The red-headed stepchild of Volvo - Boden's 1999 S80 T6

BodenM · 2015-03-05T10:25:48+00:00

They are a nice car. Stay on top of the potential problems and it should be a good thing.

BodenM

Either way need to get to the bottom of this tapping/ticking noise, whether switching oils makes it go away, it's the pickup o-ring, or if a lifter has collapsed, it's driving me nuts haha.

Ex850R

I discovered that the synthetic oil that Repco now sells as their own is Penrite.

BodenM

Ex850R;43353 wrote I discovered that the synthetic oil that Repco now sells as their own is Penrite.

Ooh excellent. Although I'm kicking myself right now as apparently Repco had 35% off all Penrite oils this weekend only and I didn't realise, would have been a great time to stock up on some Penrite 10 Tenths Racing 10.

Vee_Que

No need to do the 10 tenths racing oil in this car, it's excessive for this car. Especially stock...

BodenM

Got the car phone working yesterday, all it needed was a SIM card :D

Surprised it worked first go, was semi-expecting to need to go to Telstra to replace the pre-paid SIM I picked up with an older 32 or 64K version, but nope, slotted in (the full card too, not the part you pop out to put in a phone), fired up the phone and once the SIM activated, it worked flawlessly.

clinton

Nice :-) It is probably an Ericsson module - if so, they are built well, just like a Volvo :-)

(Can you tell that I used to work at Ericsson? ;-) )

BodenM

@clinton‌ I'll have to take a look at the module and the owner's manual when I get home today, see if there's anything on there to show who makes it haha

PaddlerEd

clinton;44067 wroteNice :-) It is probably an Ericsson module - if so, they are built well, just like a Volvo :-)

(Can you tell that I used to work at Ericsson? ;-) )

The car I ran in the UK (a 2000 V70 Classic) was an ex-Ericsson UK car.... it would explain why at 7 years old it had 172,000miles on it!

The car phones in the Volvo's, especially the P2 platform stuff, are good, and work well. Bit of a faff having to swap SIM's over, but that was because it was possible in (mainland) Europe to get 2 SIM cards quite often, so you could leave one in the car and have one in your phone.

BodenM

I couldn't be arsed trying to find a micro-SIM to full size SIM adapter to swap SIMs in and out from my Note 3 haha, just whacked in a cheapy $2 pre-paid starter kit from the local Woolies to see if it would work then put some credit on it so I can actually use it. Better than getting a fine for trying to use my actual phone to talk to people, especially considering the car hasn't got bluetooth or even an aux jack :P

Tzantushka

Yep, the integrated phone.
Yours has the speaker in the headrest?

I'm using an old pre-paid optus SIM for the R.
The best thing, is a VERY old contract where the credit doesn't expire in a month!
The wife knows to ring me on that # when I'm in the car.

Even use the privacy handset in the centre console armrest every now and again.
Makes me feel like a drug dealer from the early 2000's

BodenM

Yep, speaker in the headrest. Mine also has the privacy handset, although mine actually stores on/in the top of the center console lid. I chose the long life prepaid bonus so my credit doesn't expire for another 6 months haha. And if you think about it, a Volvo is the perfect car for the aspiring drug dealer, police won't look at you twice ;)

timbo

"Volvo is the perfect car for the aspiring drug dealer, police won't look at you twice"
Perfectly illustrated in Breaking Bad

Philia_Bear

Just add lsd

BodenM

timbo;44086 wrote"Volvo is the perfect car for the aspiring drug dealer, police won't look at you twice"
Perfectly illustrated in Breaking Bad

QFT.

Philia_Bear;44087 wroteJust add lsd

Already got one up front ;)

BodenM

So some things happened over the past few days....

1. My exemption was approved and arrived in the mail!

2. Drove it to uni for the first time.

3. On that same day, came back after classes to discover that it had decided to puke a rather large amount of Volvo coolant all over the ground of the carpark. Welp. Called RACQ (took out cover literally 2 days prior), got the car towed home, where it sat for a few days. Diagnosis was the fittings to connect to the heater core on the engine side of the firewall were leaking.

4. Today, I bypassed the heater on the car until I can get a fresh set of hoses and fittings from Volvo. Now I can drive it again :D

jonbot

Spend the coin on a full CAN upgrade

Trans will love up to date software, will keep it together for a hell of a lot longer

There's a bulletin on it and all

BodenM

I'll have to check the service records I've got for the car and see if it's been done - planning on purchasing a DICE anyway so if it hasn't been done I'll buy a 3 day VIDA subscription and do the upgrade myself. Also, if anyone else wants to do one to their cars they're more than welcome to use my subscription to do a total CAN update if they pay for the software.

BodenM

Update time, a number of things have happened

Collected some supplies for an oil change:

All was well while doing the oil change, until it came time to remove the filter. Either the last person to service it overtightened it or heat cycling locked it on because even with an oil filter wrench and socket I couldn't get it off. Ended up destroying it with a drill, chisel and hammer to get it off, and was then left trying to source another one. @jagardh came to my rescue, providing me with a new OEM Volvo canister and filter set, many thanks to him!

Finally got off my arse and ordered the various suspension bits to refresh the front end plus a new O2 sensor. Also waiting on new front brake rotors and pads from DVS (thanks to @AshDVS for the guidance, would 100% recommend him for all of your suspension and brake-related needs)

Went to do the suspension on Sunday, got the car all jacked up and on stands, took off the driver's side wheel, and SURPRISE! Busted CV boot, along with a nice big fat spray of CV grease all around the fender liner and inside of the wheel. F**k. Was about 3 steps away from setting the car alight and collecting insurance at this point :P

Ended up going to see Peer at GLT to get it booked in to have the CV boot replaced and the new suspension and brake parts in, it's pencilled in for Wednesday next week at the moment, assuming the brake parts arrive at mine before then.

BodenM

Car came back from Peer last week, labour cost was less than expected which is always nice. What isn't so nice is finding out that your front struts were blown. Oops. There goes another $440 :P
Car handles and rides much better now, plus no more clunking over bumps nor groaning and scraping noises when braking. hooray! I let my optimism get the better of me and I said to myself "hmm, there's a happy laps day at QR coming up, I'll give the car a good run there." All was well for a good solid hour of thrashing, when suddenly, while doing 140+ down the back straight, a dreaded red triangle warning appears.

COOLANT LEVEL LO
STOP SAFELY ASAP

Pulled into pits, steam starting to stream out from under the bonnet. Quickly popped the bonnet before it got heavier, and much to my chagrin, I had split an upper rad hose. That ended the fun for the day. Called RACQ, got it towed home to where it sits at the moment, in the street outside my house. Welp.

Rob

Not having much luck there.

As much as I hate it, I guess these things (and P2 XC's) dont get their reputation for nothing

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