New In Forum! Just bought XC for $400! Help Me Suss!
 

Hi, I am new to this forum and just purchased a 1999 V70 XC with 130k on the clock in "running condition" for $400. Haha. I just want to list out my first observations and give some info on the car so that I can get some recommendations on where to start. This is my first turbo car and my first "modern" Volvo. I do have some mechanical experience and have done troubleshooting on mostly 1st gen. gasser VW's and older 240's.

Ok, so..

-The car sat for about 18 months- 2 years and had very little fuel in it. When I got to the car, it had already been jumped and started by the owner, so who knows if there is any damage to rings, etc.

-The car has plugs, coilpacks and coilpack wiring repaired by the only Volvo shop in the county about 4k miles ago.

-There are mechanic's notes noting that an inspection was done for excessive oil consumption and found that there was "excessive oil in the intake manifold, suspect turbo is defective". This assessment was done by a a local shop that deals mostly with Mercedes.

-I have not performed a vacuum gauge test yet, but noted that with the "glove test" at the filler lid that there seemed to be no vacuum and no pressure either; kind of neutral.

-The ETS light is of course on and I did manage to pull a PO121 Throttle Position Sensor/ Switch Range/ Performance problem. I take that to mean the potentiometer in the ETS is broked. That code since went away, though the ETS is still on.

-Mechanic note that fuel pump is going out?; I will test pressure in the next day or so. I am not getting ANY rest pressure, but the car does fire up and run. Is the check valve for these on the pump? can I change out *just* the pump?

-The car variously runs between 700-1000rpm at idle, with smooth- ish periods at around 900-ish rpm. It doesn't really lope or hunt, just kind of goes from one range to another. It also sometimes falls to 550rpm or so, no real pattern.

-At steady throttle in Park, it feels/ sounds almost like a backfire/ miss from about 2500rpm on up. Kind of a chuffing.

-It is on old, bad gas. I did add a gallon of fresh when I drove it home. It is just to the reserve level now. Garage was stinky and kind of hazy after I ran it for 10 mins or so; but can't determine if it's the fuel or oil or whatever.

-Did not notice any smoke trailing while driving home; only about a mile.

I do plan on cleaning the existing or replacing the ETC with a used one if I can find one. The plan is to absolutely not get upside down on the car, so I will not xmodex/ buy new turbo etc, until I am confident in the long term viability; happily, though, I do have spare time and enjoy my garage time.

I'd be grateful to hear any thought or ideas that you might have on how to proceed. Thanks

Timing belt/waterpump? Change them now.

PCV system is probably clogged, that will up the oil consumption.

Fuel pump is probably fine, your fuel gauge is probably not.


Anything with wheels are money pit, even a bicycle is a money pit, so if you don't want to put money to it, walk and get a bus pass.

I suppose if I were you, I would convince myself that the transmission was okay, and then I would do a compression test. If that looked good, then I would go ahead and fix whatever needs fixing.

Wow, thanks for the great advice on the bus pass, bud. You seem to be kind of wasting the internet; maybe you should invest in a typewriter.

Car is running fine, it needed a new ETM, which I pulled from a wrecked '99 V70XC. It needed no dealer coding- also installed a check valve at the rear of the fuel filter as the one on the pump seemingly had gone out.

Props to the Xemodex site; they have great diagnostic info on the ETM for these (and other ) cars. If I keep the car, I will likely buy one of their units.

I am no expert, but they seem to be needy in the AWD department. You don't really have to maintain that if you don't want to. They had a little sleeve that reaches in and captures the final drive that wears out. This sleeve is between the final drive and the angle drive. The rear driveshaft is sort-of not serviceable.


Otherwise, apart from items you already know about, pretty tough cars. You could watch and pick up a spare one at some point for another $400.


Overheating is the white block kiss of death. Base cause of that often is the heater core leaking, but they are really easy to change out.