Ok, please bear with me here, this is a steep learning curve. I searched the forums for V70 T5 and came up with nada, so here goes....

So I am about to test drive a 2001 V70 T5 and am wondering if there are any particulars about the T5 engine I should know about. From what I've read, the T5 differs in that it is a high pressure engine but reportedly limited by the manufacturer tuning. Supposedly, if it is "chip tuned" it can get more bhps.

That's cool with me and all, but how is it performance-wise without the chip-tuning? Furthermore, is it easier or harder to maintain or no different from the low pressure types?

This inquiring mind needs to know.

Thanks!

 

I have a 2001 V70 T5 and can offer some information about the T5 engine and car. With 247hp and 243 lbs/ft the engine has good power and I’ve been impressed with the torque at lower rpms, the engine pulls strongly from relatively low rpms.
Being a 2001 you have to consider the ETM as a potential problem area (not just T5s), it is failure prone according to many. Mine is still functioning well with no problem symptoms at 100K miles. There is a 10 year 200K warranty from Volvo for the ETM but I think it’s fair to reduce the value of a used Volvo with an ETM by $500 to $1000 as compared to newer years without the ETM. There is a Canadian company that repairs ETMs for $600 with a non-contact position sensor, which should be a better long term fix so this is another option now.
http://fixyouretm.com/

From what I’ve read and with my car, 2001 is also not a good year for the 5sp Aisin Warner automatics. My car had the transmission replaced at 78K miles by the Volvo dealer for $4K by the previous owners. Check the transmission out thoroughly. From the records I received with my car (bought used) the transmission had harsh, jerky shifts starting at 30K miles so the transmission had problems very early on and I’ve read it was the valve body design, which was later changed. There was also a feature that disengaged the transmission at every stop and a later software update to disable this feature.

Other then scheduled maintenance I don’t think there’s really any special maintenance with the T5 engine, the engine seems very durable. Timing belt replacement is important. My engine with 100K miles does use oil at a rate of 1 qt per 3K of miles which is more than previous car I’ve owned but the engine does run very well and seems to have many miles left in it.

From the IPD website the T5 appears to respond very well to an ECU upgrade. 280hp and 320 lbs/ft of torque. That would be fun.

http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-V70XC70-...-127-387-2191/

 

Wow, that's great detail! What you said , plus reading over 100 mostly negative reviews has turned me off from buying one.

Part of why I 'm looking for a turbo wagon is to have good power for highway driving, so the T5 sounded great at first. But then, with the quirks, it doesn't seem to be the best choice. Fun when it's running, of course....

Yes, I've heard the ETM problems are widespread. Scary! There was also some mention of a class action lawsuit because of it.

I guess if there were one available that had all of those issues already fixed then I guess I would be more interested. But, I'm guessing people are selling them off because they'r etired of dealing with the fixes.

Thanks for the input!

 

I have a 1998 T5 and since I bought it at 75,000 miles it has never left me stranded and it hauls ***, now pushing 133,000 miles on the clock. I changed the timing belt when I bought it and I change the oil every 3k. the old turbo went out under warranty and I had that replaced. other than that it's a very solid engine IMO. lots of get up and go for a wagon. I just wish they made this in rear wheel drive.

 

today is the last day i am a volvo owner . i bought a 2001 v70 turbo almos 1 yr to the date. two weeks after i bought it the abs module went out. even if i had the gent from calif. rebuild it the codes would have need to be cleared by volvo. so i put one on myself . my original was intermitent. after i put the new one on it was worse. i lost odometer ,abs,traction and cruise control. so i lived with it, no biggie. 2 weeks ago a new symptom started. i would come to a stop light. after a 2 count the rpm's would drop out from 800 or so to 400 for a brief moment. every time i came to a complete stop. rush hour in chicago.it was a nightmare .so i research and learned of a claas action lawsuit involving the throttle module and the fuel pump, so i thought i would invest in the one hour. volvo tech informed me that i had codes out the *** popping up, he said he woild need to fix the abs mod. for 1300 us. $. i elecrical codes, trans codes ,turbo codes, the service maager said i should part ways with it. VERY NICE OF HIM TO SAY SO.that was the best advice i got. i wish i knew that b4 i bought it last year. i f i knew of this forum 13v months ago i wouldnt have bought it. now if you can afford the car payment, buy brand new ,trade in in four years and buy new again you will love volvo. but if you are buying used, put your shwanz in a vice and tighten it, it will feel better. i am also an owner of a 2003 nissan for my wife. today i left volvo and went to nissan .in four hour i drove off in a 2003 altima. they gave me 2200 for my P.O.S#!T VOLVO.i wonder howlong it will be until they sell it. bye bye volvo forum

 

Good riddance to you sir.

 

I know they are extremely rare, but you can always look for a standard transmission T5 so that you don't have to deal with the ETM issues.

 

So the manual transmission T5s did not suffer from ETM failures? Did 2002 T5 models (manual or auto) suffer from ETM issues? I have never seen a definitive answer on this.

 

2002+ do not have the ETM failure issue. I did see a 2002 T5 manual transmission on Auto Trader for around $10,000. It was the only one on Autotrader. I actually looked for months to find a manual T5 locally and nothing ever came along. The autotrader one is at a dealership so it's probably reconditioned and ready to go, with the low airfare these days don't forget that traveling to make a purchase may be the best deal to get what you really want.

 

Nope, manuals in any vehicle are not electronically controlled in any way (hence why you have to "manually" control it), meaning that they don't have ETM issues because they don't have ETMs.