jI want to preface this by saying that I am a Volvo newbie. I purchased my 1998 V70 T5 April 2000 with 50K miles. Before I bought it, I took it to a Volvo specialist and he informed me it was "Just getting broken in" and that those drops of oil I spied was just residue from the last oil change. Compression checked out great and the car was in excellent shape inside and out.

Since that time I have put about 30K on it (mostly highway) and it has become evident that the oil is a leak in the main seal (or so I am told). I must keep an eye on the oil level at all times. The door lock motors in the right front and left rear doors have stopped working and last weekend on a four hour trip back from Charleston to NC the AC stopped working. Also the left blinker blinks at a faster rate than the right.

1. Anyone else out there with a leaky main seal? Isn't this car too new to have this problem? How much can I expect to pay to get this thing replaced? It makes one hell of a mess in my drip pan in the garage.

2. Anyone else out there with multiple malfunctioning/nonworking door lock motors? How much should I expect the pay to get these replaced/repaired.

3. The AC had not given us a problem until the trip. It was working fine at the beginning of the trip until about 2 hours into the trip, the blast of cool air turned into a trickle no matter what setting we put the system on. When I cranked up the fan, I could hear the fan motor blowing loudly, but no air (besides the trickle) would come out of the vents. The next morning the AC worked properly.

4. I have checked all the blinker bulbs and they are all burning. Why would the blinking rate change for the left blinker?

Despite all these problems, I love this car and will buy another one after this one. It is much nicer and even faster than my Integra GS-R.

Thanks for any advice.

Brent Fidler

I can only speak of the automatic door locks. Make sure the motor is not operating, you can have somebody actuate the switch while you listen.

If the motors are dead, you need to replace them.

If the motors are working but the locks are not moving you need to replace the entire latch assy. or fix them yourself.

I ended up fixing and documenting such procedure. It is posted at www.volvospeed.com maintenance\doors\latches.

It's possible that the main seal is leaking, but maybe it's just the turbo return line.

Door locks motors have been a troublesome problem. I've had one replaced under warranty.

A/C evaporators have been known to go are not cheap to replace. I don't think this shows up as an intermittent problem though.

There is a recall to replace the turn signal bulbs and sockets. The OEM arc and cause just what you have described. Get yours replaced for free!

In spite of these issues, I love my 'brick' as well. Good Luck!

Doug

80K is early for a leaking main seal but not unheard of. I trust the problem isn't the turbo oil return hose as this is a common problem on turbos and requires a simple replacement of an o-ring. Cost to replace the main seal is in the $800 range fellow BBers have posted. Don't know anything about your door lock or AC problems. About the turn signals, X70s have a history of bad bulbs and/or sockets that have been reported on many times in these threads. If all the bulbs really are functioning and one side simply blinks faster than the other side, it could be a matter of needing a new relay, or whatever the thing is called that makes the light blink.