Rescuing Geronimo the 2000 V70

[FireFox31]

Wow, that one filter is beat. I'm pretty sure mine was Bosch so it's likely original to have rusted so badly.aybe yours was aftermarket, thus less well built, rusting more. A reminder to use good parts.

I also need to pack out the holding bracket since its inner layer rusted away. What did you use? I want some kind of rubber mat but don't know where to find a tiny piece.

[scot850]

I used self sealing vinyl plumbing wrap. My buddy turned the filter while I gave it a couple of layers of the wrap.

I think this is what it is called:

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/magi ... 70300.html

Neil.

[abscate]

Wow, that one filter is beat. I'm pretty sure mine was Bosch so it's likely original to have rusted so badly.aybe yours was aftermarket, thus less well built, rusting more. A reminder to use good parts.

I also need to pack out the holding bracket since its inner layer rusted away. What did you use? I want some kind of rubber mat but don't know where to find a tiny piece.

Most neighbors won’t notice if you cut a small strip off the welcome mat at the front door, as long as you don’t take any letters. If caught,wear a white lab coat , have a clipboard, and sternly inform them you are enforcing metric length adjustments to SAE mats.

[FireFox31]

Geronimo got a bunch of used parts during a recent multi-state drive. First, I stopped off at abscate's place to pick up a black hood and fenders. I blended right in to his sea of Nautic Blue wagons with my Lunar Blue Mercedes. Thanks for getting these parts to me, abscate!

Then, I rode the high seas on the ferry off Long Island. I wonder if a ferry worker saw abscate bring this hood onto the ferry in a blue wagon, then saw me bring the hood on again in another blue wagon. They'll have to get used to it.

Waiting for the ferry

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Sailing away

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Just a few minutes from the port on the CT side, I stopped at a nice indoor used parts store. They had a nice black tailgate which had been in their inventory for about three years.

Hauling more parts

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A short fifteen minutes away, I stopped at FCP to drop off used oil from two cars and some unneeded new parts. It was a treat to see the 850 race wagon in person.

Visit to FCP to return oil

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I continued home, noting my bad gas mileage trying to go 75 mph due to the hood on my roof. When I dropped to 70 mph, my gas mileage increased noticeably, perhaps 1.5 mpg. The reduced speed made me feel a little better about the security of what was on the roof.

[FireFox31]

I finally got to install these used parts. The existing hood on Geronimo had rusted so the previous owner spray painted it. That process also got spray paint on the fenders which also have some rusty spots and dents, so they're slated to be replaced.

Original spray painted hood

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Replacing the hood was easy with an assistant. It has catches in the hinges to hold the hood both horizontally and vertically with the bolts removed. When I installed the replacement hood, I simply lined up the bolts with the wear marks in the hinges so the hood would align with the latches.

Unfortunately, I got a little carried away trying to clean the hood. I thought it simply had dirt on it, so I scrubbed it... a little much. Now there's an unfortunate, uniform layer of scratches in the paint. I'm going to ask my local detailer if they can buff it out. If not, I'll ask my local body shop if they have a low priced solution.

Used hood with scratches

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An interesting point: the paint beneath the sound dampener was unpainted silver on the 2000 Geronimo and beautifully painted and clear coated on the 1999 from abscate. Perhaps another example of Volvo/Ford cutting costs on the 2000 (my other example is the brake dust shields were no longer powder coated in 2000, rusting horrendously while coated ones remain near perfect).

Look what was living under the sound dampener in the old Geronimo hood. I saw the material bulging down and little nuts popping out of the edges...

Mouse nest in hood liner

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Here's the used tailgate installed. And look, now the car is a turbo! The tailgate had a spoiler at one point, long since removed by the time I got it. Would have been sweet to get both a gate and spoiler for one price (I saw this combo at a different junkyard but didn't call fast enough). I also replaced the struts while in there. Now the tailgate closes beautifully (might lack the firm grab I'm used to) and raises vigorously as it should.

Used tailgate, now with turbo

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Here's the old tailgate. I am glad to be rid of the rust staining and bulging, the glue applied to the seams to stop it. Most of the times I slammed the trunk lid down, rust from the inside would flake off into the trunk.

Original rusty hood

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I also installed a nice used JVC head unit in Geronimo. It came complete in box from eBay, seems like it was never installed. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the option to change colors of the lights on the face plate (like my other, older JVC units can). I'm tempted to buy a similar one with that option and sell this one again.

While replacing the radio, I replaced the two blown front door speakers with used OEM units. One came off my old car (thanks abscate) and one is from the G70. They were destined for the G70 so I'll have to find replacements.

Geronimo continues its uphill climb. However, I'm hearing knocking from the front right suspension. I had recently replaced the tie rod end and a shop replaced the control arm recently under previous ownership. I have an entire front (and rear) spring suspension in boxes ready to install, but based on the sound, I don't think that'll fix it. Maybe it's the sway bar link rod. It's always something with Geronimo, but it keeps getting better.

[abscate]

Those parts go way back to the scavenging of Sonics 1998 , back about 5-6 years ago? So happy they found a home. I still have one 019 Volvo in the fleet but at some point storage is just stupid, isn’t it? There are tons of good fenders out there, and you can shoot paint on an individual piece easily enough to fix a boo-boo

We put some roof miles on that hood, didn’t we?

[FireFox31]

The ECT on Geronimo is suddenly intermittent. The engine temp gauge will work for a few minutes, then shut off and turn on the engine fan for a few minutes, then repeat the on/off cycle at random. I also experienced a hard start today, though the ECT was working when the cranks finally caught and started. Perhaps it was failed for the first few minutes when it cranked but wouldn't start.

Do I really have to remove the thermostat housing to remove the ECT? Haynes says that I do. I have a new OEM ECT which I'll install to see how that helps.

I will check the ECT resistance values but the failure is intermittent.

And it's time to replace the one broken hood latch with the used one that I have. The hood is bouncing up a little at highway speed with only one latch holding. And that one latch is only held on by one bolt. Time to fix that.

[scot850]

Carefully mark the latch position before removing and fitting the replacement to aid in it being able to open again! Attach a wire or something to the latch and drop it behind the headlight to the ground below as a manual pull. I remove the headlight and side-light to give access to the latch should it need help to open while aligning.

Neil.

[FireFox31]

I didn't get that ECT replaced soon enough. My girlfriend took the car out just hours before I was going to install it... and it wouldn't start when the engine was warm in order to get her home. Geronimo had to get towed to the Makerspace for the third time (first during initial rehab with no brakes, second when I bought it with horribly failed wheel bearing).

I replaced the ECT easily enough. While draining the coolant, a seemingly good hose clamp snapped in half. Home Depot didn't have a suitable replacement so I got one at Lowe's, ultimately wasting 90 minutes. The thermostat housing bolts came off easily with an air powered impact socket. I think they had been removed four years ago to replace the thermostat so that probably helped.

The car wouldn't start with the new ECT likely because the engine was flooded from previous crank, no start attempts earlier that day. It took some persistent cranking and careful application of the gas pedal to make it start and not stall at idle. After that, Geronimo was good to go.

This is the thermostat I found installed. Any idea if this is a good brand? It's not Volvo or Mahle based on pictures, and it has no markings on it. I'd hate to be running a cheap thermostat which could fail and kill the car.

[abscate]

I don’t recall the experience with UNK thermostats , but it’s a critical life component, so Volvo only for me.

I have UBG spares in my stash

I think I had a skinny machined down 17 or 19 that let me get to the ECT without removing the housing but that’s a real fight. I always use new bolts on the housing if they are over five years old, Ni antiseize, and thermostat plus bolts plus coolant hits the FreeCP shipping metric!

The 87c thermostat for turbos is NLA, only the 90C one is used now. Not sure what this means, I’m not sure it’s very consequential