1998 S70 T5M 240k the Road to Stage 0

[bmdubya1198]

Well, you have to yank/ drop the engine for the clutch,so that’s the time for the RMS

Yeah, I wouldn't even bother with the stop leak if you're going to do the clutch. RMS is easy once the transmission is off!

[WhatAmIDoing]

I bought a new Volvo RMS. It's going to get replaced while the flywheel is off being resurfaced.

Took advantage of the FCP sale to get parts to finish my cooling system refresh. Grabbed a new thermostat gasket to see if that will stop my leak, or if I'm going to have to replace the housing gasket. New coolant bottle hoses and clamps, and even grabbed a new Volvo turbo coolant return hose since mine looks pretty rough. Got used silicone hoses to replace the upper and lower rad hoses with, as well as the intercooler and turbo hoses.

Also while they're on sale, want to grab new control arms, stabilizer end links, and tierods. Still have to figure out whether I have an SMI rack or not. Chassis plate provides no answers. Also want to check my ball joints tomorrow.

Need to properly inspect all my motor mounts as well tomorrow. Want to replace as much as I can while motor is out, but I'm cheap, so if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I really need to clean off my springs to determine which color code they are. Hoping for green-blue. What springs should be on the front of a T5?

Lastly, I would like to replace the shaft seals on my trans while it's out. Should I avoid this if they are not leaking? There appears to be possibly 2 different sizes for both output shaft seals, as well as 2 different sized input shaft seals. Is there a way to know which I have without pulling the trans and measuring? I have the external slave cylinder. Or is this one of those "order all of the above and return what you don't use" situations?

[WhatAmIDoing]

Spent a good hour soul searching under my T5 today. Found failing bushings and torn boots on my control arms and excessive play in my tie rods. Both struts are very much on their way out. Decided she's getting all new front suspension in the Meyle HD flavor, plus the slightly used OE struts from the parts car.

Was able to clean off enough grease to determine I have an SMI steering rack.

My springs are too badly rusted to determine which color code they are.

All but one motor mount looked okay apart from them beginning to dry rot. The rear motor mount (on the LH side) looks totally wrecked.

New alarming problem just discovered with the turbo. Found fresh oil dripping off of the bottom of the intake side of the turbo. Exhaust side was bone dry (car ran less than 3 minutes). Was not able to trace the source. Also seems like there is a lot of oil around the bottom of the piece of hose that connects the charged air pipe to the turbo.

[scot850]

There are oil feed and return pipes from the turbo that are prone to fail and leak.

Your Vin plate has a set of numbers on the lower right of it (8? numbers). One of those numbers tells you which springs you have on the front and also one of them tells you the rears.

If you call a dealer with your Vin and that set of numbers they can decode it for you.

Neil.

[abscate]

Don’t sweat the charge pipe oil too much. Take it off, clean it up, put it back on and see if oil returns.

[WhatAmIDoing]

There are oil feed and return pipes from the turbo that are prone to fail and leak.

Your Vin plate has a set of numbers on the lower right of it (8? numbers). One of those numbers tells you which springs you have on the front and also one of them tells you the rears.

If you call a dealer with your Vin and that set of numbers they can decode it for you.

Neil.

Thanks for the tip on the VIN plate, looks like my front strut and spring code is 6F. The donor car's is L2. I do not know if those are in fact what are on the donor car, as when I serviced the struts, 2000 XC70 was paint penned on the strut bearings. I do know, the springs have blue and green paint marks on them.

Don’t sweat the charge pipe oil too much. Take it off, clean it up, put it back on and see if oil returns.

The return line on the exhaust side looked bone dry. When I swap in my silicone hoses, I'll take a closer look at everything and give it a good cleaning. Hopefully new gaskets for the oil lines will fix it.

[bmdubya1198]

Start with the easy stuff, replace the gaskets/washers and the o-ring in the oil drain tube while you're at it.

[abscate]

I just want to compliment you on what a great mechanic you have become in only three years! You are diving into solid 'four rivers' jobs with gusto, verve, Oxford commas, and élan; truly the mark of the MVS professional.

Hey, another semicolon!

[WhatAmIDoing]

I just want to compliment you on what a great mechanic you have become in only three years! You are diving into solid 'four rivers' jobs with gusto, verve, Oxford commas, and élan; truly the mark of the MVS professional.

Hey, another semicolon!

Thank you abscate. This compliment really made my day. To think only 5 years ago I was nervous about changing my own oil.

Nice semicolon!

[WhatAmIDoing]

Started the cooling system refresh yesterday with the hardest jobs. Replaced the tiny PITA turbo coolant return hose, old one was mush. Replaced both coolant bottle hoses with Mackay hoses. And went in to replace the thermostat o-ring/gasket. To my dismay, found a MotoRad thermostat, and not a Volvo like the PO let me to believe. Old gasket was torn. New gasket fit, but seemed thinner than the old one. Will monitor and maybe replace when I swap out the radiator hoses. ~277k miles