Overly complicated oil change on 2005 V50 T5

I just put Mobil 1 5W-30 synthetic in my wife's new 2005 V50 T5 at 3500
miles. I know that oil changes are covered under warranty, but I
didn't want to wait until 7500 miles for the first change, what with
the turbo and all.

I encountered a couple of annoying things:

1) You have to remove the big plastic scuff shround under the engine
to gain access to the drain plug. Not a big deal (about 6 or 8
screws), but why didn't Volvo put an access hole in the shroud? And
when I drove the shroud screws back in place, they seemed to spin
easily in their threads like they were already stripped. I applied so
little torque while putting them back in ... I'm wondering if the
plastic retainers that they screw into are supposed to be replaced each
time you remove the shroud?

2) Far more annoying was getting access to the oil filter cap. The
filter canister/cap assembly is a lot like my E39 5-series with a big
nut integrated into the cap, but rather than put it right up top of the
engine like BMW does (where you can easily put a wrench on the nut),
Volvo buried it. I had to remove a plastic air intake manifold (for
the turbo?) just so I could drop a 1-7/16" socket down onto the nut.
But I also had to use a U-joint to drive the socket because there's no
access from directly above to turn the nut. Once I loosened the filter
cap all the way, I still wasn't out of the woods yet because at first I
couldn't pull the loosened cap out through all the clutter. I had to
maneuver it around for a minute to finally get it out and then I could
replace the filter cartridge. Then putting the cap back in was a kind
of blind operation and it took some fiddling around to get the cap back
onto the top of the filter and start the threads properly. Kind of a
pain in the 'hole. What takes 30 seconds on my Bimmer took 15 minutes
on this new Swedish sled. I'm sure I could do it faster next time, but
I'm also wondering what the technicians at the dealers do. Do they
remove more stuff to gain easier access?

 

Boy, Volvo sure has gone backwards. My 850 is a joy to do an oil change
on. The fill cap is on the top of the engine, large and level. The oil
drain plug is right where you would want it. The spin on filter is
threads up and very near to the oil drain plug. One thing I really like
about the car is that it is obvious that the engineers really thought
about these making these routine service tasks easy.

Sounds like they got a whole different engineering team to do the V50!

John

 

Actually, I thought the S70 (850 may be better in some ways) was a
big step down from the 240, and that a whole new crop of people
designed the fwd car.

I'll give you the engine oil change, it is very easy. The fuel
filter with the quick disconnects, and the serpentine belt are also
well designed. But in many ways the S70 threw away decades of
mechanical design evolution. For example-

The manual transaxle needs a socket with u-joint to remove the filler
plug, and a box wrench to remove the drain plug- but you can't use a
box wrench to remove the filler and you can't get a socket to fit on
the drain. Admittedly this is a rare job, but what was the designer
thinking? (Answer- he obviously never worked on a car before.)

S70 timing belt took me 4 hours (my 240 took me 1 hour, on my first
try). Yes, a front wheel drive will be inherently more difficult,
but still... At least they partly straightened out by redesigning
the tensioner in mid 1998. Either version is still inferior in
simplicity and cost to the tensioner on the old four cylinders.

I once changed a 240 lower front ball joint in less than an hour with
two wrenches and didn't even have to lift up the car. The S70
requires some special tools and the entire lower control arm is
replaced... I'm not looking forward to this job when the time comes.

The front sway bar end links are made of fragile plastic... woops.

The dual-triangular brakes that were a selling point on the 240 are
gone. The S70 quietly reverted to a very conventional front/rear
split (the cheapest possible configuration).

Combined power door lock and latch, the whole part is replaced when
part of it goes bad.

Front hubs are a "maintenance free" design- you can't regrease or
repack the wheel bearings.

That's just off the top of my head. There are a lot of surprises on
these cars for DIYers. It aggravates me and I hesitate to work on my
own car sometimes.

 

Personnaly I would have left it alittle longer to encourage just a smidgen
of wear in the bores, else high oil consumption can result.

Whichever make sure you are *NOT* driving the car too gently now, it really
needs some stick to complete the bedding in process, if its not too late.

Speaking as a person who only 20mins ago changed the oil and filter in the
S70 with what is basically an earlier incarnation of the same engine, its
dead easy.

Threads up spin on filter in its own recess next to the sump and backwards
facing plug so all the oil comes out just back from the under tray with
nothing in the way.

That was after cereal, time for toast now.

Tim..


Tim..

 

Yes it is. The 300 / 200 / 700 / 900 series are all 1/2" spanner and crowbar
to service in 5 mins, everything seems to have built-in instructions on how
to dis-assemble / repair with the minimum of fuss.

The S70 is much more fit and forget, when something breaks or reaches the
end of its life you replace it. That said, non of the 800 / 70series cars
we've had have ever needed much more than fuel, oil and filters.

The lower ball joint on the 70 series can be replace on its own, whereas
like you say 90% of 800's need the lower arm replaced, however in nearly
200k miles i've never needed to.

Anti roll bar plasitc links were very weak on the early 800's and scarcely
lasted longer than 25k, whereas seeminly the same thing never wears on the
70 series until a high mileage.

The build quality is far advanced on the 800 series cars, which in some
areas have a 'thrown together in time for launch' aura about them. IMHO
Volvo were about went out the window the moment they started building cars
out of Sweden.

Once you have done one, the next will take you almost no time at all. It is
fiddly, but the trick is to strip everything out of the way first. Having to
remove the plug cover and fuel lines to get the belt cover off is silly I
admit but there is actually plenty of room and more over you can easily see
the timing marks.

The other annoying thing with 97/98 cars is the uncertainty of a hydraulic
tensioner or mechanical one until you have got the cover off which
necessitates a different belt.

Ford taking control is a whole new can of worms, but in some ways it's done
Ford a good turn. After all nothing is going to touch new Focus ST with the
Volvo 5 pot turbo, Volvo 6 speed box and Volvo AWD in it when it arrives!

Ford's moto always has been 'if you cant make something work, buy something
in that does, and sell something back' i.e. Drivetrain from Volvo for the
Focus, suspension / handling package back for the S40.

And my god have you seen the new C70?!!?!?
Tim..

 

4 Hours to do a timing belt???!!!

Love to know what you were doing as I did my last one in 1 hour, including
new water pump, idler and tensioner...(after 170,000 miles I figured it was
time).

As for removing fuel lines - why? I only found it necessary to remove the
cam cover top, middle and lower sections, serpentine belt and there it all
was in all its glory... Easiest belt change I've ever done!

Alastair

 

Those of us who work on this car have to do the exact things that you
had to do but we also use a vacuum pump to remove the engine oil as for
the filter it is not hard the 1st time it is hard but after numerous
times it is easy you must have a early model year on later models there
is no air intake in the way

--
"*-344-*Never Forgotten"
Is for the New York City Firemen who lost their lives on September 11,2001.
The official count is 343, but there was also a volunteer who lost his life
aiding in the initial rescue efforts. And I will never forget them as
long as I live,
nor should any American.

 

AB >> 170,000 miles on a s80? what are your thought of the car after
this many miles?...thanx...