98 V70 non-turbo Sluggish

Post by **98v70dad** » 28 Feb 2015, 13:02

I have been working on getting my 98 V70 back in shape after my daughter has been driving it a few miles each day for six years. Its bouncing back really well as I show it some love. Last weekend I fixed the hot/cold intake air door and the gas mileage has jumped into the normal range which surprised me, but I'm happy about it. The car doesn't have anything obvious mechanically wrong with it other than it burns some oil every morning at start up. I suspect dried out valve stem seals and can live with that for a while. The noticeable oil burning stops as soon as I leave the driveway.

Anyhow, this is an older car (125K miles) and its a bit of a tank or lead sled. Ithas no pep at all. Maybe that's how its always been. I don't know since i bought it when it was 10 years old. Once its moving it will go, but acceleration is sluggish at best. Maybe there is something I can do to pep it up a little. All suggestions are welcome. Here's what has been done..

New spark plugs about 6 months ago ... don't remember the brand either volvo or NGK.
New plug wires...OEM
New distributor and rotor ... Bosch
New air filter ...purilator
PCV rebuild with heater hose mod and otherwise OEM parts ...all new ... no more inflated rubber glove, so OK
I put fuel injector cleaner in the gas every six months since I bought it.

I am planning to do a transmission fluid change this weekend. It needs an oil change... I use valvoline 10W30.

Have I missed something that will pep it up a bit?

Post by **oragex** » 28 Feb 2015, 13:56

Perhaps checking the fuel pressure ? (fuel filter). Also thinking at spark plugs gap and transmission fluid at level (if the torque converter doesn't have enough fluid, it will 'slip')

The injectors can get clogged in two ways: either there is dirt in the filter basket (a small filter on the top of the injector), either - more probably - if the car was not driven for longer periods the fuel leaves a varnish inside the nose that when it's accumulating it will restrict the fuel flow. This varnish cannot be removed with injector cleaners. The only way to remove the varnish is to put the injector in an ultrasonic cleaning machine (Ebay). I had mines recently done, and the flow increased in each injector from 14ccm to 19ccm. My mpg also got from a pitiful 15mpg to 21mpg.

Post by **erikv11** » 28 Feb 2015, 19:09

Do you remember which outfit you used for injector cleaning?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 28 Feb 2015, 20:11

I've only had one Non Turbo / Automatic 850 or 70 series in the fleet and it was a dog. The N/A with a manual is fairly peppy but nowhere near the turbos, even the low pressure turbos. My son drove that car through high school and college and I rarely drove it. When I rode with him anywhere he seemed to have two pedal positions - accelerator matted to the floor or his foot on the brake. There wasn't anything wrong with it, it was just slow.

...Lee

Post by **98v70dad** » 28 Feb 2015, 23:33

oragex wrote:Perhaps checking the fuel pressure ? (fuel filter). Also thinking at spark plugs gap and transmission fluid at level (if the torque converter doesn't have enough fluid, it will 'slip')

The injectors can get clogged in two ways: either there is dirt in the filter basket (a small filter on the top of the injector), either - more probably - if the car was not driven for longer periods the fuel leaves a varnish inside the nose that when it's accumulating it will restrict the fuel flow. This varnish cannot be removed with injector cleaners. The only way to remove the varnish is to put the injector in an ultrasonic cleaning machine (Ebay). I had mines recently done, and the flow increased in each injector from 14ccm to 19ccm. My mpg also got from a pitiful 15mpg to 21mpg.

I replaced the fuel filter about 3 years ago. I usually don't replace fuel filters very often, maybe every 5 years at most. Should I replacing it more often for this car?

I have not had the injectors cleaned. My mileage was poor until I fixed the warm/cold air intake door. Now on the highway it's over 25 mpg ( at least it was last week). I'm going to start keeping detailed mpg figures so I know exactly what it is.

Post by **98v70dad** » 28 Feb 2015, 23:41

Ozark Lee wrote:I've only had one Non Turbo / Automatic 850 or 70 series in the fleet and it was a dog. The N/A with a manual is fairly peppy but nowhere near the turbos, even the low pressure turbos. My son drove that car through high school and college and I rarely drove it. When I rode with him anywhere he seemed to have two pedal positions - accelerator matted to the floor or his foot on the brake. There wasn't anything wrong with it, it was just slow.

...Lee

Thanks. I didn't mention that this car is an automatic. It accelerates on the on-ramp like a dog, but once it's moving, passing acceleration on the highway isn't too bad. I had thought about pulling a lightweight camper with this car ( <2000 lbs) but I don't think it could do it safely after driving it to work every day for two weeks. It's just too slow from a stop even when empty.

Post by **Faheyk1981** » 02 Mar 2015, 11:31

My own V70 N/A i always found to be under powered and i've done everything in the book to try and re-gain some power and nothing really improved it. I done everything you've done on top of getting the injectors ultrasonically cleaned. The car runs smoothly and i love it. I just always felt when taking off at the traffic lights, it should be accelerating better. It feels like the car is too heavy for the 2.0ltr N/A engine...

JeffHicks · Post by **JeffHicks** » 02 Mar 2015, 20:43

I've got a '99 V70, non-turbo with automatic transmission. I love the car, but it is kind of sluggish.

I've also got an '02 XC70, that's turbocharged. The difference is startling.

Post by **Matty Moo** » 02 Mar 2015, 20:51

I've had two NA's, one auto and one stick. The auto was a dog off the line and didn't really get it's legs until it hit 50. The stick is pleasant to drive, not fast but you can make it move.

I get less overall mileage with the NA because the pedal is always to the floor.