1999 S70 "AWD" Rescue Thread

[bmdubya1198]

Right, I thought so.

[WhatAmIDoing]

I'm back, been so busy working I haven't had much time to work on my cars. I was really hoping new spark plugs and an air filter would improve fuel economy. But I seem stuck at ~20mpg no matter how or where I drive.

I was able to get cruise control working again thanks to abscate! That helped my highway fuel economy a little bit. Turns out a wire had broken inside the old turn signal stock. Glad it was an easy fix. It's really nice finally owning a vehicle with working cruise control.

Now for the bad news. Car definitely has a slight coolant leak. Need to top up the coolant about every 2-3 month (don't quit remember how long ago it was since I added coolant). The trans is still leaving spots of ATF on the ground, but the dipstick still reads full when cold.

[WhatAmIDoing]

Now for the really bad news / story time: I was driving to work in the hills, and thought the car felt very low on power, and the trans was shifting weird. When I got to work, I opened the hood and exploded with colorful language. The trans was still full of fluid, but there was oil sprayed everywhere. Dipstick was pushed all the way out. Oil was spraying out around the cap. When I took off the cap, quite a bit of smoke came out. Cleaned the mess up, dumped a quart of oil in, and drove it home. Trip home went perfectly with no oddities or mess.

Later that week: I left the car to sit and drove the T5. I checked the PCV, and the glove still sucks in (and smoke still coming out of oil cap). I did a cold compression test, and cylinder 1 was 170psi, while the rest were 180-185. I was advised to inspect the turbo, so that is what I'll do during my next day off.

[bmdubya1198]

Compression seems fine, I wouldn't worry too much about that. This is definitely sounds like a backed up PCV though. Do you have any record of when it was last done? My R seemed to suck in the glove when I tested it, but I still replaced it since there was a lot of blow by and I had a good amount of oil sitting on the cam cover.

[abscate]

This Pay it Forward was a Pass it Through Pay it Forward courtesy of eshowell.

[WhatAmIDoing]

This Pay it Forward was a Pass it Through Pay it Forward courtesy of eshowell.

Thanks, now I really owe eshowell. I think he was the one who supplied me with radio bulbs last year.

Compression seems fine, I wouldn't worry too much about that. This is definitely sounds like a backed up PCV though. Do you have any record of when it was last done? My R seemed to suck in the glove when I tested it, but I still replaced it since there was a lot of blow by and I had a good amount of oil sitting on the cam cover.

PCV and Timing was done at 208,000 miles in 2015 by the dealer, at 222,000 miles now. I suppose it's possible, but it seems hard to believe. Glove almost got sucked all the way in at 216,000 miles when I tested it after I bought it. Glove still gets sucked in pretty good.

[bmdubya1198]

PCV and Timing was done at 208,000 miles in 2015 by the dealer, at 222,000 miles now. I suppose it's possible, but it seems hard to believe. Glove almost got sucked all the way in at 216,000 miles when I tested it after I bought it. Glove still gets sucked in pretty good.

Wow, so it's not too old. That's really weird. Maybe the dealer never cleaned out the ports in the block? When I did the PCV on my '03 S60, those ports were literally halfway full of gunk... it was the worst I've seen. It only has 106k miles, but the thing to remember with low mileage cars, they could have spent lots of time idling or taking short trips... prime candidates for backed up PCVs!

[WhatAmIDoing]

PCV and Timing was done at 208,000 miles in 2015 by the dealer, at 222,000 miles now. I suppose it's possible, but it seems hard to believe. Glove almost got sucked all the way in at 216,000 miles when I tested it after I bought it. Glove still gets sucked in pretty good.

Wow, so it's not too old. That's really weird. Maybe the dealer never cleaned out the ports in the block? When I did the PCV on my '03 S60, those ports were literally halfway full of gunk... it was the worst I've seen. It only has 106k miles, but the thing to remember with low mileage cars, they could have spent lots of time idling or taking short trips... prime candidates for backed up PCVs!

I do know the car has not been driving a lot based on records I found between 2015 and 2019, so it may have made a lot of short trips. Still seems impressive it would clog that bad that fast.

[WhatAmIDoing]

My eardrums have now demanded a new repair go to the top of the list. The connection between the front half and back half of the exhaust has rusted out. It makes going up hills extremely loud (and painful). I measured the OD of the two pipes and both were 62.5 mm or 2-7/16 in, Unfortunately, I can't find any prefabbed pipe with that ID, only 2-3/8" or 2-1/2". Not sure if I can clamp on 2.5in ID steel, or if I will have to have it welded. What advice do the MVS cheapskates have for DIY exhaust repair?

[abscate]

Both my 1999s have bandaged front muffler to cat joints for about 25 usd repairs. I used exhaust cement and fiberglass pack wrap on the joint