What did you do to your P2 Volvo today?

[Blacklab467]

Well they match the interior colour better than the black ones I used to have. You can hardly see the dog hair on the carpet!

[ndphotonl]

Haha good way of denying the harsh truth (I have 2 dachshunds who shed some hair every now and then, which are perfectly visible on the light chairs)

[MoVolvos]

Took the family for a nice drive in the country, wanted to check out the new front end on the highway and gravel roads and tweak the alignment a bit along the way.

IMG_2802.jpgIMG_2800.jpgIMG_2803.jpg

Labs were our family's favorite breed while growing up but were always black. My brother purchased 2 siblings, female, male and were chocolate and black, Kelsey and Jordan respectively. One eventually went to his brother in law and the other to our neighbor. Both were great dogs although our neighbor way over fed Jordan and he became humongous as he was already a large dog.


*

[abscate]

My black lab Shep mix is enjoying evening retirement at 12. She’s diabetic and blind, but still bounces for a walk, and loves licking her cat buddies. All the cats chirp when she is nearby so she doesn’t step on them

[Blacklab467]

The P-2 wagons are great for dogs as they get older with the low deck height. I put the rear driver's side and centre seat down and leave the rear passenger seat in the regular position, this way the dogs can step off the seat and onto the curb without injuring their shoulders.

[Starbuck]

O-kay. It's been a minute, eh? The driveshaft boot miracle kit was snake oil ('better' repair below). The POS tore fairly quickly but it was right before my drive up N'rth to quarantine first in MD and then once we were certain to not kill my grandparents, Jersey. We made it fine and Ben was a pleasure to drive for 13+ hours straight. What a brilliant car. Oh right, the boot. Having discovered the tear the night before our trip, I opted to Gorilla Tape the bejeesis out of it. Honestly I haven't checked it since. Bad mom, I know. Sorry Ben.

A couple of years ago I gave my mom my E46 convertible and my grandfather insists she take it to the local BMW dealer...who rips her off every. single. time. I hate them so much but she made me promise not to go in there and ask how they can charge her $600 for a valve cover gasket. It's right on top, people. Anywho. The last bill was over $4k but those ******* graciously put her in a 2020 3 series. Naturally hoping she'd become smitten with that and scared of the quote for her '01. The dealer here in GA once did that to me on my other E46 only it was $7k. I asked them if the estimate was a joke. Service Advisors don't generally know what to make of a girl car-talking. I'm out of practice but still.

So back to mom's car. BMW's are pretty reliable at having their cooling systems explode every 80k or so and I'd seen the signs last time I was up there. I ordered everything including the kitchen sink from FCP and then did a 'Stage 4' system rebuild. All the way down to the block etc. Then I discovered the ******** shop overtightened the nuts on the valve cover and had cracked it. So I ordered one of those as well and yeah, had to re-do the valve cover gasket. I'd post pictures of the repair but this is a Volvo forum. Well okay maybe two. Hmm...spark plugs, new vac lines...the works. I fixed the batwing convertible top too so I was favorite child at Christmas.

Back to Ben's boot. I did research it, hoping for a relatively simple slip-on glorious refresh but alas. According to what I've seen to do it properly, I must divorce the drive axle from the transmission, drop all the roller bearings, curse a lot and then...I can reassemble. I ordered the new, shiny boots and they're waiting at my garage. I'm starting to get nervous about the condition of the timing belt et. al. as well. I think I need to do that very soon. Whew.

Ben did pass 170,000 miles recently. We just got back from a wee trip to the Ga mountains too so I think I owe him some TLC. Definitely an oil change again. Motul FTW.

HTTP error on all pictures so I'll post em later.

[abscate]

Yeeks. Are you running on original belt ( yikes) or the 105k replacement ?

Pictures from other ventures are fine

[Starbuck]

Egads no. I think the sticker said 117. I'd have changed the belt immediately if it was original. Just thinking about it gives me heart palpitations. Whew.

[liambean]

Did a "smoke test" this AM trying to find where my EVAP leak is coming from. The smoke machine didn't make as much smoke as I hoped, but I did find it coming from here. Clearly, there is supposed to be a hose connected to this, but what hose? Whatever it is supposed to be, It's not there.

This is at the right rear of my 2001 V-70.

Update. So this is an air filter for the EVAP system. I replaced it anyway. I've replaced darned near everything but the charcoal canister and the EVAP Purge valve. Still getting the P0455. Should I shoot for the moon and replace both of those? The valve first then the canister if that doesn't work? I did loosen the hose at the canister and dropped it down below that level; no fuel cam out.
BTW, I sanded the fuel opening after seeing a video showing that just a bit of schmutz around the opening is enough cause an air leak at the fuel cap.

[gnalan]

Still getting the P0455.

I had this code when the o-ring for the driver's side sending unit was leaking gas so bad you could smell the fumes from across the street. Have you popped your back seat cushion out, and removed both black round covers (4 10mm nuts on each) on top of the gas tank, to see if there's a leak there? Might be worth checking before replacing a bunch of parts and still ending up with the same code.