I bought a 2004 D5 at auction just over a week ago. It had 85000 miles and "full service history". I think I have made a bad mistake! Turns out the "full service history" was only stamps in the service book, a couple of which are garages with no contact numbers. I love cars and have owned and worked on too many to remember. I have had Mitsubishis, Jaguars, Audis, BMWs, Porsche, Lexus etc. This is my first ever Volvo and I thought it would be good to try. So far it isn't going well and I haven't been impressed.
It seems from browsing the net that most of the issues I have found are common but these are mine:-
1) Vibrating engine. The shake in the cabin on this car is unbelievable, to the point where I am taking it out of drive and putting it in neutral in stop start traffic to try to find a sweet spot where my passengers and I don't feel like we are driving over cobbles. The car is at its worst when standing still. Everything I have read would seem to suggest that engine mounts are to blame. The lower front engine mount with the vacuum hose looks very shiny and new. I believe that the torque rod and the top mount are the problem. I can move the torque rod backwards and forwards easily and I can move the actual mount left and right on the engine by hand. The rubber appears to be free to slide in the mount. Moving this mount around with the engine running does change the feel in the cabin. I thought this was the obvious fix until I read somewhere that this is normal and that this isn't really an engine mount so much as a crash bar? Any advice would be gratefully received!
2) Smoking engine from dipstick and filler cap. When the engine was shaking around I noticed an oil leak underneath the car and signs of oil running down the cam cover from the oil cap. I am not sure why, but this made me open the oil cap while the engine was running. I was horrified to see quite a lot of white steamy vapour coming out.
The internet seems to be a hotbed of misinformation on this. Youtube videos show plenty of D5 engines doing the same and the stock reply seems to be "PCV valve". It took me a while to work out that this diesel engine doesn't even have a PCV valve! I took out the oil separator and it was beautifully clean. I checked the breather hoses and they are clear. I separated the system at the oil separator and found that the hose that goes up to the turbo pipe had a little suction on it. I refitted everything and I then realised that a bit above idle revs the vapour stops coming out of the oil filler. I joined this forum specifically because I then found a 2 year old post by jimmy57 explaining this which makes sense. I have now concluded that this vapour is normal. I did think it might be a problem with worn rings, but the car doesn't smoke and seems to have plenty of power and at least thanks to VOSA I know the mileage is genuine. I would still love to see what comes out of the oil filler cap on a known good car though.
3) Oil leak. Someone must have steam cleaned the engine bay for the auction. The car is leaking like a sieve! First of all the oil cap. A small pool of oil kept appearing on the cam cover. I bought a new cap seal from Volvo. I was gutted to still have a leak after a good run. I slightly tightened the tangs on the cap and it hasn't leaked from here since, but I don't trust it! Is it a lack of a baffle that causes this oil to work so hard at getting out? Is this common?
I am now running the car around with the top and bottom covers removed. Oil is still appearing on the sump after a run, but not under the drain plug. It's more in line with the oil cooler. Is there anything higher up I should be looking at?
4) Parking brake. It just doesn't work. My drive is a slope. It held it once, but won't again. I am going to check the shoes but what earthly advantage does this have over a normal handbrake!
5) Brake steer. I have noticed that at any proper speed, ie 40mph and up, touching the brakes gives a little steer to the car. The steering wheel doesn't move. I can only assume that this is worn bushes. Is there a typical culprit? One rear tyre is badly worn on the inner edge, but then again that was probably moved from the front, knowing my luck!
6) Air filter. The lid doesn't fit the box! It is as if either the lid or the box has distorted and I can see the edge of the filter. Is this normal, or just mine? That said, vibrations aside the engine sounds good and pulls very well.
7) Steering oil cooler. I just noticed pas fluid leaking close to where the hose goes into the cooler pipe. At least I thought it was there. On closer examination it looks as though it is the actual metal pipe that is leaking just inside the bushing on the bracket that holds it to the front of the radiator. Is this a common fail? Could I shorten the metal pipe a bit and get a little more length out of the rubber hose or perhaps sleeve this section of metal pipe in rubber hose. Has anyone repaired these?
Alarm service required. Every time I get in the car this message displays. It only seems to have happened since I set the alarm of with the remote key. Will this message ever go on its own?9) Cup holder. I stripped and rebuilt this as it wouldn't stay shut. I had to glue back 3 broken bits of plastic. This mechanism and plastic quality was more like I expect to find when repairing my children's toys!
10) Stereo. This is very good but what are the controls in the rear pillar behind seat row 2 supposed to do?
11) Fake wood. The car has lovely full black leather, sat nav that rises from the dash and even rear dvds. It is spoiled by a couple of bits of plastic wood that resemble the wood my Nan had on a sideboard in the 1970s. Is there a quick fix? I was wondering where I could by a roll of carbon fibre look sticky stuff.
As well as all of the above, I also have the car booked in for a Volvo health check on Saturday. I guess this will tell me I need a new car and double my list! Any advice on any of the points above would be greatly appreciated because I shall be working through the list as well as doing a cambelt change. (Another mystery, the cambelt cover bolt is missing)
