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High-Mileage Manual: 1998 S70 T5M

4K views 44 replies 13 participants last post by  cbblunk 
#1 ·
Hey all. First Swedish car/first Volvo after a string of older BMWs, some trucks, and a L322 Range Rover!

Last year, I bought a 2001 BMW X5 3.0i for $1500 and took it off-roading with some friends in a Top-Gear-esque sort of challenge. It was fun and we decided to do the whole thing again, but with different cars and a different theme/challenge. This year's challenge is "Cars Your Grandma Aspired to Own" and we are taking them rallycrossing. That's assuming, of course, that rallycross can happen in late August but fingers are crossed.

I was looking at all sorts of options for myself and had only limited my selection by saying "no more BMWs" - I've owned 11 and wanted to branch out. This Volvo appeared on my local (DC) Craigslist while I was idly scrolling during a conference call. It had been posted just an hour prior to my search and I'm sure my email read like some frantic nut. I saw the words "Volvo" "manual" and "turbo" and shot an email off with no more details.

Anyway, it's a 1998 S70 T5M.

I bought the car from a guy who had owned it since 1999! The first owner only kept it about a year but put 25k miles on it in that time. It was sold new locally here at Don Beyer Volvo in Falls Church, VA and that dealership put THREE clutches in the car. It has had the same clutch since 25k miles and that second owner which leads me to believe that maybe three-pedal driving wasn't the first owner's forte.

The second and long-term owner drove the car as his only vehicle for a long time, and then supplemented it with some BMWs. It was never the family car, so the front passenger seat and rear seats look nearly new. The driver's seat has also held up tremendously well. I have a stack of maintenance and repair records going back to the PDI at one mile. The second owner found a shop near his home in Maryland that did most of the work over the last 20 years. I need to call them tomorrow because the one record I don't have is a recent-ish timing belt service. The interval is anywhere from 80-100k miles depending on model year and who you believe, but I want to make sure that's in good shape. He claims it was done at 250k and I am missing records for about 23k of history around that time, so perhaps the receipts got tossed on accident.

More to come after I get it tagged, titled, and check the timing belt. Everything works, including the A/C and heated seats. The dashboard creaks at highway speed, I get an occasional flickering battery light (new battery, only happens if winding the revs out more) and over bumps the front end has a clunk or two. Sounds like it needs strut mounts or sway bar end links. The brakes are fine but kinda soft so probably due for new fluid and perhaps front pads. Oh, and it needs a CV boot on the one front axle.







I mentioned "250k" above and the car currently has 295,300 miles (ish) on it. One rallycross won't trash it, but I also don't think I want to do the event and promptly sell the car, either. Assuming I fall in a bit of love with it, my goal is to get it to 300k and beyond while keeping it nice. The previous owner spent money as needed to keep the car going and in nice shape, so I'd like to do the same. Some of his past maintenance/upgrades are going to be due again (the Koni FSD struts have 100k on 'em, for example) so might as well see what IPD can sell me if I want to replace anything.

Glad to be here, let's see how this goes!
 
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#2 ·
Got the car tagged/titled yesterday (it's a process in Virginia given COVID precautions but worked pretty well). Took it for a short drive to my friends' place to get a few miles in and poke around.

It needs front brakes, badly. That likely explains the soft pedal. I'll throw new fluid through the system while I'm in there. I have a friend at a Volvo dealership so hoping he can run my VIN through VIDA to see which size of brake rotors I have. Not sure if there is a hard and fast assumption to make given it's a T5.

The passenger front CV boot is torn. Some reading indicates it's often easier or better to replace the whole axle?

My Volvo-dealer friend is going to have a tech block some time off to inspect the car and see what else it needs. Generally, though, it rides and drives really well! I was able to give it the beans through a few on-ramps yesterday and it's a fun chassis! The manual transmission action is pretty good. I'm still adjusting to the clutch but it feels solid as well. I was able to load up CDs from my childhood CD wallet in the trunk changer and blast 1998's biggest hits from NOW 1 on the surprisingly-very-good sound system, too.
 
#3 ·
Welcome! If you have 280mm rotors the upgrade to 302mm is hailed by pretty much everyone I just did it myself a few weeks ago. Used caliper brackets pop up on the for sale forum for ~$100 for the pair or if you need them now IPD has them for $139 a pair. https://www.ipdusa.com/products/926...ront-p80-850-s70-v70-c70-genuine-volvo-120644

Would also need the longer brake line, pn 9191400. https://www.fcpeuro.com/Volvo-parts/S70/?year=1998&m=206&e=153&t=5&b=5&d=665&v=87&keywords=9191400

Can still use 280mm pads but the 302mm cover the rotor better.

Also, generally speaking, fcpeuro has been the go to place for many. Competitive prices, solid customer service and lifetime guarantee on all parts.

Good luck.
 
#4 ·
Awesome info, thank you! I'll have to figure out the rotor size before I do anything else. My buddy has been busy all day so no time to plug the VIN in yet.

FCP has been a go-to for me for years now, I race an E36 M3 with NASA and have used FCP for a lot of parts. Their lifetime warranty is extended to motorsports use and they really support the amateur racing community, so we all try to show them some love too. The previous owner of my Volvo bought a lot of parts from them, back to the days when they were FCP Groton.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the offer! I want to keep this car in good shape but don't want to spend tooooo too much money on it for performance upgrades for the time being. If I can find a good pad compound for the 280mm rotor, I may just do that to avoid spending more money on hardware. Going in at 8:30 AM tomorrow for a whole-car inspection and then will decide what to do myself vs. outsource.
 
#8 ·
Congrats on the new acquisition. She looks to be in amazing shape for the age and miles. You don’t see interiors that clean on these cars with half the miles. That driver seat bolster for example. The list of to do’s doesn’t seem too bad either.
 
#9 ·
Alrighty, update time!

  • Front brake pads are beyond done and rears aren't far off (but would pass inspection). Ordered a full pad/rotor kit for both axles and confirmed I have the 280mm rotors. Going to keep them for now.
  • Drivers' front sway bar end link is shot, probably explains the clunking over bumps I was hearing from the front left. Previous owner purchased IPD end links and only had the passenger side installed 100k miles ago. Ordered two new Lemforder links to replace both.
  • Both front CV axle boots are torn. One axle was replaced at 261k so not sure how that boot is already torn but whatever. We'll fix both so I don't trash the axles.
  • Radiator is leaking at the seams, was last replaced 50k miles ago and who knows what brand/quality was used.
  • Dipstick head is broken off (oh, the horror). I ordered a new dipstick because it's a cheap way to keep the car nice.
  • Oil leaks just enough to leave a few little spots when parked for a day or two. I'm going to poke around, the tech said the underside is all grimy so he'd have to clean it up to pinpoint. May need some PCV stuff replaced. Hoping it's not cam seals, distributor seal, etc as I don't want to pull the head apart.

On the plus side, he said the timing belt looked great, so that's one big job that can sit on the (far) back burner for now. I ordered some of the parts and am going to get a quote for the radiator and CV boot work. If it's reasonable enough, I'll just have it done as work is busy right now. If it's a WTF sort of quote, I'm happy to throw a radiator at it myself and figure out how to replace the boots.
 
#10 ·
You do not need to remove the head to do the cam seals.
Front cam seals are more intensive, but rear cam seals are quite easy.
I'd vote rear cam seals and/or turbo drain seals (also easy on a FWD car). for your oil leaks.
 
#11 ·
Glad someone saved this one - we were watching it for a month or two on here.
 
#15 ·
Oh, was it for sale on here? I'll have to poke around. Mileage doesn't scare me one bit if it's been cared for, which I think it has been. I have a friend in Phoenix with a fleet of high-mileage Acuras and they all get driven, including his 580k (ish) Legend coupe with original drivetrain. He's taken that cross-country a few times recently and it's fine. This Volvo ought to be similarly stout if I keep it up.
 
#12 ·
Check the oil cooler hoses, those leak with age, good time to replace with radiator...can have them rebuilt at a hydraulic hose shop, better than paying top dollar for genuine Volvo. Spend the money to refresh the whole car, DIY, of course.
 
#13 ·
Fix/change the axle boots. Finding a new/rebuilt VOLVO manual axle has been next to impossible for the past 10-12 years or so!
Aftermarket is a crapshoot
 
#17 ·
I believe it's 426 Mystic Silver over Light Taupe leather. I have the 1998 dealer sales brochure (PO included it in the sale) and Pewter isn't listed for the '98 model year.

Parts are all on their way, I put a few miles on it yesterday but am keeping it parked until I get stuff fixed. The brake pads are really low on material so don't want to risk it.

Does anyone bother with the Grom Bluetooth upgrade to the factory head unit, or is it easier to swap out for something else? Looks like Grom is $200 and connects to the CD changer wiring. I used one of these in my E46 M3 and liked it but the factory BMW head unit had good sound quality. Not sure if the Volvo units are known for SQ or not.
 
#20 ·
Alright so we got it all fixed up. I think a front dust shield or something is a little bent on one corner as I've got some noise after doing the brakes. I'll check it out soon.

Came out to the car last night to drive to dinner and the battery was dead. Like no odometer/trip computer at all dead. I drove the car five days prior and it was totally fine. Brought the battery inside and hooked it to my tender, which spent 12 hours today charging it and didn't go to green/fully charged. The battery is from December 2019 so not very old. Hopefully it was just a fluke but I'll be keeping an eye on things. Threw the battery back in, car started up fine, and I put 30 minutes/miles of driving on it up and down the highway.

Now that the battery went flat, the radio wants the code. I have every piece of documentation on this thing but no radio code. How can I obtain that? It's the original radio to the car, single CD/tape with 6-disc in trunk.

 
#21 ·
#23 ·
Pulled the front left brake all apart and discovered the wheel speed sensor wiring was not clipped in to the little guides (2 of them) that hold the wire in a certain position. I think when I was turning the wheel, the wire was flexing, pushing on the back of the dust/heat shield, and making the lightest of contact with the rotor. Wire is relocated where it should be and that corner seems quieter now.

A friend was removing a Grom BT3 that we’d installed a few years ago from his BMW Z3, in lieu of a different audio solution now. He sold me the Grom for $40 and I was able to just buy the Volvo wiring for it from Grom. Wiring should be here Wednesday so I can install that. It was cute listening to my high school CD collection for a few weeks, but I’m tired of NOW 6 and Fall Out Boy, and the radio reception isn’t nearly as high quality as the CD player. Hopefully the Grom will sound pretty good in the car. The speakers all work and nothing is blown.

I’ve noticed my fuel gauge works but doesn’t go all the way to Full on a full tank. Sender may be a little gummed up but I don’t plan to fix that.

Otherwise things are good. This car is hilarious when all the boost hits at 3500 rpm or so.
 
#24 ·
If the Grom bluetooth isn't doing it for you, connect via some other method. The Grom will put out sound as good as you put in.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Cool. The BT3 has the two round DIN (?) connections for "Ext 1" and "Ext 2" which I presume can be used to add a USB input. It only has Bluetooth and a 3.5mm auxiliary jack for the Bluetooth phone mic. I believe the Volvo connection to the back of the radio is that same DIN plug so maybe I can keep the CD changer too.

Side note - are these cars known for boost hitting like a small sledgehammer halfway through the tach? Or is my 295k-mile turbo just a little tired? Most of my turbo experience is with newer cars that have more advanced boost setups that feel more linear. My car is a bit of a dog unless you wind it out.
 
#26 ·
The Volvo CD changer port is proprietary. Both of my 850s have CD changers and I do use them. I made a switch box for my Grom in like Q3 2017; it's in my T-5R's thread around that time.

Something is definitely wrong. Check the wastegate adjustment/vac lines/etc. But a new CHRA is a good idea and cheap enough.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Kind of subjective on the boost onset issue. Compared to a modern car, the feel is going to be less refined. Many aftermarket tunes for the '98s are known for hitting pretty hard at +/-3200 rpm (a function of saving connecting rods vulnerable to early boost onset). My car definitely has this characteristic, but not so much with just the factory tune which I think is what you still have.
 
#28 ·
Kind of subjective on the boost onset issue. Many aftermarket tunes for the '98s are known for hitting pretty hard at +/-3200 rpm (a function of saving connecting rods vulnerable to early boost onset), but not so much the factory tune which I think is what you still have.
Yeah, factory t00n is al I've got. It's not super-slow out of boost, but there's definitely a defined moment when you feel the boost surge and start to build, 3200ish rpm or a little higher. I need to poke around and look at the vacuum lines. Seems IPD has a replacement for the main three (?) for like $9 that would be money well spent. The records don't indicate any of them have been replaced and miles aside, it's old rubber that's probably in lousy shape after so many years and heat cycles.
 
#29 ·
Many people will tell you iPD sells not great products. I've had bad and good experiences with them. On my R, their color coded silicone vacuum lines was one of the best choices I made from them. Helped me to remember what went where, plus they looked nice and added a splash of color to the engine bay.
 
#30 ·
I'm not a fan of IPD but hard to screw up a silicone hose. I just bought a big coil of black silicone hose but then I have 6 cars to deal with.
 
#31 ·
Got my Volvo cable for the Grom BT3 today. Amazing how easy Volvo makes it to remove the radio! Got everything hooked up and only get this "EEEE" message when I push the CHGR button. My Grom came out of a BMW and I figured it might have BMW-specific firmware on it. Went to their website and downloaded the proper Volvo firmware. Got it onto a 128 GB SD card that I reformatted as FAT32. No dice with the firmware update. I have a note in to Grom support so we'll see what they say. My SD card may be too large, thought I had a smaller one but can't find it in my apartment. Harumph.

 
#32 ·
The Grom gets power? Check if the BMW CD changers use the same protocol.
 
#34 ·
Definitely sounds like an interface problem. Usually phone connectivity is where the problems are
 
#35 ·
Got the Grom unit working, had to update the firmware from BMW to Volvo which involves reading the directions four times until you realize you didn't rename the file that downloaded from their website, and that you must use a MicroSD card 8GB in size or less. Bluetooth works now and the sound system is really quite good.

I've developed a knocking noise over any sort of road imperfection, from the front right. I already replaced the swaybar end links, which cured that noise from the front left. The previous owner replaced the struts with Koni Yellows... 120k miles ago. So, it's time for another set of struts/shocks. The front right is leaking and the strut housing itself is actually rusty and gross. I ordered new Sachs struts/shocks and mounts, and will have time to get those bolted up next week. Didn't want to spend the money for Konis again but didn't want to go with some cheap-BS option from RockAuto/eBay, as the car was cared for before my ownership and deserves good parts.
 
#36 ·
sachs is good. will ride much better.

make sure the sway bar end links are tight
 
#37 ·
Yeah, it's currently got blown Konis on three corners and some generic nonsense on the front left, which was installed about 30k miles ago. This will be a nice update.

End links should be tight as I used my friend's Volvo dealership to get the work done. But I'll check 'em when I do the struts. It was all good until I went driving through DC, the roads are not the smoothest and that may have loosened things up a hair.
 
#38 ·
Took some time last Friday to pull the suspension all apart and replace the front struts, rear shocks, and all four tophats/bearings/whatever you call them.

First of all, the Koni Yellows were all rusty and nasty:



All three of them were crumbling as we removed them. This one pictured is the front right and it was the worst. The front left had been replaced with a no-name strut about 30k miles ago.

The front right strut bearing/tophat*had some pretty big play in it, which I suspect was the source of my consistent clunking noise over any road imperfection.

Ran into an issue with compressing the front springs to get the new stuff bolted together. Auto parts stores are not renting spring compressors due to COVID, but he had his own spring compressor that looks just like what you'd rent from AutoZone. It got the old struts apart, but could not extend tall enough to compress the springs back down. Turns out he had cut the threaded rods to allow them to fit on his Mk4 GTI, years ago. Oops.

Some panic-calls later (this was 5 PM on Friday with my car in the middle of their two-car garage where two projects normally live) and I discovered my friend was still at work for the day. He's a service advisor at the local Volvo dealership. One of his techs was working late and said "bring 'em by" and assembled everything for free in about 10 minutes.



We got everything back together, I got the car aligned this morning (it's easy to knock the toe out when you pull the struts, I guess) and it's all back in the green now according to the printout. Noises are gone and it rides really well now on all new Sachs stuff.

Yay.
 
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