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I have this car!
Everything is pretty much the same as the V70 XC from the same year, except the obvious appearance stuff (seats, body cladding, etc) and I suspect the springs are different - the XC seems to have a small ride-height advantage (I think there is a ride-height-matched set of nivomats for shocks in the rear).
This car could easily be a can of worms with that 'not at high rpms' thing. More info on what exactly happens at high rpms would be nice. It would also be nice to know if it still runs well under load as well, like up a hill.
Anyway, here's what the first 3 years of ownership entailed for me. I have documented most of this stuff on here, so feel free to add my username to a search to try to pull out my particular stories - like "bevel gear rebuild jadnhm" will likely get you my write-up on my bevel gear rebuild project.
- brakes all around, including park brake. Cables are fine though - really good quality stuff compared to the 740 stuff.
- plugs, dist cap and rotor, filters and fluids all around (engine air-, cabin air-, oil-, fuel- filters, trans fluid, synthetic oil, synthetic DEX III for PS, brake fluid, BG fluid change, rear differential fluid change, coolant Zerex G-05)
- transmission flush - pretty much all the FWD era Volvos need regular transmission fluid maintenance. You can read about it on this site and others. You'll want to flush the trans ASAP I can promise you. Do a flush with cheap fluid now and another with good fluid in the spring. Get as much synthetic fluid as you can afford and put it in last so less of it gets flushed back out.
- thermostat. Get OEM. Try really hard not to strip the bolts or break the housing!
- bevel gear - due to my own stupidity I ended up rebuilding my BG but you won't need to. I discovered they are actually pretty tough, but they NEED good fresh fluid. Fully synthetic 75W-90 GL-5. I use AMSOIL 75W-90 Severe Gear. I put the same stuff in the rear with slip lock additive.
- prop shaft carrier bearing - replaced mine using the carrier bushing from a 740. The bearing needed to be ordered to measure but it was only ~$15 for the SKF one (~$2 for the chinese one though)
- prop shaft CV joint lube job - I think this is a great way to extend the life of your AWD system. It was pretty easy too, though messy. Be sure to use real CV grease.
- wheel bearings all around. The front are easy to change, the rear are a giant PITA. They are like on a subaru. Pretty tough to do without a press. I pulled the steel carrier assemblies off and took them to a garage with the new bearings and let them press them. Did this job in the middle of friggin winter and it was NOT fun.
- fuel pump died. Actually the fuel pump didn't die but the wires going through the fuel pump assembly fried and it made me /think/ the fuel pump died, so I changed it. Get a used one from Strandberg Auto. (there are two pumps - read up on it.) (Also Klaus is right about the saddle tank - I cut a hole in my floor)
- headlight assemblies - reflectors were totally shot and didn't put out any light. Aftermarket ones from FCP were fine.
- upper engine mount - tried the poly one from FCP and thought the vibration was too much. Went back to OEM but it still vibrates a bit more than I like.
- PCV system. Big job. read up on it. I did it in Feb in a friend's garage and it was a big PITA too but definitely DIYable. I did every vac and evap line I could find while I had the manifold off too.
- complete front suspension job. struts, mounts, spring seats (XC90), all mounting bolts, lower control arms (which contain the ball joints). Should have done bump stops too. My struts were so SOOOO gone. The car drove surprisingly well, but I couldn't get the thing lined up properly and I started to wear the tires out....
- front CV outer boots. More preventative than necessary, but they looked like they were starting to crack.
- ABS module died - sent to Vic Rocha. He actually couldn't fix it but sent me another rebuilt unit. He tests everything like crazy before sending it out.
- dash mount clips - pulled the dash (big job) and rebuild the mount clip areas with fiberglass and polyester resin. Seems to be working so far.
- tailgate wiper - the spot where it goes through the glass gummed up and seized up on me. Took it all apart and put some cold weather grease in there and haven't had a problem since.
- persistenet P0133 O2 sensor code. I think it's gone now but it's been a real ride to clean it up.
- timing belt. I think the interval is 70k miles.
wow that's quite a list. I hope it doesn't deter you too much. $900 is a rock bottom price for that much hardware even if it is 15 years old, and the benefit of DIYing is that you don't have to shell out for all of this at once - you can do a little at a time like I did. You car may be in better shape than mine was too.
This is a good car for a DIYer like me. Maybe you'll feel the same? It can be trying to spend time working on stuff that's rotting or wearing out, and looking for reasonable prices on parts - but it's very rewarding to be driving a nice car that you know how to fix too. The 1998 is the last of a dying breed of vehicles that are relatively easily owner serviced.
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1998 V70 AWD->FWD->AWD Turbo 220k+
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