Somewhat on a whim and partial to potentially fill a need for a neighbor, picked up a severely neglected 1998 V70 GLT today with 227K miles. It needs ME or someone like me and I have always wanted to play with a first gen FWD Volvo end to end.

Real problems:

Strut mount shot and new ebay struts incorrectly installed making the driver's side camber (and realistically toe and caster) screwed up. And the noise...

No heat...suspect vac issue

Oil out the fill cap and or PCV lines...suspect vac leak and potentially plugged oil seoerator

engine down on power in my opinion unless at WOT over 3K rpm.

Dirty...so very dirty and I have not cleaned my 940 wagon "dog car" that hauls 385 of dogs to the groomer 6 times a year...plus vet visits. Still dirty.

Air director requests seem to do nothing.

Temp gauge consistent and steady over the 100 minute drive home but one tick over mid-range (not sure if that is normal)

No timing belt change sticker but belt has no indications of oil fouling or cracking.

lets not talk about the sunroof fabric on the retractable cover.

So, lots to look at but despite the abuse/neglect still drives nice for the most part if you can understand where the bad verse good came from.

So actual questions...is it safe to assume 90% of my issues (outside the struts) are vac related be it the lines, check valves or motors?

Is there a good brand of struct mount and what all do I need north of the cartridge?

Is it prudent on a "beater" to replace certain bushing preemptively.

Why would it seem down on power unless at WOT over 3000 rpm for a 2.5 turbo. granted, my 940 NA wagon could not keep up but until 4K, it was close. Clogged cat or all those vac leaks?

honestly not expect long response more good links to existing answers and even after a gazillion years here (all RWD) I have yet to master our search on the BB.

Finally drove it to work yesterday and a mix of a good and bad.

Air director seems to have repaired itself...which is both good and bad as now it works but I am not sure why or for how long (heater core goes in tomorrow).

I am pretty sure I do not have a cheap thermostat in it because it had a lot of trouble getting up to temp and once it did, would drop to two bars below normal on long highway cruises (32 f outside).

Weird whoop, whoop sound from the front at cruise over 55 mph. It rises and falls rhythmically in spite of speed staying steady (thinking this one might be the single ancient tire on the passenger front).

Right front brake is sticking a bit.

Won't always go all the way into park...likely a motor or tranny mount I assume.

The good is: cruises great and accelerates much better now that it has had a bit of driving and an "Italian tune-up". Tranny still shifts more intuitively than any FWD Volvo I have driven. Pulls a bit but until I get the brakes and tires sorted, not sure how much is alignment.

Stereo sounds amazing playing a CD but sounds like dog poo on FM. Best description on of the sound is like it has squelch turned up too high on a portable radio...nails on a chalkboard for all frequencies around 4-6000hz (upper range of spoken voice) but highs and lows are fine.

Thanks guys. Things did not go as planned today.

I believe the reason for the heater core bypass was a busted up firewall coupler...a part I did not order and it fell apart on attempted install of the hoses. Those heater hose to block and coolant manifold are buried! Add to that all the clamps were pointed the wrong way and made for long morning.

One thing I have not figured out for sure is if the long block-mounted hose goes in the top or bottom. Won't matter until I get the replacement coupler but would be good to know.

Top engine mount is shot. Ordering the poly unit. Firewall side looks a bit suspect as well but going to look at the one at the PnP tomorrow to see if it is better.

As expected, all soft vac lines and nipples are shot or suspect. The three small lines to the wastegate(?) were basically completely gone at the electronic doodad. The coupler for the purple line was completely failed (EGR?).

No obvious reason for the brake pulling but lubed the pins anyway. Might be a sticky piston so dribbled a bit of brake fluid under the dust boot but will keep an eye on it if it does not get better with driving.

For grins, mounted my 15" steelies with snow tires from the 940 to one wheel. I know the offset is different so they should not work but with it still up in the air, not obvious issues. Will likely still break down all eight tires and have the snows mounted on the V70 wheels.

This is a lot of fun! IPD has silicone hoses, BTW, for around $52.

Check this site, good write up with pics:

http://www.volvohowto.com/volvo-850-s70-v70-c70-how-to-replace-heater-core-hoses-do88/

You will find top hose Vs bottom hose question answered. Plus be very careful with the firewall connector, the plastic tends to fall apart if stressed.


No EGR on this car. The purple line is for the air injection system, which probably doesn't work anymore anyway. There is an easy SAS delete.

But get your heater fixed soooooon, it is getting colder each day.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Not sure if that was sarcasm on it being fun. My hands are hamburger because of a combo of not knowing how to take things apart (I can do most things on a red block in my sleep) and the large number of tight areas (too tight for gloves) all with sharp edges.

I am working on heater but need the coupler now. since I am this far apart also doing the PCV even though the accessible hoses are still pliable.

My doctor squirms every time I work on the car, I have a low platelet count and no longer clot. Ripping gloves is common with my size 15 hands, and you are correct about lack of room to do anything. But, compared to the newer Volvos, the 1998 has gobbs of work room!

When replacing the PCV, clean out the PTC nipple. It gets carbonized with dino oil vapors. The PTC is that electrical plug in the air intake that goes to the turbo. Be careful removing it, the rubber is soft, and just as careful putting it back on the air hose. I just used a small screwdriver to ream it out. The inside edge is copper, so try not to scratch the heated element too much.

There is a lot of good advice regarding PCV and PTC on Matthews Volvo site.

It is probably time to start a new post, this one is getting rather long.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Glad to hear that it drives!

Get a new thermostat, what you have is broken. The temp should get warm by the first mile and the gauge never moves once it gets to midway. You will need to lower the antifreeze level anyway to get the heater core and lines installed at the firewall.

As to the air flow from the vents, the center vent has a fresh air wheel next to the open close vent wheel. On the 1998, I believe down is closed. If up, raw outside air will blow through the center vent.

The thump, thump above 55mph is probably a flat spot in the garbage tire. Just swap that wheel with the rear wheel and see if it moves the vibration.

Not engaging P consistently is a problem. Broken motor mounts are common at this age, especially the top mount to the firewall and the front mount under the crank at the timing belt.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

The whoop, whoop noise sounds like a tire issue. Have a similar problem with my 95 850. Don't hear anything until I get the car up to highway speeds. Starts at about 55-60 MPH.

Not always going all the way into Park, could be a mount. I'd start with checking out the tranny mount.

Well urgency of repairs just went up! Totaled my 940 wagon today in a single vehicle accident. I am fine and drove car back 22 miles home but there is no salvaging it at a reasonable price.

Struts are out, just have to go get the compressor.

Heater issue is confirmed looped heater hoses. So looking up that replacement...need to get parts ordered today so wondering if the hoses are cut in the process of looping them. but just need to get in there and look.

Snow tires, over confidence, a little bit of oil on the on ramp and now my tow pig truck is my only streetable RWD vehicle.

Sorry to hear about the bad news. I am glad that all that happened to you was your damaged ego :)

I would just replace the 2 heater hoses and get new plastic clips and washers. The old hoses are "old" and not worth trying to salvage.

Spend the hour getting the new struts in so you have a back up car.

The heater core can be replaced in about a hour's time and buy one from Ebay for less than $50 and free shipping. You still have to take the glove box out to drop the passenger side kick plate.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Struts are done but may have to order new inserts soon. The PO buggered up the threads on the passenger strut and not 100% sure it is fully tightened. In addition the struts are different left to right and that will bug me. They look like ebay specials so no loss.

Ordering heater parts and full filters now.

It is DD ready. Driving it to work tomorrow.

Added a bit of BG 44K to fuel system for good measure.

Noticed coolant on the coolant tank lip so slightly worried about head gasket pressurizing the coiling system. Cap is holding pressure so likely good. Might just be an overfill situation.

Oh, have a 1993 240 Wagon pop up in the condition I like so might have two in the stable again after all.

Lastly, my bluetooth ODB reader cannot recognize the Volvo ECU. Normal or wierdness? It has never had an issue with POS $500 American iron and the 1999 Accord I am working on. Need to read, then rest the codes to see if it was just the gas cap missing or other issues.

By the way, is the firewall bolted horn looking thing some sort of noise sensor for the radio? Grabbed a replacement at the PnP.

The horn on the firewall is the siren for the alarm system. Who cares if it works or not.

A 1993 240? Sounds good.

A trip to the local parts store and they can read all of the codes. Autozone doesn't erase them, O'Rielly's gives me a scanner so I can read and delete in their parking lot. Remember to write them all down.

The 1998 is still the 'old school' OBDII system. The 1999+ cars have the newer system.

A headgasket leak is diagnosed just like the 240, look for bubbles after the engine is hot.

BTW, you probably have a cheap thermostat with the temperature set too high. Put a new one on your list. The cheap ones fail in the closed position, death to the engine.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Sorry guys...went racing this weekend so no work on the car yet though I did order XC90 mounts. Likely no work on it this weekend either as the race was a non-stop downpour so EVERYTHING in the trailer has to be dried out and re-packed plus back home the same storms took down a few significant limbs...

As a side note, the two Volvos racing in the near constant downpour (standing water in two of the turns) were both RWD. The 240 with a 740 turbo motor was hilarious (I have known the team a long time) because they run a welded differential. To say they were sideways as often as running straight would not be an overstatement...lapped them multiple time in 1995 Trans Sport minivan.

This would have been a race an NA 850 manual could have done very, very well at. A Neon with the DOHC 2.0 got fourth out of 94 cars with only marginally good drivers (1, 2, and 3 were very seasoned teams with well sorted cars).

Do you have the maintenance manual?

If it were an 850, it would have been due for a timing belt at 210K or 21 years.

I do not know about your car, but one way yo hide the fact that the timing belt was due would be to remove the old sticker.

Too many times the computer box the sticker is supposed to be on is dirty and the sticker falls off. On my cars, I clean the top of the box with alcohol before putting the sticker on.

Yes, the timing belt change is at 70K mile intervals for 1998. Usually, dealers changed it at 60K miles, so 200K is reasonable. But Uncle Udo knows his stuff.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

If the heater core is hooked up and the hoses get hot, and, you do not get blinking lights at start up, you might want to consider a new dash unit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volvo-S70-V70-V70XC-C70-OEM-dual-ECC-climate-dash-temp-control-ac-heat-98-99-00-/132338615297?fits=Year%3A1998%7CMake%3AVolvo%7CModel%3AV70&hash=item1ecfff0401:g:OfUAAOSweXhXmMsg&vxp=mtr

Or look in your local P&P.

Currently, set the blower speed to auto and the vent control to auto. Once the engine starts to warm up, the blower is supposed to slowly start working until the engine is hot.

Does the blower even work?

This is going to get critical in the next month!

Turbo ----

You have a low pressure turbo which is supposed to engage at about 1500 rpm and give you 200bhp. Not a rocket sled, but not a total dud either. You may have a bad vacuum line at the turbo, there are 3 of them.

At 225K miles, most of your vacuum lines will be rotten.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Blower works fine and so does AC and automatically turns AC on in defrost...just air going about everywhere but defrost vents. Only reason even know that is was trying to verify I had the heater as a back-up engine coolant device if I started to see signs of impending overheat.

I assumed the lines could be capped but again...no time to check yet. Glad to hear the heater core is an easy swap if bad.

Heck, cruise control even works.

Then it is probably the main flap control, if you get AC and no blinking lights. The 'fix' is 'free' but is not a lot of fun - the glove box comes out, the kick panel comes out, the knee bolster comes out, you get to make yourself very small to remove the flap motor, repair the stupid plastic part, rotate the flap to the proper position, insert the flap motor, and try it out before putting all the parts back in.

Let me know when you are ready to do this...

It could be worse.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

Confirmed...no blinking lights on the climate control panel.

Winterization is almost done at the house so should finally start on this car Sunday...

No vacuum enters the cabin, the heat is all electrical. We need to know if you have Electronic Climate Control (ECC) or manual. If the temp dials have numbers, then it is ECC. If ECC, let us know if the recirc and A/C switch blink 20 times after startup (yellow lights).

No heat will be a problem soon. Check between the block and firewall and make sure the hoses are not capped off. Some dummies do that when the heater core leaks rather than spend $40 for a new core (easy to replace).

A 'tick' above the normal range is close enough, but the ECT sensor can be checked with a meter.

Replacing the PCV system on a turbo is not a lot of fun, but only takes one day and lets you give the intake manifold a good cleaning.

For terrible throttle response, check the intercooler piping. Grab each section from the turbo to the throttle body and try twisting it, if it moves tighten the clamp a bit.

Definitely use XC90 or HD strut bushings.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new

I am sure it is ECC as it is dual zone with an auto setting. Will check for blinking lights as instructed.

So intake comes off for the PCV service...joy. I am assuming the unbolting of said manifold involves a great deal of cursing. I left it on the motor I pulled at the PnP until it was on the stand at my place when I refreshed an engine for friend's V70 XC.

Is the timing belt as fun as it looks with the engine in the car? Again only done one before (without the tool) and engine was on the stand.

Intercooler connections are an easy check and honestly did not even check to see if it was blocked air filter.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Intake coming off wasn't as bad as I thought it would be -wrote a post about it:
https://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volvo/1645428/850/notes_pcv.html
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Farewell 'black manta' ('97 850) Hello 'rocket sled' ('06 V70R)

What Klaus said. And I second/third PCV system replace -could also solve some other symptoms when you find broken hoses.
Heater core flow also...
Bushings as needed basis.
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Farewell 'black manta' ('97 850) Hello 'rocket sled' ('06 V70R)

Some quick answers, gotta run:

1. Strut mount - Use XC90 mounts. More HD and last longer.
2. Your PCV system needs a full service.
3. Check condition of control arm bushing/ball joints
4. Lack of power: Check all vacuum hoses. Snorkel too. Guarantee some need to be replaced. Could be a clogged cat, I guess. Turbo might have issues too.

Does the turbo leak oil? What about the engine seals?