What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[bmdubya1198]

Funny you mention the 850 AWD. One is supposed to be dropped off later today for me to work on. Funnily it belongs to my ex-Volvo mechanic friend! He loves this car and it has been driven hard by him for years, but it is maintained with over 250,000 miles on it. It has upgraded 2000 V70R brakes all around as the standard ones tended to run out of stopping power! Why does he love it so much? The AWD and the manual trans!

Why is he not fixing it himself? Other than he is really busy, it is for broken dash mount repairs. He has never had to take a dash out and he knows I have repaired several. I owe him too for time donated to the 02 XC70 repairs, so this is a way of giving back to his generosity of his valuable time.

Neil.

That's the way to do it! Can't blame him for turning it over to you for that job, interior work takes patience! I know you've done a ton of these dashes, so it shouldn't be too much of a headache.

[abscate]

Why does he love it so much? The AWD and the manual trans!

Why cant we have nice things?

[Sveedy]

'Merican exceptionalism !

[DennisCA]

Isn't the 850 AWD system (and early XC70) very unreliable?

I've only ever owned one car with an automatic transmission and it was an american car.

[abscate]

Isn't the 850 AWD system (and early XC70) very unreliable?

I've only ever owned one car with an automatic transmission and it was an american car.

They roll 200-300k miles if they are maintained and tires are kept aligned in even tread.

Typical death is poor wheel alignment > uneven tire wear > cheap owner runs worn tires > viscous coupling failure

Then the owner comes to the internet and calls the driveline “ fragile “

[jsrnsis]

Isn't the 850 AWD system (and early XC70) very unreliable?

I've only ever owned one car with an automatic transmission and it was an american car.

I think a lot of it is down to there being no sensors or idiot lights for angle gear temperature and the cars succumbing to cheap owners. The splined collar also strips out which can render the other shafts unusable which is pretty goofy.
These cars have a limited-slip rear diff, you can see it in YouTube AWD tests compared to a P2 XC70. When both front and one rear tire are on rollers, a P80 awd can still push itself off with one rear wheel. The rear diff is also double the size of one on a Subaru, at least a 2015 CVT Subaru.
I've thought about lifting one of my wagons just for laughs, there was someone selling lifting spacers for 1.5", I reached out to him but wasn't far enough along with my second V70XC to buy a set, and then he dropped off the face of the earth.

[454cid]

Picked up a new project!

Nice! At first I thought you bought a bridge.

[scot850]

This 850 AWD is driven hard by it's owner. It has over 250,000 miles on it. I think what the guys have said about the unreliability is overstated and mainly down to lack of knowledge and poor maintenance. Mostly the last part. The driveshafts were a little poorly designed with no provision to easily replace the center support bearing and having the front bearing right beside the cat.

The collar does go bad but again down to lack of maintenance (how many owners honestly have ever replaced the oil....?). The same issue with the collar happens with idiot owners gunning the car and then continuing to drive the cars when the angle gear collar is bad.

I just sourced an angle gear for a 200k mile P3 XC70 T6 for the same reason as the teeth failed on the angle gear. So that is not unique to the P80 AWD as I have seen the same issue with the P2's and P1's as well.

So like the 720k P80 V70 I heard of that has had only regular wear items replaced (tires, battery, brakes and fluids), maintenance is key.

The final issue is the early AWD system as mentioned was very susceptible to tire tread depth variation. I know I spoke to a dealer not long after they came to market, and he said they warned owners not to swap tires with new ones on a car, but to replace them all. You could replace one but the depth variation could be a very low number.

Anyway, those of you who mock us 'bastard' owners, I will now return the favor! Who the hell designed that dashboard, and in particular the center console harness connectors. Worst design ever!! You can keep you 850's. I can have the dash out of a V/S 70 in about an hour or so, the 850 took me 3 times that. Partly down to the fact it has been 15 years since I last did one.

The repairs include 2 totally ripped out main mounts and a number of other damaged areas including the 2 lower side support arms.

The part I am not sure about yet is the instrument cluster surround. The clamp mounts for the cluster are destroyed as is the slot for the dash retainer on the top of it. No 850's in the yards just now. The V/S70 dash cluster surround can be swapped over, I'm hoping the 850 one can be too, assuming I can find another dash.

Still have the evaporator to check for corrosion (it was working) and replace the main flap end that breaks.

Ah, the joy!!

Neil.

[jsrnsis]

And now, as most people with an AWD know, the unique parts are no longer made or only available from brands like Uro. But I'm noticing this with more and more parts not just for the AWD.

Yesterday I tried to hunt down the source of a leak into my rear tailgate. I think water is getting in through the hinge and dripping down from the D pillar. It seems the seal that presses up against the body of the car is not up to the task anymore or being interfered with by the shrunken rubber seal that runs along the top of the door. It has shrunk back from the corner it is supposed to sit in.
Car also has a dent in that corner of the roof from a branch that fell, supposedly while the previous owner had it for sale. I don' think this damage would lead to a leak. Also potentially the screw for the roof rail is leaking, but it started getting too cold to feel my hands.
The water appears on the rubber trunk mat underneath the D pillar speaker. I'm afraid to take any plastic trim off the car with the temperature hovering around freezing.

Edit: a picture is worth 1000 words

[scot850]

I've had the roof trim/rail mounting screws leak in the past. The Volvo part is a small piece of one side sticky tar-like tape that 'heals' when the screw goes through it. Over time the material dries out and leaks. Some silicon should fix that or panel bond.

If that corner seal is stuck down fully, water should not get around it. It may have got loose when the branch hit it?

Have you checked the tail light seals are in fact sealing?

Good luck!