Hey everyone, I'm josie, bought my first volvo/first car that I bought, last thursday. A 1998 volvo v70 awd, and has the turbo.

so long story short, my car is totalled somehow warped an engine block on a civic. Need to drive to michigan in 4 days. I take all the money I have, buy a 98 volvo v70 for $1132, after cheking out some things, it seemed like a great deal. Drive to michigan and back within hours of buying it. Car runs like a champ, not a single issue or hiccup. Feeling good about the car.

on the way back from Michigan-wisconsin to colorado, I absolutely destroy a coyote. Like confirmed kill, not even a question. My impact was textbook, slowdown before you hit then let off the brake, slowly turned to the drivers side. Car hits the front fog light, bumper cover is a little messed up, turn signal can't clip in anymore, and this black/grey box that is supposed to hang infront of the tire is loose. Just dangling. I have no idea what it is. Duct tape everything back together, everything is running the same way it was. Drive the 100 miles or so to me house.

today I started er up ready to ride, and after a few minutes my check engine light comes on. I take it to autozone, boys cant read me the code for some reason, told me it was a dealership only code.

so all in all, I'm broke, check engine light is on, weird get box, and I can't figure out how to get my bumper off to get to the box to take a picture. The clips on my bumper don't match any diagram or youtube video I can find, i can't figure out how to get it off!

anyway guys, I know I'm a new member, but wtf is going on in my life, and can anyone give me some tips

 

if you can snap a picture of the grey box in question, (use the Go Advanced button's paper clip to attach to your post) that would help. You didn't mention which side was damaged... Not sure what check engine fault codes can't be read - but you may want to find a friendly independent shop or even contact a Volvo dealer to see what they charge for scanning codes as not all code readers cover the full sets of powertrain and chassis codes. Any other clues like the ABS light etc?

 

Yea these are the best pictures I could get, one through the turn signal, two from the bottom. I should clarify it's the drivers side, in front of the wheel...other thing coming to mind, is the car has what appears to be a lot of aftermarket parts on it, or at least stickers and hoses that are after market. Could it be an optional thing people commonly mounted to volvos? There's 3 tubes, two going in on one part, the one coming out from it and it's running towards the cab, almost toward where the vent by the steering wheel would be. Thanks alot in advance I'll try to get this bumper off in the mean time

 

That's the carbon canister. Fuel vapor sticks to the carbon. The gas tank is vented through that box. When the engine is running, there is a valve that will open and suck air in through the box, which recovers the gasoline back out of it.

Knowing that doesn't really help you, but that's what that is.

 

Would that be a reason the check engine light would be on? And also how essential is it to drive? And thank you very much <3

 

Maybe. That is part of the evaporative emissions system (where the fuel tank is vented, basically), and the car pressure checks that system periodically. It will set a check engine light if it thinks the system is leaking. It seems like that particular code would be one the autozone guys could read, but I am just making that up.


It is not going to affect drivability at all, I don't think. When the system is sucking air in, if it sucks too much in, then you might notice that. I don't think that will necessarily happen.