LeeT5's V70R Project

[LeeT5]

Finally, I now have a full set of rear lights. Just the lower sections alone retail at £165 ea from Volvo and these are rare as Hens teeth on eBay.
I managed to get hold of the two upper sections for a steal at only £20 delivered! It would be months before I located, first the N/S lower which I bargained for £40 then about 5 months later I paid a higher price for the O/S lower which I won on eBay auction for £79 delivered (but that also included the R/H upper section which I can sell on).

Here's the car before:







I'll spare you the fitting process as it's quite straight forwards, though some of the 10mm nuts are difficult to access without removing the upper and side plastic roof trim.

I also, removed my Diadem indicator bulbs and fitted them first:













I'll take a photo of her in the dark once I've replaced my knackered number plate bulbs.

Points to note if doing this mod:

The lower sections cannot be removed until the upper sections have been removed!

Make sure you order 8 trim clips for the side panel as these will almost certainly break or already be broken when removing the trim panels that cover the rear lights:

REAR PILLAR TRIM CLIP - 2004 VOLVO V70 (part# 9132876) x8.

[abdul]

Lee t5 are u going to the heritage motor museum meet on the 12 th

[LeeT5]

Lee t5 are u going to the heritage motor museum meet on the 12 th

Where's that?

Also, can anyone confirm that the above pictures of the rear lights all came out the right way? For some reason, on my iPad, they're mostly on their side, yet on my PC they are all the right way up! Weird!!

[AcidicDavey]

Gaydon VT200 Meet.

All pics working fine on this PC Lee, looking good

[MIKESC70T5]

You've got your show plates on again for the pics, James won't be happy lol. Also viewing on my IPad, the pictures are showing up on their sides.

[LeeT5]

Lee t5 are u going to the heritage motor museum meet on the 12 th

No. Too short notice and I've got too much on as I'm getting a new van. I'll try next year though!

Gaydon VT200 Meet.

All pics working fine on this PC Lee, looking good

Thanks.

You've got your show plates on again for the pics, James won't be happy lol. Also viewing on my IPad, the pictures are showing up on their sides.

Who cares what James thinks!?

Weird how they are the wrong way on iPad. At least you can lay the pad flat and then turn it to see them the right way up.

[LeeT5]

Just out of interest, it won't help me but might help others, do they offer any type of guarantee on their work ?

Yes they do mate, 1 year guarantee, just like anyone else.

I stand corrected. After contacting them yesterday, it would appear that 'new' parts carry a 1 year guarantee and second hand is 3 months. The work carried out, also carries a 3 month guarantee.
The RTI board they fitted in my RTI unit was indeed a previously repaired PCB as the PCB is not available from Volvo.

[LeeT5]

After a full wheel alignment, new tyres all round I still felt like the rear end was still a little 'skittish' and disconnected from the rest of the car. Don't get me wrong, it drives straight, smooth and fast but on rough B roads, especially on bends, there was still a slight amount of 'side hop' and floatiness to the rear end. So I thought I'd have a closer look and see if anything was amiss.....

(Look and ye shall find).... Bingo!!

My rear off side level sensor was dangling around in the breeze

Happy that I'd found the reason I rang Volvo to order the parts.



Total cost £97 inc 12% discount and VAT.

(Removed from boxes and set up ready to install)





Removal

Open tailgate and remove the floor panel nearest the seats. Lift away foam and sound deadening to access single 12mm nut with 'half moon' washer...Remove.
Next, Close tailgate and crack off wheel nuts on Rear O/S wheel. Raise rear of vehicle and support on two axle stands (both wheels need to be raised).
Remove wheel. Lubricate with penetrating oil the Shock lower bolt. Using a 14mm socket, remove the two bolts holding the Spring seat assy to the bottom of the car. Now remove the lower shock bolt (having had a chance to soak in oil).
Using good quality spring compressors, compress the spring just enough so the spring can be moved independent of the spring assy.
Use a big flat screw driver or a pry bar and gently lever the lower part of the shock off the Lower arm mounting point.

TIP: I slid a vehicle jack in next to the strut to catch it incase it drops!! You don't want to damage any wiring.

Next, unclip the three shock absorber wiring harness clips from the body of the car and the metal tags at the base of the spring assy. Carefully lower the jack and, holding the springs, carefully wiggle the entire assy down and out towards the ground.
Lay the spring assy on the ground, making sure the weight of the assy is NOT on the shock absorber wiring.



Using a 10mm socket or spanner, undo the two sensor bottom bracket bolts. Carefully undo the sensor harness from the plug by pressing in the side tabs and removing the plug.

NOTE

Do not pull on the sensor harness wiring! If it doesn't pull free it's not unclipped properly. Contact cleaner is useful at this stage to clean up the plug so the dog can see the rabbit!

Once removed, you'll see this....



The tiny hole is where the blind rivet used to be that attached the sensor bracket to the body of the car. This needs to be a 5mm hole to allow the new blind rivet to fit.
Using a pin punch and small lump hammer, gently tap out the remains of the old rivet and then clean up the hole with a 5mm drill bit. Do not make the hole any bigger!

With the sensor, link rod assembled, offer the sensor up to the harness plug and plug it back in. (You'll hear a positive "click" on both sides of the plug)

Offer up Sensor, bracket and link rod and then fix the bracket to the body. Plug in the new sensor then, ensuring the locating peg on the bracket fits in the obvious slot above the 5mm hole you drilled, fit the sensor and fit the blind rivet using a rivet gun (obviously). Do not fit the lower 2 bolts on the sensor (triangle shaped bracket) yet, as you want it positioned out the way of the reassembly of the spring assy.



Refitting

I found it easier to refit the spring assy by removing the spring compressors. This will give you vital room and alleviate some of the weight on the assy as you begin the slightly frustrating part of lifting the assy back up into position, remembering not to damage the wiring.

TOP TIP

Extreme care must be taken to ensure the spring has seated in its correct position BEFORE removing the spring compressors!

Bolt up the spring seat and use a car jack to raise the shock onto the lower arm locating pin. Fit M12 bolt - torque 100NM.
Torque 2 x spring seat to 50NM and just tighten the 12mm using a 1/4" drive socket to FT (That's Fairly Tight, not F'ing Tight).

Refit harness mounting clips.





TIP

I also fitted a new link rod and nuts to the other side. This will prevent the sensor from shearing it's mounting point because the link rod ends were dry and seized up.
The link rods have been modified since they were different to my old rods.

Refit wheel, torque wheel bolts to 140NM. Lower car to ground then you'll need to park on flat, level ground and calibrate the SUM.
Calibration is vital when fitting a new sensor or removing any suspension components.



Cleared error memory...



Test Drive!!

WOW!!!! No more skittishness. No more disconnected feel. Suspension feels firmer yet smoother and the whole car feels more planted. Definitely more confidence on the road, especially in COMFORT mode, where the suspension moves the most.
Brilliant!!

[stribo]

Good work Lee, interesting to see the sensor is a Ford part.

[silverhorse]

Nice one Lee. Did your dangly sensor not put any fault light on the dash or log any codes?

[LeeT5]

Nice one Lee. Did your dangly sensor not put any fault light on the dash or log any codes?

Yes it did! SUM 0221 iirc. No light on dash, just a stored 'Amber' code.

[LeeT5]

Had Dealer service done last week....144k service.

Included:

0W30 Shell Helix Ultra AS + filter
Spark plugs
Service 2.0 upgrade for CCM, CEM and DIM
pollen filter
Both VVT solenoid gaskets replaced (64% labour discount)
Headlamp align (FREE)
Labour 25% discount
29 point check
cleaned inside and out

Things that need doing:

Drive Shaft output seal weeping (cleaned and needs re inspecting in 30 days)
5% moisture content in brake fluid
Front pads getting very low
Hand brake cables are shagged (I told the dealer not to apply the handbrake as I knew it was buggered)

Overall a bloody good service by my local dealer!

[LeeT5]

The Air filter would have been replaced on the 144k service, but mine is a cotton type, so I gave it a good clean in...



Then after leaving to air dry for a few hours, refitted and gave the engine a good clean.

Before:



After:









Cleaning the Air filter made a big difference too!

[MIKESC70T5]

Looking good Lee, I'm doing my engine bay this coming week

[AcidicDavey]

That's a lovely clean bay.
Love the window on the airbox

[LeeT5]

That's a lovely clean bay.
Love the window on the airbox

Cheers! It will hopefully look even better, once I finish it. Have got 1m of blue LEDs to be installed inside the air box. I know it's kinda pointless cos the bonnets shut etc, but I thought It would look great at a show or meet.

[stribo]

Cheers! It will hopefully look even better, once I finish it. Have got 1m of blue LEDs to be installed inside the air box. I know it's kinda pointless cos the bonnets shut etc, but I thought It would look great at a show or meet.

I'd have gone for orange LEDs.

[LeeT5]

I'd have gone for orange LEDs.

Yep, would look good with an orange engine bay. Unfortunately, my cars black and they don't do black led's......

[LeeT5]

1. Fit 6000k HID fog lights - (COMPLETE)
2. 3" downpipe --(in the new year)
3. 200 cell race cat --(in the new year)
4. Fit Volvotech CFE --(COMPLETE)
5. Handbrake mod --(in the new year)
6. Replace windscreen --(in the spring)
7. New leather OE gear knob --(still waiting....)
8. Refit rear mudflaps --(COMPLETE)
9. Fit magnetic engine oil drain plug on next service --(COMPLETE)
10. IPD Rear adjustable toe rods --(Need to order)
11. IPD DEM alloy cover --(need to order)
12. IPD Billet blue alloy engine oil cap. --(NO LONGER AVAILABLE)
13. larger exhaust tips
14. Fuel filter bracket and bolt -- (COMPLETE)
15. Fit stock air box once acrylic window mod -- (COMPLETE)
16. Fit Blue Jetex cotton filter -- (COMPLETE)
17. Swap Forge CBV yellow spring for blue spring (17psi).
18. 144k service at Dealer in April (COMPLETE)
19. P/S fluid flush (COMPLETE)
20. Fit BREMBO drilled discs and pads.
21. Fit D5 oil cooler -- (COMPLETE)

[p fandango]

fog lights permanently on, led lit perspex airfilter. You do know this is a Volvo forum & not a Saxo one?