A lex's Dutch/English V70 T5

[a lex]

Some of you may have seen my intro thread in the relevant section, but I thought it best to continue my 'blog' in here.......

So this weekend I have successfully retrieved my eBay special 1070quid T5.

Its a 2001 V70 T5 (phase 1 model I believe? still getting to grips with the Volvo model lineups etc). Its an auto (steptronic) with 150k miles, cream leather, winter pack, family pack, brink towing hook and a lot of useful options such as air quality sensor, auto dim mirrors, electric child locks and the very nice HU-803 pro-logic system.

Its got FSH (from Volvo until 4 years ago), it had a brand new g'box from Volvo in 2007 and a brand new set of rads and fans from Volvo in 2011. It also had a new steering rack in 2011. Ive just bought it with 13 months MOT and a bit of tax.

I spend most of my time over in NL (working) and I keep a house here. I go to-and-fro to the UK quite regularly and I like to keep a UK plated car along with my Dutch ones.

Ive driven it back over to NL this weekend with out any hitches and all I have done thus far is put a new set of plates on it, tax it until August, paint the towing hook and sort the tyre pressures out.

I plan to clay and polish it this week and treat the interior leather.

Ill update this as I go along if theres any interest. But so far it seems like I have got a solid, and cheap T5.

Cheers

Alex

[Cubes]

Looks like a very tidy, well looked after car.
Technically, it's a phase 2. Although its predecessor (which followed the 855) was known as the V70 Classic, not a P1.

[T5frankie]

Welcome to the forum, and the gearbox is geartronic, nice motor.

[Al115]

Frankie I think it's called "gaytronic"?...

[T5frankie]

Frankie I think it's called "gaytronic"?...

i'm all for a "happy" gearbox

[Al115]

Nice car, by the way, A lex!

I used to have one very similar.

[Wobbly Dave]

Leuk jonge!

[Jamest5r]

Nice car and nice house

[a lex]

Cheers all,

You might spot my Alfa in the background on the last pic - thats my real labour of love. Cost me a fortune (25k +) in the 7 years I have had it... its now called Triggers broom.

I think I might look in to getting (or doing myself) a pre-emptive fluid change on the autobox, if someone can point in the direction of a good thread that'd be great.

Ill give the car a proper once over mechanically ASAP - according to the seller it was serviced last week, but I want to see for myself the condition of the plugs etc.

[silverswedemachine]

Gtv??

[a lex]

Gtv??

Yup, a GTV Spider.

[a lex]

A good day for the Ovlov!

I have started the cleaning process. Not too intensive as of yet, as to be honest its a bit bloody chilly outside! I have made a start with getting the plastics back to black and have sanded away some of the damage on the bumper. Now the car is nice and clean I can really appreciate how 'straight' it is - the arches are perfect, not a jot of rust to be found

I also checked the level of the ATF and found it to be a little on the low side - topped up with 200ml of the correct (and expensive) 3309 ATF fluid the car now shifts much, much better. Im really pleased with that outcome! The fluid was a little dark but smelt OK, so a change of fluid is on the horizon but not imminent.

Its a very, very tight engine bay



Hook painted up and with a cover on, looks much smarter.



GB plates freshen her up I think?



A perfectionist would sort the condensation in the headlight - I wont!





The arches are in really good condition.





The whole of the filler area was thick with grime - you could barely see the stickers for filth, nice and clean now though

[The Flying Moose]

Thats looking really well and much fresher than the original pictures Alex.

I would say thats elbow grease well spent

[a lex]

Spent a few pennies since the last update:

4 x Uniroyal RainSport 2 fitted.
Oil service kit ordered from OpieOils.
GromAudio iPod adaptor fitted today.
Had it plugged in to Vadis at the local dealer, who confirmed the only codes in the car are for the broken alarm siren - pretty good going

Otherwise ive covered about 1000miles in it now and average about 22mpg :S

[a lex]

Today I have had the gearbox flushed and refilled in Amsterdam and WOW, what a difference. Improved shifting, much smoother pulling away in 1 when in full-auto. Lock up in 3,4,5 is also much smoother. Time will tell if its permanently cured the occasional 'flare; ' it was having.

It will also be interesting to see if there is any improvement in economy......

Whilst I was there the nice people put the latest software on the gearbox ECU for me, reset it and did a re-learn procedure. Normally that would be €100-150 just by itself from Volvo, so €250 for the whole thing was great value.

The powerflush machine with new fluid waiting to go in.



Fills via the dipstick tube and extracts via a connection just behind the rad.



Old ATF - had the look and consistency of Espresso - apparently mine was the nastiest and dirtiest fluid they had seen yet!! :hehe:



New software being loaded in to the ECU.



Anybody reading this who has a Volvo with an AW55 transmission, I cant recommend enough that you do this!

[footnote]Edited by A lex on Saturday 10th March 17:58[/footnote]

[Volvostorm]

That ATF is really mucky, seen alot cleaner in gearboxes that are knackered!

[a lex]

Yup, considering the colour (and smell) of the old ATF I cant believe how 'well' it was driving.

Good old Volvo

[a lex]

I spared 5 minutes (literally) to clean it today. Come summer ill give it a proper going over

[glock19]

A lex,These AW55-50/51 are shot when coolant from the radiator leaks into the transmission cooler. In the cold climate, I doubt you can do a complete bypass with an air-to-air cooler, so buy a coolant leak tester to periodically check your ATF. Damages from these leaks are more costly compared to the test kit.

You should drop by at Wateringen (rica) to give it some more life to the engine.