I just bought 2003 v70 non turbs. 101k miles. 1 owner, older couple, lots of oil change records, all done at the dealer, etc. The hope is to have a car I can put 100k miles on, without much hassle. My jeep I over 266k and getting a little...tired. Anyhoo I put the v70 in the shop for timing belt and a radiator fan (radiator fan wont shut off, and drains the car battery, I just unplugged it with no issue. not overheating even I traffic). I get a call back, and I need a rear main seal $895
front and rear engine mounts ~200ish a peice
power steering pump $450 (slow leak)
pcv (pvc?) kit $400
front right cv boot $200
brake pads front and rear $200 front $195 rear
radiator fan $500
and timing belt $500
oil change and tranny flush. $195 for the flush.


all prices include labor.

the rear main seal is a slow leak, and pvc may slow it down he says. looking online, the brakes I can do on my own for 1/4 the price. fan about the same. engine mounts, i'm not sure. that pvc thing I watched a vid, I think I can do it, but would rather not.



My real question here is: do these parts historically go bad at this age? Is this car likely just in need of some maintenance items, or should I run? If this car has a chance at being a good car, i'll likely take it. If this is a sign of rough previous owner though and I should run, then i'll do that too. the PS pump, im not to worried about. that wont leave me stranded and can wait. can the other items be related? like the main seal went bad cuz the pcv system did a poor job at maintain negative pressure? or is this a sign of something worse?

 

There are often a whole lot of things that COULD be done to a 10 year old car with 100,000 miles, and that there's a real reason for doing. The question becomes do you NEED to do them? It all depends, and really until you crawl around under the car and examine all those areas, you're not really going to know whether they're using a $1000 hammer to smash a $100 problem or not.

I'd suggest looking over this excellent website, which will give you a very good idea of what tends to go out when... And as with most European cars, you're going to have to spend a good amount of money keeping them working perfectly unless you learn to twist your own wrenches.

Anyway - the link: Common Failures - Howard's Volvo Maintenance

 

Power steering pump $450 (slow leak)
Unless the steering is hard to turn (and even then it could be for other reasons than a leaking steering pump) don't replace the pump. Also, it could be simply leaking at the hoses connection (typical). It's typical for the pump to leak a bit, and it doesn't really affect it.

pcv kit $400. I would strongly recommend doing this repair. It's what killed several Volvo engines, and it's the time to do it at that miles. However, absolutely inspect the holes in the engine where the PCV hoses connect: if the holes are clear enough, you are lucky, if the holes are blocked, you will have further repairs. Since the main seal is leaking, it might mean the holes are blocked and you will need to remove the oil plan to clean the holes, or the engine seals will continue to leak. Google on forums about this subject (typical), it's an expensive (an urgent) repair. Check on Youtube how to test the PCV system. The price for the main seal seems high to me, but I'm not sure.

The engine mounts is typical, but they might not be completely shot. unless the rubber is completely broken, leave them that way. On my car they are still good at 100k miles.

front right cv boot $200. My car is exactly the same age and mileage as yours, and my CV boots are original and in pristine shape. Ask the garage to show if where the boots are cracked. If they are simply leaking a little bit of grease at the extremity, it's not problematic.

radiator fan $500. that's expensive but typical failure. You can remove the electric module that's on the fan, un-glue the cover, then replace the two capacitors inside.

timing belt $500. I guess it's for the belt, idler pulley and tensioner, all have to be done at once. The water pump doesn't need to be changed at this mileage. Ask them to use Original Volvo parts, or Gates parts. Do not use cheap aftermarket parts especially for the tensioner. It has to be done ASAP at this miles.

oil change and tranny flush. $195 for the flush. Does the transmission shift smoothly in all situations? Do not do a complete flush at this mileage. It can develop transmission problems, most people suggest a transmission drain, repeated 2-3 times. It takes about 12 liters at 7-8$ of a specific fluid.

 

So what course of action was taken? my '04 2.5T needs the 105k service and am also wondering what else is going to pop up.

 

I had them do the cv axle, the mounts(trhee total, 2 engine one transmission), the pcv thingamabob, timing belt, tranny flush and oil change. The oil change was needed as their service cleans out a bunch of gunk from some ports and dumps it into the oil pan. The rear main seal leak was very slight and it was decided against it. It drives much smoother now, under heavy acceleration i used to get a hard shift as it downshifted. This had more to do with the worn mounts giving the engine and tranny to much play, something I'd experienced in a previous car.

All in all i spent 2k. But i didn't replace the fan. This vid makes it look to easy to do.
I'm pretty good with electronic though and i kind of want to try the fix orgex mentioned, but i can't find the capacitor ratings anywhere. I think I'll pull it this weekend and head to fry's, but obviously I'd need a ride. We'll see how spry I'm feeling. I took the old girl on a 400 mile camping trip this weekend and she did splendidly though. So as long as this thing holds up i'll be happy.

 

I've got a new fan coming in for my '01 V70 T5 tonight, so I should be able to see how much more difficult it will be on a turbo motor. My assumption is that it's pretty much the same, other than removing the plastic pipe from the intercooler. I was really tempted to take the fan out and troubleshoot it (guessing that it's the control unit and not the fan) but I really do need the car and the replacement wasn't all that much money (around $120 from RockAuto.com).

Funny thing though - the only reason I noticed the fan is out is an A/C problem (since the A/C won't work right unless cool air is flowing across the evaporator). I guess I should have noticed that the fan wasn't running in cool-down mode when I shut the car off, but the coolant temperatures have been running rock-solid center of the gauge, even towing a 12x6x6 trailer thousands of miles.

 

OK, THAT didn't work out like I planned. The good news is the new fan went in easily enough - probably a 15-20 minute job. The hardest part is wiggling the fan assembly around enough to clear it from all the stuff that's in the way.

The bad news is that the fan won't come on - either when the A/C is turned on, or the coolant temperature gets over 200 degrees. There's a good solid 12 volts at the big two-wire plug going to the fan control module on the back of the fan motor, but I have no idea how to "jump" the control circuit to get it to turn on... it's controlled by an ECM (I think...) so I'm at a loss. I have a copy of the Volvo wiring diagram, but I'm not figuring out what's what (and I'm an electronics engineer by training).

Strangely, the dash temperature gauge sits in the exact middle anywhere from 170 degrees up to 205 or so (as far as I took it)... no deviation at all. I don't know if this is a symptom or just a V70 quirk.

Anyone out there have any words of wisdom for me? Or need a used but probably good fan? ;-)

Has anyone out there had a similar problem?

 

I'm not sure what to say. I was told it could be you computer (ECM i guess), thermostat/ECT related, or the fan it self. My fan won't turn off. ever. right now i'm having to un plug the fan when I get somewhere. I had the shop troubleshoot it for me and said all looks good, that the fan is at fault. It seems likely that circuity on the fan failed, and the fan is designed to fail in a closed state.

 

I'm thinking it's probably the ECM, but the Vida/Dice device I ordered is lost in translation between China and here... I took a chance on AliExpress and it's not been working out (the vendor entered a fictitious tracking number to game the system to prevent me from canceling my order after a couple weeks). Guess I'll have to get one on the way from a domestic supplier and hope it helps me troubleshoot my problem.

 

Those are the bad boys that go bad. RIFA 1200mF 40V

You need to cut them from the electronic board and leave the board pins where they attach as long possible after the cut. Then use patience and a good amount of soldering paste to attach the new ones. Careful with polarities, note which way the old ones are installed.

The electronic board is inside a sealed casing. A couple of screws, but the metal plate has strong silicone along the edge, so carefully pry open step by step. Then use some silicone to glue back.

Capacitors on Ebay. Only 1000mf but plenty enough: LINK

At least on non turbo models, removing the radiator fan is tight, but definitely easy, just shake it patiently, it took me maybe 1 minute to remove it from there (once everything is detached) and same to push it back.

 

I ordered some of those caps, will report on that in a week or two.


In the mean I installed a whole new fan. While the fan no longer turns on and won't shut off, I can't get it to turn on at all. Does it stay off till a certain temp? its in 56 outside today, inset in traffic, drive thru's, etc. No overheating, but also no fan :/

 

Disregarding the engine temp indicator, check the thermostat.

Start the engine from cold, let it run 1 min, then grab the upper think radiator hose in the middle. Does it feel warm? It so, the thermostat is stuck open. I could explain the fan not starting, as water runs continuously through the radiator and doesn't have time to get too warm.

Thermostat typically fails at this age.