1997 V70 Diesel cambelt disaster.

I found myself looking at an expensive repair bill on my 98' S70 TDi only a few weeks ago and looking around, I thought it was going to cost me a lot to change the car into something newer.

But it sounds as if you spend a lot of money with your dealer (just like I did) so before you start negotiating, speak with the service manager (not the sales manager) and tell him you are thinking of changing. After all, unlike the sales person, over this sort of mileage, the service department have had and will continue to get a lot of money out of you over the next few years.

As I found, when shopping around, with all other Volvo dealers, I was finding it had to get £2k for my car and any more than £1k off a £20k car.

By going to my service manager, I was able to get £3k for mine AND £3k off the asking price as well plus of course, they knew EXACTLY the state of the car.

Of course this depends on the dealership but if they know you and want to keep you as a customer, the service manager can do all sorts :-)

Hi there Mr network guy. Thanks for your reply. I don't really spend much money with my main dealer, I do all servicing/repairs myself, and just buy genuine parts from the dealer. I use them for cambelt changes and injection-pump belt changes, and of course, changing the offending oil seal last time round. I'm not sure how much buying power I have with them, but all their cars are like £20K plus with 40k miles or less on them, and my budget runs to about £12k, and I'm not scared of high mileage. I'm looking at a new-shape V70, manual, with 2,5 diesel (old engine, same as my 1997) for £11k. To me, this seems more like it. I have been a little put off the D5 engine by people who say their intercoolers have become clogged with soot, and have needed replacing. I assume the turbos kick out a bit of oil, and this cakes up the inlet manifolds, and probably throws a lot of rubbish through the engine. I wonder if this is why there are so many V70 D5 models for sale with about

10K to 30K miles on the clock?? Anyway, I've just added some wondrous oil additive which is supposed to swell oil seals and O rings slightly, stopping seepages and giving a year's grace. I have heard of people using similar stuff on power steering systems, and I was pleased to see that it's available for engine seals too. It's called Wynn's Engine stop leak. It's probably just WD40 !! I'm hoping this will slow the leak, and give me chance to wash my cambelt with some water-washable degreaser or something. I will see how it goes. Nothing to lose e.t.c !! It might be time to treat myself to a new one within months. Although my car has been valued at £1000, I'm sure I could get more than that by stripping it out and selling all the bits on ebay. The V70 T5 wheels (Qty 5) would fetch £300 to start with! Then there's the CD/Radio/Cassette, the leather seats, the new alternator, the new exhaust, the new suspension struts, the spare re-con power steering rack I have in my garage, the air conditioning components, the new bottom ball-joint, the headlights, the turbo, the ECU, the wiper motors, the doors, the tailgate, the quick-release towbar, are we up to £2000 yet?? !! Cheers for now. Joe. Peterborough UK. 1997 V70 TDI 250,000 miles.

The sooted intercooler is caused by EGR which on the D5 is routed into the airstream before the intercooler, as opposed to after it on most engines- this is to maintain the charge temps as low as possible. A varience on the Ford TDCi's is a separate water cooled EGR unit- but these still block up!

EGR whilst cooling the combustion and leading to less NOx production does nothing but hamper mpg and performace and is best disabling if possible. In some cases this requires some injinuity as some ecu's measure EGR volume by looking for a reduction in air mass passing through the air mass meter when it opens the egr valve, so a simple plate wont work as it will cause the MIL lamp to light.

I assume the turbos kick out a bit of oil, and this cakes up the

You do get a tiny amount of seepage from the compressor, but not enough to "gum" up the inlet tract.

Tim..

Excellent information Tim, many thanks for your reply. My dealer was trying to explain this to me, but I don't think he realised I have knowledge on diesels. It's crystal clear now, and I know what to beware of. Does the EGR require regular cleaning or replacement then? I assume the intercooler would block up very quickly if the EGR was malfunctioning. The dealer who told me about the problem with the D5 reckoned that every used model they'd sold had required a new intercooler. I wouldn't like to guess their cost, but I think I'd get one from a breakers yard and try cleaning it out if I ever needed one!! Cheers for now. Joe. Joelandyman postmaster.co.uk

In a word....Yes. - say every 15-20k miles.

Tim..

Hi Joe,

You ask whether you can change the cambelt and oil seal yourself.

The cambelt is fairly easy to change on this model (remember to change the waterpump as well if not done at the last time you) - but you must have your diesel pump checked afterwards e.q. at Bosch Diesel Service to make sure that the diesel pump still is in a correct position (0,25mm with crankshaft on OT). Bosch has electronic equipment to test this.

Changing the oil seal requires that you lock the camshaft with a setting bar (2065A, it is an Audi tool, the 2.5 TDI engine is from Audi, type is AEL - you can find the tool on the internet

- cost not much) or use a mark on the drive gear for the injection pump when refitting the camshaft sprocket, tightening torque 30 Nm + 1/4 turn (90 degrees).

The bearing cap should be coated with sealing compound Silimate AMV 174 003, maybe this was not done correctly when the sealing was changed last time. Thighten the cap with 20 NM torque.

Best regards Per

"Joe landy" skrev i en meddelelse news:Kl3_c.486$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...

Excellent information Per, thanks very much. I will save the text as a file. I have actually decided to scrap the car, sell it as parts, and I have bought a new shape V70 with the same 2.5 D Engine (Not D5!). The cambelt on my new car has been changed early by a main dealer, so should hopefully last a while before I have to get it all changed again. It'll hopefully last 2 or maybe 3 years with my average mileage, but you can be sure I'll have waterpump and oil seal changed at the same time. I'm open to offers on the old car before I break it up, but I fear that with

248,000 miles on the clock, I may be struggling to get any interest! Expect to see all manner of parts on ebay shortly! Wheels, Radio/CD, Interior, spare steering rack (as advertised on this ng), electrics, lights, e.t.c first. Cheers. Joe. Peterborough UK.

joelandymanpostmaster.co.uk