My wife is a teacher and this is her commuter car. Any maintenance I do takes place on the weekend, and for unfamiliar or invasive jobs, I try to wait for long school breaks.

Spring break is early April this year, so I will have 10 days to knock out some of those invasive and unfamiliar projects. Here is what I have planned:

•Timing belt and tensioner
•Transmission fluid change
•Front diff/Haldex fluid change
•Coolant flush
•Power steering fluid change
•Auxiliary belt and tensioner
•Clean MAF

Mechanical work being considered:

•Fuel injector treatment (BG type in fuel tank)
•Water Pump
•Transmission filter

The timing belt and water pump were last done 98k and 7 years ago. I’ve read Volvo recommends water pump every 200k (every other timing belt). Considering our pump is likely non-OEM, changing it would be most prudent —unless the community thinks it can safely stretch to 10yr and 120k or beyond, which would put us at the “finish line”.

I’ve inspected the camshaft seals and VVT hubs; there are no leaks from there so I plan to leave these alone.

The transmission fluid has been flushed twice in its life (80k and 120k) that are documented. I’d like to change the fluid again and avoid a filter change if possible. I think given the history of changes, the filter should be OK —thoughts? I’ll be doing a drain/fill type change, not a pressurized flush. The transmission has a bit of a flare on the 2-3 upshift, all other changes and downshifts are smooth.

 

If it were mine I would consider doing the timing belt again. I know it should be okay for another 20k or 3 years but why risk it? Having it done now will give you good peace of mind and will make it a non-issue when you go to sell it. If you have to eat the cost (either in the job or discounting the car) either way you might as well have it sooner than later to get the comfort of not having to think about it.

 

Doug, you beat me to it! I totally agree and am planning on the timing belt change in April. Definitely not worth the risk of forgoing.

 

I'm loving this thread!

I am a huge enthusiast of well maintained, older cars that are not garage queens.

Your XC90 looks really good in that picture and based on what I have read here, it surely drives as nice as it looks.

I think you've got a good plan laid out to keep your XC90 in excellent shape.

I might suggest a little preventative maintenance repairs:

- radiator replacement. Since your transmission oil cooler is integral with the radiator, a leak inside results in engine coolant contaminating the transmission oil. That is certain transmission death. In my climate (desert Southwest) this was somewhat common in P2 cars.

- All coolant hoses. If the coolant hoses are likely all original to the car, I would replace them before one suddenly bursts while driving. Luckily P2 chassis does have a coolant level sensor, unlike my S40.

- expansion tank. In conjunction with above listed repairs and those already done, it would leave your cooling system in pretty good shape.

 

Good luck. We are in the same boat. The "finish line" for our V8 was originally 200k (which we hit two months ago), but the current car market has prompted us to readjust to 250k, so I, too, have been going through the vehicle with a fresh maintenance checklist. Your list has given me some good ideas, like the Haldex fluid.

Also, you might set your next milestone as 238,900, the commonly-accepted distance to our moon.

 

I really like that intermediate goal of the distance to the moon! I just saw a 2007 V8 XC90 listed locally with 279k miles, it’s very possible to get to that mileage!

I’m really appreciative of the feedback so far, it’s exactly the dialogue I was hoping to create. Based on the feedback, I think I will good ahead and add in an OEM water pump ($48 from Rock Auto) and probably a radiator (~$150 depending on brand). I inspected the hoses last week and they are pliable, I think the upper was replaced with the thermostat housing 5 years ago. I will replace the lower as a matter of course, hopefully access to the rear connection is easy from the bottom —that part of the engine bay is clogged with hoses and wires when viewed from above.

Preliminary estimates put me just under $500 for essentially a refreshed cooling system, timing kit, aux belt/tensioner, and drivetrain fluids.

Here’s a fluid change guide I will be following:

DIY: 2005 Volvo XC90 2.5T: ATF, Angle Gear, AOC/RDiff Fluid

DIY: 2005 Volvo XC90 2.5T at 82K: ATF, Angle Gear, AOC, and Rear Diff Fluid Change My newly acquired 2005 XC90 2.5T with 82K miles , it is the usual story: P.O.

www.matthewsvolvosite.com

 

I really like that intermediate goal of the distance to the moon!

If you do that then you'll have to think about how you're going to get back...

 

At your mileage and if you are going to do the cooling system, don't forget the small hoses. There's the one behind the engine upper, there are the two at the oil cooler lower rear passenger side. These might be Volvo only items and VIN specific so take pics of your own hoses to spot the right part numbers. Then there's the turbo coolant gasket, but it isn't a hose. The small hoses can leak and doing them preventatively will keep your wife safe on the road in your climate.

There is also the oil turbo drain back seal/o-ring and the o-rings for the oil cooler, these are much much easier to do to prevent oil leaks than the camshaft seals.

 

I’ve been able to find the oil cooler hoses and “oil turbo drain o-ring”, however I am struggling to find:

-Turbo coolant gasket
-small hose behind engine upper

Any PN you can share?

I’m considering adding the heater core hoses to the list since they look buried and I’ll have good access when doing the lower radiator to engine hose. It seems that these are just as likely to fail as the oil cooler hoses and would be just as problematic.

 

Hope this helps.

You can take a look here for the coolant parts

2005 Volvo XC90 5DRS S.R 2.5l 5 cylinder Turbo Coolant pump, thermostat and cable

Diagram of OEM Coolant pump, thermostat and cable. Contains 21 parts priced between $1.30 and $590.46. Fits 2005 Volvo XC90 5DRS S.R 2.5l 5 cylinder Turbo.

www.volvopartswebstore.com

#8 are coolant "gaskets" or crush washers
#9 should be the specific coolant hose that runs behind the engine upper (accessed from above, coolant reservoir side)


For turbo oil gaskets/seals/o-rings

2005 Volvo XC90 5DRS S.R 2.5l 5 cylinder Turbo Oil pump and line 5cyl

Diagram of OEM Oil pump and line 5cyl. Contains 36 parts priced between $1.30 and $474.78. Fits 2005 Volvo XC90 5DRS S.R 2.5l 5 cylinder Turbo.

www.volvopartswebstore.com

#14 drain back at turbo
#17 drain back at engine

 

I’ve started accumulating parts for April. After reviewing some tutorials, I may be able to break this up into a few smaller projects starting with fluids.

I was able to get nearly everything from RockAuto or IPD to do a full cooling system refresh (save the radiator) including, transmission and differential changes, the timing belt kit, and serpentine belt for less than $500. Not bad for what would be a $2500 or more service at the mechanic. Nearly everything in order is genuine or OE.

I decided against the radiator since there are no known leaks, the coolant is a good color, and has a history of maintenance. I’ve never seen the coolant temp gage move out of range, either.

Thanks for all the help in providing suggestions of what to consider upgrading, and also getting parts numbers.

 

This past weekend I did the following service at 228,022m:

•Timing belt, tensioner, idler
•Water pump
•Radiator hoses (upper and lower)
•Expansion tank hose
•Oil cooler hoses
•Serpentine belt and tensioner
•Oil and filter change

As I’ve been trying to do, everything is Volvo or OE supplier.

The previous timing kit and water pump was installed in 2015 at 128k miles. The timing tensioner was getting some play, but the Continental belt looked fine —glad I did this with the tensioner wearing out. Water pump (GMP brand) had no play, but had a slight leak from the freeze plug. I’d been struggling to find the source of a very slow coolant leak since I bought the car. The previous owner had it pressure tested at one point and nothing was found. I think this thing has been leaking since it was installed, but at a loss of a quart of fluid per year it wasn’t obvious.

I used an inexpensive cam locking tool to lock the hubs. This kit can be found online between $10-20, called the “cam locker.” There is a larger locking tool included, but it doesn’t clear the VVT hubs, so the small clamps are needed. After watching a couple videos from IPD and reading a couple tutorials on MVS, the belt swap is pretty straight forward. Not worth the anxiety it was causing me!

Next up is servicing drive train fluids and rebuilding the rear suspension.

 

Noticing after this service there is a pump running on cold start when key in Position II. I think it’s the fuel pump, but could it be a vacuum booster?

The vacuum lines are well in need of replacement, just hasn’t been done because I cannot find a good diagram of the various tubing required. I may just have to buy 5’ of either diameter of metric vacuum tube on hand at the box auto store.

I suspect that a fuel injector is leaking down, so the system isn’t keeping pressure overnight. Had this happen previously when we bought the car, but at that point it causing a misfire in startup and CEL, making it easy to identify the faulty injector (#4). If I confirm the leak down is indeed occurring, I may just replace the 4 remaining injectors and change out the fuel filter.

 

Noticing after this service there is a pump running on cold start when key in Position II. I think it’s the fuel pump, but could it be a vacuum booster?

The vacuum lines are well in need of replacement, just hasn’t been done because I cannot find a good diagram of the various tubing required. I may just have to buy 5’ of either diameter of metric vacuum tube on hand at the box auto store.

I suspect that a fuel injector is leaking down, so the system isn’t keeping pressure overnight. Had this happen previously when we bought the car, but at that point it causing a misfire in startup and CEL, making it easy to identify the faulty injector (#4). If I confirm the leak down is indeed occurring, I may just replace the 4 remaining injectors and change out the fuel filter.

Basic info for the vacuum pump: Buzzing Noise behind driver headlight: Brake Vacuum Pump...

A leaking injector is different than a cylinder leak down (where you conduct a cylinder leak down test for % of air/pressure leaking).
What are you referring to? Which pressure overnight are you talking about?....the cylinder pressure/seal or the fuel pressure in the fuel rail?

If you are talking about a sticking or leaking injector, it's not called injector leak 'down.' The 'down' isn't normally used in this reference, fyi.

 

Sorry, engine cylinder compression is fine. I was attempting to describe what I think is a fuel injector that isn’t fully sealing, thereby allowing pressure in the fuel rail to drop when the car is parked overnight. I had this happen previously —injector would leak fuel into the cylinder overnight, fuel pressure would drop and then the fuel pump would run to repressurize the system when key in POS II. Then on startup, all the excess fuel in the cylinder would cause a misfire, setting the CEL. Can ran fine after startup, and the misfire wasn’t even detectable to me without running the diagnostic codes.

This time however, I get no CEL or misfire, so it’s either not bad enough that the ECM notices it or it’s another pump I hear running.

I did replace the radiator hoses and to do the lower hose I had to work around all the vacuum lines. Perhaps all the jostling was the final straw for a line.

 

Sorry, engine cylinder compression is fine. I was attempting to describe what I think is a fuel injector that isn’t fully sealing, thereby allowing pressure in the fuel rail to drop when the car is parked overnight. I had this happen previously —injector would leak fuel into the cylinder overnight, fuel pressure would drop and then the fuel pump would run to repressurize the system when key in POS II. Then on startup, all the excess fuel in the cylinder would cause a misfire, setting the CEL. Can ran fine after startup, and the misfire wasn’t even detectable to me without running the diagnostic codes.

This time however, I get no CEL or misfire, so it’s either not bad enough that the ECM notices it or it’s another pump I hear running.

I did replace the radiator hoses and to do the lower hose I had to work around all the vacuum lines. Perhaps all the jostling was the final straw for a line.

The ability to build compression is tested with a compression test. Leak down is different as in it checks if the cylinder is leaking or can hold compression. They are two different purposes and tests.

An injector doesn't seal per se. It opens or closes and something can prevent it from closing all the way, such as dirt and grime. Fuel isn't 100% clean, even after it goes through a filter. Leaky injectors can cause rich codes as well as hard cold starting, where it can stumble in the very beginning until the extra fuel is burned off. You can try a bottle of fuel system cleaner to help clean those injectors.

Yeah, the lower radiator hose does route close to the vacuum hoses where the coolant hose connects on the engine. Age is a more likely cause for a vacuum hose failure, but visually check the hoses first.

Good luck.

 

Checked the fuel pressure this morning at the schrader valve on the fuel rail —nothing. Key to POS II, buzz sound for 10 seconds. Pressure at the rail like Old Faithful.

So, I’ve ordered a bottle of BG-44K fuel injector cleaner, Mahle KL257 fuel filter, and a Bosch injector that I hopefully won’t need.

Also found a great post about the vacuum hoses, of which one of mine is collapsed. I’ve got 10ft of 8mm ID silicone hose coming so I can rebuild the Evap lines (10ft of blue was cheaper than 3 ft of black hose!). My hose is collapsed in the same spot as in the photo in this build thread:

Broinkrist's 2005 S60 T5

Broinkrist's 2005 S60 T5 M66 with 4C So I figured it is about time to start my own thread about my first Volvo. I purchased the car in September of 2010. Car was listed for sale here on swedespeed, but i purchased it from Volvo of Princeton, New Jersey. My best friend and his family had and...

www.swedespeed.com

 

Quick updates:

Changed the Evap lines out with 8mm silicone line (2.5mm wall). Only about 3’ required for anyone looking to do this.

We are 1/2 through the tank of BG44k treated fuel injector cleaner. Between the cleaner and Evap vacuum line update there are no pumps running in the morning on cold start. [emoji106]

I’m waiting for the weather to be nice over a weekend so I can change the fuel filter and drivetrain fluids (Haldex, transmission, rear diff). Oil was changed after I did the timing belt at 228k.

 

Update:

Replaced the transmission fluid, front diff/angle gear oil, rear diff oil, Haldex fluid, and Haldex filter 2 weeks ago at 229,500mi. The car drives much nicer now. Still a bit of a notchy 2-3 shift under moderate acceleration, but it’s improved, and all the other shifts are perfect. No leaks!

Now for the “sad” news. After a drive last night to the park I noticed a coolant smell and saw the coolant tank was low (I filled to max a few weeks ago and now it was mid level). Argh.

This morning I noticed a puddle under the car. and traced a coolant leak back to the upper radiator hose. Ever so optimistic, I tightened down the hose clamp, topped off fluid, started the car, and I’m still seeing a steady leak.

Looks like I’ve got a radiator leak. It seems to be pretty much all long this joint:

At the top it looks more like a seep, but at the bottom it becomes a steady drip and I can see an occasional air bubble at the aluminum/plastic interface.

Of course, I was advised to replace this back in April, so I guess I get to do it now!

 

The 2.5T lives on to overheat another day.

New Nissen radiator installed today with 7L of fresh Volvo coolant. This job really is a pain. About 8 hours start to finish, including a test drive and verifying transmission fluid level (why is that so difficult to reach?!). This car now has a fully rebuilt cooling system, ready to go another 200k.

Next up is driver ball joint (Lemförder) and wheel bearing (SKF).

 

Good work!

Keep the updates coming!

 

Today I set out to replace both front lower control arms. I’ve been wanting to replace these for a while. I put aftermarket arms on about 20k miles ago and while the bushings have held up well, the geometry is off such that the outside edges of the tires are wearing quickly. I found a set of used Volvo arms locally and got new Lemförder bushings pressed in.

R&R was going great until I found a torn ball joint boot on the passenger side. I’d suspected this joint was going bad, it had the classic “pop” noise when going over speed bumps, but the tear wasn’t apparent until the control arm was off. Boy am I tired of changing ball joints —this will be the 5th one I’ve done in 25k. Two I tore on install, so not really a parts problem with those, but the rest (Lemförder) have only lasted 10-15k. I’m going to apply for parts warranty on this one —we’ll see how that goes.

In other news, I pieced together a brake caliper rebuild kit. New seals, slide pins, pistons, hoses, and pads. If the weather isn’t bad later in the week I’m going to rebuild the brakes. Original plan was to do this in warmer weather, but the car isn’t going anywhere until I get a new ball joint installed.

 

Any reason why you chose Lemforder for the bushings? The Original Volvo ones for the forward bushings are only $3 more at FCP. Since you are doing this a 2nd time, ever consider polyurethane based on everyone’s real world reviews?

 

I understand that Lemförder is OES for the bushings, and I prefer to stick to genuine or OE for most things. The OE bushes last 50-100k, which will realistically outlast the car. I also like the ride of the standard bushings. My parts came from RockAuto and ended up being about 30% cheaper than FCP.

If I did end up going through this again I would try the poly. I don’t count the last set of LCAs against Volvo or their supplier because they were a discount aftermarket brand (lesson learned).

 

I see. Hope they work okay as Lemforder has not had good reviews for Volvo and other European vehicles in the past few years. Their rubber quality has diminished and major parts suppliers have recognized this as well. I usually factor the free shipping cost at FCP vs Rockauto. Nobody wants to do this job twice.

Here is some discussion about Lemforder poor quality. There is more in other threads.

Anyone "gone poly" for the LCA's

Hi All, I've had a shudder at 60mph. I know the front control arms are notorious on these, and mine are probably due. The bushings looked OK last fall when I did brakes. They look much less OK now. My options seem to be: 1. Powerflex, but I don't care for much increased NVH. I have a...

www.swedespeed.com

 

New Lemförder ball joint installed. Turns out the last one that failed was a Delphi, so I would not recommend that brand.

I’m pleased to report that the new control arms have remedied several driving concerns and noises, including a pull while braking, and clicking sound when moderately braking. The ride quality is improved as is the handling. This XC90 is a joy to drive again. My wife was never annoyed by these things, but they bothered me immensely.

Next up are OE tie rod ends (only remaining junk aftermarket part), trailing arm bushing, rear sway links, and then alignment and tires. After the rod ends, everything on the front knuckle will be new OE as of the last 15k. Will do the brake rebuild in the spring.

 

To clarify, Lemforder aftermarket is OEM, original equipment manufacturer. OEM qualification could be for any part (and any model) for Volvo. Original Volvo, or original equipment (OE) does not state the manufacturer. A lot of the current parts for all Euro car companies are made by quality companies that do not sell on the aftermarket. One such company is THK (Rhythm).

Delphi is also an OEM, such as with ignition coils. Lemforder aftermarket parts would be classified as OEM. Who knows who Lemforder subcontracts for smaller runs of aftermarket parts and where they source their rubber, both to meet the aftermarket price point.

It sounds like you used OEM Lemforder bushings in your control arms and may look to also use aftermarket OEM (Lemforder?) parts for the tie rods.

 

It sounds like you used OEM Lemforder bushings in your control arms and may look to also use aftermarket OEM (Lemforder?) parts for the tie rods.

View attachment 177428

That’s correct.

 

Nice. When it comes to non-rubber components, like anything with ball joints, Lemforder has still been good to me and others. Used their non-rubber parts in BMWs and Mercedes too with good results and longevity. The tie rods should be good.

You are not that far off 250k miles.

 

We hit 235,000 today! The refreshed LCAs have held up nicely. The weekend after LCAs I taught myself to do a driveway string alignment and got everything dialed in better than the last shop we took it to. I used revised specs posted here on the forum by ChitownV.

New tires were installed at 233,000mi - Michelin Cross Climate 2. I’ve really liked the ride, handling, and road noise from these. They did great in a light snow storm we had, and have done very well on wet roads.

Only bit of sad news is that the car has developed a whirring / siren noise at 1800+ rpm in the last 50 miles. I posted this description in another thread, but here it is for additional exposure and continuity:

Whirring / siren (it sounds like an emergency vehicle in the distance) noise when at 1800 rpm and higher. Doesn’t happen at idle, no change in frequency or volume at higher RPM. My wife noticed it when cold yesterday, but I was able to drive it today after she returned from work (hot engine) and it’s definitely present even now. I’ve had trouble locating it under the hood, but it seems to be coming from the front of the engine or maybe accessory side, otherwise all the symptoms seem consistent with the turbo starting to fail at 235k.

Front of engine could be a leak with the plastic intercooler/charge air pipe hose? I think a crack in the brittle plastic could perhaps cause a whistling noise, and it wouldn’t vary with rpm much once the turbo is spooled up. That seems most consistent with all the symptoms. No CEL, though I’m not sure about DTCs since I’m operating without VIDA.