What did you do to your P2 Volvo today?

[abscate]

Try a bit of Permatex on the seals to keep them in place. Use Corteco or Volvo brand.

[dikidera]

In the future perhaps. But to be honest, I don't think I am installing them properly. I think I go too deep. I use a 32 or 36 socket which seems to contact the lips of the seal properly however because of the fuse box I think or something in the way over there, I couldn't properly hit it, and one part of the seal goes excessively inwards than the other.

Total mess.

[ORCA10]

After some bad misfiring and the engine light coming on, then blinking, on a drive home from a ways off, I swung my '04 xc70 by the store to read the OBD code. A few plugs and coils needed to be changed, so I did all five. Not a mechanic, by any means. My father in law was, however. Changed a set of plugs on my old Jeep Cherokee with him, but this is the most involved job I've undertaken beyond changing the oil and air filter.

I'm not sure when the plugs where last changed, and that's certainly on me. I'm a bit more interested in doing my own work in the future than I have in the past. 212k on it. Have owned it since 60k with minimal problems. Over the last 18 months it's been mostly sitting after I bought an Accord to take my 400mi/wk commute duties. For the few years before that, it had been burning oil pretty heavily, and there was a coolant leak that I never have sorted out yet. But it ran fine until the misfires and codes last month.

Here's a shot of the first two plugs and coils changed.

Old plugs looked pretty bad. Oil fouled maybe?

Each of the cylinders looked like this. 5 had a small amount of white buildup on one side near the top. Was hard to clean these off. Tried some break cleaner and shop towel, with not much luck. Five is first here.

Noticed some pooled oil on the top side of the engine block. Can't tell if this is from spillage during oil changes (I've been known to not use a funnel.) or some other issue. Given the amount, I assume it's another issue. I have a lot of reading to do here on MVS.

Wire leading to plug 2 had broken out of the sleeve. Wrapped it up in some electrical tape, and am hoping that can be a temporary fix.

Belts looked OK to me. Feel free to tell me what I don't know yet.

Looks like a power steering fluid leak. Opened up the cap, and it was very low. Will need to check on this after done getting the ignition system back up to speed.

Engine light still on, but it runs much, much smoother now. Maybe still some misfiring around 30-40mph at modest acceleration, but none of the awful shuddering it had at low rmps and idle. Have an OBD reader coming tomorrow to clear the codes and see what's left. Worried about all the oil that was on the top of the engine block, so going to do a lot of reading here and elsewhere to see what I can learn. Anyone proactively jumping in and offering thoughts or dire warning are welcomed in advance.

A proactive thank you to everyone who contributes to this site. I've already spent a good amount of time reading here, and will certainly owe a hefty debt of gratitude to everyone who has walked down these paths before and took the time to document it here.

[abscate]

Welcome to the Journey!

The top of the cylinder head looks pretty normal for one of these cars. That oil is normal seeping from either PCV or oil filler cap gasket ( you can replace that cheap but use a Volvo part)

Great job on those plugs. They looked fine , no major fouling, but that GS; was way too big, likely the misfiring problem.

The bare wire is the ground for the coil circuit, one of two, and an electrical tape wrap fix can be permanent. It has no voltage on it

Clean off the power steering reservoir with paper and a smidge of brake cleaner and check the seam for leaks. It might just be lots of accumulation again, and the reservoir is fine

[ORCA10]

Thanks!

GS = spark plug gap? If so, I noticed they were over the specs for the old ones. A note that I'm sure has been often used, gap your plugs! The ones I ordered (NGK VPower 6962) came with the Denso coil kit I bought from eEuro parts. They were claimed to be pre-gapped to specs (.028 is what I found), but all 5 were closer to .035-.045 if I was reading the tool right (middle of the prong for reading).

I know OEM is the mandate for both coils and plugs, but I saw decent comments on both Denso and NGK, so gave it a shot.

Onward!

[BlackBart]

Right, as they burn away, the gap gets bigger.
I've rarely had plugs come out of the box with the correct gap.

The timing belt looks ok, but it's the tensioner that fails. Check your records for age if possible.

[volvolugnut]

Turbo engine spark plug gap should be less. I think 0.028, but I don't have my manual to confirm. Even the photo shows your gap is way to wide. As others have said, they wear wider and then misfire. And likely damage the coils.
And always check your new plugs yourself with a wire gaping tool.
AND ALSO be careful to get the plug torque right when you install.
volvolugnut

[Krons]

Upon inspection will be replacing the muffler and midpipe. Kid ordered parts for it today. The resonator/ midpipe might have been ok for a while but will make it a lot easier connecting it to the muffler being new.

[scot850]

What brand of muffler are you going to use? I need to replace the XC70 06MY one. Trouble is the OE parts are over $1000 CDN for just the rear muffler section. We replaced the previous one about 10 years ago and 60k miles with an OE part. The dealer fitted it for us as it required cutting the rear muffler off (it came originally as a one piece from cat to tailpipe). This part looks clean on the outer section with no obvious leaks, but I think the inner case is holed making it sound funny. It is also a pain as it comes with the pipe clamp included but you can't buy it separately. Ours keeps leaking from that joint and I'd like to replace the clamp.

Neil.

[Krons]

What brand of muffler are you going to use? I need to replace the XC70 06MY one. Trouble is the OE parts are over $1000 CDN for just the rear muffler section. We replaced the previous one about 10 years ago and 60k miles with an OE part. The dealer fitted it for us as it required cutting the rear muffler off (it came originally as a one piece from cat to tailpipe). This part looks clean on the outer section with no obvious leaks, but I think the inner case is holed making it sound funny. It is also a pain as it comes with the pipe clamp included but you can't buy it separately. Ours keeps leaking from that joint and I'd like to replace the clamp.

Neil.

My kid is buying - tight budget so a $250 pipe and muffler.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/192311042263

I may give the seams a coat of high temp paint to give a little more life. This S60 has 200k+ miles and is getting pretty rough so no way he can spend a lot on it…it’s in survival mode.