Bramz ever changing fleet merry go round.

[KitKat]

1 hour ago, bramz7 said:

Volvo VIN decoder tells me I have engine code 86.

86=B230ET

B230ET=182hp.

Neat 

Engine number on red blocks should (should, he says) be printed on the label on the cam belt cover.  

[bramz7]

3 hours ago, Fabergé Greggs said:

Pretty easy to turn up the wick as well. Tempting... 

No this one is staying standard with me. The ZF box limits the power uppage anyway, and I certainly don't want to stew the box. 

2 hours ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

Whats going on with your Alfa 146 Brammerzley. Did it find a new home? Always  thought that one would be a serious test of my resolve if you decided to shift it on.

It did, I swapped it for the Rover. Yeah yeah, more fool me but I'm genuinely over the moon with how perfect the 45 is for daily use. 

The new owner is the editor of Retro Cars. He's got a shed ton of cars and I've already asked for first refusal on another Alfa. 

[stuboy]

loving the volvo brick

[brownnova]

That Volvo looks lovely... owning a Volvo brick is high on my car wish list for 2020! 

[Steve79]

The L-Series is a bloody brilliant engine. Missed my 45 that i had back in January last year with that engine. Was getting around 550 on a tank doing motorway driving.

Not as "refined" as a XUD but definitely a slogger.

Let me know what you want rid of it as i may be interested.

[bramz7]

Pretty sure the MAF is causing slow running on the 45. It's dreadful up to certain revs currently.

Would I be right in assuming that the MAF is plugged in right in front of the air filter? 

[wuvvum]

MAF is in the pipe which comes off the air filter, yep.  10 minute job to change, and aftermarket MAFs are cheap - they don't last as long as genuine Bosch jobs obvs but will do you for a while.

[bramz7]

I enquired on Facebook as to what a noise I keep hearing from the Rover is. 

It's been diagnosed as gearbox bearings. 

This is an issue as I don't really want to spend money on it, I decided early on this would be a run til dead car. However, I'm assuming this could be a random FTP in which case, which is a big issue! I was hoping for more of a gradual decline, not a sudden one. 

 

[wuvvum]

How loud is the noise?  These all do gearbox bearings after a while - starts off as a high-pitched whine in 4th and / or 5th.  They can go on for ages - the Rover of Doom had a whiny 'box throughout my ownership.

Obvs if it sounds like a bag of spanners in a cement mixer then its doom might be more imminent.

[bramz7]

Well when it's cold, the entire gear range sounds like crap. Engine braking makes it sound like lorry screeching to a halt. 

 

When it warms up, it goes away completely. But there is an ominous rumbling feel up front, which you can feel through the front of the car. 

[bramz7]

Wow, this is probably the nicest car I've owned so far. The driving experience with cruise on is nothing short of serene. No rattles, no suspension knocking, very little engine noise intrusion...superb. 

Obviously it's bottom end of the market fodder so has some charm, by which I mean an intermittent ABS light, a possible bearing on its way out and a tensioner of some kind making a noise. Not much in the way of history but someone had all the front suspension rebuilt last year and new discs and pads. Oh, and everything works. Even the reversing sensors with the dashboard mounted lights. 

Think I like this. I won't commit to keeping it but I could have done a whole lot worse for £600 off of Facebook. 

So many toys. 

[rantingYoof]

First thing to check with ABS-related lights on these are reluctor rings (if you're so inclined). Had similar issue on my S60 and had a cracked ring...cost £70 all in to have it done at a friendly garage.

 

p.s. please roffle this when you're bored of it. Assuming I don't win the Galant tonight I'd have three tickets on this. Love these large Volvos.

[Kiltox]

Three randoms please 

[yes oui si]

1 hour ago, Kiltox said:

Three randoms please 

This. Lovely things, these, and one of the few things that Ms oui si has asked 'What's that?' about (along with mk2 golfs, porsche 924s, Audi 80s, Renault 5s...)

[skattrd]

My S80 had 3x dodgy ABS sensors reported when I got it … Everyone on the Volvo forum said obd reporting 3 sensors must be faulty ABS ecu.
Naturally I ignored them and replaced one sensor and the fault codes went down to two. 

Two of the faulty sensors had been damaged by reluctor rings that had snapped, so check for the rings sticking up and hitting the ABS sensors.

Cruise control didn't work on mine with the ABS fault.

It looks nice, enjoy the waft. 
The stereos in these can be pretty decent as well, iirc mine had 10 speakers or something daft.

 

[bramz7]

When I started it up today the ABS fault wasn't showing so cruise worked, it pinged up halfway home but still cruised fine. The seller gave me two rings they had already purchased so those will be going on soon. 

 

[Broadsword]

Nice score for the money. First D5 we had in the family was one of these and it was brilliant, if a little hard to park. Wheel bearing is no surprise, they munch through them like nobody’s business. Easy and cheap to replace though. Cracked ABS rings on the front also pretty common, a bit of a faff but not the end of the world. Since yours is intermittent it might be just lots of crud on the sensors and rings without it actually being broken. Enjoy!

[Schaefft]

S80, nice! I thought about S80 T6s before, but they never came with a manual and the autoboxes are supposed to be problematic. Would love to have a drive in one.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Lovely car. Investigate the tensioner - when auxiliary belts go on these, they have a habit of taking out the timing belt in the process.

Otherwise the D5 is fairly bomb-proof

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

[rantingYoof]

9 hours ago, Schaefft said:

S80, nice! I thought about S80 T6s before, but they never came with a manual and the autoboxes are supposed to be problematic. 

Problematic is a fairly diplomatic term.

Some might say as strong as a chocolate cheese string a mile or two from the surface of the sun.

[dollywobbler]

Going back to the Rover, my L-series 600 made some odd noises. Then it blew the diff cage apart. Be gentle pulling away, especially on tight turns.

Volvo looks a nice buy.

[bramz7]

I have to say, this Volvo is really big. And not the easiest to park as half the steering rack seems to be deleted by Volvo at the factory. 

I do feel a bit stupid commuting in what is one and a half tons of car too. 

Fuel economy is about 43 on the A303. That's ok. 

 

Dunno. It's okay as a car I guess. Makes a lot of weird noises. 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Our V70 was never done rattling and clunking, drove me mad but never found anything wrong underneath...  I do remember the horrendous steering lock (or lack of) too.  However, great engine and interior, looked good too I thought.

[Jamie]

30 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

I have to say, this Volvo is really big. And not the easiest to park as half the steering rack seems to be deleted by Volvo at the factory. 

I do feel a bit stupid commuting in what is one and a half tons of car too. 

Fuel economy is about 43 on the A303. That's ok. 

 

Dunno. It's okay as a car I guess. Makes a lot of weird noises. 

that wont be around long then

[bramz7]

It probably will as I can't be bothered selling anything at the moment, it works fine so it'll just stay. I do much prefer the 760 for manoeuvring and general comfort, but cruise control and working heated seats (and lack of ice inside) makes the S80 better to use everyday. It's just like driving a small continent, that's all. 

4 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Our V70 was never done rattling and clunking, drove me mad but never found anything wrong underneath...  I do remember the horrendous steering lock (or lack of) too.  However, great engine and interior, looked good too I thought.

Seems to be a FWD Volvo thing, it's almost 5 pot Fiat levels of lack of turning circle. 

[Heidel_Kakao]

1 hour ago, bramz7 said:

I do feel a bit stupid commuting in what is one and a half tons of car too. 

If it makes you feel better I am commuting in 1.8 tons of Lexus and getting 20MPG whilst doing so, just doing my bit for the environment.

[wuvvum]

All the 5-pot Volvos of that generation have appalling turning circles.  Which is weird as the identically-cylindered 850 / Mk1 V70 was pretty good in that respect.

[bramz7]

1 hour ago, The Mighty Quinn said:

A friend has one coming up as part of a massive clearout. It's a silver one, about a T/V plate and a 1.9 316i with rear discs. It's unbeliveably tidy but has a crack in the screen, insurance job. Anything decent starts at 500 quid which is sod all really. He's near Slough.

Thank you for the heads up, but I've agreed to swap the 760 for a tidy E36 318is coupe, so no longer feel the desire for a compact. 

Didn't bid on the 940 TD on eBay in the end, as I can't really afford it. 

[bramz7]

Still can't get over how smart this looks for a car I own...

It binged a low coolant alert on today, but presumably it's a sensor issue as it isn't low.

I've discovered a new trait, presumably linked to the ABS issue, the traction control gets very upset if you go round a roundabout quickly (not like a knob though) and makes the car limp. 

[skattrd]

When I had faulty abs sensors in my S80 I think I used to turn the traction control off on the centre console, as if left on it did odd things.