The Adventure Wagon: A 2004 Volvo XC70 Overland Build
- Thread starter Young Satchel
- Start date
Enthusiast III
This is fantastic. Wifey has an '06 XC90, and this is exactly the kind of stuff we've discussed doing to it. However, suspension and performance upgrades for the XC90 seem to be made of unobtanium.
So it's been a while, but today I finally got around to a lonnngggggg overdue drain-and-fill of the Volvo's tranny. The trannys on these cars can be their weak point and I can't say I've done my best to maintain mine, mostly out of complete ignorance
Just over 3.5 quarts out just under 3.5 quarts back in. Fluid was lukewarm and pretty damn dark.
The only other known service on this transmission is a suspected drain-and fill at 120k that my then-mechanic did without mentioning it to me as part of the service along with timing belt etc. I say "suspected" cuz I never heard anything about it Beyond noticing 4 quarts of ATF 3309 on the invoice. ??? Okay ...
After refilling and reinstalling my skidplate I drove the car for a good 40 minutes making sure to put it through its paces. Afterwards I drew the following measurement on the dipstick
Maybe a bit over, but good enough for me!
This was the first time seeing my skidplate off the car since install a little under a year ago. It's held up quite well. While I see no evidence of major hits, there were a couple light gouges and plenty of long scratches. Suffice to say, it's doing its job and I'm glad it's there...
I also spied a nice little leak under--or rather over I suppose--the skidplate when I removed it. Research into the cause of this will wait for another day
Finally, I've been thinking its time to do mounts for a while now. Was peeking and prying under there a bit and there certainly seems to be more play than is ideal. Will order some soon and get on it.
That's it for now. No exciting adventure updates to report. Have had a lot of family up on weekends for the past month so have been soaking up time with them and enjoying Summer's end. But fear not; Adventures season will soon be upon us [emoji41] Excited to put my new snow-rated AT tires to the test.....
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Just over 3.5 quarts out just under 3.5 quarts back in. Fluid was lukewarm and pretty damn dark.
The only other known service on this transmission is a suspected drain-and fill at 120k that my then-mechanic did without mentioning it to me as part of the service along with timing belt etc. I say "suspected" cuz I never heard anything about it Beyond noticing 4 quarts of ATF 3309 on the invoice. ??? Okay ...
After refilling and reinstalling my skidplate I drove the car for a good 40 minutes making sure to put it through its paces. Afterwards I drew the following measurement on the dipstick
Maybe a bit over, but good enough for me!
This was the first time seeing my skidplate off the car since install a little under a year ago. It's held up quite well. While I see no evidence of major hits, there were a couple light gouges and plenty of long scratches. Suffice to say, it's doing its job and I'm glad it's there...
I also spied a nice little leak under--or rather over I suppose--the skidplate when I removed it. Research into the cause of this will wait for another day
Finally, I've been thinking its time to do mounts for a while now. Was peeking and prying under there a bit and there certainly seems to be more play than is ideal. Will order some soon and get on it.
That's it for now. No exciting adventure updates to report. Have had a lot of family up on weekends for the past month so have been soaking up time with them and enjoying Summer's end. But fear not; Adventures season will soon be upon us [emoji41] Excited to put my new snow-rated AT tires to the test.....
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Expedition Master I
- 5,079
- First Name
- Drew
- Last Name
- Hawley
- Member #
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1537
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- WRBZ674
- Service Branch
- USN veteran
Expedition Master I
- 5,079
- First Name
- Drew
- Last Name
- Hawley
- Member #
-
1537
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- WRBZ674
- Service Branch
- USN veteran
But of course, my friend! [emoji41]
I'm actually surprised by how much I like its looks given my luke-warm feelings about the rest of the 90 series and the new SPA platform in general.
Compared to the P2 platform which my wagon was built on, it's gonna be night and day. I would be somewhat concerned about pushing a vehicle like the V90CC the same way I am comfortable pushing my XC. The move to Drive-E direct-injected 4 cylinder turbo and hybrid supercharged engines across the whole line up is not something I'm particularly happy about. My only comfort is that generally speaking, Volvo knows their way around a turbo, but this is a lot of new technology happening at once, and their are already problems with some
Of it.
I don't post about it here because it's largely irrelevant, but my other car is a Volvo V60 R-Design.
It has a turbo charged inline 6-cyl with a polestar racing tune from the factory that pumps out 325hp and 354lb/ft of torque. I was specifically interested in that car because it was equipped with one of the last of Volvo's heralded 5 and 6 cylinder engines. I researched the newer 4-cyl drive-e variants in the buying process (same engine that is in the V90cc) and found it discouraging that they did not have a dipstick at all to check oil, and that on several occasions the built in auto start/stop feature that shuts off the engine at stop lights etc. had completely failed, disabling the car entirely. Neither of these things would make me comfortable off-road.
My hope is that as Volvo gets more comfortable with the platform, the new vehicles will increase my confidence and the technology will become more refined and reliable.
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Sadly, The Adventure Wagon[emoji769] is off the road at present thanks to an accident.
Have spoken with my claims adjuster and the insurance company's appraiser. The latter was on site late last week to determine the extent of the damage.
Thankfully, he reported back and the car is not a total loss. It's on a flatbed headed up to my Indy as we speak and I hope to have it back ready to roll within a couple weeks. Unfortunately, this means it will likely miss a planned Volvo meet-up/camping adventure planned for the weekend of October 8th which is a real bummer. The much less well equipped Volvo V60 will have to go in its place.
Will keep you all updated...
Have spoken with my claims adjuster and the insurance company's appraiser. The latter was on site late last week to determine the extent of the damage.
Thankfully, he reported back and the car is not a total loss. It's on a flatbed headed up to my Indy as we speak and I hope to have it back ready to roll within a couple weeks. Unfortunately, this means it will likely miss a planned Volvo meet-up/camping adventure planned for the weekend of October 8th which is a real bummer. The much less well equipped Volvo V60 will have to go in its place.
Will keep you all updated...
I'm currently looking for a new(er) daily driver that's more family friendly. Your Volvo is awesome, hopefully you'll get it back soon.
Influencer II
Just read through this whole thread. Freaking love it! Definitely unique and not your run of the mill rig which is awesome! Any update from the accident? Any thoughts running it out to the beach in Jersey? Looks like we have quite a few wagons running around OB.com!
Thanks man! Updates soon to come... [emoji41]
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Influencer II
GUESS . . .
WHO'S . . .
BACK . . .
STAY TUNED . . . [emoji342][emoji342][emoji342]
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WHO'S . . .
BACK . . .
STAY TUNED . . . [emoji342][emoji342][emoji342]
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Expedition Master I
- 5,079
- First Name
- Drew
- Last Name
- Hawley
- Member #
-
1537
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- WRBZ674
- Service Branch
- USN veteran
Advocate III
My wife had an 02 XC70 for about a year. I really liked taking it out places, but the turbo went out and we sold it off. Never was as badass as yours though!
Traveler III
I keep envisioning what I could do with the new 2017 V90 Cross-Country, a few inches of lift, and a belly plate...
I was initially somewhat dismissive of it for a variety of reasons highlighted earlier in the thread, but I've gotta say on looks alone I'm kind of excited. Cost and the 4-cyl only, and modern Volvo build-quality are stumbling blocks though.I keep envisioning what I could do with the new 2017 V90 Cross-Country, a few inches of lift, and a belly plate...
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Traveler III
I'd forgotten this was already brought up. And yes, starting at $55k and a 2 liter supercharged turbo might be interesting pulling around a 4200 pound car. I haven't read anything on quality under Tata, though, so I have no idea if it is as good better or worse than under Ford or prior to Ford;s ownership. But it definitely is a gorgeous wagon!
Getting off topic, though. Sorry. ;)
Getting off topic, though. Sorry. ;)
No worries man. As long as it's about cross country Volvo gone wild it's game for the thread.
Volvo is owned by Chinese-based Geely now though, not Indian automotive group TATA. They produce jaguar and LR I believe.
I think the real leap is just the "newness" and "luxury" feel of the modern Volvo. Feels tough to take it seriously for my purposes. There's also no adventure aftermarket at all and I'm not sure if their ever will be given the demographic shift of Volvo's customer base. Subaru does a great job of keeping that covered these days [emoji16]
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