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Comments
This will go on a 2005 base V70 wagon. Haven't looked at bike racks as of yet but looked at the 2" hitch due to hauling a trailer with an RT1150 sitting on it.
Also....angle of the car...would you scrape bottom front if you backed the thing up on ramps? Have ramps and haven't tried yet. Was tire removal necessary to get the bumper off?
Just wondering if this is one of those "Volvo makes it impossible for the guy to do it at home" deals? We had someone crack the rear passenger side tail light (bottom) and it turns out that the top interlocks with the bottom so you had to tear all that out to replace it (which was not fun).
Curious as to how ugly this is going to get when I do this. I definitely don't want to drop $450 for the dealer to do it either.
If I had it to do over, I would try to get an aftermarket 2" receiver hitch from one of the big manufacturers, like Hidden Hitch. You could just buy the Volvo harness if you wanted to use that rather than the aftermarket one. The Volvo hitch fits higher and so you'd no significant loss of clearance on a ramp.
1. Wiring harmess
For the 2004 V70, the wiring harness simply plugged into an open plug in the spare tire/battery compartment. Contrary to the instructions I did not move or disconnect the battery. I just pushed out the old oval rubber plug in the floor pan and pressed in the new wire and grommet combination.
However, the type of wiring harness used in 2004 has no circuit breaker. As best I can determine protection from short circuits in the trailer wiring is from fuses in one or more of the several fuse boxes. To make things more confusing I expected to be instructed to add a new fuse that was not present in this base model V70, but there was no such instruction. Yet the thing works! How can this be?! I was not able to figure out which fuses protect from shorts in trailer wiring. I'll have to see what fuse or fuses are blown if and when this happens.
The wiring harness from Volvo for their newer models may be like the aftermarket arrangement where the power comes directly the battery to the breaker protected controller. Only signals come from V70 wiring to the various light circuits.
2. Hitch itself
The bar/receiver for the 2004 was in three main pieces which bolt together, rather than the usual welded single piece hitch!
For the 2004 V70 the instructions are to totally remove the rear bumper facia so as to gain access to install the hitch behind the facia. To do this you must support the body and remove both rear wheels to drill out the light rivets holding the facia in the back inside of the wheel wells . . . I had no tools or skills to do this, so I did some surgery on the plastic bumper facia which allowed me to insert the three pieces (some force required) separately and assemble them in place behind the bumper facia. If you want more info, email me and I'll give more detail.
My wife bought a 2007 XC90 and I plan to get an aftermarket hitch and either have it put on or do it myself. I haven't decided on the wiring harness. The procedure for the 2007 Volvo XC90 hitch is even more complicated that for the V70.
I will say that I could not find any aftermarket 2" receivers - that's why I bought the Volvo part. And I'm glad I did - a "Hidden Hitch" or "U-Haul" product would not have the flush factory appearance I wanted.
The Volvo hitch hangs about 3" below the bottom of the fascia, so I guess it depends on how steep an incline the ramps are.
Here are some photos of my installation...
If you do it my way you have to cut three holes in the facia in addition to the one over the receiver, but only one is visible standing behind the vehicle. (The purpose of these 3 additional holes to gain access to the two large bolts and nuts which fasten the bar to the brackets which attach to the frame.)
I cut all of these holes with a 1.5" dia keyhole saw on my electric drill.
The visible hole is in the rear on the driver side opposite the hole on the passenger side for access to the tow hook. I pressed a 1.5" black plastic plug into the hole and it looks OK. A better idea might be to buy another square plastic plug like the one on the passenger side and cut a square hole. This would allow more room for wrenching. If you use a 1.5" dia hole it has to be in exactly the right spot, which I achieved by multiple measurings.
The other two holes are in the underside corners to allow wrenching on the bolts. Then I had to cut from the holes to the edge to make the bottom back of the facia flexible enough to work the bar under the facia.
My wife & I are considering the 2008 V-70 Wagon.
The big question is should we go with Tricotec or Leather?
I stopped by a dealership yesterday to check out the cars in person and see the difference. From the photos on the website, it is hard to tell. In person, almost as hard to tell. The one T-tec upholstery car I saw, there was a bit of a sheen to the T-tec kind of like leather. Felt pretty comfortable, or I should say, as comfortable as possible for 110 degrees in Phoenix. Also seemed pretty durable and easy to maintain. Not a cloth however.
What is everyones opinion on this?
Thanks.
Dave
I'm not a fan of the T-Tec in the S40 because it uses a cloth insert that is REALLY hard to clean.
However, the full T-Tec in the C70 and V70 should be easy to care for and quite durable.
fedlawman, the hitch looks great. Run into any problems with airbag sensors in the bumper area? What's your best advice to someone wanting to install a 2" receiver themselves?
There may not even be any crash sensors in the front bumper. The detector and integral computer for frontal impacts is a module bolted to the floor pan in the front row, in some cars under one of the front row seats and in others under the center console. This detects a collision with an onboard accelerometer.
The side impact torso airbags (front row only) probably have a detector in the front door or in the B-pillar. There is so little side crush distance that extremely rapid deployment is required. The side head impact bags (both rows) may be triggered by the side impact detector or the central detector or both, I don't know.
The machine shut off at .8 pounds, about twice as much as was taken out but nowhere near the 2.17 pounds required. The driver's side is still cool and the passenger side ambient air temp. The technician didn't know why it didn't take the full charge. Any ideas?
(the second time just to have enough to comfortably get back to the airport), so it had to be good, Websites list it at 41.5 mixed, which sounds about right, and is excellent for the way it drove. The stereo was really good, with an aux port in the console between the seats. That was a life saver - have you ever listened to UK radio? Endless crappy techno/disco. Anyway, for anyone looking for a good mid-size wagon, I have to say this one was very competent in all areas. For perspective, I just switched from 4 years in a 2004 GTO to a 2008 Taurus Limited (same platform as the Volvo). Does Volvo offer the diesel in the US? They should given the 40+ mpg.
I'm 3 days into our 2-week family vacation from Seattle to San Diego. So far I'm averaging 30 MPG with a fully loaded (people & cargo) V70 2.4. I get more economy on the interstate but passing slow traffic in the Siskyous, a detour to the Oregon Caves, and San Francisco city traffic has brought my mileage down a few MPG.
I stopped at a Volvo dealer in Medford for an oil/filter change and service was terrific. They knew I'm from out of town and will likely never return, yet they bent over backwards to fit me in and get me back on the road with little delay. I checked out the new V70 while I was there and, though it's very nice, it has nothing to offer that would tempt me to trade in my '04.
I took it back to the same technician, actually three of them this time. They were all in front of the car while it was serviced. They used the same machine as last time but it had be serviced/recharged since the last time they worked on the car. They put 2.1 pounds in my system and the AC now works... both sides.
I no longer have the passenger side ambient air issue. This is what someone posted to one of my posts; that if the freon was low, the pass. side would not get conditioned air. That was the case with my car. Glad it was not a diverter door motor.
Hope this helps someone in the future since our '01 cars are getting older and needing more service. Oh, for those of you that think the Volvo dealer is the only place you can take your car, please seek out someone in the local area that is smart on the system to be worked on ie brakes, AC, suspension...
:mad:
Bad idea! I will never do that again, only use a 6-point socket for these critical applications. Then I escalated to a set of vice-grips and completed the destruction of the wrenching surfaces of the plug. I'll take it to a competent place next. I hope the pan is OK. A $750 charge for a new oil pan is sickening. These aluminum engines have their downsides.
Umm, not the engine's fault.
Operator error.
What do you mean by "do your homework"?
One more question, the black plastic wire covers in the engine compartment are brittle and coming off. What is the best solution to this? I saw a similar probelm in my '83 240 turbo, but not until after 150,000 miles.
**V70R AWD = Love
I just bought a Dec 2000 XC V70 and same vent fan going off out of the blue. So you say this is normal? I was afraid it would flatten the battery one day. What I did to stop it was unlock the car, started it and turn it off. Then it stopped. So its a dehumidifier that is part of the volvo feature?? Wow what technology then !! Cheers
Try it and see how long the fan runs. If it would run and not shut off, then this would drain the battery, but probably you would find that it shuts off in a few minutes.
What some people used to do was to turn off the a/c condenser (but leave the fan on) about 5 minutes away from final destination to allow the evaporator coils to warm up and shed all the water. Presumably this would expell all or most of the water from the air handling box too. But the Volvo automatic system may do a better job or at least an acceptable job without the operator having to go through this.
I don't know if this is true, but I have seen it written on this site that the cars come from the factory with this system disabled by software and it is up to the importer or dealer to enable it. The story is that some US dealers neglect to do this and so the feature is never operational becasue the car owner isn't aware that it should be there. But why this feature would be disabled at the factory is not clear to me. . .
I don't know if this is true, but I have seen it written on this site that the cars come from the factory with this system disabled by software and it is up to the importer or dealer to enable it. The story is that some US dealers neglect to do this and so the feature is never operational becasue the car owner isn't aware that it should be there. But why this feature would be disabled at the factory is not clear to me. . .
My V70 has the naturally aspirated (i.e. non-turbo) 2.4 L 5-cyl rated at 168 hp. It was also serviced at the dealer under the 3-year free maintenance deal then standard at the time of purchase. It's got less than 40 000 mi on the odo (64 000 km).
It's got great highway fuel economy--30 to 34 mpgUS (equivalent to 36 to 41 mpgUK and 7.8 to 6.9 L/100km). But this good fuel efficiency comes from low ground clearance and was apparently partly due to the OE tires being of low rolling resistance. The first highway trip I took after I replaced the OE tires I got only 29 mpgUS (35 mpgUK). I have scraped bottom on some rough roads I have gone on.
Your XC70 has considerably higher ground clearance than a standard V70 and AWD too. I assume it has the turbocharged 5-cyl rated at about 210 hp. So it will not match the fuel efficiency of a standard V70, but is a more rugged vehicle.
In the late 1960s I lived in Fiji for two years, worked for Australians, and got plenty of time in Australian cars of the day. A 21st century Volvo is a far cry from a 1960s vintage Australian or US car.
You'd worked in Fiji in the 60's? Wow I was only an infant then! I am from Perth and now live in Sydney after working through Asia & the U.S. for FX in the 1990's and most recently spent 15 months in India. Now you hardly see our type of Volvos in India! My first car when I got my licence was a 1966 HD Holden Wagon if you remember seeing them in Fiji or maybe not. It was a rust bucket, used a litre of engine oil every week but goes well! Oh and it was a 3 speed manual on the steering wheel. The old 3 on the tree! Them were the good old days where the headlight dip switch was on the floor! And none of these high tech computers we now have in our cars.
Of course, yours may have larger wheels--16", 17" or 18"--with lower profile and wider tires. What is the size of the tires on the vehicle right now? See the large writing on the sidewall.
According to TireRack these are the specified sizes for your car:
15 inch wheels: 205/65-15 (OD at tread 25.5 inch)
16 inch wheels: 215/55-16 (OD at tread 25.3 inch)
17 inch wheels: 215/50-17 (OD at tread 25.5 inch)
18 inch wheels: 225/40-18 (OD at tread 25.1 inch)
Even if your car came from the factory with Pirelli tires that doesn't mean those would be the best for the car, and almost certainly wouldn't be the best value. Check out the other brands, especially see the Kumho offerings.
My 2004 base model V70 came with 195/65-15 (25.0 inch dia at tread) and I stayed with that size when I replaced the OE tires.
Some people mount wider and lower profile tires than specified, but this can lead to rubbing of the tires on the wheel wells and suspension especially as the vehicle ages and the suspension loosens up.
For example, suppose you have 15" wheels, then some people might mount 225/60-15 tires, but often this leads to headaches. These are 20 mm wider than the OE, but since they are lower profile 60 series then the diameter at the tread is about the same as the OE 65 series tires. This means that the calibration of the odometer and speedometer doesn't have to be fiddled with to remain accurate. But these tires could rub on suspension components or the wheel wells.
Dia in inches of 205/65-15 = (205mm/25.4mm/in)(0.65)(2) + 15 in = 25.5 inch
Dia in inches of 225/60-15 = (225/25.4)(0.60)(2) + 15 = 25.6 inch
The new plug went in fine (with crush washer) and the tech said that the threads were OK.
(205/25.4)(0.60)(2) + 16 = 25.7. I wonder what Volvo says is the specified size for 16" wheels on an XC70?
IMO there is no point in having low profile tires on an SUV. So SUV should not have tires lower profile than 65 series or at the lowest 60 series. The base tire on the 2007 XC90 is 235/65-17, and replacement tires are a lot cheaper than those on the optional 18" wheels.
Cheers Aus EST2158hrs Friday
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=41689
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?p=271649#post271649
The 215/65-16 tires have an outside diameter of 27.0 inches and may be a little larger than exact spec by about 1.1 %. You'd have to check with Volvo.
But this difference may have no problems for you. If it is over spec, the odo and speedo would both read falsely low. A trip where the odo shows 100 mi would actually be 101.1 mi. If your speedo shows 70 mph then you are actual speed would be 70.8 mph.
"The central locking button does not lock the fuel filler door."
Quote from section entitled Fuel filler Door, Owner's Manual of 2004 V70.
I see that the specified base tyre for the 2009 XC70 is 215/65-16, which is what you have on your 2000. Since you are not the original owner you might just check with a Volvo dealer to see if this size was the OE spec in 2000.
A tire which is 27.0 inch diameter at the tread is 5.9% larger than one which is 25.5 inch diameter. If they tell you that the specified tyres in Australia are what you have then you can assume that your speedo/odo are reading right. But if the specified size was different from that, then the previous owner could have had the speedo/odo recalibrated to read correctly with the larger tyres. So you should check the odo over one of those calibrated distances. Be sure to use the trip odo since it measures to the nearest 0.1 mile.
The speedo counts the turns of the wheels in a given time and converts this to speed by mult by the circumference, and circumference is pi times diameter at tread. Therefore, if the speedo is calibrated to read true speed with 25.5 in OD tires, but you are using 27.0 in OD tires, then the true speed will be 5.9% higher than the indicated speed. For example, if your speedo reads 70 mph, you are really travelling 74 mph. And if your odometer reading is 100.0 mi for a trip, then you actually went 105.9 mi.
Here is a popular and widely used tire calculator: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
But maybe the 2000 V70 XC wasn't big on ground clearance and they just used the same size tires as the standard V70. We need info on Australian specifications on the 2000 Volvo V70 XC.
If the 205/55-16 were the OE tires, then 215/65-16 tires (27.0 ich dia at tread) would be much larger than the OE: 27.0/24.9 = 1.084, so the larger ones would be a whopping 8.4% larger in diameter. So, unless the speedo was recalibrated, if the speedo was reading 70 mph, the actual speed would be 76 mph. And a trip registering 100.0 mi on the odo would actually have been 108.8 mi.
It would be surprising that tires this much larger than OE spec wouldn't rub at least when the steering wheel was near lock to one side.
215/65 seems awfully tall to me for these wagons. More like an SUV/minivan tire.
I think 215/65-16 would be a great size for an all purpose wagon--one capable of regularly handling rough rural roads--assuming the vehicle was designed for that tire.
But 215/65-16 tires would not have the right appearance for those who want the low profile look. The 2009 V70 base tire is 225/55-16 (25.7" dia at tread).
The 2009 XC70 base tire is 215/65-16 (27.0" dia).
The 2007 XC90 base tire was 235/65-17 (29.0" dia at tread), but evidently for 2009 the base tire for the XC90 is 235/60-18 (29.1" dia at tread), and the 2010 XC60 gets 235/60-18 too. I guess the market demands a lower profile tire for a certain look. I suppose handling in extreme evasive maneuvers (like on a fast and crowed freeway) might be better with 60 or 55 series tires. And probably more Volvo owners face that situation than they do negotiating a rough rural road.
Our 2001 had 15's and I don't remember them rubbing. It only had 20,000 miles when my wife totaled it. Our current 2004 is wearing 205/55-16 Goodyear Assurance ComforTred tires (super smooth and quiet!). They could be a smidge wider than the OE Michelin's - I don't know. Maybe the springs have settled over the years/miles and altered the geometry a little.
I do remember that Volvo added the turn stop bars to the front hubs to limit steering angles. They are "L" shaped. Maybe they fell off while my wife was rallying?
Hey Jim, have you ever heard any power steering moans? It seems after I turn to the stop at parking lot speeds, I hear the pump complain. Then after I return to neutral steering, the moaning occurs whenever I turn the wheel (though a little quieter). Could be my imagination, but it seems louder sometimes and quieter other times.
This British Volvo Forums site has a thread on rubbing as related to standards on Ministry of Transportation (MOT) inspection: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=35058. IMO some of these guys are obsessively and recklessly mounting larger tires than specified.
It sounds like the lock stops can deform with time. One guy reported the minimalist solution of switching the stops between the two sides. From the pdf below it sounds like there are supposed to be different sized stops (or maybe spacers) depending on the size of wheel.
This pdf from the Volvo Forums thread (http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosacorp/repository/MoT%20-%20Issue%2035%20-%20April%2020- 07.pdf letters on page 5 indicates that Volvos may have minor rubbing with 16", 17", and 18" wheels.
I was in Melbourne today and rode in my friend's 2006 XC90 and must say i drives similar to my 2001 V70Xc except bigger and with the 7 seats.
BTW, when I half floor the gas pedal, there's a "boom" sound from the engine area = is that the turbo at work? It must be as you can certainly feels the speed right after the boom! Cheers mate
I have a 2006 V70 with about 60k miles on it. I now have a job where I will be driving 110 miles/day, and I have to decide whether this car is reliable enough to put 30k miles/year for the next 3 - 4 years or to sell it now and find something else (at significant initial cash outlay).
So far the car has been perfect; it's comfortable, safe, and not a bad ride. Does anyone have any experience with running up high mileage on this car? If I decide to keep it I will probably run it to 200k miles oro more. The only concern I have so far is some unusual interior wear.
Thanks!