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Car Forum / Volvo Cars / September 2005Overly 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 > 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 [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Sounds like they got a whole different engineering team to do the V50! 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. > > 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 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > big step down from the 240, and that a whole new crop of people > designed the fwd car. 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. >snip>> > 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. 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 ----------------------------------------------- A hitman is way cheaper than a divorce lawyer ----------------------------------------------- >> 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 [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] > cars for DIYers. It aggravates me and I hesitate to work on my own car > sometimes. AB >> 170,000 miles on a s80? what are your thought of the car after this many miles?...thanx... > 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. 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.. > 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 [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > I'm also wondering what the technicians at the dealers do. Do they > remove more stuff to gain easier access? 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  Signature"*-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. |
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