pastry
Gave the TB a good clean, fair bit of baked on oil and gunk.
The butterfly felt really quite stiff, which I assume is normal. In terms of doing the job with the intake mani in place, , it's quite tricky to get to some of the bolts – would hate to be short with fat fingers, because the reach around (ahem) to undo some of them is pretty awkward, and there's not much clearance for sockets or ratchet spanners.
Perseverance pays off, however – new gasket, bolt her on, battery reconnected... and the idle surge seems to be gone. Hoo-bloody-ray! :+1:
pastry
Next little job.
The centre console had lost almost all of its original coating – the piece that houses the gear surround was down to grey plastic. Pulled it all apart – oh god, the shit that was in there.. including a tea bag! Really?
Anyway, gave it a clean and coated it all – including the usually-silver gear surround – with Rustoleum Peel Coat. I'd never used any of the rubber sprays before, but really impressed with how well it came out. We'll see how it wears..
Apart from the need to do more cleaning while it's all out, I can't put it back together because like an idiot I've managed to buy a new manual shifter boot rather than auto – FCP don't seem to stock the auto version. So have to wait on a new one to replace the horribly tatty one that came with, which is now in the bin.
bigal
pastry
Nothing much to report Al! Just been driving it, and concentrating on putting our 9-5 Wagon back on the road so we've got something to drive while this one is sorted.
I'd like to do a bit of work on suspension at some point but mostly taking it back to new, or thereabouts. Not sure it warrants much performance work, since the stock 'box won't take the torque AFAIK? If I can't really make it fast I might as well just enjoy lumbering and wallowing around sedately!
Chris
Every time I see a cheap XC90 now I think 'suspiciously cheap' :)
pastry
most sage indeed! I'm stuck with mine. Way too stubborn to give up.
bigal
Sway bar upgrade suggestion is to make these big lumps a bit flatter on the road. Think I might give them a go one day. They like to sway about on these winding tassie roads.
morgan
Last time I was driving in tassie was in a Kia carnival rental , the XC90 handles like a lotus compared to that !
pastry
Yeah I put performance sway bars on my old 9-3 coupe and you could really feel the difference, especially in the rear.
My wagon is a boat too but I'm going forged internals I think, so probably warrants sorted suspension more than the XC. Or I'll save all the cash for my future Fulvia project..
Ex850R
Fulvia! Yes! I want to see that here!
pastry
Yeah, me too. Prices seem to be semi-stable, although much more than 3 or 4 years ago when I became interested in one. Also considering a Flavia 2000 Coupe, which are arguably more beautiful but not quite the renowned drive. They seem to be well priced at present.
More saving required regardless..
bigal
howz it goin with the 90?
pastry
done nothing, not even put the centre console back in yet – still waiting for the leather gaiter! Just driving it. It works. Sounds a bit rough for the first minute or two but then it's all good.
Had plenty of other stuff to keep me busy to be honest – for one, we spent the last 3 weekends clearing a load of native vegetation and then spreading soil in prep for lawn seeding. Now that's done I have to water it twice a day, too! Not to mention those kids, and the dog, and the other cars! ;)
bigal
ha I know exactly how it is. Glad to hear you are using it. Any km's you can get out of it as it is at the moment is a bonus I guess.
pastry
Yeah, it's a steady old bus. I like it a lot. It needs a fair bit more TLC, and I find the interior a bit dark – which I put down to generally having had cars with tan seats/door cards (+ no sunroof) – but can't see any reason not to fix it up in due course. It might not deteriorate for another few km – could be 50, could be 5000, could be 50,000!
One thing that has let it down is the climate system, which stopped working after I took the battery out. Hear this is somewhat common, something to do with the system losing its programming. So, AC doesn't work now. Understand it can be reset easily enough with a Vida?
We still don't have a running second car which is why i'm focusing on other vehicles for a little bit.
pastry
got a clunky thing going on in the passenger side front end on hard lock, from time to time. One more thing!
Might finally put the centre console back together today, then have a crawl under for a look and a trans fluid change.
bigal
There's always a thing to do on these :-). I have the clunks. I believe it's the top shock mounts that wear out/go flat and then there is some play.. quite common.
pastry
yeah sounds that way.
Half way through my ATF change. Hoping the funnel i've got will stay in place and not jump out and spill everywhere! Awkward place to get to.
pastry
aaaand done. Held the funnel in while i filled, awkwardly. Minor spillage.
For half a job it certainly feels noticeably smoother shifting down under braking.
I only got 3.5L out of it, so like Al i'll probably do again in a month or so before considering a proper flush.
bigal
Nice work!
I'm going to make a prediction and say the 2.5T XC90 is going to get a bit of a following / become more desirable in time.
My reasons:
- Quiet, cause it's not a diesel.
- Cheapest to run of the petrols.
- The rarest variation as they only made them between 03 & 06.
- Reasonably reliable.
- Good to DIY on.
- Bit of an unusual engine being a 5cyl T in a SUV.
- They are getting cheap and soon will be scrapped rather than fixed making less available.
- And just so practical being a XC90!
..Or maybe I've let the Porsche forums influence me.. they all discuss future values and make predictions.. so yeah I'm probably dribbling shit.
But it's a nice thought. We could be the pioneers of the 2.5T XC90 cult car following..
..if only they were manual!
