V70R buying advice
Discussion
Hey folks, I'm looking for a little advice. I'm currently in discussions with a very friendly gentleman with regards to buying his Saffron '98 V70R. It is the FWD manual varient, currently has nearly 200,000 miles, and runs on LPG. He is having it MOT'd this week, and the exterior although age worn, is in pretty good condition e.g no visible rust or such like. I'm just wondering if there is anything in particular to look out for? I've also had trouble finding any model specific maintainece manuals. I'm handy with a spanner, and enjoy spending my limited funds on fuel, rather than labour, if a job is fairly straight forward. Cheers in advance for any help i may recieve(P.S my enter button has failed, hence poor formatting) (P.P.S If this looks similar, i have just posted virtually the same request on the 'volvoforums' website.)
Check the front tyres and anti roll bar drop links as a first port of call - the FWD models can eat tyres if driven "enthusiastically" and all the larger, older Volvos eat ARB drop links (I've owned two 850's and they both did), they aren't dear though.
The main concern with the engine is the PCV system, positive crankcase ventilation - it can be a b
h to change as the inlet manifold has to come off (DONT REMOVE THE BOTTOM BOLTS, the manifold should be slotted to fit over them), it took me about 4 hours to change and I'm OK with the spanners, probably could do it quicker though. How to spot it? Remove the engine oil dipstick whilst the engine is running at idle and look for puffs of smoke, OR, loosen the oil filler cap and hold your hand over it, it'll move around like the lid of a boiling kettle - the PCV is blocked and it and the whole breather system needs replaced, genuine parts are about £100-£120, failure to fix this can lead to main oil seal failure, causing a small but persistent oil leak from the rear of the engine, you'd have to remove the engine to sort this.
The body is generally very good, but make sure you do the usual checks - neither of mine had any rust at all, we had one up on the ramps at an MOT (bottom arm failure) and it was spotless underneath (1995 850 T5R) - make sure it hasn't been crashed!
Check the service history, self maintenance is OK using good Volvo parts providing they knew what they were doing, the engines ARE pretty bomb proof providing they have been looked after. Cam belts are due every 80K so make sure it has been sorted.
Some time during 1998 (no idea when) the throttle cable was dropped for an electronic throttle module - if it has this make sure it is in good order as it can be expensive as **** to sort if it goes wrong!
Aside from this just go for the general "old car" checks, a lot of these have seen very high miles and a good amount of abuse as the engine is something else - they pull like a train for their age and size, I hope it's to your liking, I love 'em and would certainly have another!!!
The main concern with the engine is the PCV system, positive crankcase ventilation - it can be a b
h to change as the inlet manifold has to come off (DONT REMOVE THE BOTTOM BOLTS, the manifold should be slotted to fit over them), it took me about 4 hours to change and I'm OK with the spanners, probably could do it quicker though. How to spot it? Remove the engine oil dipstick whilst the engine is running at idle and look for puffs of smoke, OR, loosen the oil filler cap and hold your hand over it, it'll move around like the lid of a boiling kettle - the PCV is blocked and it and the whole breather system needs replaced, genuine parts are about £100-£120, failure to fix this can lead to main oil seal failure, causing a small but persistent oil leak from the rear of the engine, you'd have to remove the engine to sort this.The body is generally very good, but make sure you do the usual checks - neither of mine had any rust at all, we had one up on the ramps at an MOT (bottom arm failure) and it was spotless underneath (1995 850 T5R) - make sure it hasn't been crashed!
Check the service history, self maintenance is OK using good Volvo parts providing they knew what they were doing, the engines ARE pretty bomb proof providing they have been looked after. Cam belts are due every 80K so make sure it has been sorted.
Some time during 1998 (no idea when) the throttle cable was dropped for an electronic throttle module - if it has this make sure it is in good order as it can be expensive as **** to sort if it goes wrong!
Aside from this just go for the general "old car" checks, a lot of these have seen very high miles and a good amount of abuse as the engine is something else - they pull like a train for their age and size, I hope it's to your liking, I love 'em and would certainly have another!!!
Axionknight said:
Check the front tyres and anti roll bar drop links as a first port of call - the FWD models can eat tyres if driven "enthusiastically" and all the larger, older Volvos eat ARB drop links (I've owned two 850's and they both did), they aren't dear though.
The main concern with the engine is the PCV system, positive crankcase ventilation - it can be a bh to change as the inlet manifold has to come off (DONT REMOVE THE BOTTOM BOLTS, the manifold should be slotted to fit over them), it took me about 4 hours to change and I'm OK with the spanners, probably could do it quicker though. How to spot it? Remove the engine oil dipstick whilst the engine is running at idle and look for puffs of smoke, OR, loosen the oil filler cap and hold your hand over it, it'll move around like the lid of a boiling kettle - the PCV is blocked and it and the whole breather system needs replaced, genuine parts are about £100-£120, failure to fix this can lead to main oil seal failure, causing a small but persistent oil leak from the rear of the engine, you'd have to remove the engine to sort this.
The body is generally very good, but make sure you do the usual checks - neither of mine had any rust at all, we had one up on the ramps at an MOT (bottom arm failure) and it was spotless underneath (1995 850 T5R) - make sure it hasn't been crashed!
Check the service history, self maintenance is OK using good Volvo parts providing they knew what they were doing, the engines ARE pretty bomb proof providing they have been looked after. Cam belts are due every 80K so make sure it has been sorted.
Some time during 1998 (no idea when) the throttle cable was dropped for an electronic throttle module - if it has this make sure it is in good order as it can be expensive as **** to sort if it goes wrong!
Aside from this just go for the general "old car" checks, a lot of these have seen very high miles and a good amount of abuse as the engine is something else - they pull like a train for their age and size, I hope it's to your liking, I love 'em and would certainly have another!!!
Thanks for the help. I think I'll be heading to view on Friday or Saturday. As the guy has it booked in for the MOT on Thursday, and has had it in for prep work already, so should 'pass with flying colours'. I'm assuming the 'smokey dipstick' would be easier to spot after the vehicle is warmed from a test drive? At least your last point is nice and easy to check. Look for a cable, give it a tug: BroomBroom = throttle cable The main concern with the engine is the PCV system, positive crankcase ventilation - it can be a b
h to change as the inlet manifold has to come off (DONT REMOVE THE BOTTOM BOLTS, the manifold should be slotted to fit over them), it took me about 4 hours to change and I'm OK with the spanners, probably could do it quicker though. How to spot it? Remove the engine oil dipstick whilst the engine is running at idle and look for puffs of smoke, OR, loosen the oil filler cap and hold your hand over it, it'll move around like the lid of a boiling kettle - the PCV is blocked and it and the whole breather system needs replaced, genuine parts are about £100-£120, failure to fix this can lead to main oil seal failure, causing a small but persistent oil leak from the rear of the engine, you'd have to remove the engine to sort this.The body is generally very good, but make sure you do the usual checks - neither of mine had any rust at all, we had one up on the ramps at an MOT (bottom arm failure) and it was spotless underneath (1995 850 T5R) - make sure it hasn't been crashed!
Check the service history, self maintenance is OK using good Volvo parts providing they knew what they were doing, the engines ARE pretty bomb proof providing they have been looked after. Cam belts are due every 80K so make sure it has been sorted.
Some time during 1998 (no idea when) the throttle cable was dropped for an electronic throttle module - if it has this make sure it is in good order as it can be expensive as **** to sort if it goes wrong!
Aside from this just go for the general "old car" checks, a lot of these have seen very high miles and a good amount of abuse as the engine is something else - they pull like a train for their age and size, I hope it's to your liking, I love 'em and would certainly have another!!!
For this car which system is preferable, i assume the cable (being that it is likely just a braided steel line or wire) is the easier to maintain and replace if necessary?The cable is easier/cheaper to maintain and repair yeah, the ETM's are prone to failure if you tune the tits off of the car too - and these things can give some pretty hefty BHP and torque figures if you are willing to spend a bit of cash!
Yeah let it warm up at idle to check the smoke, if it's puffing like a chimney check under the car for an oil leak as the rear main seal could have gone, it's not a world ender as the leak is tiny (but persistent), but fixing it is a gearbox out job.
Yeah let it warm up at idle to check the smoke, if it's puffing like a chimney check under the car for an oil leak as the rear main seal could have gone, it's not a world ender as the leak is tiny (but persistent), but fixing it is a gearbox out job.
A little bit of closure for this thread:
The car cost the gentleman a lot more than expected to put it through it's MOT, so he has decided to keep it for another year
I'm a tad dissapointed but oh well.
I'm just unsure if another Saffron ,manual, v70R with LPG will turn up anytime soon, or near my rather pathetic budget
The car cost the gentleman a lot more than expected to put it through it's MOT, so he has decided to keep it for another year
I'm a tad dissapointed but oh well.
I'm just unsure if another Saffron ,manual, v70R with LPG will turn up anytime soon, or near my rather pathetic budget
chongwong said:
A little bit of closure for this thread:
The car cost the gentleman a lot more than expected to put it through it's MOT, so he has decided to keep it for another year
I'm a tad dissapointed but oh well.
I'm just unsure if another Saffron ,manual, v70R with LPG will turn up anytime soon, or near my rather pathetic budget
Why bother with LPG, are you doing big miles?The car cost the gentleman a lot more than expected to put it through it's MOT, so he has decided to keep it for another year
I'm a tad dissapointed but oh well.
I'm just unsure if another Saffron ,manual, v70R with LPG will turn up anytime soon, or near my rather pathetic budget
M,S,FWD cars are rare, but there's one on autotrader. I love mine
Stedman said:
Why bother with LPG, are you doing big miles?
M,S,FWD cars are rare, but there's one on autotrader. I love mine
About 14000 per year, supported by a part time job as I'm a student:-( i realise the yearly saving wouldn't be huge with the separate LPG servicing and such like, but it would be nice to limit the month on month monitary bleed from fuel.M,S,FWD cars are rare, but there's one on autotrader. I love mine
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