What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[bmdubya1198]

Well I'm certainly equipped for a sub-$500 P80 rally!

[Ocelot]

So today I was at the diy garage where I changed the oil and filter, made myself a flash reader with the information gathered at the repair database of MVS and discoverd a few things to take care of before heading out for my second roadtrip through eastern Europe:

• * The exhaust manifold has a little crack. I've noticed some more noise than usual, I expected a leak in the exhaust system, just not the manifold itself. Some brave soul tried to weld it and I remember from back at my car mechanic school days that welding cast iron is a bit tricky. I've found the crack just under the weld. Luckily I can buy a new manifold for about 150 dollars (German quality).
  * The cv boot on the right has a tear in it, nothing big, but I will fix that shortly because once that kind of grease is spun around the axle and surrounding area, it's a real pain to clean it properly (not to mention the damage to the cv axle).
  * The outer tierod balljoint has too much play.

So those three things are on my to-do list for the coming weeks.

Edit: I also checked the suspension of my S70 and I noticed that my front struts are on their last days. Anyone with some tips on which brand to use? And which to avoid?

[bmdubya1198]

I've been happy with Monroe, Sachs, and Koni struts in P80s. Koni STR.T (orange) are my favorite, they are stiff without being harsh. I have them in my V70R and really like the ride. I have Monroes in my GLT, and they have been good for the past 2-3 years I've had them in there. Decent ride, but they're definitely budget struts (I paid about $70 for both struts and both rear shocks as well after a rebate vs. $205 for just the two Koni struts).
My cousin has Sachs in his S70 T5 and they're similar to the Konis, but a little softer, definitely geared more towards comfort. I would recommend these if you want an OE-quality strut (being that Sachs is the OEM).

[brunocerous]

Well I'm certainly equipped for a sub-$500 P80 rally!

One of my two sub-$500 candidates was towed away a couple of weeks ago. I'm hoping to register the other (a T5) in the next week.

I also checked the suspension of my S70 and I noticed that my front struts are on their last days. Anyone with some tips on which brand to use? And which to avoid?

I was going to suggest KYB, which rides well and isn't too expensive, when I realized the V70 in my driveway with a bad strut after a year is the one with the KYB. That might answer which to avoid.

[Mstrshkbrnnn]

Today, I replaced rear cam seals and installed my newly purchased cam locking tool so that I could reposition the cam gears correctly so that the timing marks were where they should be according to cam position. Upon starting though, front cam seals starting leaking a bit, and under a stress test to break them in the pissed oil. Unlike the rear cam seals which were super easy to remove (just pried it out with a tiny screwdriver), the front were almost welded in. Robert diys trick didn’t work. Pb blaster only helped the intake cam. Exhaust cam got torched and hammered out with a screwdriver and hammer by my coworker before it finally decided to come out. It came to this very drastic approach bc nothing else seemed to be working and my coworker and I had been trying to remove this seal for the second day in a row already. As you’d expect, and as I did, when he hammered the cam seal out he gouged the sealing surface for the cam seal on the cam, and so the fronts are leaking, and the exhaust cam especially. Figured I’m just gonna need new cams, but that’s gonna have to wait a few weeks or so, and at least I’ve already got brand new seals, and the proper tool so I can be confident in my timing. Until then, I’m gonna try and keep my revs as low as I can and keep an eye on my oil level.

[bmdubya1198]

Uhhh... that's not how you remove cam seals. I'm not at all surprised they're leaking. Hopefully you just damaged the cams and not the head/cam cover, just the cams will be easier to replace.
If this was for the 850, let me know if you need the cams. I have a set I can sell you.

[Fiodor]

After finding out my PCV was clogged two weeks ago I finally did it with my brother in law today.
Took us about 4hrs of mechanics and 2 hours of running around trying to find a shop that had a vacuum line to replace the Evap lines that broke in half when I tried to remove them.

A huge thank you to @jblackburn for his guide!

[wizechatmgr]

Chevy Vega was early version of Aluminum head and cast iron block...and the car we learned that if you overheat for more than a minute, the engine is done. Now we accept that, but the Vega got a bad rep for exploding engines. It was bad for many other reasons, though.

I believe they did this on the 2007 Dodge Caliber - their improvement was to use two thermostats - one for the block, one for the head.

[bmdubya1198]

Did the PCV on my cousin's '91 240 today. Holy crap... it makes the white block PCV look harder than a VW W8 timing job! Two screws, two hoses, and an o-ring. New flame trap to finish it off.

[wizechatmgr]

Replaced the window switch on the driver's door back with the original one. The aftermarket backlit one blew the bottom rocker switch - the shaft of it came through to my finger.

May update post with a picture of the failed part and name the brand. It lasted about a year or two.