that we're past the disclaimer, say hello to my dad's 412 Tropic Green 1999 V70 NA M56H! We got it in September 2010 at 166k. This being our first Volvo and, really, our first decent car after a time of crappy American econoboxes (except a manual Ford Escort estate that we quite liked) that we'd had since making the mistake of retiring our 1988 Mercury Sable estate in 2002, we had no idea what we were buying into.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Mode of transport Hood


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Volvo cars Volvo s70


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Volvo cars Volvo v70


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Volvo cars Volvo v70


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Volvo s70 Volvo cars














Mods:

E-Codes because being able to see is awesome! These are SO SO SO much better than the DOT lights that were in here; I can't recommend this upgrade enough. We are planning on eventually converting our entire fleet to E-Codes.


Bernie sticker because sea level rise.


Herreshoff Museum sticker because boats.


Trailer hitch because boats.


I'm not kidding.


Scratches because, well, probably also because boats, actually.


XC grill! Car was in an accident before we got it that required a new hood, bumper, and driver's fender, so our best guess is that it was replaced with a hood from a XC.


The crappy repaint on this hood is so shot. Please PM me if you have a tropic green hood that you want to get rid of.


This brake caliper is not working right; need to do something about that.


New Michelin Defenders because they're hard to beat for 15" wheels.


Other mods:
Added roof rails because boats.

Put the floor mats out of the wrecked 850R in here because they were already a mess and the mats that were in here didn't really fit.

Has a 850 purge valve in it because we just happened to have it on hand in the wrecked R. We spent about 6 months dealing with some very strange symptoms after accidentally going to a full-serve gas station. The problem turned out to be the purge valve being ruined by the idiot there overfilling it. I don't recommend going to Murley's Sunoco in Weymouth. Go anywhere else and just mix your own 91. Before replacing the purge valve, we replaced the MAF, o2 sensor, and did the ETM repair (it looked like it was most of the way through the carbon, anyway). Unfortunately, this also decreased our fuel economy, which we assume is related to the fact that we no longer get the running lean code. The good part is that the CEL has been out ever since replacing these things, which has set a new record for most consecutive days with no codes since we got the car.

It is currently sitting at 228k miles and is out of service due to a broken exhaust pipe, so the T-5R is filling in for it. Once we get it back in service and we can take the T-5R out of service to get rid of the Bilstein HDs and IPD/TME exhaust in that car, we may take this car back out of service over the summer to address some of its other issues.
 
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#237 ·
Grabbed a XeMODeX on ebay since we were getting a bunch of ETM codes in VIDA and the car was being super weird.....like starting and then idling at 4000rpm.....ETM codes are gone now so hopefully that was the problem.



 
#238 ·
Got tired of seeing this scratched up hood every time I walked off the porch so I did something about that yesterday. This staying at home thing is amazing; getting so much done lol.





 
#239 ·
I know, right? Except a client wanted to have a Conf call today (yeah, a Sunday) and I was on that with my work PC on gotomeeting going over plans and details for an important project with them. These are new times. I figure there are ppl out of work, so...
 
#240 ·
Let's see what can be done with this mess



So, uh, remember that gross base interior door panel that just came out of the S70? Yea well turns out it's actually better than all the other tan panels I have in that position lol. Just needs some cleanup.





Not amazing but Cs build work cars so whatever.



Oh yeah did the other side while I was at it. Annoyingly the port side panel is 98 so the carpet faded and starboard is 99. but whatever it's clean and not falling apart. Carpet isn't stained on the starboard panel that's just a wet spot from the cleaning.



Hey i can work on this door inside.





Wow we got a crazy combo of stuff going on down here tonight.





 
#248 ·
bye bye smashed door



Note how caved in the near door is.



Also much more scratched up than the new one.



Installed the mint walnut wheel I've had in stock since like November lol.



Yaaaaaaaaaaaasss now we just need a walnut shift knob and some better seats. Wish I could get my hands on some tan Monza seats for this thing but I don't see that happening.

 
#250 ·
Are we officially using "Monza" for those now? It's definitely easier than "the rare T5 SE" seats.
Yes, because it's not SE specific and those who know far more than any of us about options rarely seen in North America have informed me that it is the official name for that interior. Poke around and you'll find references to "Monza" but it's not at all clear what it is.
 
#252 ·
Like the S70, it is almost as mint as it looks, too. It came from Japan.
 
#256 ·






 
#257 ·
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Nice threads. Your home reminded me of the late 80's and early 90's when I owned a home in Berkeley CA but my neighborhood was flat. Your thread also reminded me my first entry into Volvo's. A 98 S70 T5 purchased for $500, I think in Jan of 2012. Had 230K miles and was towed home due to oil gushing out of the dipstick (PCV). Will post a pic when I'm allowed to.
.
 
#258 · (Edited)
Ran into some issues with the P2 seat swap. Everything bolts up and plugs but the electrics are being a problem. Gotta get that sorted out. Better color match than I was expecting though.



The airbag and controller connectors were different.



So I swapped it for a P80 controller and wired in the proper connector..



However. Still getting a SRS light. And no power to the seat motors. Factory manual passenger seat car, and there is no power at the connector on the car harness. Gotta be a missing relay somewhere or something. Anyone have the answer to this before I dive into the wiring diagrams and figure it out? Also seems to be a non heated seat lol fml so I'll have to deal with that at some point too but that we don't need for the next few months.

 
#259 ·
Got the seat situation figured out. Have to add fuse 11C/40 to get power to the passenger power seat circuit.



Cool that's a much more reasonable seating position.



Oh apparently we hit 267k at some point.



Lots of codes.



Erased them all to see what would come back.



This would be the issue. Checked the resistance and the P80 airbag has about twice the resistance of the P2 bag. Seems like adding a resistor in series will be the easiest solution here. I have no idea why it says there are three other SRS faults since the light wasn't on before and this is the only thing that changed. So I'll deal with this and then look at those if they persist.

 
#261 ·
yeah you click the i
 
#264 ·
Anybody know where to find the info on airbag resistance? I've been told that's it's somewhere in the weeds of VIDA but figured I'd see if anyone know exactly where before I get lost in them myself.
 
#265 ·
Upon further research (and due to a sudden need to put this car back in service asap), a new strategy was adopted. Luckily I pulled the 99 passenger seat the power seat rails came from out of the trash when I realized this wasn't going so well, so I stripped the airbag out of that.



Let's see if the car likes this.



Much better.







Not quite the same (P80 on the left, P2 on the right) but all the attachments are the same........



.....and it does fit!



Hog rings are annoying.





 
#267 ·
Thanks. Yeah they are better, especially better than hashed base P80 seats. The seats in my mom's S70 are super comfy.
 
#268 ·
Electrics got entertaining on the driver's seat. Annoyingly the passenger seat I have isn't heated (seats aren't from the same car) so that'll need to be opened up again at some point to address that.

As you can see, none of this connects to a P80. GR/OR connector is seat back motor, GR and GN connectors for heated seat, OR for airbag obviously. No news the airbag doesn't fit but what is up with the rest of this.....



Looked at the 99+ P80 wiring diagram to see what the deal is with temperature regulation. There is this thermal switch in series with both heating pads.



So I cut that out and cut all the connectors for the pads. P80 diagram on the left, you can see the pads and the thermal switch all in series towards the bottom of the page. P2 on the right. Everything is networked and has a standalone sensor. Absolutely useless for temp regulation in a P80.



All wired up.



Gouged out a small cavity for the thermal switch to sit in. Duct taped the wiring in place to make sure it doesn't move.



Motor control is also different (4 wires vs 5....not sure exactly what is up with that), but the seat is structurally the same P80 and -04 P2 so I'll swap over the motor and airbag from the original driver's seat. That'll wrap up this project.

 
#269 · (Edited)
Last pieces of the puzzle......swapped over the seat back adjustment motor. Motor itself is the same but position sensor is not.



P80 rails on.



Success! No SRS faults. All adjustments work. Heating pads are functioning and thermal regulation seems to be functioning properly. Much comfort added.

 
#271 ·
Ah I see you have installed camo door pull trim LOL ;)

Really impressed with this swap, and the color is so close it looks really nice. I haven't sat in p2 seats in a long time, since before I got the VR, are they noticeably more comfortable than p80/p1 seats? The last time I had a long drive in a p2 was my sisters car for 5 hours.
 
#272 ·
Really impressed with this swap, and the color is so close it looks really nice. I haven't sat in p2 seats in a long time, since before I got the VR, are they noticeably more comfortable than p80/p1 seats? The last time I had a long drive in a p2 was my sisters car for 5 hours.
Thanks guys. Base P2 seats are far less comfortable to me than any P80 seats, but the sport seats are fantastic. I would say these are comparable to P80 R seats.

Ah I see you have installed camo door pull trim LOL ;)
Lol; that trim never went back on last time we had the panel off since we still need to take that panel off again to do some more stuff.
 
#275 ·
Let's make this thing stop.



Oh. Maybe we have a bit more work to do here...



 
#279 · (Edited)
Need to bring the boat home so we can go sailing. Well that's not gonna do for towing 3500lb.



Decided while I had it on stands that I would do delta link bushings. Sway bar didn't want to come out.



I wasn't asking! Hammer took care of that in a hurry.



Awww yeah 850R RSB going back in.



crusty!



That's better. Calipers we replaced a couple years ago were both seized. So refreshed that again. Oh yeah Hawk pads all around now. And Nivos from the R that were displaced by the Öhlins. Supposedly about 70k on those so hopefully we'll get another 100 or so out of them.



Fronts were doing super bad too so also refreshed that. And new lines.



Inner tie rod boot completely split in two. Guess we'll plan on dropping the subframe this summer and servicing everything down there once the 850s are buttoned up. Feels like it would benefit from a rebuilt rack anyway.



Borrowed the Titans from the T-5R to have something a little more summery than WRG4 for the tow home. Not as grippy as I'd like for towing but but at least it stops semi-decently now and looks cool in cell phone pictures for the 'net.

 
#290 ·
Month old post, but where are you finding Hawk pads for these cars still? I was looking all around when I did the brake on my R last month.
 
#292 ·
These were already on hand.

I don't know what I am going to do for pads going forward. My dad and I may end up moving our cars to 320s long term. Yeah yeah seems excessive for a NA but this thing will go way over 100 if you have the patience and tows 4000lbs so it needs to stop, and the stopping experience with all the P80s is extremely disappointing compared to the S60.

The EBC yellows may also get another shot. There may have been a defective rotor contributing to the problems I experienced there. I think they stopped at least as well as the Hawks. The dust was absolutely insane but I will deal with it and run them if they beat the Hawks in stopping (I am a single issue shopper when it comes to brakes).
Yeah, I agree. I don't mind the dust as long as they're stopping well. I'm also very picky about brakes. My R1 Concepts brakes have been pretty good so far, they stop WAY better than those awful Powerstop brakes I had before, but the dust is pretty awful. Plus they squeal a little bit occasionally... that's the only thing that really drives me nuts.

The 336s on my mom's XC90 don't do that great for towing surprisingly, but that's mostly due to pads. I had Duralast Gold pads on there (my dad was in a rush one weekend to replace the brakes since he wanted to put it off so long) and it barely stopped without a trailer, they were HORRIBLE. Almost completely lost brakes at one point while towing a small trailer of scrap metal... somehow we stopped just in time for a traffic light.
Now it's running Pagid pads, and while they're not great, they're worlds better. I think the rotors probably should have at least been resurfaced, and a set of rear pads would be a big improvement too. I also think I need to flush the brake fluid, it's nasty looking.

I put Pagid pads on my brother's S60 too, and they're great. They are included as part of the Powerstop ECE-R90 Euro kit, which is the only Powerstop kit I'd buy simply due to the Pagid pads. Along with stainless hoses, that car stops on a dime now.
 
#293 ·
Yeah, I agree. I don't mind the dust as long as they're stopping well. I'm also very picky about brakes. My R1 Concepts brakes have been pretty good so far, they stop WAY better than those awful Powerstop brakes I had before, but the dust is pretty awful. Plus they squeal a little bit occasionally... that's the only thing that really drives me nuts.

The 336s on my mom's XC90 don't do that great for towing surprisingly, but that's mostly due to pads. I had Duralast Gold pads on there (my dad was in a rush one weekend to replace the brakes since he wanted to put it off so long) and it barely stopped without a trailer, they were HORRIBLE. Almost completely lost brakes at one point while towing a small trailer of scrap metal... somehow we stopped just in time for a traffic light.
Now it's running Pagid pads, and while they're not great, they're worlds better. I think the rotors probably should have at least been resurfaced, and a set of rear pads would be a big improvement too. I also think I need to flush the brake fluid, it's nasty looking.

I put Pagid pads on my brother's S60 too, and they're great. They are included as part of the Powerstop ECE-R90 Euro kit, which is the only Powerstop kit I'd buy simply due to the Pagid pads. Along with stainless hoses, that car stops on a dime now.
Sounds like my experience with Pagid pads and 316/308 XC90 brakes on my S60. I have to be careful not to get rear ended with that setup.

Interestingly I tried Pagids on my T-5R and was very disappointed. They're going back to FCP in the next warranty batch.
 
#281 ·
Nice. Yeah we really should. Need to find some decent ones. we have to get back in here anyway since we had to delete the handbrake due to seized cables.
 
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