Parting is such sweet sorrow...

electech · Post by **electech** » 06 Oct 2012, 17:03

I thought I had more stamina. Of course, I had never counted on the resilience of the 2.4 I-5 in my 98 S70.

I have (with the help of MVS, and VADIS) been through a lot in the past year or so. I did the PCV job for the first time, followed by the timing belt. (previous work done by a shop, by previous owner). I took this car through the 200K mark, and then the 250K mark, and it kept on purring. I had a few hiccups with the engine, mainly the evap lines and MAF sensor. I brought the front end back into order with tie rods, ball joints, an axle and a hub. I swapped out a bad motor mount. I got the badly seized parking brake back working. I felt good about keeping the car on the road, and it was a comfortable ride. Best I've ever had as far as cabin comfort. I felt good about the engine too, especially after sealing the heated air return in the airbox. The NA air intake is one of the most unrestricted transaxle intakes I have seen from the factory, and that little airbox mod made it even better.

In the past I had taken it for trips, through PA and Delaware, and west to Nashville. This past year I was a bit more reserved, stayed local. Either I sensed my car failing, or my car sensed my lack of trust and stopped trying to hold up.

At first it was just another MAF sensor error tripping the CEL. That had me preoccupied for a bit, because I have to pass emissions inspections and my next one was coming up. It was a stubborn intermittent failure. Not too bad in the scheme of things, it just cost me a few points on mileage. I just didn't have the time to sit down and trace the harness to find the problem. So I ran on and hoped I would have an opportunity to dig into it (or a flash of brilliance to know how to fix it).

The opportunity never came. Last month on the way to work, the clutch started slipping pretty badly. I knew it didn't have a long time left, being the original clutch, and I had been babying it for a while. Of course it happened during a week of rain. I looked into parts prices and possibilities for shop time. The shops were cost-prohibitive, since the money I had been saving was designated for the emissions inspection and MAF repair. By the third day, it was obviously not going to make it any farther. I parked it for the last time. The parts and labor for the clutch were not making sense when I needed to get the emissions done too. For the cost of a clutch job at a dealer, I got a good deal on another import that was already inspected and running well.

It is not usual for me to let a car go when the engine still purrs. I feel good about having new wheels and no inspection hanging over my head. I feel bad that this wonderful machine that carried me the last few years is now collecting leaves - for the time being. It needs to move on to another home, and soon. I have listed it as a parts car in the classifieds. I hope someone wants it whole for a project car - clutch and all - or for a parts car. I feel ike it would serve someone on these forums well, and I would prefer that to sending it to the scrapyard.

<sigh>
Bobby

Post by **matthew1** » 06 Oct 2012, 17:32

It's always sad to read these, but you cared for the Volvo, so hold your head high. 250k miles is ok in my book.

Beiner · Post by **Beiner** » 08 Oct 2012, 09:20

I'm pushing for a quarter million on mine too. I've only got 60k to go. Glad to see that you stuck with it that long.

Post by **jblackburn** » 08 Oct 2012, 11:04

It's always sad to give up on a car, but sometimes it's just time. I knew it was time with my car before my S70...it was just a money pit.

I wish I had a place to put that car, and I'd come buy it from you. I've always wanted to do a manual swap to my old T5.

Glad you enjoyed your time with your Volvo, and you'll always have lots of memories to remember it by. I miss mine all the time.

louty · Post by **louty** » 08 Oct 2012, 17:18

sad to hear about your car
it is a fear of mine too, that these "newer" volvos can be cost prohibitive to keep on the road unless you have a good garage and tons of time.
sadly they are not like an old 240 ( or 940 or all the way back to a 544) where pulling the tranny, slapping in a clutch just took a short evening, a hun bucks and a 6 pack of wrench lubricant

electech · Post by **electech** » 09 Oct 2012, 01:21

Thanks for the well wishes.

And jblackburn, make sure your brother knows that if he needs any trim pieces I'd be happy to hook him up. Of course he might not have much use for my base trim in the t5, but you never know what little gizmo he might want.

electech · Post by **electech** » 09 Oct 2012, 01:37

Louty, I understand your concern...newer engine compartments and transaxles are just plain packed in there. To me, it comes down to knowing what REALLY needs to be done to prevent a failure. In my case, a timely $20 gasket might have made the difference. I know the rear seal was leaking a little, and I have no doubt that the clutch failure was hastened by that. If I had put that at the top of my repair list, I might have sqeezed out another 50K on this clutch- more than enough time to pay for it. Of course by the time the tranny is out to replace the rear seal, I might as well drop in the clutch at the same time. For me, it was a matter of having an older car and not enough time and money to keep up with it that led to a much more expensive replacement. A new seal a year ago and I would still be on the road, aiming for 300K.

Post by **850 LPT** » 09 Oct 2012, 06:29

Too bad you can't keep it running. But at least you got to enjoy and appreciate one of these fine cars for a while. And 250k is not shabby at all.
Boy, that 5-speed would be awesome in my 850. Just dreaming.....

Dirk

P.S. Just sent you another PM

Post by **matthew1** » 09 Oct 2012, 14:20

850 LPT wrote:Boy, that 5-speed would be awesome in my 850. Just dreaming.....

I agree.
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=28998

byeboy · Post by **byeboy** » 09 Oct 2012, 21:27

So, what did you replace it with?