01' V70 XC do these outer tie rod ends look correct?

lawrencium265 · Post by **lawrencium265** » 01 Mar 2022, 08:12

I did a ton of work to this and have an alignment scheduled for Friday, I used a digital level to get camber set and the string method to adjust toe.
The toe adjustments are bottomed out on both sides just to get it in.
I replaced inner tie rod ends but kept outers since they still felt pretty tight when I took them out. I'm looking at pictures on rock auto and the correct parts seem like they have less of a curve and less threaded area where the inner tie rod end goes into it. These were on the car when I bought it, but the previous owner or their mechanic needed to put the tools down and back away.

Post by **Blacklab467** » 01 Mar 2022, 11:03

There are two different racks available for those cars, ( ZF and SMI) I suspect you have the wrong ones. Also aftermarket parts may not be exact replicas of the originals, my first try at tie rod ends necessitated sawing off about 3mm of the tie rod end so it wouldn't bottom out and I could get the appropriate adjustment. I drove it like this for a few months and then bought OEM Volvo inners and outers for piece of mind. Those look like aftermarket tie rod ends on yours so I suspect this is your problem.

Post by **Blacklab467** » 01 Mar 2022, 11:13

Let me save you some trouble for the future, I noticed that your sway bar links look new and you mentioned RockAuto. I put an entire RockAuto front end in my car 2 summer's ago............6 months later it was all getting loose and making noise so I bought all OEM Volvo brand parts, somewhat expensive but very happy with the results.

lawrencium265 · Post by **lawrencium265** » 01 Mar 2022, 12:00

Blacklab467 wrote: ↑01 Mar 2022, 11:03 There are two different racks available for those cars, ( ZF and SMI) I suspect you have the wrong ones. Also aftermarket parts may not be exact replicas of the originals, my first try at tie rod ends necessitated sawing off about 3mm of the tie rod end so it wouldn't bottom out and I could get the appropriate adjustment. I drove it like this for a few months and then bought OEM Volvo inners and outers for piece of mind. Those look like aftermarket tie rod ends on yours so I suspect this is your problem.

I went ahead and just ordered some Moog branded tie rod ends off of Amazon so that I can compare them side by side, if it isn't the case then they have a generous return policy.

Blacklab467 wrote: ↑01 Mar 2022, 11:13 Let me save you some trouble for the future, I noticed that your sway bar links look new and you mentioned RockAuto. I put an entire RockAuto front end in my car 2 summer's ago............6 months later it was all getting loose and making noise so I bought all OEM Volvo brand parts, somewhat expensive but very happy with the results.

I knew what I was getting into when I bought those. I wanted to get rid of all of the clunking before I drive this car. It was, and still is a basket case. I just didn't see the point in spending a lot of money on something that might get scrapped out. The main issue with these cheap ones is that there isn't any grease in them and the boots will rot pretty quickly. You can grease them with a grease needle. I also read on here that the Moog links are recommended they are greasable and only $20 each. The links on the rear have been replaced with moogs by the previous owner and have grease fittings.

Post by **Blacklab467** » 01 Mar 2022, 18:20

The main issue with these cheap ones is that there isn't any grease in them and the boots will rot pretty quickly.

That's actually not the main issue with the cheap ones! The main issue is that many of these aftermarket parts just don't fit, and if they do, the metallurgy is so poor that even with grease they won't last. Moog should be better and are generally of good quality. I've been through this before, just trying to save you some hassle and labor.
How is the rest of the car? If its good enough to warrant an alignment it must be pretty decent. Make sure they do a 4 wheel alignment.
Incidentally, I bought my XC 70 7 years ago as a beater to last me a year or two and started working out a few issues on it. It has been the best car I've ever owned, although I've had to spend a good bit of money on it over the years. If you decide to keep it around, fix it with quality Volvo parts if you can afford to, the car will reward you with reliable driving pleasure!

lawrencium265 · Post by **lawrencium265** » 01 Mar 2022, 21:21

Blacklab467 wrote: ↑01 Mar 2022, 18:20 The main issue with these cheap ones is that there isn't any grease in them and the boots will rot pretty quickly.

That's actually not the main issue with the cheap ones! The main issue is that many of these aftermarket parts just don't fit, and if they do, the metallurgy is so poor that even with grease they won't last. Moog should be better and are generally of good quality. I've been through this before, just trying to save you some hassle and labor.
How is the rest of the car? If its good enough to warrant an alignment it must be pretty decent. Make sure they do a 4 wheel alignment.
Incidentally, I bought my XC 70 7 years ago as a beater to last me a year or two and started working out a few issues on it. It has been the best car I've ever owned, although I've had to spend a good bit of money on it over the years. If you decide to keep it around, fix it with quality Volvo parts if you can afford to, the car will reward you with reliable driving pleasure!

I posted in the main p2 thread about the issues I've been facing with this car. Cosmetically, it is in very good condition for a 21 year old car. There isn't any body rust that I've found and only a few small dings and scuffs. I bought it as a project for $1100, but it turned out to have so many issues that it wasn't really worth messing with. I got lazy about it and thought about sending it off to the auction.

Fast forward to about six weeks ago and my old car broke and is not repairable, I looked for other cars but frankly there is nothing worth buying at any price. I could afford to buy a new car, but even then it's just a raw deal right now and it would leave a bad taste in my mouth.
I figured if I start throwing money at the Volvo it would be a nice car, it just needed mechanical work.

After I fixed all the clunking with upper strut mounts, a sway bar bushing, links, and tightening the ball joint nuts that the previous owner left loose I went and got new tires just so I could drive it to work. I also fixed a transmission speed sensor.

The car was still sketchy and would shift to the left while braking. The steering wheel would not move if your held it straight but the car would dart left. Also the transmission had that dreaded 2-3 flare these are known for.

I went ahead and replaced the subframe bushings (I know about the inserts), all the engine mounts (the right side was completely collapsed from oil leaking onto it), the inner tie rod ends (had small amount of play), and installed sonnax solenoids. Hopefully they correct the transmission issues.

I haven't driven it very much because the alignment was so bad initially that the car would shudder under acceleration. My quick and dirty adjustments made that go away but it's still not where I'd like it to be.

If I have to pay $100-$200 for an alignment that's still cheaper than chewing through tires or wrecking axles. Yes, the car is a POS, and a year or two ago I would be considered nuts for messing with it, even now it's questionable.

Even if I went out and bought a different car right now it's probably still going to need work. I figured I might as well deal with the one I have.

Post by **abscate** » 02 Mar 2022, 04:05

A decent runner needing work is getting $1500 right now, correct.

If money is tight, your call, gather up your parts list and let’s see what we can scrounge for you. If bucks are ok you can kick back costs so we can find the guys who are tight, but you will save a bundle, too.

Let us know where you are so we can figure out how to get you stuff.

One thing in the 2001, make sure that transmission shifts smoothly. The 2001had a bad piece of software when released that is probably been upgraded, but it killed about 10% of the transmissions. Don’t panic, the odds are with you 5000:1 by now

lawrencium265 · Post by **lawrencium265** » 02 Mar 2022, 04:38

abscate wrote: ↑02 Mar 2022, 04:05 A decent runner needing work is getting $1500 right now, correct.

If money is tight, your call, gather up your parts list and let’s see what we can scrounge for you. If bucks are ok you can kick back costs so we can find the guys who are tight, but you will save a bundle, too.

Let us know where you are so we can figure out how to get you stuff.

One thing in the 2001, make sure that transmission shifts smoothly. The 2001had a bad piece of software when released that is probably been upgraded, but it killed about 10% of the transmissions. Don’t panic, the odds are with you 5000:1 by now

Thank you for your kind words and offers, I'm located in central Illinois. The cheapest running and driving car in the area I found was about $3200, it was a 2003 Nissan Altima. The guy said "no problems" I test drove it and it smelled like fuel and it was shifting all kinds of funny. There's just a lot of that going on right now. There's a recent episode of hoovies garage where he is searching wholesale backlots and there really isn't much and what does pop up is going for quite a bit more than it used to.

My finances are good, I am getting parts replaced. My main issue is time. I'm going back to school part time, we have a toddler who is a handful, and I work full time. We also hit a rough patch for the past six weeks due to a covid near miss and actual covid requiring our daughter do stay home from daycare 10 days each time. She's not quite old enough to help out in the garage just yet, but she does love "helping" with other things.

As far as the car, the transmission has been the main concern. The solenoids need to be adjusted before I can decide if it's good enough. Or if I should buy a valve body or a used transmission. It does have the old software in it and it needs to be reprogrammed.

I'm thinking about trying a used tcm that could possibly have the update. I saw a few threads where a tcm swap will work without issue but it needs to be the same program, which wouldn't fix my issue. I'm also unsure if it's solely a tcm program or if it updates anything in the ecu at the same time.

I did also see that vdash offers the option to disable neutral control, but the Volvo update would also change shifting strategy so I'm not sure which of those options would be better.

Post by **abscate** » 05 Mar 2022, 03:24

Have you pushed three liters of fresh ATF through it yet ? Just drain three and replace in kind. Valvoline maxlife synthetic is what I use in mine, even in our Bavarian Money Waster

lawrencium265 · Post by **lawrencium265** » 05 Mar 2022, 06:59

abscate wrote: ↑05 Mar 2022, 03:24 Have you pushed three liters of fresh ATF through it yet ? Just drain three and replace in kind. Valvoline maxlife synthetic is what I use in mine, even in our Bavarian Money Waster

I've done quite a bit more than that I'm afraid.
I started with Toyota fluid, then I tried the transgo valve body correction kit and new valve body gaskets. Now I have the new pressure solenoids in. I checked the pressure on the slt circuit with a gauge, it should be 8-10 psi, the gauge said 23. I assume the cheap oil pressure gauge is not accurate but the symptoms that I have now match up with the slt pressure being too high. I'm having quick firm engagement from park to drive or reverse. It also shifts way too firmly. I added plugs to the pan to be able to make adjustments but I'm having a hard time blindly feeling around to actually make the adjustments. I might have to take the pan back off so I can figure it out.