Hi folks,

I normally frequent another forum (for ford trucks) and I do pretty much all my own repairs. My girlfriend's father will be staying with us for a few weeks and he brought with him a lemon of a 1999 V70 wagon that has more things wrong with it than right. It's an automatic with the inline 5 turbo engine.

Nevertheless, I would like to fix the problems with this car and get it running decent. It currently has NV tags on it, and it will need to pass CA emissions, and I'm pretty sure it won't the way it runs now.

The history of the car - he bought it from a small dealer lot in Reno. They told him they would stand behind the car, and they have done their part so far. It has had the entire top end of the motor rebuilt after the timing belt slipped and then broke. I haven't seen the invoice, but supposedly they machined the head and did a valve job. I can't believe they let it out of their shop running like this, but they did. Their story is that they couldn't figure out what's wrong with it. Fantastic.

First problem - it idles like a WWII tank. It's so rough it barely idles. When it's cold, it will stall the first couple times you start it. After it warms up it will still idle like crap, but won't actually stall. On the highway, it runs better, but not nearly as smooth as it should. Even when the motor is at full temp it idles like crap. None of the diagnostic lights are lit.

I've searched on here, and it seems that a dirty throttle body, a dirty MAF sensor, or a bad O2 sensor could be the cause. I haven't torn into it yet, but those are the first things I'll look at. Anything else I'm missing? In the event that I have to buy parts for this, where do you recommend that I get them? I'm a big fan of buying auto parts online from reputable places, mainly because they're a lot cheaper and of better quality than the junk autozone sells.

Any tips for cleaning the MAF sensor? Or the TB?

Second problem is that the steering makes an awful clunking noise when you turn it in either direction. This feels like CV axles to me. I've replaced CV axles on small cars before - how hard are these to change on this car?

Thanks for any help - this seems like a very helpful forum.

 

Update... I checked the MAF sensor. It looks clean and shiny, no gunk build-up.

The throttle body looks like it's hard to get to. Is there a way to clean it without removing it from the engine?

 

I always remove the throttle body to clean it. That could cause 99% of the running problem.
Any check engine light?

The steering noise is it at full turns?

 

Thanks for the reply, tech.

How do I remove the throttle body? From underneath or from the top?

No check engine light.

The steering noise is noticeable whenever the car is pointed anywhere but straight ahead.

 

1. I always remove the throttle body from up top. There is 4 10MM screws holding it on.
Some remove the cooling fan to get to the induction hose easier.

2.Check the sway barlinks and upper spring seats.

 

I should clarify the noise. It's a hard thumping noise that you can feel and hear, even from the passenger seat. It is directly related to the wheel speed. It really feels like CV axles to me. How hard are they to replace?

 

The axles are fairly easy to replace.

 

Do the turbos have an idle control valve like the non-turbos (I ask this because BMW deleted Idle Control Valves when it went to electronic throttle bodies, but apparently Volvo did not)? I thoroughly cleaned my V70's ICV last weekend and it solved all my problems related to erratic idle. Too low or erratic idle could contribute to the roughness, and if the ICV is open too far during normal operation, it could probably screw up air/fuel metering.

 

The got rid of them when they went to the electrvonic setup. You must have a 1998 correct?

 

I have a '99 with the electronic throttle body. If not an idle control valve, what valve did I clean that was attached to the main air duct just downstream from the mass airflow sensor? It was pretty gunked up with carbon and the car definitely idled better afterwards. Of course I did a little bit of swabbing on the throttle body, but not enough to make the kind of difference I am experiencing.

 

That should be the Valve that helps cool the injectors I believe.
Also the Denso system is very weird. I really never paid attention to where it goes I will have to check out exactly where it goes.

 

I thought it was strange that the air hose seemed to go close to the injectors. If it's not exposed to the intake manifold, I wonder how it got so gunked up with carbon. And why cleaning the valve had a significant impact on my idle. Maybe it was the minor cleaning I gave to the outward facing side of the throttle body, but I really did a substandard job there, so I doubt it.

 

I will try to find one soon and look it over good.