Considering purchase of 2008 XC70

[E Showell]

I'm a P80 and P2 guy, but may be looking at a 2008 XC70. What are the pros/cons -- expensive surprises lurking? Odo is just over 100K.

Any tips you can throw my way I'd appreciate.

[oragex]

These are pretty good cars. Maybe google about the cabin blower issue (quite expensive) on P3

I'd also search a bit see if the pcv needs attention on these, I'd replace it right away at 100k even if it works fine. Same for the transmission, even a partial fluid replacement would be a good thing.

Most other things should have been fixed by 2008 I believe, the awd should be reliable

[nickalos]

I have an 08, owned since 2012 and has been pretty reliable overall. Never been left stranded but it's age is showing with small things popping up as with any aged car. I perform all maintenance myself to keep overall up-keep costs down because as you probably already know, parts are not always reasonably priced.

Had the brake vacuum pump start a slow that caused a low oil light on a road trip, it was a slow leak so I topped it off and was able to continue the trip issue free. Rebuild kit was $65 or so from Volvo, took an hour to replace and hasn't leaked since.

Recently threw a CEL for fuel pressure, changed the pressure sensor and hasn't been back.

The passenger BLIS sensor seem to malfunction in heavy rain as of late but works at all other times, maybe there's a seal that is letting water in the camera, haven't looked into it since it works most of the time anyway.

Currently troubleshooting an overheat issue, I got a high engine temp warning and seemed to happen at idle while parked without the AC on then making a slow stop and go trip... pulled over let it cool and ot was fine. Never gets hot while driving at speed. More to come.

Like I said, never been stranded but it's starting to show it's age but I still love it. AWD works well and it's a comfortable road trip machine.

BTW I have almost 120 on the Odometer

[pgill]

E Showell,

I am also thinking about buying a XC70

Currently I have the first cousin (2008 LR2) with the same: engine, transmission, all wheel drive system, power steering, cooling, etc.

For the LR2 here are the common problems (I removed anything not shared between the XC70 and LR2 from the list)

Maintenance items and common failures for 3.2 with high mileage

1. Starter motor - typically fails at 100,000 miles or 10 years
2. Engine Mounts
3. Blower Resistor
4. AC Compressor (Volvo owner recommends rebuilding the clutch pack)
5. Rear Pinion Bearing on Differential - replaced the gear oil and added a magnetic drain plug
6. Spark Plugs - replaced mine twice (every 50,000 miles)
7. serpentine belt, tensioner, idler - replaced mine at 113,000 miles/10 years
8. Thermostat - replaced mine at 10 years (also replaced two coolant hoses)
9. Power steering fluid and reservoir replaced due to noisy heavy steering
10. Battery - replaced twice
11. ATF fluid flushed - search for Gibbons method (note: I used the modified Gibbons method)
12. Brake fluid flushed
13. Front Brake calipers refurbished
14. Coolant replaced
15. Haldex fluid and filter - I used genuine Volvo parts for this (it was cheaper than Land Rover)
16. Fuel Pressure sending unit -
17. Ignition coils (Some evidence that a failed Thermostat leads to over heating and premature Coil failure)
18. Oil leak at Brake booster
19. Radiator Fan
20. BOT Gear oil for power Transfer unit (for mine I drilled a drain hole)

For my 2008 LR2 with 114,000 miles
Completed #1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20
Not completed #2, 3, 4, 16, 17, 18, 19

Good Luck

Paul

[oragex]

Failed thermostat should rather have the engine run cooler as thermostats mostly fail (by design) in part-open position

The ignition coils by usually quite long lasting but for some reason one or two of them just give up while the others keep going for years - always good to keep a spare one in the trunk with some tools to replace it on the road

Sucks to hear Volvo starters got weaker on P3. On P2 the starters were almost never an issue

Blower resistor is quite a bit issue on P3 because of hard access and special tool needed (very different than P2). It's a $1000+ job at the main dealer. Volvo used the same Behr blower as many many other cars - this company has the market in their hands and produce poor quality blowers.

[pgill]

Oragex,

Good discussion

Thanks for your input


I agree with your assertion that thermostats should fail open but the thermostat in the 3.2 is not your typical thermostat.

Hot thermostat - the silver bracket is blocking the recirculating port
Note: silver bracket moves up and down as thermostat opens and closes

Better picture of recirculating port blocked

Recirculating port open

Picture shows two paths for coolant (recirculating port or radiator)

Open thermostat

Closed thermostat

[oragex]

I'm a bit confused on this housing design.. so normally the thermostat part (the black unit with the pin) extends the pin when hot and retracts it - in fact the small spring puts pressure forcing the pin to retract - as it cools down. As it gets old, the pin in these wax thermostats won't fully retract when cold even despite the coil pressure (I guess the wax inside gets dry and doesn't melt any longer, so the pin doesn't have place to retract)

I'm rather under the impression that in pic#2 the pin is fully extended and the recirc port opened (radiator gets flow), while in pic#3 the pin is fully retracted and the port is closed?

[pgill]

The Thermostat design is complicated

Note: I did heat up the actuator to get it to extend, the shorter measurement was with it at room temperature. (see picture above)

This first picture below shows the two paths for the coolant
- Recirculating (back to the engine)
- Radiator

Engine Cold
Actuator is retracted pre load of the spring is blocking the port to the radiator
Open - Recirculating (back to the engine)
Closed - Radiator


Engine Warming
Actuator is partially extended the port to the radiator partially opens and the recirculating port partially closes
Partially Closed - Recirculating (back to the engine)
Partially Open - Radiator


Engine Hot
Actuator is fully extended the port to the radiator fully opens and the recirculating port fully closes
Closed - Recirculating (back to the engine)
Open - Radiator

Thermostat.jpg (298.84 KiB) Viewed 8515 times

For the next picture I highlighted the failure point of the housing

The black plastic tab breaks off and the spring is no longer under tension

Note: mine broke 5 minutes after removal, another XC70 owner had his break in the same location and he got a temperature warning

The Red box shows the broken tab (missing) and the green box shows an unbroken tab

The plastic tabs hold the cross member which maintains the pressure on the spring

The failure mechanism is not the typical actuator wear out

Thermostat_2.jpg (297.79 KiB) Viewed 8515 times

Thanks

Paul

[nickalos]

I just pulled my thermostat yesterday and found that one of the tabs circled was broken with the spring and cross member sitting in the block... I also received eng temp warning after sitting with AC off for a while then starting to drive.

[oragex]

The black plastic tab breaks off and the spring is no longer under tension
Note: mine broke 5 minutes after removal, another XC70 owner had his break in the same location and he got a temperature warning

Very interesting, appreciate the details. Simply it's a very poor design with plastic parts exposed to heat that keep the spring under tension. Normally it should have been the actuator that would fail as mentioned above, but since the housing is this fragile, you guys have a much worse problem on hand.

I assume these tabs gave up at close to 10 years age? If so, this part becomes a must be replaced item at no more than 7-8 years old.

Is the thermostat easy to access?