Volvo V70 diesel collection - not in advance, not live

[garethj]

I searched and searched for a diesel Volvo 940 manual in good (not absolutely fucked) condition, couldn't find one anywhere.  There's probably a few advertised in Scotland-only newspapers, but for those of us dahn sarf there was nothing.  The 850 isn't really a looker and to be honest the diesel ones with manual box are quite rare too but I like the look of the early V70s.

 

One came up on gumtree with "only" 135,000 on the clock, the MoT history seems quite good with it only getting a few minor faults along the way and it was fairly local in Bury St Edmunds.  At least it would have been local if I was still working in Cambridge, but now in Northampton it's a bit more of a trek.

 

With the afternoon booked off work I drove home and did the 15 minute walk to Flitwick railway station.  If you've got loads of time you'll zip through buying a ticket, but if you're on any kind of schedule then you'll be behind the daft woman (other daft genders are available) in the queue.  As I had plenty of time to stand there, I overheard some of the conversation.

 

"And that's a weekly ticket, is it?"

"Yes, that's right"

"Would it be cheaper if I bought it in advance?"

"No, it's the same price"

"So there's no need to buy it in advance?"

"No, there's no need"

"So it's no cheaper then?"

 

and so on, and so forth.  Obviously after getting my ticket I sprinted the length of the platform, over the bridge, down the other side taking the steps like Starsky & Hutch and jumped onto the train just as the doors were closing.

 

15 minutes to Bedford and then a walk to the bus station because I was going to take the X5 bus that goes from Oxford to Cambridge.  I'd seen these buses around when I worked in Cambridge and the advertising for them looked pretty swish.  Customers were attractive, sophisticated and the whole thing had the promised ambience of the executive departure lounge at Hong Kong airport.  I'd just missed the first bus so had 20 minutes to kill in Bedford town centre, I went looking for a coffee.

 

The cafés closest to the bus station looked a bit grim but apparently Greggs do coffee now so I went in.  I'm no stick insect myself and I'm the last person to say nasty things about podgy people, but for Christ's sake I've never seen so many "voluptuous" people in one place.  In fact most were morbidly voluptuous.

 

Things didn't get much better on the bus, far from being full of sophisticated travellers clinking Martini glasses and having polite conversation with delicate laughs it was just a normal bus service.  I put my headphones in, the ones that ram in your ears and save you listening to anything outside and waited for the journey to end.

 

Once in Cambridge the traffic got very bad and we were late getting to the stop.  This meant another rapid walk to the station, a massive queue of people buying tickets and yet more sprinting down the platform and throwing myself through the doors as they beeped and closed.

 

After that it was a piece of piss.  The car looked good, started well from cold and hot, climate control worked, had loads of service history and the seller was a nice bloke.  We haggled a bit but not too much, especially as it had 10 gallons of diesel in it.  The test drive showed it to be smooth, powerful enough and comfortable.  It was several hours past being dark so I only got one photo, and just after taking this it started hammering with rain.

 

The drive back was 70 miles in mostly heavy rain and other than the cigarette lighter not working so I couldn't charge my phone, it was very pleasant.  I'm not sure how the options list worked on these when they were new but it's mostly poverty spec with cloth seats, no sunroof and no front foglights.  However it's got full climate control instead of just aircon and the heated seats are lovely, perhaps they were standard issue?  Going by the number of diesels with manual box around now, compared to petrol versions they must have been an odd choice but hopefully it'll be fairly reliable, economical and roomy which is what I need.

 

And when you take it above 3000 revs it really does sound like this (pinched from an earlier thread on Volvos)

https://youtu.be/JmkKXBTBrPI?t=9s

[michael t]

Lovely barge, great purchase

[Lankytim]

That looks sweet. I was looking for one of these for a while and it's hard to get hold of a decent one that isn't fooked in one way or another.

[RichL]

Comfortable workhorse. Think this is an 'XL' spec

[Felly Magic]

Do not park it facing north EVAH, the pull of the SVM is strong

[Lacquer Peel]

These are good cars, let me or Richard know if you want a hand with hooky diagnostics software.

[forddeliveryboy]

Good choice. Simplicity itself by 21st century standards, with  higher quality than more modern stuff and better suited to English roads than 124s. Watch as those with new style plates continue to vanish off the roads while cars like these carry on and on.

[dollywobbler]

These are definitely desirable. Nice work.

[garethj]

These are good cars, let me or Richard know if you want a hand with hooky diagnostics software.

ORSUM, what's the deal with diagnostics on these, is it flashing LEDs or something more sophisticated?  Just after buying it I parked in a garage trying to find my cassette adaptor and sorting out the tax online.  The engine was idling all the while I was doing this and when I moved off the engine management light was on.  It went off on the drive home but came on again yesterday.  This morning it was off but came on again this afternoon.

 

I'll take it to work tomorrow and give it a good thrash for the 25 miles each way, but is it worth me switching it off with a code reader or will it switch itself off once it thinks all is well?

[rantingYoof]

Well bought - nothing like a solid purchase after a bit of a long (time-wise) trek.

 

I'll keep an eye out for you. If you ever see a dark grey S60 with a towbar flashing you or behaving strangely, it's because I've freakishly memorised the plate and am trying to make a complete stranger to me realise that I recognise them.

[R9UKE]

Early V70s are so handsome. I just can't picture the experience with the absence of that familiar Volvo 5-pot purr - I've never encountered a devil fuel version before. Enjoy

[garethj]

It's still got the 5 cylinder engine, just a diesel version.  It's very subdued up to about 2500rpm but after 3000 it warbles like the best of them.  It's also quite smooth because I've taken it to the red line far more than any other car I've ever owned!

[Richard]

ORSUM, what's the deal with diagnostics on these, is it flashing LEDs or something more sophisticated?

 

Much more sophisticated. Being a 99 model it will need a VIDA-DICE kit and a laptop. DICE is the interface between the OBD port and USB and VIDA is the software to read it. As well as giving fault codes it will tell you how to test the component in question, and the wiring leading to it. Although it only connects to 1999 cars and newer it has information and parts catalogues on all models going back to 1975. Knock-offs are available on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/?_nkw=vida%20dice&clk_rvr_id=940380323943You have to have Windows 7 (not 8 or 10) and, I think, 3GB of RAM. I run mine in a Virtual Machine.

 

Are you sure it isn't the Service light coming on? It comes on for two minutes every time you start the car if it's more than 10k miles since it was reset. VIDA can do that too of course.

[garethj]

Definitely not the service light, it's a picture of a Cortina overhead cam engine with big air filter and 2 spoke fan.  I'll get a pic of the port on the car just to make sure I buy the right thing.  Under the centre console armrest there's a plastic plug with OBD something written on it, but by the time that's open I'm distracted by the mint imperials in view.

 

Moar of the car

 

It's a grey Volvo with a National Trust sticker in the windscreen, I'm so anti-road rage it's untrue

 

 

 

To be honest I was only able to get this as the terrorist situation in Bury St Edmunds was still at amber alert.  They wanted to move to red alert but it would have meant changing the bulb.

[Richard]

It's the same port on all V70s, it's just that the management is different. I've a feeling that the light you describe is what tells you it's MSA15.8 and therefore needs VIDA-DICE, the MSA15.7 has a Lambda light and needs VOL-FCR.

[garethj]

ok, in that case I get myself one of these VIDA-DICE things, connect it up and see what code it says?  A quick Google search shows the biggest problem is getting the software to install properly on the laptop, most people don't get past that stage and onto the car.

[Richard]

This is the guide I followed https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Y9XH_foHNOdpYP5qEAH5fh0igsdAM7fHlVixKjwgVk/edit#heading=h.cvveujkui7r3

 

There's a map of VOC members with diagnostic kit they are willing to share, for a one-off that might be an option http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=136759They might be able to help you with installation too.

[inconsistant]

Diesel Volvo Estates are Gr8 for letting people out of junctions in while you live out your middle age.

They should do Diesel Volvo Estate posters for shed walls.

 

Enjoyed the collection yarn, I felt like I was there with you. Had I actually been there I would have suggested buying your ticket in advance as I believe it would have been cheaper.

[warninglight]

 

 

And when you take it above 3000 revs it really does sound like this (pinched from an earlier thread on Volvos)

https://youtu.be/JmkKXBTBrPI?t=9s

 

That's my video, my first Volvo too. I've had T5s since then but some day when I decide that the Disco TD5 needs to go and I want something to waft about in, only stopping for fuel every 600 or so miles, I'll be back into a manual Volvo TDI.

 

Oh, and the Disco TD5 engine doesn't sound anything like the Audi lump in those Volvos, it just chatters and sounds a bit asthmatic IMO. Shame.

 

Enjoy it!

 

If you need any switches or trim parts I still have a box of bits from a V70R I broke earlier this year!

 

Mine did have foglights til I ripped the bumper off putting it into a ditch. Backwards.

[forddeliveryboy]

Warning light:

 

1/ replace fuel filter - full bore max revs can stir up crud

2/ check vacuum pipes and their security

3/ check wiring harness and connections to fuel pump and to the air box

 

Possibly dirty/failing MAF, too, or even a failing GP.

[garethj]

I've changed the fuse for the cigarette lighter, changed the rear wiper and gave it a bit of a thrash to work. The light seems to have gone out now.

 

If it comes back on I might try something more scientific as you suggest

[warninglight]

Warning light:

 

1/ replace fuel filter - full bore max revs can stir up crud

2/ check vacuum pipes and their security

3/ check wiring harness and connections to fuel pump and to the air box

 

Possibly dirty/failing MAF, too, or even a failing GP.

 

I've done all that (getting to the bottom of a running issue) but it's quicker than most TD5s and perfectly driveable. It just doesn't sound like a 5 pot ought to.

To be fair my other 5 pot has 250bhp and goes 'pssh' on gearchanges...

[forddeliveryboy]

I've done all that (getting to the bottom of a running issue) but it's quicker than most TD5s and perfectly driveable. It just doesn't sound like a 5 pot ought to.

To be fair my other 5 pot has 250bhp and goes 'pssh' on gearchanges...

 

Was referring to garethj's V70 warning light, warninglight!

[warninglight]

Well this is awkward...

 

90s Volvo warning lights are just there to tell you that they know there's a problem, and they're working to fix it.

 

I've never owned another car which seems to just cure itself of issues like one of these can. But then most of the other shite I've had has been LR built so that might be why.

[garethj]

The engine management light has stayed off until I got stuck in very heavy traffic and it came back on again.  But after a long trip to work it went off, maybe it's a sign to avoid traffic jams.

 

I refilled the tank today, it had done more than 600 miles and worked out at 48mpg, not bad considering I've done several fast trips, got stuck in bonkers traffic jams for at least an hour over the last two weeks and it's done quite a few short journeys too, often loaded with stuff.  Even being slightly careful it should beat 50mpg so it'll be interesting* to see how economical it is on just normal commuting.

 

The heater isn't very warm so it'll get a thermostat change tomorrow, the gauge stays in the middle but it takes a long time to get there.  Hopefully the thermostat will do it, a replacement heater matrix is probably the next thing to change and that looks like a grim job.  Heated seats are epic.

[Dead_E23]

ok, in that case I get myself one of these VIDA-DICE things, connect it up and see what code it says?  A quick Google search shows the biggest problem is getting the software to install properly on the laptop, most people don't get past that stage and onto the car.

 

I've just bought a VIDA-DICE off ebay for £69 and installed it this week.    

 

So far, it seems to be a rather super tool; not only does it read and clear the codes, it also records how many times it has seen them and when, and can display all that info as a graph.  Even better, it contains really clear workshop manuals and a parts catalogue.  You can set things like the temperature of the heated seats and turn your DRLs off, although I haven't tried any of that out yet.

 

Here's what I learned from the ordeal of getting it working:  

 

The DICE is the box that plugs into the car.  The internet says that the quality of these are variable; on the better ones the indicator LEDs are all different colours.  The ones with 4 blue LEDs are less reliable or something.  I struck lucky and got a multi-coloured one and it works well.

 

You need to install Windows 7 pro (at least for VIDA version 2014D).  You can download the installation disk as an ISO using a torrent client.  Licence keys are available on ebay bundled with scrap PCs.  The key gets delivered by email and the scrap PC is collection only, hem hem.

 

You'll also need to download IE9, and an archive decompressing program that can deal with .ram files.

 

The software comes on a DVD that must be double layered or something because the shitty old laptop that I chose to install it on (fearing it might be packed with viruses, which it doesn't appear to be) wouldn't read it.  I mounted the DVD on a decent laptop and copied all the files into a folder on a USB drive, which worked fine when I plugged it into the 'target' machine.  You need about 8GB free on the external drive .

 

The installer file will check that the operating system, browser and memory are up to scratch and if it doesn't think so it'll quit abruptly without installing a thing.  It looks for 3GB of RAM or more, but the laptop I was installing it on only had 2GB.  Nil desperandum; as I'd copied the files to the external drive I could edit the text file that the installer uses as a script (easy to find and do).  The memory bit is right near the end of the file and you just change '3000' to '1000', save the file, and the installer works.  The VIDA software seems quite happy with 2GB, but I've got virtual memory turned on so it probably thinks there's 3GB anyway. Installation takes forever.

 

The first time you run the software you'll see a popup from Windows firewall.  Click both options or it'll prevent VIDA from connecting to the DICE box and the listbox that you use to select the connection to the car won't appear at all.  It took me quite a while to suss this out; annoying.

 

Follow the seller's installation instructions to the letter, then it'll work.  VIDA seems to be very fussy about most things, which is why it's a PITA to install.

 

This short video shows how to use it.  I'm much too impatient to watch the long ones.

[Lacquer Peel]

48MPG is good, it was a struggle to better 40MPG in my V70 TDI automatic.

 

I think you get at the thermostat from underneath.

[forddeliveryboy]

The engine management light has stayed off until I got stuck in very heavy traffic and it came back on again.  But after a long trip to work it went off, maybe it's a sign to avoid traffic jams.

 

I refilled the tank today, it had done more than 600 miles and worked out at 48mpg, not bad considering I've done several fast trips, got stuck in bonkers traffic jams for at least an hour over the last two weeks and it's done quite a few short journeys too, often loaded with stuff.  Even being slightly careful it should beat 50mpg so it'll be interesting* to see how economical it is on just normal commuting.

 

The heater isn't very warm so it'll get a thermostat change tomorrow, the gauge stays in the middle but it takes a long time to get there.  Hopefully the thermostat will do it, a replacement heater matrix is probably the next thing to change and that looks like a grim job.  Heated seats are epic.

 

 

i wonder if the EML could be indicating a GP which is getting tired, in addition to other stuff I mentioned above. GPs only really needed sub-zero on these engines so perhaps you won't notice one which is tired until it gets arctic.

 

These VAG TDis take ages to warm up unless you're working them really hard since there's so little waste heat. If the heater isn't warm even once the temp gauge has reached the middle then there's a problem - obv check other stuff before pulling the heater matrix.

 

Excellent mpg, garethj - my 6 speed A6 usually averaged about 45, day in day out, on veg, driven reasonably briskly.

 

 

LP - I've known a couple of b-matics of this type, one averaged 44 and the other 48 in general use. Worth checking the air mass meter, I've known cheap ones to affect mpg. Switch off the aux heater too if it has one (remove the fuse) incase it's still working - it won't like veg at all, even at less than 50%. Possible tired autobox if it feels really sluggish through the gears? At a steady 70 it should be showing 50-ish mpg.

[Lacquer Peel]

LP - I've known a couple of b-matics of this type, one averaged 44 and the other 48 in general use. Worth checking the air mass meter, I've known cheap ones to affect mpg. Switch off the aux heater too if it has one (remove the fuse) incase it's still working - it won't like veg at all, even at less than 50%. Possible tired autobox if it feels really sluggish through the gears? At a steady 70 it should be showing 50-ish mpg.

 

It was good on fuel on long runs but it didn't like cold starts and my 8-20 mile commutes.

 

Auto 'box seemed fine but isn't especially long-geared for a big diesel.

I ended up scrapping it because it needed too much work to make it right but I do like the combination of Volvo and 5 pot TDI, I'd go for a manual next time though.

[garethj]

A change of thermostat might have helped a tiny bit but it's still not exactly toasty from the vents.  With my old Volvos you could shove the air down to your feet and it would be like a dragon's breath down there, this one seems to push out warm air so it's not too bad as long as I point it out of the dashboard vents too.

 

Another 600 miles covered and another 48mpg, especially impressive as the first trip was across Milton Keynes 4 times in one evening and in a bit of a hurry.  Braking and accelerating a heavy car across loads of roundabouts is about the worst thing for fuel economy so I'm very impressed.  It's also really comfortable and the stereo is ORSUM.  I've got it playing my mp3 machine through the tape deck adaptor and it sounds quite good but the CD player is among the best I've ever heard in a car.  Certainly better than the S Type Jaguar, although that didn't have the "premium sound" option.

 

It's done several trips carrying stuff again, the house extension generates loads of this work and as we've done most of our Christmas shopping online there have been a few trips to the rubbish tip carrying Amazon's entire range of cardboard packing boxes.

 

The engine management light came on after I dawdled to work and got caught in a traffic jam again, a thrash home and the light went off and it's stayed off since.  That's the kind of fault I can live with.

 

I changed the pollen filter too but that's about the extent of work, it looks like the cambelt was done 70,000 miles ago so it's probably due another one soon.

 

It's a very easy thing to get on with; not taxing to drive when you want to doze off, goes alright when you hoof it, handles surprisingly well for a big FWD car and the high profile tyres means that the ride is more tuned to inner ring roads than Nurburgring roads.  Which is great, because I hardly ever drive on challenging foreign old grand prix circuits.