indeed

 

This post is not to ask for help, but to offer the benefit of my experience for other Volvo owners, and those thinking about buying one.

We have a 2008 V70, purchased from a dealer as a CPO car in 2012 - nearly 10 years ago. It had 89000 km on it (55,000 miles), and it now has about 313000 km (194,000 miles) on it.

The car is used regularly for trailer towing, and is set up with a modified hitch receiver that will take the forces of a weight distributing hitch. The first trailer was an older Airstream weighing about 5,800 lbs loaded; the current one is smaller, scaling at 4,300 lbs loaded. (Yes, we don't follow the manufacturer's recommendations, but Volvos are very capable towcars.)

ATF was changed by the dealer shortly after buying it because the shifting was harsh. Changing the fluid solved the problem. I did a double drain and fill (using Ford Motorcraft Premium fluid) at about 140,000 miles because the 2-3 shift was getting harsh. So far the transmission is showing no signs of needing another change. The Aisin transmission is definitely a good unit. I have not added an auxiliary cooler, and I don't believe one is needed.

The maintenance schedule required a serpentine belt replacement at 240000 km (149,000 miles). I did the work myself. The belt had significant cracking. Based on my experience, if a 3.2 has more than about 125,000 miles on it, you should get ready to replace the following: serpentine belt; idler; tensioner; water pump; READ drive pulley; alternator drive pulley; thermostat; intake manifold gaskets. Also, the vacuum pump should be removed, dis-assembled, cleaned and re-assembled with a rebuild kit because it will start to seep oil and get noisy. If you are paying someone to do all this work, $2,500 is probably a fair price. It's not terribly difficult, but it is very time consuming due to the engine design. If you tackle it yourself, there are good resources online (including Youtube). A 10 mm gear wrench is advised; it will save you hours working in this tight space.

The READ drive and alternator pulleys are overrunning or one-way clutch designs that do wear out and stop functioning properly.

Speaking of the READ assembly, our's has the needle bearing design (changed to ball bearings in 2010). While the oil change interval is specified as 7,500 miles, I change every 5,000 or so with synthetic 5W30 and a Mann filter, simply to ensure that those fine bearings stay clean. So far all seems well. The engine itself seems great; power, fuel economy, and oil consumption have not changed to any noticeable degree.

Non-maintenance replacements have been minimal; a CV boot, the fuel pressure sensor (about $50 if you buy online), front sway bar endlinks that finally failed at 170,000 miles (amazing compared to P2 cars) and a rear trailing arm bushing which had created an intolerable squeaking. Removal was easy enough, but installing the new one absolutely required a special tool. The only place I could find one was on eBay - out of the UK, because the Ford Mondeo uses the same rear suspension as P3 platform Volvos.

At this point, I have a leaking power steering line (the high pressure side), although I think the return line is leaking as well. I will be tackling that when the winter weather warms up a bit.

On balance, it's been an excellent car with very few parts failures and no breakdowns. Everything still works as intended. As I do virtually all my own maintenance, costs have been reasonable. I have no idea how long it will last. I'd like to buy a newer replacement in a year or two to use as a travel car, but I think this one will hang around a few years longer as a daily driver/runabout kind of car.

Albert- Thanks for the post! I just purchased a 08 V70 myself. Appears routine maintenance has been accomplished so fingers crossed I can keep it going for years to come. Do you happen to still have the link for the trailing arm bearing tool. Mine has the horrendous sound with any movement of the vehicle. Thanks.
John

 

Just search eBay for "volvo ford mondeo trailing arm bushing tool", and a number of options come up.

 

A general update; the car has nearly 373 000 km (232,000 miles) on it now.

In the last couple of years, I have replaced the power steering lines (a bear of a job, it took more time that I want to think about), the front struts (considerably more time and effort needed compared to the P2 style and because I bought cheap ones I will need to do them again), CV boots, engine mounts, and a rear wheel bearing, in addition to routine maintenance.

More recently I had problem I didn't expect - vibration under load. I replaced the motor mounts thinking that was the issue. They were certainly worn, but they were not the problem. It turned out to be the inner CV joints.

Despite keeping intact boots in place (I replaced all of the boots when I did the struts), the inner joints wore. The symptom was vibration under acceleration, becoming vibration under steady load that would disappear when the accelerator was released. It seemed to come from the drivers's side, so I replaced that CV axle with a new aftermarket one. Most of the vibration disappeared, but then I could feel that the right side wasn't good either, so I ordered a second axle and replaced that one too.

While the boots were still intact, I could see that they were a slight tan colour, and that the inner joints had been hot. There was absolutely no grease on the outside.

On this basis, it seems that the lifespan of these joints is about 230,000 miles. FWIW, this included about 10,000 miles of towing travel trailers that weighed 4500 lbs and 6000 lbs.

 

Thanks for sharing! Coming from an old thread discussing tow hitches, do you still have info about the weight distribution compatible class iii that you custom ordered? I have a 15 V60 and am in the process of finding a hitch, curt and reese have class 3 but they are not weight distribution compatible.

 

I now have a 2015 V60 as well. You will have noticed that the P3 cars all use the same hitch receiver design. The Draw-Tite version is rated for 4000 lbs/400 lbs tongue weight. Yes, it is not rated for WDH because it is attached to the ends of the rear frame rails, where the bumper attaches to the car. Reinforcement is required to take the torsional forces of a weight distributing hitch.

You will see from the photo that it's been modified with a length of 2" square tube (.250" wall thickness). It needed a couple of kinks using a press to clear the muffler. (With the V70, the tube is straight because the mufflers are located to each side.) It is welded to the carrier/subframe for the rear suspension, which is a rather substantial steel stamping.

It works very well, with no discernible flex. The first time I weighed the car and trailer, I discovered that the front axle was overloaded by 100 lbs - it is very easy to transfer weight with a unibody vehicle with a solidly mounted hitch receiver. We tow an Airstream 22FB (4500 lb GVWR), but I wouldn't hesitate to connect an Airstream 23FB with a 6000 lb GVWR to the car. Tongue weight is limited by the weight carrying capacity of the car.

The challenge for many owners would be to find a welder that is less concerned about liability than safety. This kind of work is regularly done by Can Am RV in Ontario. If that is not a viable option, I'd look for a rural welding shop that works on trucks and farm equipment.