I just bought a 1998 S70 T-5 with 32K on it. What should I be looking for as far as things going wrong? Are there any common pitfalls with this car that I can avoid.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

Tim

Tim,

Although I don't have the T-5, I believe that the '98 S70's are great cars.

Take what you see on the board with due consideration.

Can't wait to get mine back after it was restyled by a '92 Nissan Pathfinder.

Have lots of fun!

Bryan

If you read enough of the posts at this sight, you will get that sinking feeling in your gut that you just made a big mistake...forget it--with the exceptions of a few things the cars seem to be put together very well. The evaporator scare seems to affect 850s more so than 70s--maybe age, maybe the newer coatings and pollen filters..who knows but outside of the BB, I don't know of anyone with an evap failure and have not witnessed any first hand. Someone mentioned dirty wheels, brake dust--OEM pads do shed a ton of dust, but they stop great including in the heavy rain which is not always the case with aftermarket pads. Additionally in my experience that dusty softer pads are usually easier on your rotors which I'm sure others will argue that the harder metallic pads dissipate heat faster thus being more rotor friendly, so just IMHO. There seems to be a bit of whining about bubbling door panels..My v70 is a 98 with 54k miles--no evidence of bubbling. The cars drive great, the engines are smoooooth, follow the maintenence schedules and have a blast.

Thanks man!

You should check the brake pads. If they have not been replaced

they will be close to worn (especially the front). The brake

fluid should also be flushed every 2 years so that might be due.

These are all maintenance things listed in the manual.

Your question was about problem areas: I have a 98 T5 and it had

a few problems that were all sorted out in the first year. In the

past 30 months I have not had any real problems at all. So

maintain it, drive it and enjoy.

Thanks Ray! What type of mileage are you getting? In stop and go city traffic I'm averaging 17mph. That seems pretty low.

I get a bit under 20MPG on the way to work. That is 20 miles

per day with 50/50 split between street and freeway. But, I'm

in Silicon Valley so freeway moves rather slow.

On the higway I get about 26 to 27.

Oh, I have a 5 speed manual transmission.

My wifes 95 855 gets about the same milage (maybe slightly better

on the highway then my T5).

Just my $.02--My v70 gets about 20mpg on 89octane around town--usually about 24-25 on the highway.

Thanks Mike!

Tim,

If you want to get depressed and find out all the things that MIGHT go wrong with your car go to http://kinovolvo.cjb.net/

Good advice on fixing minor problems www.volvospeed.com/bay13.htm

Dont go looking or expecting things to go wrong. Just drive and enjoy.

Speeding tickets.

Ha-ha. But really, any advice??

Just your typical problems with separating interior door paneling, dirty dusty wheels from the OEM pads and the need to buy a reset tool to turn off the service light ( if you change your own oil ). Also don't forget to change the cabin air filter.

Other than that quit worring and just keep rolling.

Thank you!

Hi Tim,

I have a '98 S 70 T5 also. Mine has about 52,000. I bought it used this past summer. I've had a problem with a vibrating clutch pedal. It was present at purchase and the dealer tried to sell me a new clutch. I convinced them that if I needed a new clutch they would have to cover it themselves, which they did! (after some pushing on my part) A week after the cltuch job the pedal started doing the same thing. No reasonthat this should happen to you, but if any of the experts have a theory I'd love to hear it. My local run of the mill mechanic says fly wheel, but don't worry, just live with it. Well, should I worry?

Also, I get about 24 mpg per tank. The computer says 25 mpg but my math says different.

I do love this car, though. I hope you love yours.

Lauren:

Clutch chatter is a pain..many things that can cause the problem--I'll assume that your dealer replaced the friction disc and pressure plate, that should have eliminated those 2 possibilities--ok--flywheel may have needed to be resurfaced or cleaned---grooved, burnt or even a trace of grease on the flywheel or pressure plate surfaces can cause chatter. Also items like loose, worn or broken motor or transmission mounts can cause it. Good luck eliminating the source. That is the one thing that irratates me about manual transmissions--seems like, eventually all clutches do that at some time in their life--of course I'm known to drive cars well past the Zombie stage in years and mileage.

Thanks Mike,

I don't assume the dealer replaced the frictions disc or the pressure plate, or even the clutch, for that matter. They very much wanted me to go away. I'll ask them at the next service to list what was done. I can live with the "chatter" as long as it isn't an indication of a more serious problem. This is supposedly a new clutch and started "chattering" within a week of the replacement. Since they did it for free, I guess you get what you pay for.

Lauren,

Does your clutch vibrate all the time or just when letting it

out in first gear when you start to move? I have a bit of

clutch chatter when starting out in first gear. This is

especially true when starting off slow (go fast, and it is

very smooth). Others have mentioned the same problem, too.

Hi Ray,

Yes, just in first. It used to do it in reverse, too, before the dealer replaced the clutch. Now it is just in first, and as you describe, when starting out slow. Intersts me that others have menitioned this problem as the service deptartment where I bought the car tried to tell me I didn't know how to drive a stick (only been doing it for 30 years and I have a Volvo 240 with 265,000 miles on the original clutch in my driveway).

What do you know about the problem? Is it a flywheel flaw? Does it get worse or just stay the same?

My car has 25K and has exhibited this problem for the last 20K

miles. It has not gotton worse. It does seem to be a bit

worse when it is hot and in lots of stop-and-go traffic. Over

time, I have learned that you can start out smoothly but

it requires a very deft touch with the clutch (and it is

impossible to do it perfectly over and over).

One other poster here did get his clutch replaced and said the

problem had been fixed (Erick Kobres in a December 98 posting).

In a June 99 posting Joseph Costanzo said he thought there was a

Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) on the T5 clutch. But, he did

not know the bulletin number. Joeseph emailed me that he did

eventually get the dealer to replace the clucth. I don't know if

that solved the problem permanently, though.

I did bring this to the attention of my dealer and they thought

the clutch was working normally (Smythe, San Jose, CA).

The other problem with the clutch is a squeek when the clutch pedal

is pressed. This is fixed by lubricating the clutch pedal shaft

where it passes through the firewall. Apparently, the grease used

in the factory did not last very long. I greased it myself and

the noise went away (nobody else seems to have this problem, though).

My car was an early build (Jan 97) so it maybe they switched grease

types at some point.

Thanks for all your info. I had a feeling this was a wider problem, but it is great to have it confirmed. I don't mind a quirk, here and there.

I'll see if I can get the dealer to pay some attention, but.....

Lauren,

Thanks a lot and good luck with your clutch! My T-5 is an automatic. I think the reason I'm getting about 2 mpg below the EPA estimate of 19 is that I only commute 3.7 miles to work, at it is all in city (Denver) stop and go traffic. I also let the car warm-up about a minute and cool down the same amount of time.

Cheers,

Tim

With that short commute you might want to make sure you change oil

every 4000 miles or 6 months (I drive about 8500 miles a year

so I change evry six months).

Thanks Ray!

Cheers,

Tim