Long time reader, first time poster. This is the 3rd Volvo I’ve owned and I’m rethinking that judgement. I bought a 2001 Volvo V70 2.4T about 4 months ago. It had 120k miles on it and was in excellent condition...visually. The seller bought it from the original owner about 3 years ago with 90k miles. He said it leaked oil but couldn’t find the source.
With the help of this site, I determined it was mainly the PCV mess since there was oil splattering from the top of the block.
I bought the stuff, got other gaskets and seals, cleaned everything I touched, and battled that freaking banjo bolt. As I got everything disassembled, I noticed a few split hoses, dry rotted hoses, and other crap that I replaced. It was definitely partially clogged.
It ran fine after reassembly, but still leaking. Additional research directed me to drop the oil pan due to possible debris and blown seals. 427 bolts later, I got it off, cleaned the crap out of it, spread Volvo gasket wonder jelly all over it, and reassembled. I changed the oil filter and air filter and went with synthetic oil.
STILL LEAKING. I suspected the hose/tube from the turbo since that seemed to be the source. But I haven’t had a chance to get back to it....mainly since the damn thing died going to work and couldn’t get it running. The symptoms led to MAF sensor since it would start but wouldn’t rev RPMs. Then it wouldn’t stay started, but it would rev. I ended up disconnecting the damn plug and I got it home. I ordered a new sensor and it performed a little better. Amazingly, I could tell the engine had considerable more pep...but what appears to be a common thread, it sputtered around 2k RPM acting like a transmission issue. I unhook it, runs like crap, but no sign of the sputter.

Is the new MAF sensor bad? Who freaking knows. Everything I see leads back to throttle body needing to be cleaned or sent off to be reprogrammed or whatever. I cleaned it well when I tackled the PCV nightmare, so I know it’s not dirty. But I don’t want to take the manifold back off to access it.

Regardless, this abomination ran pretty damn good before I decided to be a mechanic. But I researched the hell out of every procedure and watched every video on the web. I replaced hoses, replaced clamps, cleaned everything, replaced gaskets, etc etc.

On top of all the issues, the engine gets so incredibly hot. It doesn’t overheat. I replaced the thermostat to see if that helped...nope. I don’t exactly know what to do because I know it’s got to be damaging the engine.

It’s almost funny that I actually bought this same make, model, and color brand new in 2001. Being new parents, it served us well for about a year and we loved it. But it was totaled when my mother-in-law borrowed it to go the the grocery store. She unfortunately survived unscathed due to the safest vehicle in the world.

Somebody help. I’m more than frustrated and exhausted with working on this car. But I have faith that since the vehicle only has 130k miles on it (regardless being 17 years old) and that it was well maintained and cared for, it surely can be repaired without spending a fortune.