My name is Matt and I am the proud new owner of a 2000 Volvo S40 1.5T.

My college classes are about an hour and a half away (yeah, pretty lame) and my current internship is about 1 hour with traffic. Let's just say I do a good deal of driving.

I just bought a Volvo S40, I will pick it up Monday (one of the doors wouldn't open, and a rear taillight assembly had to be replaced), it is the first car that I have bought for myself and I am pretty pleased with it.

There are however a couple of issues.

When the car first turned on there was a very noticeable vibration coming from the steering wheel, but this went away and about 20 minutes into the test drive I didn't even notice any vibration. I only test drove it once, so I don't know if it this vibration is a regular thing or not.

My only other concern, luckily this car looked like it was very well taken care of, is a rattle coming from somewhere forward of the front seats. I am thinking dashboard or center console or something?

I am not intending to do any modifications as far as speed is concerned, but I would like to add some kind of modification to up my gas mileage. I have looked at chips that claim to add XX mpg to a car and I have heard that some air filters, and other things similar, will make the car have a better mpg rating.

I understand that this is a pretty long post (which I usually don't read on message boards), but the first post is supposed to be the longest right?

Thanks for reading, hopefully someone here knows what the rattle and vibration could be caused by,

_matt


Oh, and it's Signal Red [sm=badbadbad.gif]

 

Nice looking Matt. Red is my favorite color.

 

thanks!

I looked at a black one before it, but it was in absolutely horrible condition.

And the guy at the dealership couldn't get the trunk open [sm=helpout.gif]

 

Most of those chips that claim to add MPG are crap. Don't even look at them. Quick easy way to start is to change the air filter to a K & N Air filter. Make sure it is tuned up and tires are properly inflated.

 

1.9t not 1.5 my friend, and enjoy!

 

Welcome to the forum!

Stay away from the chips. The car gets about 34mpg if you don't race everyone and keep it tuned up. Tire pressure is also a factor. Just my .02

How many miles does the car have?

 

hah, looks like i have two tenths of a liter more than i thought i did!

It's got about 84k miles + change

it's pretty hard to find good forums, thanks for the warm welcome.

 

The 2000 model year had a bit more issues than the later years. I've read some wicked reviews of the paint fading. With a 2001, I have experienced several other issues including soft metal brake rotors, quick brake pad wear, and lights that burn out rather quickly. The center (and only front) cup holder is flimsy and breaks easily. You need to change the cabin air filter once a year or the resistor for the blower motor will overheat and fail due to blocked airflow. The oil return from the turbo to the crankcase can leak at the crankcase o-ring. (Cheap to fix, a bear to get to with big hands)

Volvo recommends a timing belt change at 105k miles. Not hard or expensive if you do it yourself. Very expensive should you have someone else do it. You change the water pump and timing belt tensioner when you are in there. Also a good time for new plugs, wires, and coils. It will be even more expensive if the belt fails.

 

Welcome aboard. I have the same car, but green. The chips are a ripoff. I put in a K&N filter that got me between 1-2 mpg better. Plugs and tires are important to keep after. I get 26 mpg back and forth to work, 1/2 stop sign/lights and 1/2 highway. On the highway I get 35mpg. But I drive for economy.

As for the vibration, mine too. All mounts have been checked, everything normal. It just it does it.

Rattles are tough to diagnose online. Keep pushing on different places to try to narrow down. Is it metal sounding or plastic, rubbing or bouncing, things like that. Mine had a rattle under the steering wheel. When I pushed on the plastic cover where your knees are, it went away. I removed the cover and there is a metal cover plate underneath the plastic that was rattling. I put some thin foam in between and it disappeared. That's what it will be, trial and error.

Hudini has covered a lot of the issues above. All true. The only thing I'll say about the timing belt is to read all posts about it before doing it yourself. Not that you can't, just be completely comfortable doing it.

Also, a big topic of discussion is fuel and oil. Again, read all posts. I had quite a few CEL codes when I got the car. I changed plugs, went to full synthetic 5w30, and premium gas, and they went away over time. Not saying this is how to fix codes, just saying this particular car likes to be pampered a little.