I've got my Volvo T5 :-)

Well swap it for a Punto, it's obviously too powerful and you can't control control it. You're a danger

They are great eh? get a lot of good rubber on the front tho. And don't expect it to last long.

"Matt" wrote in news:p8rLe.2366$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

Nah, you're OK, I'll get used to it :-) Thanks for your offer, though. I can see you're only doing it because you're worried ;-)

"Stuart Gray" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@pipex.net:

Yup. Tyres aren't quite as worn as I though so I should have a little while to save up for replacements.

As a follow up to the wheelspin thing, I've been out again, this time on drier roads and now feel that there is a slight issue with the car when pulling away but I don't think it's wheelspin.

The noise is hard to describe, but it's a kind of whirring and only occurs when moving off from dead still. I'm not very happy with that description but I haven't had long enough driving it yet. As soon as the car is rolling slightly, no noise can be detected. When coasting, I can engage first and move away from a crawl without any noise. It has to be dead still. It's always from the gearbox side, but the noise is there whether pulling away in 1st or 2nd, so I don't think it's the box itself. Could I be hearing a vibration (can't feel anything) from a failing engine mount? Or perhaps a slight clutch drag? Any ideas or any Volvo owners with a similar experience?

Apart from this everything is tip-top. If I can't get to the bottom of it, I may find a local Volvo specialist and get him to diagnose it for me. Now that I've got the car and really taken to it, I'd like to iron out any problems, minor or (I hope not) otherwise. Will be getting a quote for the bumper respray next week, too.

Couple of things - the crunch at 5-15mph is the ABS system calibrating and self testing.

Front drive volvos seem to eat wheel bearings, everyone I know has had to replace fronts at 80-100k miles.

Engine mounts don't last forever.

"Tim S Kemp" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@karoo.co.uk:

I don't think it's this because it's every time I move off. I can overcome it, but I have to be *very* gentle.

Yes. The Offside front wheel bearing has been replaced, just over a year ago at 86k. I have a receipt for it. This noise is from the nearside front. Do you think that's significant?

Top engine mount has been replaced. I'm not sure it's a mount, because there's no clunk and I don't feel anything shifting. To try and describe it bit better, it's not so much a whirring as a groan that repeats itself rapidly. It might possibly be described as a dry bearing type noise. What do you reckon?

Thanks for the tips.

I hope you can get used to it. I'm sure I couldn't after so many years of driving RWD cars. IME all FWD cars cars suffer from front wheel spin to a greater or lesser degree

I think driving technique is more important as far as reducing wheelspin is concerned, than the quality of the tyres.

From the same model would be much easier I'd have thaught. Assuming of course that it was an option. Mike.

Indeed, as I said the art is to get the car rolling in 1st then change to

Not very easily no.

Tim..

If it sounds like the nearside, I'd go with the bearing. Don't get a cheap imitation one, mate had one last 15k. Original is the way to go.

I reckon on the bearing, knowing that they go and there's one left to do (my nearside is done, offside is going)

"Mike G" wrote in news:42fe6fc5$0$1235$ snipped-for-privacy@ptn-nntp-reader01.plus.net:

Hehe...that's the price I pay for not getting an old 540 ;-) Yes, I can get used to it - I've only had it for a day amd am already getting to grips (pun intended) with it, so I'm sure I'll be fine. Love the car, in any case :-)

True. It seems that the noise I was hearing, which I thought was wheelspin, may in fact be a mechanical part, probably a wheel bearing. Checked eurocarparts - bearings are dear but appear to come as a complete unit with the housing, so not too bad a job to change.

Yes, it was an option and was fitted as standard from 98 onwards. Obviously, Volvo knew of the problem and decided that something had to be done about it. After the 850, the S70 had it's mapping altered to reduce raw power at low revs, but increase the peak power slightly. This was to improve driveability at low speeds and when setting off and the like, but there's still a substantial amount of grunt to handle. In any case, having had a couple of runs, I now feel more confident that I can overcome it with good driving technique :-)

"Tim S Kemp" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@karoo.co.uk:

Cheers, Tim. I've no intention of skimping on parts, but I'm not sure which to go for: Eurocarparts have one type in either Scantech or Orbis and the other type is Ruville. From the photos, it looks like you can tell which type you have from the shape, without having to get a vernier and measure the hub face. But I've never heard of any of these bearing manufacturers. Are they any good or should I go with the OEM part from Volvo/Nordic?

Go to your Volvo dealer with a chassis number, if you've got a mate in the trade get him to get it as trade discounts are significant on parts - 15 to

OE parts are the way to go I'm afraid for most things, the only things you'll see recommended for non OE are brakes and turbos...

"Tim.." wrote in news:ddls8k$omi$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com:

I'm getting the hang of that now, although even foot down in third can result in massive wheelspin if the road is wet :-). The real problem was that I thought I was wheelspinning when setting off, when in fact it seems to be a minor mechanical issue. See the other post relating to noises and wheel bearings etc

Don't think that'll be a problem now. As a driver, I may not have the greatest reaction times, but I'm pretty smooth ;-)

"Tim S Kemp" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@karoo.co.uk:

To say the least. The guy I bought it off has used Mobil 1 oil and I have the receipts for it. Standard price is £3.50 per half litre, he has paid £0.75/0.5l! He has paid about £35 for a £55 new battery and has replaced a few other bits at a large discount. He's also fitted an OEM strut brace, which he says stiffened the front end up quite a bit. This cost him am measly £55 (god knows what the real price is). But after all's said and done, I don't know any Volvo dealer staff. I intend to join the Volvo owner's club and then hope to receive a decent discount on OEM parts from Nordic, not to mention lots of good advice!

Pads are brand new, turbo seems fine - certainly works and doesn't make any strange noises. Just need to get into the habit of not switching off straight away, although I live in a built up area so the last couple of miles is always driven steadily.

I had a new 850 in 94 and the cruise control was a dealer fit option at that time.

John

"John W" wrote in news:42ff1c40$1 snipped-for-privacy@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com:

It was traction control that I was interested in. Cruise control would be nice, but there's not much oppurtunity to use it these days, so I doubt I'll be bothering with the expense of having it fitted.

As a follow up to the noise when setting off, I did a couple of searches for 'whine' and 'groan' on the Volvo forums and found the same problem described by others. Opinion is that it's a dry clutch release bearing. That would make sense as the noise only occurs when letting the clutch in. Apparently, it's something that can be left alone until the clutch wears out.

In that case I'd ask the guy to buy the OEM bearing for me. You pay him for it of course. It wouldn't be unreasonable request IMO, seeing as you've only just baught the car from him. Mike.

"Mike G" wrote in news:42ff31b5$0$97115$ snipped-for-privacy@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net:

Yes, I had thought of that, as I'm sure he'd be glad to do that for me. I don't think it is the wheel bearing, though - see my other post.

I saw it. My post appeared at the same time. All the same, it would appear that buying a wheel bearing now, especially if you can get a hefty discount, might be a good investment.:-) It's always handy to have the part at hand when things need to be replaced. I normally always have a set of pads on standby, as I tend to change them when they're nearing worn out, at a time convenient to me. Mike.