Rescuing Geronimo the 2000 V70

[foggydogg]

Plus one on the rack, you have to drop the cradle for that job; Salty Sailor Vocabulary would be a must given the rust.
The obvious easy out on the brakes would be a trip to the junkyard; I don't know that those calipers would even make good cores. If you insist on working with what you have, a large hammer would be best; you already know you need pads. If the whole mess including bracket won't budge, try a cold chisel on the pad material itself. Saving the rotors by resurface may be about the same money as cheap online replacements.
Keep plugging away at it, Abscate brought one back from farther over the edge than this unit.

[FireFox31]

I thik I damaged the ABS system, causing the dashboard ABS light to come on. To remove the rusty front brakes, I used a pad spreader on the pad ears. Typically this works, pushing fluid back into the reservoir. Unfortunately, I had the brake pedal depressed half way to "close the valve" and the pads didn't move. When I opened the bleed valve, I was easily able to spread the pads. Dumb move, always open the bleed valve.

So I put a bunch of back pressure against the valve which was closed by the pedal bring half depressed. Do you think I ruined it?

[scot850]

It is possible based on what you did. I normally remove or loosen the brake fluid cap but also recommend using the bleed nipple before trying to move the caliper pistons back into place.

Again, before expecting the worst, it could be a couple of other issues in the ABS system which are more common:

1) The ABS modules are prone to age related failure (see Mid-West ABS website as Matty Moo has a lot of good info on there)
2) The cables to the ABS sensors can break their wires near the hubs internally. The resistance can be checked on these.

Should add a 3rd to that. The connectors at the ABS module can also get crusty with age and sitting. Carefully removing, cleaning the contacts and reseating a couple of times may help there.

While anything is possible, the ABS hydraulic units are usually fairly robust. It would be the last place to check.

Good Luck!

Neil.

[abscate]

Just bleed them out first. Read codes and clear. You won’t put enough pressure on anything with a pad spreader in the damage category.

You might have tone ring problems with that much rust though.

[FireFox31]

After a third visit to work on Geronimo, I think it might be best to retire the car. Just because it can be rescued might not mean it should be. The owner and I would love your input.

The car appears to have been neglected and poorly repaired for at least the last 11 years and 125k of its 350k miles. It originally lived in Canada and now is in Maine so its accumulated rust is a huge concern. There is severe rust on the steering rack fluid lines, the coolant hard lines behind the engine, and the front right axle. The brake pads are worn very thin from frozen calipers dragging them, so that heat could have hurt the wheel hubs. I could restore the engine, brakes, and suspension, but I fear the next significant failure due to age, mileage, or rust.

Now is the perfect time to retire the car because all the preventative maintenance is due but hasn't been done. It needs all brake calipers / pads / rotors / dust shields / rear fittings / fluid, parking brake cables / shoes, oil change, spark plugs, timing belt, coolant pump and flush, thermostat, accessory belt, PCV, power steering tank and flush, fuel filter, both air filters, headlights, windshield, and snow tires. I will recommend replacing all brake hoses, coolant hoses, poorly repaired transmission hoses, a transmission fluid flush, and airbox flap. I will recommend next year replacing all engine and subframe mounts, and all shocks, springs, sway bar bushings, and rear trailing arm bushings.

All this and I still haven't driven it. I have to replace the entire braking system before it can drive. I have to tow it to my shop for that brake work. Only then can I clean the engine bay to find the leaks and drive it to check the transmission. The initial investment in brakes is the first hurdle.

Is this too much work for a 350k mile car?

There is hope for the car. I found a broken ground to the transmission by the dipstick which is likely causing some codes. The replacement ETM fixed the rough running. The exhaust is new (though sounds suspiciously hollow). The interior is acceptable. The body is straight and essentially free of rust. The owner said "it drove fine" before the ETM put it in limp mode.

The owner's goal is to get a few more years out of it. For me to be comfortable with her driving it, the work I'd do would make the engine and body last longer, but at a price. I'll quote her the parts and estimate what to charge for my time.

But if she bought a different used car, it might have similar neglect. Is it better to rehab what you have instead of risk starting again?

Thanks for your input.

[scot850]

Sometimes you have to look at the work and cost v's what you have at the end. While I appreciate the willingness to help a friend out, the car looks really far gone. Before going further, I would take a good long hard look at the cars body for corrosion, as well as the safety stuff like brakes, brake lines, fuel lines and suspension and consider the effort to do these repairs, let alone the cost.
Much of the work with winter coming is better done inside and with a hoist is possible.

I started with an $800 CDN car that spent most of it's life in B.C. So rust was not a really big issue, even though it had sent maybe 3-4 years in Alberta where the de-icing agent plays havoc on cars. That car cost me close to $2800 to bring back to a very good stage 0 car which today has spent 3 years and 30,000km with a buddy of mine. I used a lot of salvaged parts but also Volvo parts to get this car to where it is. It now has about 200,000 miles on it.

It needed brake work on the flex lines, calipers, rotors and pads. The hard brake lines were all good.

Fuel lines were also all good as was the fuel system.

I did all the EVAP repairs and fuel filter as well as the PCV system with the cam, front crank seals also replaced and the VVC seal.

Timing belt and pump were not done, but it was not sue for 2 years from that point but my buddy has since done that.

I replaced some of the coils with good used ones as well as plugs.

Wheel bearings were all good but had to replace one axle as well as the intermediate support bearing and the other axle got CV boots.

Then there was the interior. The lady owner and her kids had done a number on that. Finding parts the correct color took ages due to the lack of junked wagons here, especially with the 2 tone beige interior.

I did all the work as at the time I was planning to give the car to my son or keep it for myself and sell the 'R'. But as usual the 'R' came up with an annoying impossible to find suspension issue so couldn't sell it in that condition. Then my wife passed her 06 XC70 to our son (still only has 110,000 miles on it and full service history). Then my buddy caught me at a weak moment as he needed a good V70 to replace his recently departed V70 that died. He got the car for less than it cost me to repair as that was what it was worth at that time.

So, bottom line, you need to consider the work to get this car back to a usable condition v's finding a better starting point car that needs less work. In my opinion the latter is the way to go and salvage anything worthwhile.

Neil.

[abscate]

How many miles do you want out of it for next step? You can skip the suspension stuff and yet fix brakes to get on the road , we can scramble used parts for that.

[scot850]

I love your enthusiasm for lost causes guys, but think the return on this may not be worth all the effort!

Neil.

[volvolugnut]

Does any party have emotional attachment to the car? THIS is often the tie breaker on scrap or rebuild decisions.

volvolugnut

[FireFox31]

I started with an $800 CDN car that spent most of it's life in B.C. So rust was not a really big issue, even though it had sent maybe 3-4 years in Alberta where the de-icing agent plays havoc on cars. That car cost me close to $2800 to bring back to a very good stage 0 car which today has spent 3 years and 30,000km with a buddy of mine.

Thanks everyone for the input and Neil for the math, work list, and outcomes. I'm working up a parts price list for the owner based off my car's rehab costs. She owned the car for five years, doesn't seem to have an emotional attachment to it, but it served her well so she trusts it. And its reputation was earned while driving with stuck brakes, worn plugs, minimal power steering fluid, worn headlights, key stuck in the ignition, and errors all over the dashboard.

"The devil you got, you know." Buying another low priced used car may yield another neglected junker, especially in NH and ME. A few miles from Geronimo's owner, there's a car lot with a P2 XC70 for $2500. It's probably got a failed angle gear and loads of other problems I'm not expert enough to find. Is it better to take a chance on something different or work with what you've got?

For the price to repair Geronimo, at least we'd know all the replaced parts are good. It's the next failure I'd worry about. Those rear coolant pipes haunt me.