In reply to Woody :
Be careful if you are going by the claimed capacity.
I forget the exact details, but my S40 ('02) could carry about 4 or 5 gallons less than the manual claimed, even if you ran the tank dry and filled it beyond the first shutoff. It was disconcerting.
The morning was clear, dry and cool. We found ourselves on a long, straight empty stretch of highway.
I have no hard data to back this up, but you may be looking at the World's Fastest Goldendoodle.
Didn't get any "official measurements" then? 
In reply to BoxheadTim :
No, but at the very least, she’s Done the Ton.
This is fairly stupid, but for as long as we've owned this car, the transmission has been a little rough. I was starting to think that we might have a bad transmission mount.
I've also been planning to drain (3x) and replace the "Lifetime" transmission fluid, but haven't gotten around to it yet. The experts say to drain and measure the old fluid, add the same amount back in, drive 100 miles, and then repeat two more times to replace 100% of the old fluid .
It's also worth noting that there are three buttons below the shifter: S, E, and W.
S is for Sport, E is for Economy, and W is for Winter. We have been in Sport mode for the duration of our ownership.
This car is way, way more comfortable in Economy mode.
Act quickly before you have to wait all year to use Winter mode!
You only have 9 more days!
In reply to John Welsh :
We've stayed home and fetched snowballs on the few winter days that we've had this year, mostly because I didn't want to get the garage all wet when we got home...
...but also because we love to fetch snowballs.
Woody said:In reply to John Welsh :
We've stayed home and fetched snowballs on the few winter days that we've had this year, mostly because I didn't want to get the garage all wet when we got home...
...but also because we love to fetch snowballs.
Quick, someone photoshop the dog driving her own car!
For as long as we've owned this car, it's been missing one of the little pieces of trim that covers a retaining screw for the driver's door panel. It has proven to be surprisingly difficult to find a replacement.
This morning, a small box containing a pair of covers arrived from a friend.
Also found in the box:
Thanks Lowell!
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but thought I should add this here too.
The original wheel on the Volvo V70R was partially covered with Alcantara. There is absolutely zero trace of the original material on there, but there is some stubborn glue on the back side of the wheel at the twelve o'clock position. It was getting annoying. So I added a Wheelskins leather steering wheel cover that I bought from IPD.
It's kind of a PITA to install, and the results aren't perfect, but the overall result is much better than it was before.
A different post sent me here, and I read through it. Great write-ups! From early in, I am very impressed with Violet's negotiating skills. Actually, I think I'm just pretty impressed with Violet.
When your dog has her own V70R, she knows that she's cool.
UPDATE TIME:
I've owned this car for just about a year (plus a few weeks), and I've added about 5,500 miles to it. I would estimate that Violet was with me for about 95% of those miles. Exceptions would be for trips to the gas station, car wash and the occasional trip to the store.
I could not have made a better choice for its intended purpose.
This car has drawn a surprising number of compliments and questions. It's especially popular among slightly elderly, wealthy widows, most of whom seem to have owned one of these wagons back when they were in their early 50s.
I'm probably missing out on some opportunities here, but unfortunately, that's just not my thing.
Anyway, it's been exactly 5,000 miles since the last oil change. This interval was completely planned. As you may recall, I took an oil sample last time and sent it off to Blackstone Laboratories for analysis (outstanding results!), and so I decided to do it again to see how 6.1 quarts of Mobil 1 would hold up after another 5k. A new sample was collected and dropped in the mail. I expect to hear back in a week or so
Ideally, this could have gone better.
"Change the oil when it's hot", they said...
At least you put cardboard down.
Note to self: Buy Volvo wagon, visit Connecticut to get help with Corvette expenses.
In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :
It really is kind of funny when you walk up to your car in a parking lot and there are two old ladies with tennis racquets standing there talking about it.
In reply to Woody :
I understand, I own a Buick. My mother in law is in a seniors complex and almost every time I visit someone comments on it.
So along with the oil change, I decided to do something about the "Lifetime Transmission Fluid".
This had been hanging over my head for a long time. Volvo had no service interval specified for it, just check it and add some if it's low. I never really liked the way the car shifted. The transmission never slipped or anything, but high rpm shifts were rough enough that I stopped using Sport mode and just left it in Economy.
The transmission holds about eight quarts, but since there's no sump, only four will come out when you drain it. Common practice is to drain it into a measured container, add the same amount slowly through the dipstick tube, drive for a while, drain and add again, drive again and then do it all a third time. In theory, you end up with 87.5% new fluid in there.
This sounded like an enormous pain in the ass, so I kept putting it off, but I shouldn't have, because it turned out to be pretty easy.
The previous owner(s) must have taken Volvo at their word on the "Lifetime" bit, because even with a foot long 15/16" wrench on the drain plug, I still needed to whack it with a mallet to break it loose. There was a little bit of sludge on the magnetic drain plug, but it didn't look bad at all considering that there are 115k miles on the car. With the car level on the lift, I drained out about 3.75 quarts.
Also, the transmission's dipstick, which has a plastic cover bolted in place and blocking access to it, was stuck to the inside of the tube. I was actually afraid that the o-ring was stuck inside, but it did come out with the dipstick. I used one of those long narrow funnels to add the same amount back in through the dipstick tube and then drove the car about 45 miles.
Shift quality was already noticeably improved.
By the next morning, I already had another car up on the lift, with a third car parked under it, so I drove the Volvo up onto ramps and drained it again. This was a lot easier than I expected and even made less of a mess than doing it on the lift. The moral of the story is, if you have one of these cars, don't be afraid to do a transmission fluid change using ramps. I didn't even get dirty.
Interestingly though, I got and extra eight ounces or so out of the car with it up on ramps than I did when it was sitting level on the lift. It's worth the effort to use a measured container.
There was nothing but fluid on the magnetic drain plug this time.
I still have to do the drain and fill one more time, but I'm waiting for another quart of fluid to arrive from IPD. I also decided to spend $13 for a new dipstick, as they're all plastic and the old one was looking pretty brittle. I was afraid that it was going to break off and drop down into the dipstick tube.
While I'm pretty sure that no one has ever smoked in this car, it never exactly smelled great inside. And even though the Dog doesn't shed, we still walk rain or shine, hot or cold. That hasn't helped.
I have a friend who is a detailing enthusiast (the polar opposite of me), and he suggested using an ozone generator. Based on his recommendation, I ordered one immediately.
($69 on Amazon):
Then I immediately let it sit on a table in my garage for the next five months.
But yesterday was the Big Day.
According to the experts (YouTube), ozone is heavier than air, so you want to put the machine up high for best results. I ran an extension cord in through the sunroof and set the machine up on the rear armrest. With the windows closed, I ran the car for about 20 minutes with the air conditioning on recirculate. Then I turned the engine off and let the machine run for about another 40 minutes or so. Parking the car in the sun is supposed to help the ozone draw the stink out.
I let it sit outside for another hour and then opened it for a while to air out. You don't want to breath in the ozone, as it will give you a sore throat and can even damage your lungs. It also has a burnt electrical smell to it, so you want to get it out of there.
But when it was all said and done, the car smelled like...Nothing.
I really can't believe how good of a job this thing did. There is absolutely no odor of any kind inside now. Considering the fact that I'll probably drag home a few more cars of questionable pedigree over the next few years, this thing was totally worth the $69.
I always wondered if those ozone machines degrade any of the rubber or interior pieces. I guess we will find out now :)
Slippery (Forum Supporter) said:I always wondered if those ozone machines degrade any of the rubber or interior pieces. I guess we will find out now :)
Time has already taken its toll on a bunch of the plastic in this car, so I'm not really worried about it at this point.
I'm prepared to believe that the ozone deals with the smells, but can somebody help me with why parking the car in the sun helps this process along?
In reply to Stealthtercel :
My bet is that the heat "opens the pores" so to speak in the materials. At least thats how its been explained to me about getting smells out of a car more efficiently.
Oh, okay. That makes sense. Thank you!
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