Recently acquired '06 V70 with 132K mi which is very different animal from '97 850, on which I could pop off a hose and clean the throttle butterfly easily. The '06 is tucked underneath has a long hose and dudes are removing them completely (need new gasket) Looks like a slight pain. Can I undo the hose and squirt and wipe? What say you? What other maint procedures should I be thinking about/ looking into? I changed the oil and installed K&N...
Thanks!

"I changed the oil and installed K&N..." A K&N what?

If it's a K&N oil filter cartridge, OK. If it's a K&N oiled air filter, you're said to be asking for trouble.

I've heard they make the ETMs dirty.

Yes, air filter. Don't know anyone who runs the oil filters as an upgrade. It's MAFs that people complain about, but that's completely inconclusive -totally depends on who you talk to. Ran one in my 850 for years and years.

I somewhat agree. I tried a K&N air filter on my cars, expecting more air flow. But that didn't happen. Seems that the sensors recognize the amount of air passing through the air filter will alter the amount of fuel being used and change the dynamics. No improvement in performance when engine speed is between 500 and 4,000 rpm. It might help when over 5,000rpm, but I seldom do that.

The real problem with K&N is when it is time for cleaning. All of the oil and dirt must be washed out and the filter re-oiled. Doing this usually results in oil being applied too heavily or unevenly, and the oil vapors then attach to the sensor, causing it to become dirty and inefficient.

A dry paper filter, changed annually, is the cheapest and best way to take care of your engine. Except in an emergency, like driving the length of Baja where you should take out the filter and bang the dust out of the filter (no can do with an oiled filter), the paper filter actually lets enough clean air pass to satisfy most drivers.

The MAF and ETM both get dirty with age + miles. There is no scheduled maintenance for either, but there should be. The ETM gets dirty because of the crankcase ventilation system which drives oil fumes through the throttle. This is less of a bother with synthetic oil, but still exists.

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Keeping it running is better than buying new

In the 850 it was really great. Very noticeable power, no problems. I haven't noticed in the R bc everything seems powerful. Will check it out. Two things seem to make sense -the cotton gives more flow (and I believe the oil doesn't come off) -but also electronics might be fooled and mileage might suffer. Seeing paper filter as $30 and the K&N is $65 and won't need to be touched for 5 years. I didn't throw out the paper...

I think it would be quite difficult to get it good and clean without removing it from the car. (4) 10mm hex heads in a perfectly square bolt pattern. The hardest part is getting the wire harness unplugged from it without breaking the locking function on the plug. I broke mine so I've got a tie wrap in place to make sure it doesn't fall off. Of course tie wraps eventually get brittle and break......
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Current rides: 2005 Volvo S80 2.5T, 2003 Volvo V70 2.4NA, 1973 Volvo 1800ES (getting ever closer to road worthiness)