Ooops, I did it again! A 03 V70 T5 comes home.

[Botbasher]

Today was a good day!! Got to the yard... Beautiful day out... Sunny but cool. Had a couple of things specifically in mind.... any totally forgot them once I got there... Cest la Vie!!!

While wandering around, I happen upon a newly arrived XC90. I found a CCM that had been ripped out of the dash with broken tabs, but thankfully that was it. I stole the board out of it since it had IAQS AND DSTC!! That's a rare combo!!

I also got the steering wheel buttons since the PO of Sven must have worn rings since both the outer buttons were scratched to hell!!

A S60 also donated a pair of working fog lights to the cause, since the ones Sven came home with were severely abused!! I couldn't use the complete housings, but I was able to mix and match the pieces to get something viable!

So as soon as I got home, I set about installing all these bits and clearing codes.

The CCM got the new board. After installing it, I tested and calibrated it. There were no CAN-BUS issues. You do not need to program a CCM. From all my research I figured that you can swap CCMs from similar years and features (mine has DTSC and a header type fan). So now the passengers are not all bound to freeze!!

The airbag was a bit fun to remove to get these switches out. Never had one out before. Easy when you know how, but until then, it ain't coming out!! To make matters worse, the key wasn't in the car and the steering wheel was locked. FWIW... the Volvo steering locks are good... but I'm stronger and 2-3 minutes later I had the wheel turning. I have no idea what damage I did and I know I did some, but I was able to spin the wheel back and forth to get the airbag out!

So after a bit of work, the only 2 codes remaining are due to the missing amp and PHM modules. I have a date with Yagger and an amp on the way, so shortly.... I should have no more DTC errors!!! Woot woot woot!!!

Cheers!!!

K "CCMd" S

[Botbasher]

On a strange side note....

While doing the airbag I disconnected the battery. You could actually do it without, but that's just a little too scary for my tastes.

When I reconnected it and drove away, the shift patterns of the trans had totally changed. It was smoother than it had ever been. It must have needed to be cleared. Go figure!!

I took it for a drive in the wilds of NCs hills. It was nice... I was able to get on it well into triple digits. It pulled hard and stopped OK... I won't be doing that again till I get the hoses redone this week!!

So other than getting some of the regular maintenance wrapped up, Sven is running damn good!

I'm looking forward to some nice drives with him this summer!!

Cheers!

K "cruising" S

[jimmy57]

Rake is normal.
Yellow triangle is gen warning for notification and bulb out causes it. Mismatched bulbs can do as can the black shunt cards having corrsion on connections or not being pushed in securely on CEM or REM.
Too late now but the switches on CCM are plugged into a buss. The switches send the code for their marked function when depressed. They can be placed in any of the slots and do the same thing when pressed. You can rearrange to suit your preferences.

[Botbasher]

Jimmy.... In my case the Yellow Triangle of Annoyance was due to the PHM failure. This car had the complete phone in it when I got it and basically, when Volvo On Call isn't registered, the DIM screams about it being deactivated and the Yellow ! the lit until you reactivate it or go to the dealer and have them download the fix.

The issue it caused me was that I want to do the TCM total reset, after I changed the linear solenoids, which requires the use of the warning triangle. The instructions specifically state all errors must be cleared before starting the process. I could run through it, but it never flashed to tell me it liked the shifts.

Nice to know that some of the option switches run on the bus.... Still need to have a CCM with IAQS though if it's installed in the car. Means a couple less issues in finding CCMs in the future. I've got a spare now, so this is more academic now for future owners!

I literally just got off Skype with Yagger and I cannot say enough good about the man!! In less than an hour, we had the CEM out, depopulated, skinned, programmed and reassembled. No mo errors!! Woot woot!!! The man is awesome!!!

Cheers!

K "!... NOT" S

[Botbasher]

I'm just saying.....

It was wonderful to drive in this morning with absolutely NO DTC errors in the DIM text window and no annoying Yellow Triangle of Annoyance burning it's ! into my retinas!!

Thanks to all that helped me get Sven to this point, but especially to Sergey (Yagger)!! That man is a wizard and within an hour on 2 different occasions he's cleared errors that I am sure dealers would have balked at unless approved to spend multi-thousands of dollars!! He programmed the BCM last week and last night he deleted the PHM module. All this over a VPN and Skype! Amazing! Keep him in mind before you head to the dealer as he is way cheaper and far less snotty!!

In the span of just a few weeks and a couple of well spent $$, Sven went from this.... to nothing except the Amp error and I have a new one of those coming this week!

First VIDA read...

Page 2

OK... you get the point as it went on for another page and a half.. It was a really long list!!! After seeing this I was actually worried that I bit off a bit too much and Sven might get retired early. I am glad I stuck with him!

Now I need to flush the trans and perform a proper TCM re-learn and see if I can't get these shift points a bit smoother. Some of the low speed ones are quite questionable! New sub-frame bushings and brake lines arrive sometime this week. Then the only really urgent issue to correct is springs. I hit some train tracks at way more than I should have yesterday. It settled nicely so I know the struts are viable... just need to get the a*s up/nose down attitude corrected!

After that it's on to little things..... The driver side upper door vinyl has been melted where someone fond of hand lotion sat... same with the center arm rest, so I'll need to repaint them. Get a couple of runners for the sunroof privacy screen and at that the interior is pretty much complete.

Maybe one day he'll get a new suit (paint). The VA/FL summer sun hasn't done his complexion any good!

I'm totaling up what I've spent so far. It's probably more than I should have, but not as much as I could have! We shall see!

Ciao!

K "enjoying the breeze" S

[Botbasher]

Last night turned into the high point of getting Sven's mechanical issues wrapped up and starting to focus on the little things....

Knock on some kind of wood, but I think that the trans work is finished!! You can read the long version here, but the short of it that I did a CMA, more commonly known as a TCM Control Module Adaptation. It is a complete PITA process that took me a bit more than an hour (and I still need to redo it I think) but the end result is that the trans shifts butter smooth now and all the erratic behaviors appear to have been trained out of it. I haven't gotten to test all the RPM values, but I haven't experienced any bad shifts yet in 30+ miles of driving. Usually had one or two at the lower RPMs. Nada. Cold Oil was perfect. Mid-day temps it worked fine. I'm going to do some hill holds and such this evening to try and induce the faults, but up to this point... it's perfect!!!

Part of the reason that it took so damn long to get to this point was that the CMA requires that you have no DTCs that cause the Yellow/Red Triangle of Doom to light up. Anything that causes it... from Airbags to Taillights or in my case, a deactivated PHM (Phone) module cause you to not be able to do the CMA. I spent some time with Yagger and between him reprogramming my BCM and then deleting my PHM, I've managed to clear all the other errors effecting this light.

So once they were clear, I could hardly wait to redo it. Little did I realize that you need a REALLY long stretch of uninhabited road to do the CMA properly. Like 3/4-1 mile! Holding the RPMs at 2200 till 5th gear puts you right about 60MPH... you're watching for the triangle... you're watching RPMs... You aren't watching traffic... the road... the turns!!! It's tough and if you read my drivel of it, next time I do it, I am going to have a CMA Buddy along to watch the road. I'm also going to try and find an amazingly flat and deserted road to use. The big problem is that you have to start from dead stopped, so sitting in a lane... Not moving... Waiting for the gears to downshift after positioning the car straight... Watching the mirrors while people come up behind you.... NO FUN!!!

But for the moment I think Sven got the training he so desperately needed and I got a car that doesn't try to toss you out when downshifting in a turn! It's a good trade, don't you think?

Cheers!

K "Shift It!!" S
^^
I'll give the 1st person who can tell me where that reference came from a 50% coupon for Cerakote on one item. No cheating... you either know it or you don't, but I'll give you a hint... There is no atrocious dancing or singing associated with it but there was drinking!

[Botbasher]

K "Shift It!!" S
^^
I'll give the 1st person who can tell me where that reference came from a 50% coupon for Cerakote on one item. No cheating... you either know it or you don't, but I'll give you a hint... There is no atrocious dancing or singing associated with it but there was drinking!

Apparently we have no Rocky Horror Picture Show fans here... Sadness and Woe! Here is the scene with a young Barry Bostwick and "has only gotten hotter" Michelle Pfeiffer ... https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/5e08f48e-a ... 8ab6f993dc

Give it a watch... it's a hilarious movie if you don't expect much from it... Unlike the commercial I hinted at. OMG... What a train wreck!! But what are you going to do with a wad of cash, questionable taste and chicks you want to impress? Make a "commercial"!! I'll let you make your own determination as to it's value!

K "Time Warped" S

[Botbasher]

Hi ho... Hi ho... it's under the car I go. My cash is spent... I gave up swearing for Lent... Hi Ho... Hi ho!!!

OK... back to your regularly scheduled program!!

I've been driving Sven for the last few days without much of an issue after replacing all the sub-frame bushings last week. The clunking went away, but I picked up some truly annoying vibrations at idle and under moderate to heavy acceleration. It's also worse in a right hand turn. Nothing at coast or mild accel, so I guessed that I had a motor mount going. So I pulled back the curtain and wouldn't you know.... something about Power Steering Fluid and rubber just don't mix!!

Hmmmmm Think this one is bad??

Not that it was a surprise, but it just annoys me that such a simple a repair as replacing a hose caused not only the damage here, but also the sub-frame bushings to congeal. I guess I shouldn't complain too much as that's probably what allowed me to pick Sven up for $600!!! I'm in for a bit of elbow grease.. which is cheap in my book!

The one that surprised me though was after picking up the kiddo from school the other evening. On the way back home, after sitting in the Pick-Up in the school lot for 30 minutes of Stop-n-Go, I got the "low coolant" warning. Checked it and sure enough it's low... not pouring out the car but dripping... hopefully enough to get home! I made it..... barely!!

Looking at car it was leaking from somewhere on pass side of the car. Nothing coming from the coolant tank.... nothing leaking from the hoses.... no rad leaks... WTF!!! Where is it coming from? I narrowed it down to the front of the motor... somewhere up under the intake?!?! It was dripping down the oil filter housing so I started searching straight up from there. I start poking around up top and found my AH HA! location... how did I know? It was the cleanest spot on the entire motor!!! See for yourself!

Took a bit of disassembly to find this one though!

So come to find out that particular gasket is actually Unobtanium!!! You can get it WITH the assembly but even Volvo doesn't sell it alone. So, desperately late on a Tuesday evening, I set about making a gasket for my T-Stat! While in there, I found out why it leaked. At some point someone tightened it down so badly that it pushed the rubber/metal gasket out, leaving only a fraction of an inch to seal... How hard do you have to try and screw up a seal with a METAL FRAME GASKET?!?!?!?

Bet you can't tell where it was leaking from!!

So I made a gasket and with a little help from PermaTex, got it to seal up nicely! Been a few days now and nary a drop of the green is to be found!

My bits from FCP arrived today, so now I'm off to install some plugs, a motor mount, a trans filter and to see if I want to try and tackle a ATF flush this evening or wait for the 3 day weekend. Those are the kind of tough decisions I like!!!

Cheers!

K "Indecisive" S

[Botbasher]

OK... I chickened out!!! I'll do the Trans Flush when I have all day to think about what I am doing.... but I did get quite a lot accomplished in the Stage 0 check sheet!!!

I started from the back of the car and worked forward. First Stop.... Fuel Filter, or in my case, Dirt Collector! How on earth this thing was passing fluid is beyond me! Pump should have a much easier day of it now!

Think this one was original!!!

The coolest feature EVER!!!

2017-05-25 19.11.57-2.jpg (153.9 KiB) Viewed 1479 times

I must say... I have worked on a lot of Euro cars, but Volvo with their little engineering Easter eggs are awesome! Replacing the fuel filter has always ranked low on my scale of repairs. Getting fuel all over everything isn't fun in my book, but as I pulled this one down I noticed a Schrader Valve... Hmmmm?? Now the typical car, you pull the FP fuse, run the car till it dies and then usually still have some residual pressure to spit fuel at you. Hit the Schrader on the fuel rail.... Yuk! Volvo put a Schrader right there at the filter!!! You release the pressure into your drain pan!!! I got less than an ounce worth of gas out and never had to pull the fuse or start the car!!! AWESOME!!!

But what came out was not!!! Ewwwwww That was bad. I am betting it hadn't ever been changed. 132K+ worth of dirt and crud! The car got up and went before I changed it... but I don't know how! It's got to be pumping a lot easier now!! Can't wait to see if that changes it's already pretty good gas mileage around town

So with my least favorite repair out of the way... I got to the fun!! I replaced the Right Motor Mount after removing it and scraping off all the residual gunk that the PS leak had allowed to congeal. It was funny to have to raise the motor to even get to the lower bolt! I had sunk so far I couldn't even get a socket in there! People that do not maintain nice cars (which Sven is quickly becoming again), do not deserve them and should be given Yugos!!!.

Dirty job now complete... I had one job ahead of me that I had been dreading. Spark Plugs. Why you ask? Because when inspecting the motor after getting it home, I pulled the plugs. #5 gave about 1/2 turn and stopped hard. A couple of back and forth and I got about 3/4 turn but that was all I was willing to push it. So I sprayed a bit of oil down the hole, replaced the CoP and waited for new plugs to come in.

Being no time like the present... having 5 new plugs... and the spare V70 up and running.... I decided to try and pull #5. Well, the oil and having a mildly warm motor worked! It came out with just a bit of hesitation. It never "loosened" up to undo by hand, but I didn't have to push too hard on the wrench. So I got it out and inspected it....

Can just see the rolled spot on the thread.

Well... there were a couple of shards of AL on the plug, so I tossed the borescope down the hole. I found a couple of shards and mis-shapened threads in there too. A few minutes with a dental pick and a the scope showed rough, but clean threads. I'll see if I can't get them out of the scope and post them for all the techno-nerds like me here. It really is a valuable tool!!

So after brushing the bejesus out of the threads, I hosed them down with WD40, slathered the plug with copper anti-seize and prayed to the automotive gods above!!! I must have held my tongue right, because the plug, although taking a bit more than hand pressure to move, hit the seat and torqued to a nice 20ft/lbs on a warm to the touch cyl head. It looks like I may have dodged the bullet on that one. I really hope that I never change the plugs again. If I do I may simply forgo that cyl or find some unsuspecting garage and let them do it!! Nah.. I'm not that mean. I'll have this handy next round... Time-Sert... but hopefully since the plug that came out didn't look that bad and it seated nicely, that day is a long way off!!!

So I took it for a quick spin around the block.... Damn!!! With the mount doing it's thing the car is quiet! Quick and quiet!! It no longer rattles and vibrates the dash pad. It actually shifts a bit better (or I simply can't feel it). The noise increase on right turns is gone. The drone on accel is now well removed. What a changed car... and all from a simple mount!!

I still have a weird little "clop clop" over small road bumps that I can't find. It sounds like it's coming from somewhere under my feet while driving. Nothing is loose. It doesn't sound metallic... kinda sounds like someone hitting the inner fender with something, but I can't see any evidence of collisions. It's weird, but if that's the worst I have to deal with... I'll take it!

So with the upcoming 3 day weekend, I'll get the trans flushed, find a long lonely road to perform the CMA and fingers crossed, Sven will be a man reborn for the road!!! Maybe I'll get a drive on the Blue Ridge Highway in if it's sunny!!! Windows down, wind blowing... now that's a holiday!!!

Have a great Memorial Day Guys and Gals!!

KS

[Botbasher]

Well, I hope everyone had a fantastic Holiday and got all kinds of projects done. I checked a couple of big ones!!

It's got to be pumping a lot easier now!! Can't wait to see if that changes it's already pretty good gas mileage around town

I am not sure where exactly the bump came from... but this little statement came VERY true! I'll explain!

When I last left you, I had done some Stage 0 items (fuel filter, plugs, cooling...) and wondered how that might change MPG. I didn't get to take Sven on any long drives as my girlfriend got pretty sick and I was a good guy and took her cake and whipped cream. Hey... that's what she wanted... that's what she gets!

So, on Fri I got home from work and like a kid on Christmas morn, I couldn't wait.... I tore into the case of Idemitsu TLS fluid and flushed it all away!! OK... mostly! I put most of it back in the bottles actually! I had already done some partial flushes with Mobil 3309, so this was to be the first complete flush. It was MUCH easier than I thought. Now that I have a aux cooler (more on that later), it'll be even easier the next time I have to. Because of the neglect Sven suffered, I'll be doing full flushes on at least an annual basis!

I managed to get the whole flush and refill done in under 2 hours and that was from nothing prepped to checking the fill. I do have one little tid bit to add to those DIYs though. Everyone tries to mark up containers and figure out how much came out. I simply used a 5 liter oil jug. They are already conveniently marked, easy to pour and can take hot oil without issue. They have the little see through bar on the side too that made it very easy to watch the fill while rowing the gears.

That and don't wait for the bubbles in the line. I tried that and suddenly I was at 2.85 liters and trying to figure out how much of this bottle to add... and how much of this one to leave.... No Mo!!! Next time I will only take 2L at a time. Makes adding MUCH easier. Run the car till it pumps 2. Stop... refill and repeat till happy. What little time you save by taking out the extra is chewed up in figuring out the exact amount to put back in. 2 in... 2 out. Done!

So after 200 miles or so over the weekend, I once again flushed all the TLS yesterday (yes... it was a known sacrifice!!) and inspected it. I think I got all the oggie boogies out, don't you?? It's shifting even smoother than it was before and I didn't think that was possible. I can barely feel some of them and flip it into Geartronic to see what gear it is in!! I need to do a full CMA (Control Module Adaptation) now with the new TLS fluid and rebuilt Solenoids to really tell... but there is more to this...

TLS Fluid after 100 miles in bad trans.

Sven has had one nagging little problem that no one has been able to give me anything more than a somewhat educated guess and no amount of flushing has corrected. From trans guys to forum answers to car restorations nuts. Nothing made the problem better... I'll tell you what I am talking about.

Sven shifts AWESOME... 99% of the time. First thing in the AM... Great. Freeway up shifts... Great. Standing starts to ###mph... GREAT!!! but the one time he hiccups is after sitting while in drive... like a Drive-Thru or in line to pick up the kiddo after school. 1-2 is often rough and he mis-shifts 2-3 and slightly into 3-4. After a bit of driving, all is good again. I think that there is something happening in the Valve Body, binding or leaking, because once on the roll for a bit all is perfect again!

So short of guessing at a $500 VB and an afternoon of fun replacing it, how do you fix the issue??? An Aux Trans Cooler since it appears to be a heat issue, right? That's pretty straight forward, but you know me... I like to make the simple complicated! Actually I just wanted something that I knew would fit easily without hacking the car apart. My answer... and S60 Trans cooler!!

S60 Trans Cooler. With hoses!!!

Unfortunately it wasn't a complete bolt-on, but because it was Volvo, it was darn close! I'll detail out the process out in another post 'here'.

The overall result of my weekends efforts?? I took Sven on a late night drive. Some high speed back country roads (on/off throttle twisties) mixed with some Interstate. I was quite surprised! Sven's Trip computer has been pretty accurate. Within about 1 MPG over the last several tanks. On the first portion of the drive I watched the MPG steadily climb from the high teens to the mid-20s. I filled up at the apex of my loop and reset the counters. On the way home I kept the cruise control on as much as possible to limit my desire to see just what he could do now... passing is effortless and 90s come up faster than I care to admit. I am enjoying my HPT P2!!! .. and I was floored! Here, take a look!

Mix of country and intersate.

So even at a mile or so off... That's about 3 MPG better than he was getting before this weekend! I noticed that at cruise, 70 MPH, the RPM has dropped about 200 RPM. So he running much more efficient than he was before!!! This morning I sat in a parking lot, in drive, while eating breakfast and just let it pull against the brake. I drove off and not a hiccup! Perfect shifting! We're supposed to be about 85F today, so I'll get him all warmed up at lunch and see if I can make it happen again!

What does this mean? Well, I know I have not "fixed" the issue... I have only hidden it a bit further down the scale. It won't tell me if it's either heat or pressure, but maybe the next time it rears it's head I'll be able to pin it down a bit better. I still have a VB from the 06... I just need to find a "B" wiring harness before I can install it. I may do that here soon, but I want to see how this effects it before digging deeper. I think, based on how well the trans works in almost every other aspect, that I have a worn VB shuttle or bore and that once it gets warm it acts up. Take the heat away and it's fine.

Only time will tell me, huh?

K "flushed" S