I think you were on the right track with your initial assessment: you have some air in the brake lines and they need to be bled. I've never hear of someone recommending not to bleed brake lines.(I know that is a double negative, but it's early in the morning). If air is in the lines, you need to get...

With the timing belt done, and it seems from your inspection, the car is in good shape and doesn't need anything. In my opinion, having just shopped for this car in the same geographical area as you, I'd say 6800 is a fair deal, perhaps even slightly in your favor.

I just shopped for, and subsequently purchased last month, a 2006 XC70 with 133K miles on it and I also live in NY. I purchased the car for $4,800, but it needed a bit of work, which turned out to be roughly $700. So if the previous owner had the work done, I would probably have paid him $5,500, but...

Glad to hear you have the light fixed and that you know the issue with the hose. I know the light on my Volvo will go at some point so it's good to hear the replacement process. Thanks.

Sorry to hear about the ordeal with changing the bulb. I know on many vehicles accessing headlight bulbs can be a PITA. In regards to your questions in respective order: 1. I wish I could help you with how to reach the bulb, but I cannot say as I have never had to change this bulb as of yet. The onl...

I've used a drill pump several times to drain gas tanks. You can get them at almost any hardware store. This is not the one I have, but all drill pumps are virtually the same http://www.homedepot.com/p/Drill-Pump-DRP-1/203449537 . You take some hose or plastic tubing to place over the inlet and outl...

Thanks all for the replies. I thought the Autel MS300 would work on a 2006 XC70, but if there is one thing I know, it's that I do not know everything. I appreciate chief_bottlewasher confirming that it won't work on my car. I took a look at the DICE readers as VTL suggested, but that would require m...

I took it to an independent mechanic and he read the code (P0243) just fine with a simple Actron CP9575 scanner. I agree with your conclusion: I just happened to get a bad reader. I figured since I will be owning this car for awhile, I would spend a bit more on a scanner. I did not want to get into ...

Nice work! I'm fairly sure nearly everyone has neglected to tighten something, left tools in the motor, or something like that over the years in one form or another. Glad you got it working.

Thanks for your response. The scanner background lights up when it's connected, it begins to run through the scan process (it gives two preliminary messages indicating it is connecting), but then when the codes should appear I get the message "Link Error!" I tried to read the codes numerou...