Hello everyone, Im a new member here but a long time Volvo lover. I just got a pretty worn down C70 its a 1999 2.3 LPT automatic with 165,000 miles on the odo. Im going to start up this thread and post all my fixes, restores, and upgrades here.

The first thing I did was an oil change 10w/30 dino.
Next up was a new air filter.
Then a cabin filter.

I also put in a upgraded stereo, aftermarket head unit, 2x12" subs, and a 1800 watt amp.
New battery.

Now, since I got this vehicle the idle has been surging up and down very badly. Sometimes the car would stall in the middle of traffic.
Some of you guessed the culprit already!
The ETM.
They fail like crazy in the 99-01 70 series models.
I pushed this to its complete failure and then I drove it some more.
Finally breaking down and getting a replacement.
Since I got the car back its been running so smooth, I love it.
That brings us up to date.

Up next is going to be a seafoam treatment,
then an oil change to high mileage synthetic.
I will also be replacing my spark plugs to Bosch four way platinum shortly after the seafoam treatment.

Both my o2 sensors need to be replaced and thats on my radar but not yet.
I also need to replace my turbo control valve and my mass air flow soon.

After I finish those tasks, it will be on to my suspension.
I will be posting pics soon.

 

Okay today i spent some time working on the volvo again.
I treated the crankcase and fuel with some seafoam.
I filled the crankcase and fuel tank per seafoam instructions, then drove about 60 miles.
Changed the oil over to a full synthetic, I used valvoline.
The car is ticking less than it did before, thats gotta be a good sign, right?
Tonight ill put some seafoam in the vacuum line.

I also took some time to fix the electrical seat. It wasnt working, so I researched and found that there is a spring that come off that will tell the seat not to function. The spring was long gone from the seat, so I found the little clip it attached to, and I glued that down so it works again. Seats functions just like new, saved myself like 500 bux.

 

Okay seafoam treatment complete. So far Its way more than I expected. This is no snake oil, it works! I had a pretty bad tapping coming from the top of my engine, it would go away when the engine got hot but it was fairly loud when the car first starts up. That is gone. Gone. Wow. It did also have a lot to do with the synthetic oil I put in after the crankcase treatment. I know my car is working way more efficiently now, I hope it'll keep going for another 165000 miles.

 

Can anyone tell me where I can get an engine dress kit? Im looking for engine covers preferably a carbon fiber looking one. Thank you.

 

My 1998 C70 had the same ticking as you described. Dropping the oil pan and replacing the pick up tube o ring fixed it.

 

I'll keep that in mind if it returns, which im sure eventually it will. For now though, the combo of seafoam and synthetic oil cleared it up. Thanks for the info.

 

Got back under the car again today. I needed to change the o2 sensors out.
It took a while because I did it all backwards. So Im going to list the order of the steps here.

First you need to take the front left tire off. (this will allow you to feed your arm through to reach the plug and run the wires)
Make sure you have the car up on jack stands.

Then you should get under the car and locate where the exhaust comes down from the engine. You will see one plug going into the exhaust before the cat, and one just a bit further down.

Spray down with pb blaster and let soak, the longer the better. Really spray these things down.

Loosen each o2 sensor

Follow the wire back to the plugs

here you can see how to unplug both sensors:
http://www.justanswer.com/uploads/TrevH ... 20_one.pdf

You might have to access the plug from the top of the engine.

run the new wire through and plug them both in

Then remove each sensor and replace with new ones.

Remove the negative terminal cable from the battery, for 15 secs, to reset the ecu.

 

I removed all the trim in the car and painted it today.
Everything was just clipped in so a bit of a tug and it all popped out.
First I washed everything with dish detergent. Then I cleaned everything even more using clorox bleach wipes. Then I lightly sanded each item.
After that I wiped them down with a damp cloth, and let them dry.

Now I was ready to paint. I put a light coat on at first and let it dry.
Then I put a heavy coat on and let dry.
Once it was dry I lightly sanded it.
Then I coated the trim in 2 more coats.
Let em dry and popped em back in the car.


I havent included any pictures yet because my camera broke and my phones' camera doesn't show detail very well.

 

Today I pulled the door panels off.
I was going to replace the tan panels with black ones, but decided to paint them instead. I can drop the money im saving into the suspension.
Now, I researched this, and kept coming back to 2 brands, sem and vht. I went to all the auto parts stores around me, and could only find dupicolor vinyl paint.
I didnt want to spend almost 20 bux for a can of the sem and vht (with shipping and handling). So I got the duplicolor brand. I would not recommend the duplicolor. It sometimes dryed with a white residue. One can got stuck on, and was just splattering so it couldnt even be used. The carpet is rock hard after being painted.
The sem and vht dyes arent suppose to have any of these problems. Ill probably end up getting some and going over the doors with the sem or vht dye. heres a pic of a door panel painted with the duplicolor. I left the plastic tray undone because im going to wrap it in carbon fiber.

 

Today the odometer rolled over 175,000. On my way to 200,000!

I also passed my emissions test with the new o2 sensors in it. Woo hoo.