AOD/ DEM quit today

[- Pete -]

There’s no doubt the 03+ P2 AWD has its issues. They are all manageable & not extremely difficult or costly though (if performing the work yourself), so do not be deterred. I am one of many who feels a 2WD AWD vehicle is unacceptable. Obviously if you live in a climate where AWD doesn’t become seasonally necessary, go nuts & disable it. If you’re going to fix it though, do it right. No DEM fuse pulling, collar sleeve/BG delete, etc. I have a lot of respect for Blacklabs247, you’ve come a long way with your XC70 & I applaud you for all your efforts. Thanks for going the distance on your car and writing up here about it. In time you will surely help many people who are about ready to toss their hands up out of frustration with their P2.

For what it’s worth, I have just shy of 298k miles on my original bevel gear and collar sleeve in my 2004 XC70. It’s been stage 1 tuned for approx 20k miles now, gets driven hard & has pulled trailers a good portion of its life. I have replaced my driveshaft CVJ’s and DEM pump/filter/AOC oil/rear diff oil (several times), but that’s it for AWD repairs. Im sure my CS/BG splines will read this and give up shortly after writing this.

[erikv11]

Thanks Blacklab467 for the update.

I have a 2006 BMW 3.0i with xDrive. The BMW xDrive AWD system is much better than Volvo.

My 2005 XC90 2.5T AWD stripped the sleeve, so knowing that the Volvo early-design AWD has so many issues (stripped sleeve, angle gear leaking, the rear electronic DEM etc. etc.), I decided to abandon the idea of fixing the sleeve, installed 4 winter tires and drive the XC90 as FWD + winter tires.

If you must fix the AWD, then by all means have fun fixing it.
If you can live w/o the AWD system, then my suggestion is to drive it as a FWD.
The time you spent fixing this bad engineered AWD system is not even worth it.

Going FWD is a good option for many, but you should either pull the bevel gear (and the prop shaft) or replace the collar sleeve if you go this route. (Even though Pete says not to!)

A stripped collar sleeve will eventually strip out the BG too and the grinding may leave you stuck on the side of the road and/or you then need to address the BG anyway just to drive the car. If it's just the collar sleeve, replacing it is not expensive or difficult with an AT car and may save the BG for the next owner who is interested in AWD.

It's also very difficult to sell a FWD conversion if you are honest with the buyer about condition. Very few Average Joes will trust you when you say running it FWD is fine.

For years I swore I'd never get an AWD Volvo because they were not worth the trouble but now that I have worked on two of them I agree with Pete. AWD with all season tires is much better than the same car as FWD with snows. The difficulty is much lower than I expected for DIY servicing, even as an old guy on my back in the garage underneath the car. And I wouldn't do these jobs without my cheapo air tools, although many others have. I would not say they are overall cheap to revive. One P2 car the cost was $750 in parts to get the AWD back (haven't finished this job yet, spreading it out due to cost), the other it was $400.

[- Pete -]

What I was trying to convey is that over the lifespan of those parts, they really don’t cost a whole lot considering their serviceable lifespan.

A used BG with good splines will typically run $2-400, new CS $120-150, DEM pump/filter/oil ~$350 (USD). Spread those costs out over a reasonable representative lifespan of say 160-230k and the pill is easier to swallow

Of course, if your luck is like mine you will get hit with all of those simultaneously! A good thing to buy when you have the money is a new spare CS for each AWD P2 you own.

FWIW an 03-07 V70/XC70 with snows (on all 4) is an absolute beast! Like an angry badger!

A switchable DEM pump and locking diffs would be nice, probably not possible on the latter of those two.

[Blacklab467]

There are a great many XC 70 and XC 90 vehicles on the road today with non functioning AWD systems, probably the majority of them are in this condition. It is certainly feasible and possible to DIY repair these systems where time and money are available, especially given that the salvage yards are full of P-2's and new parts are readily available from various suppliers.
These cars are not adequate when "converted" to FWD, nor should that be accepted as a permanent solution. Among the drivability problems encountered, excessive wheel spin even in dry conditions tops the list. Pulling away from a stop and encountering wheel spin on road paint, and then gaining traction on dry asphalt is annoying at the least and definitely harder on driveline parts. This issue becomes even worse when slippery or icy conditions prevail. The final drive ratio is different on an AWD Volvo than it's FWD counterpart. Your broken XC 70 or 90 was not designed or engineered to be a FWD vehicle, even with good ice or studded winter tires. I drove my XC 70 for about a year with a failed system, both summer and winter. As such, I wouldn't even consider permanently disabling the AOD AWD, add to that that it might be near impossible to sell a vehicle pending disclosure of the condition.
I would also add that these vehicles are such a pleasure to blast around on deep snow when working properly! Everyone else getting stuck while you're enjoying the fruits of you're labor, having accepted the challenge of resurrecting and repairing your car to it's proper condition.
This was our first snowfall of the winter, December 23. A FWD Volvo wouldn't have gotten out of it's parking space!