2001 S70 Convertible Revival after years in the garage.

TonyFLc70 · Post by **TonyFLc70** » 24 Mar 2026, 11:40

Hi all — looking for some advice from people who’ve gone through something similar. I have a Volvo C70 with ~30k miles, one owner, always garage-kept (here in hot South Florida). It sat for years, so over the past few months I’ve been bringing it back to life (new battery, all fluids, fuel pump, fuel lines, filter, etc.).
Then the steering was super stiff: I added power steering fluid but it was not leaking. The Mechanic is doing the work for me said I needed to:

Replace of the power steering gear
Replace of the power steering pump

After 3 weeks of this diagnostic from the mechanic, I decided to turn the car on but I’ve hit another snag — it won’t crank, and my mechanic says it was the starter...
At this point I’m a bit (a lot) on the fence. I’ve already put some money into it, and it’s becoming more of a time/money commitment than I expected. I’m also concerned it could turn into one issue after another.

Has anyone here been through something similar? Curious how it played out for you in the end (and whether you eventually got everything sorted). Regardless, any advice would be appreciate it too.
Thank you.
Tony

Vova585 · Post by **Vova585** » 24 Mar 2026, 13:17

Sorry, but there is nothing worse for the car than-improper storage/prolonged storage. What are the plans for this car(meaning, wife, daughter, selling for profit)? Regardless of the purpose- do proper diagnostic work of starter and starter circut.(look scanner danner videos with explanation on how to load test power and ground side and signal). It can be a simple oxydation issue. If electrically it checks out- remove and inspect starter. Dont throw it away or trade for rebuilt one.if you have a local shop that does such testing repair- give to them. After car starts and runs. Decide what you are doing with it. Keeping for yourself-stop driving it and replace timming belt, water pump, all crank cam seals with quality parts(fcp, ipd sites ). Then start driving and fix issues as they come(pcv system, serpentine belt, coolant hoses, ...) if you want to sell-put on bring a trailer and hope someone will have nostalgia to buy it and pay you top dollar(they will likely know exactly what they are buying and will be able to budget for it).

Post by **cuhfs** » 24 Mar 2026, 20:03

Whatever it needs will be cheaper then any new car you can buy, if you decide to keep it. In my mind, even if you have to drop in $5K you have a 30K low mileage nice car that is fun for FL driving and has a long life potential. Best for maximum fun to do some work / maintenance yourself by following MVS. It sounds like its an extra car so take your time.

Post by **abscate** » 25 Mar 2026, 13:41

I think I would put both front wheels up and test for steering stiffness. It could be the rack or the universal joint under the dash. Of course that is no longer available so it’s a junkyard trip for another p80 part

If you are paying to havethis work done it won’t be. Economical. Refurbing even a low mile car by checkbook won’t be remotely close to end value , it will be way over

Unless you are attached to the car by love, move on in this case. If I had paid for T5 work out of pocket it would have been 15-20k easily.

Post by **cuhfs** » 25 Mar 2026, 21:19

My XC90 Steering was stiff. Figured out it was the steering coupler (like u-joint) . I had dealer to do the job: part and labor was about $700. Money well spent for a job i could not do. .

Post by **abscate** » 26 Mar 2026, 03:47

cuhfs wrote: 25 Mar 2026, 21:19 My XC90 Steering was stiff. Figured out it was the steering coupler (like u-joint) . I had dealer to do the job: part and labor was about $700. Money well spent for a job i could not do. .

In the Northeast getting the coupler to release can be ugly. Should not be trouble in Florida

TonyFLc70 · Post by **TonyFLc70** » 28 Mar 2026, 11:11

Thanks all—really appreciate everyone taking the time to chime in.
The mix of advice here helped a lot, especially the “get it running and sort things as you go” approach and the realistic view on total costs. That gave me a much clearer picture.
I’ve decided to stop here. I’ll either try to recover part of what I’ve already spent by passing it on to someone who has the time to take it on, or donate it to a non-profit that can put it to good use.

Thanks again for the help!

Vova585 · Post by **Vova585** » 28 Mar 2026, 12:04

I would still suggest to try make it "start and run" condition with that starter issue being sorted. It is a pretty simple design and should not take you long to figure what is broken. With "star and run" you can post it on ebay, Facebook as "barn find, belonged to late grandmother who had it for many years, but d/t health conditions were not able to drive it. She was refusing to sell it since it was her dream car..." hopefully you are not way too deep financially into this car(at that point one just refusing to quit and develops Stockholm syndrome...)

Post by **abscate** » 01 Apr 2026, 05:26

Vova585 wrote: 28 Mar 2026, 12:04 I would still suggest to try make it "start and run" condition with that starter issue being sorted. It is a pretty simple design and should not take you long to figure what is broken. With "star and run" you can post it on ebay, Facebook as "barn find, belonged to late grandmother who had it for many years, but d/t health conditions were not able to drive it. She was refusing to sell it since it was her dream car..." hopefully you are not way too deep financially into this car(at that point one just refusing to quit and develops Stockholm syndrome...)

It’s a 2001. Isn’t it Ghent Syndrome?