Hi,

I bought my '00 V70 w/ 100,000 miles on it. Not sure what the spark plug change intervals are, but I changed mine shortly after that time. I did not use the volvo OEM ones because they seemed pretty overpriced from the dealer. I ended up using NGK 4-point iridium plugs.

The car has 135k on it now, and still runs great except for one thing. If I tap the gas @ idle to around 2500rpm and then let it drop, sometimes the RPM's drop way below idle very briefly. 99% of the time it recovers back to idle, however once or twice it has stalled when doing this. It's not really a drivability issue as it has never done it any other time, but still this seems abnormal. I think it started around the time I changed the plugs and has gotten slightly worse over time. Tradeoff being the MPG with these plugs is about 27 hwy, which i think is better than it was with the volvo plugs. And I know that Bosch plugs are no good in this motor. Am I to assume that volvo plugs are the only plugs "perfect" for this car? Or is this maybe a lazy o2 sensor and have nothing to do with the plugs?

Also, I have read a lot about transmission problems with these cars, however I have also heard that much of it is due to Volvo telling people they never have to change the fluid in it. My car came with service records of the tranny fluid being changed approx. every 30k and I changed it @ 100K and again at 130K. I haven't experienced any tranny issues with this car, and I'm hoping the fluid changes are the reason. Or are all trannies in the V70 ticking time bombs? I have the 5 speed that supposedly takes a certain fluid, however a volvo mechanic (not dealer) recommended Amsoil Universal ATF, which actually made it shift a lot quicker and more firmly. To me it seems insane to not ever change your ATF. Why would Volvo recommend this?

Also is it safe to use throttle body/intake cleaner in the intake manifold on these cars, as well as mass-airflow sensor cleaner on the MAF?

Lastly, I've been using Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic Blend 5w30. Been using it in several of my past cars too. What oil do you use?

 

Hi,

- I have the same year/car as your and I use Champion platinum (1-point) - pretty cheap around $18 for a pack of 2. I believe the spark plugs change interval for most car (probably the same for Volvo) is around 30,000 Km (or roughly one year). But I normally would take the spark plugs out at 5-6 months time to inspect; re-gap and clean off the burned residues with a soft small metal brush.

- I don't experience the drop in RPM as your when running engine high @ idle. My car RPM at idle is around 850 rpm. Do you know what is the correct RPM at idle for this car?

- I bought my car early December 2008 and I did drain & fill (not complete flush) of the transmission fluid 3 times already with just universal ATF and will do once more time at next engine oil change to get the fluid as clear as possible.

- For engine oil, I currently use regular Castro GTX 5W-30 for the winter months and will switch to 10W-30 in the summer. I normally change the engine oil once each month (average around 2500 km / month) and oil filter every 2 months. I am a firm believer of regular oil change but most people would think that once/month is way too often and perhaps a waste of money. But at around $20 or so a month for the oil, it is the cheapest way to keep your engine in best condition and to prevent future engine problems. I maintened the same oil change interval with my previous Toyota and it has almost 400,000 km and was still going strong without a single engine trouble since the first day to the day I got rid of it for the Volvo.

- I would like to know the answer to your question about the use of throttle body/intake cleaner on this car too.

Cheer.

 

850-900 rpm seems to be about right. mine idles smoothly right about there.

i found out about the intake/TB/MAF cleaner. it should be ok. IPD sells the MAF cleaner and as long as you don't get any intake/TB cleaner on the MAF when you are cleaning out the TB, you should be just fine.

i will look into those champion plugs. i'm gonna pull one or two of mine and see how they look. they might just need a little cleaning with a soft wire brush and some carb cleaner. works great on other cars ive had, and lawnmowers too!

Now that I think about it, I did the same thing with amsoil universal ATF the first time I changed the fluid. I changed it, ran it about 25 miles, changed it again, ran it another 25 miles, and then changed it a final time. Wasn't cheap to do, but it looked perfectly clear after this and shifted a bit nicer too.

Also Walmart is selling out on Havoline 5w30. $2.00-2.50 a quart depending on what store you go to, which is a really good price. Havoline is good dino oil- I wouldn't leave it in there for 7500 miles but I never do that anyway. So I got 12 qts of Havoline since it was on clearance, I'll use that for the next couple oil changes. Check your local walmart they may have the same deal if they havent sold out.

 

For the minimal cost of plugs, wouldn't it be easier to take them out and just replace them as opposed to going thru the cleaning... Plus they would be new.