Restoration: I Bought the Cheapest Running 98 V70 T5M (2023)

[foggydogg]

Next on the list is the door gap. Unfortunately I think it's too bent up to be salvageable. The window is off track and that door gap is huge. I think the only good bits on that door are the mirror, handles, and speaker. I did pull a black (dark blue?) Door off an S70 that should be ready to go. Just need to swap the lock cylinders.

That door is history, no amount of Magical Thinking will bring it back from the dead. You did the right thing.
Robert just recently posted a video on how to modify a seat heater plug by grafting the power seat motor plug to it. The heater switch in the console has to be on, but he proved the concept on a car he was working on, doing that very mod. I think he listed a couple of the pigtails on his website.
Those seats are outrageously fine, especially in that colo(u)r. Good find.

[Retiredbutnotdone]

Thanks for this fascinating thread. Looking at what you are doing in this restoration makes my 98 V70 feel still brand new even at 270K! I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts/experience with an OBD-II scan tool/app called FIXD? Trying to diagnose a check engine light, flashing transmission arrow and a blinking transmission S-E-W light. Thoughts on where to start?

[WhatAmIDoing]

Thanks for this fascinating thread. Looking at what you are doing in this restoration makes my 98 V70 feel still brand new even at 270K! I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts/experience with an OBD-II scan tool/app called FIXD? Trying to diagnose a check engine light, flashing transmission arrow and a blinking transmission S-E-W light. Thoughts on where to start?

I use 850 OBD-II from the Google play store. You need a certain Bluetooth adapter, but in my experience it works great. It can read way more than OBD codes--power seats, ECC, Bosch ECU, some ABS, and a lot more. It has proven to be very helpful.

[Clemens]

Try to find a junk yard regulator (I think that's how it's called) for the alternator. rspi has a video of how to replace it without removing the alternator. This might fix your battery light problem.

[foggydogg]

Thanks for this fascinating thread. Looking at what you are doing in this restoration makes my 98 V70 feel still brand new even at 270K! I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts/experience with an OBD-II scan tool/app called FIXD? Trying to diagnose a check engine light, flashing transmission arrow and a blinking transmission S-E-W light. Thoughts on where to start?

Welcome to our little Focus Group.
There is a separate section on the forum that covers scan tools and such; you would also likely get more traction if you started a separate thread with your issue in the header.

[foggydogg]

For some reason I kept myself up at night deciding what oil to use for the upcoming change. PO has been using Castrol GTX 10w30 changed religiously every 3k miles. My time on the forum tells me synthetic only changed ever 5-6k miles. But my recent run ins with engine failures makes me wonder if I shouldn't go back to conventional changed ever 2-3k miles...

I decided - many, many decades ago - when I was first starting out earning a living turning tools, that I was not smarter than the building full of automotive engineers that design cars, or chemical engineers that formulate lubricants. If you Really want to fall down the rabbit hole...
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/
But fair warning, the number of oddball theorists that show up here pale in comparison to some of the nutjobs on Bob's. (I did follow a string about Seafoam. Pretty interesting.) One consensus over there from folks who self-report as engineers is that Walmart contracts with major oil companies for their lubricants, seems to be geographic. I use the viscosity specified in the Volvo manual, and I don't hesitate to use full-synthetic from WallyWorld. Robert has well north of 400k miles on his 850T5R, uses nothing but synthetic and sends his oil out for analysis on a regular basis; he has no mercy on that car, and it is running on its original bottom end.
Avoid Rotella.
Turbocharged engines have several major hotspots that could lead to oil chemistry breakdown regardless of miles driven.

[foggydogg]

I
Need to get a handle on the stumbling and lack of power at idle. She comes back alive at 2000rpm. Not sure if it was the wet roads, but over 6lbs of boost and she started jerking again (fuel pressure?).

Worried about the alternator. This morning the battery light stayed on for a few minutes. Was getting flickering dash lights. Then at over 4k rpm, the battery light will come back on. AutoZone tested it and said everything was fine. Tired alternator, bad ground, voltage regulator (all of the above)?

Formulated a new short term todo list:
- replace the crumbly vacuum hoses and elbows
- replace the glass in the pass mirror
- replace the upper expansion tank hose
- ignition service
- fuel filter
- cabin filter
- hunt down the growling pulley
- replace upper torque mount
[/quote]
If your alternator has the hiccups, that could lead to driveability issues too.
If you're not into the J/Y crawl for such things,
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/voltag ... 1197311213
I know, it's chinese, might be a budget friendly test though. I got something similar off Amazon some years ago, still doing well when I retired that car after ~60k, when the poor thing hit 375k and needed more attention than I had patience for.

[WhatAmIDoing]

Well the alternator just gave up the ghost. Was accelerating into traffic, went up into 5500rpm territory, battery light came on and stayed on. Just checked with a voltmeter, and she's got no output. Great, wasn't like I need to drive 500 miles tomorrow.

[foggydogg]

Well the alternator just gave up the ghost. Was accelerating into traffic, went up into 5500rpm territory, battery light came on and stayed on. Just checked with a voltmeter, and she's got no output. Great, wasn't like I need to drive 500 miles tomorrow.

Oopsie. How far away is the poor heartbroken S, and would you be able to swap that one out ? If it is just the brush/regulator set, maybe you could find one locally; that part seems to have been used on a number of Saab and M/B models too, if the FCP fitment guide is accurate.
In your situation, I wouldn't hesitate to put a J/Y unit on; the old one went over 300k after all, so they do seem to be pretty durable. Kind of a PITA on the turbo cars though. Promise yourself that when you have time and the chance to do it, you'll do the cooling fan mod, it gives you some extra clearance for wrestling stuff off the front of the engine.

[454cid]

I thought all P80's had the wide opening hoods. Now I will have to go check my 00 R. 454cid, can you post a picture of your hood hinges?

Neil.

Sorry, it took a few days for me to get to this.... I did not take a picture because I was wrong. My 99 hood does open 90 degrees as you thought. When I initially tried opening the hood 90 degree, I was in a hurry, and possibly cold/dark. It turns out that while the mechanism is a little different than my 850 it still has the short brackets that pivot... they're just hard to move. I sprayed them with Liquid Wrench. I got the hood open all the way, and got a new look behind the engine.

I'm glad to have this feature. I love the old massive GM hood hinges from the 60's that hold the hood above the car instead of the weenie hood pivot points you see today. These Volvo hinges remind me of those, but with added functionality of opening further.