New Member New to Volvo

[Saltyvolvo]

I’ve got this figured out. Here’s the harness I put together. There’s a lot going on. This picture is before the friction tape. Please let me know if you have any questions.

I’m gonna explain the taps coming off the harness:

1. Fused wire is from the switched power or remote on. This goes to the backup camera to provide 12v and protect my wire.

2. Green is a ground. It’s just for future now, but I may use it for the gps or dvd if I need it for the parking (-) signal on the radio. EDIT- Im going to use this for the ground circuit for the backup camera.

3. Offwhite non-fused is the trigger from the reverse lights for the backup camera. I’ll put a fuse near the reverse light to protect the wire coming back. EDIT- This will connect to the red wire (trigger) to the radio backup (+) on the radio. This trigger wire runs through the same cable as the backup camera so this wire doesn’t need to be ran beside the yellow rca for the camera video cable. The trigger wire in the back just needs to be attached to the reverse light (+). WHAT COLOR WIRE IS THIS ON THE FACTORY TAIL LIGHT HARNESS?

[Saltyvolvo]

My wife’s been driving my truck because her car smells like gas. I decided to start looking into the gas and oil leaks.

I sprayed a few ounces of simple green all over the motor and turbo while the car was cold to clean all the oil off to find leaks easy. I found the vvt solenoid leaking all over. It had a cardboard gasket. GARBAGE. I’LL TELL THE GUY I BOUGHT IT FROM BECAUSE THEY DID SOME WORK ON IT.

What about the gas leak? I checked under the seats in the back because that’s where the seller said the access to the fuel pumps were. Under my baby’s car seat the lock ring for the fuel tank was damaged. The seller had changed the fuel pumps. The other side was also damaged the same way. GARAGE. I’LL TELL THE SELLER ABOUT HIS MECHANIC.

Update once parts come in.

Also I’ve got into my land clearing, landscaping and mowing a lot. I’ve also started detailing my other cars. Busy month.

[chris11211]

I smelled burning oil when I stopped today. The oil was near the bottom of the ok marks. I topped it off with 5w-20.

Ok, I know you just put in some oil, but I think you should just do a full oil change while your at it. The engine is rated to accept 0w-30, 0w-40, 5w-30, and 10w-30. Hopefully the engine is fine; but I put in some links to get you to figure out what to get.

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/5811/10 ... 03-1275810

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/5884/11 ... 15-1275379

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/5021/11 ... 89-9995679

I also put the best oil in my opinion for "bang for buck"; also get 6 quarts worth.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Tech-H ... /839552658

P.S Sometimes you would find that the splash guard is destroyed and completely gone. I think IPD sells pretty good sones too. Just need to get screws as well.

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/11533/1 ... 44-8634813

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/11617/1 ... =P0,P11533

[shiloh51933]

Fuel leaks are sometimes the orings at sending unit or fuel pump. Just replaced oring on sending unit for my wife XC90 T6 9 Months ago. You can replace the access covers, I believe FCPEURO.COM has them but you must pull the actual fuel pump and sending unit to check orings if there making air tight seal to tank.

[Saltyvolvo]

I guess I’ll find out if the leaks stop tomorrow and change the oil. The color of the oil is still newish. I know the oil cap says castrol on it. Is Castrol the best choice for a car with 175k?

I think the other seals are good but I’ll find out once the lock rings are removed.

There’s no splash guard.

[shiloh51933]

I guess I’ll find out if the leaks stop tomorrow and change the oil. The color of the oil is still newish. I know the oil cap says castrol on it. Is Castrol the best choice for a car with 175k?

I think the other seals are good but I’ll find out once the lock rings are removed.

There’s no splash guard.

Liqui Moly Leichlaft 5w40 is the best oil I've ever used for my 2004 XC70 and 2004 XC90. I use Castrol Syntec 5w30 on my 1999 5thgen Honda Prelude, excellent oil. Valvoline and Mobil1 are good choices ad well.

[chris11211]

I guess I’ll find out if the leaks stop tomorrow and change the oil. The color of the oil is still newish. I know the oil cap says castrol on it. Is Castrol the best choice for a car with 175k?

I think the other seals are good but I’ll find out once the lock rings are removed.

There’s no splash guard.

IF you are going for a Castrol, then just get their 0w-40 Euro oil. A lot of other oils are just bought from oil factories and they put their labels in them, so it doesn't matter what brand you get, as long as you got the right oil grade. Also, the Walmart oil I linked you is a good bang for your buck oil because it is so cheap and the oil comes from a big named factory that companies like Mobil 1 buys, which they then sell it to ya for twice the price.

Since you don't have a splash guard, then just bite the bullet a little and get the ipd one I just linked ya as well as the screw set. Because a lot of water and debris tends to get up there and can find a way around your belts.

Hell, if you live in the mountains then see if there aluminum splash guard is worth it.

[Saltyvolvo]

The car is put back together and the vvt is working noticeably better without the huge leaks. This might be all in my head but my butt dyno says it’s healthy. I need to get beneath it to spray all the old remaining oil that’s on it off to check for more leaks. I need to get this u see control before I get the new splash guard. I was thinking a splash guard was only cosmetic but it’s a small price to pay for maintaining this car for a few more years.

I’ll try the European blend synthetic. I have some from when I owned my e46 BMW. It was nice slick stuff and my local Walmart has it.

The gas-
Well the leak is gone and the smell is gone. I test drive it and left it in the sun and there’s no leaks or smells. I tried to fill it with gas before my wife gets it back tomorrow and I can only get half a tank. I’ve looked this “half tank problem” up before but I didn’t get a definitive answer on what I should do. Do I drop the take and look?

[Saltyvolvo]

I forgot to add- the resonator on the car was changed to a long glass pack and the weld looks like exhaust leaks and spiny raccoon scat. I’m going to have the shop remove the factory y pipe and 2” oval exhaust for 2.5” straight to a y tip. No muffler.

This is probably a few weeks out.

[Roger_850T]

A note on the "Low Oil Level" message: My oil level sensor does not like Castrol Magnatek oil, and gives me false low readings if I use it. I changed out the $120 sensor only to have the message persist, and finally cured by an oil change to a different flavor of oil. I recommend changing the oil first, and then consider the sensor!

As always, checking on the dipstick is (almost) the best was to validate the actual oil level.

Good luck!

Roger