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S/V/C What to look for when buying a 3.2 P3 car?

Say what you will about the FoMoCo era of Volvo, but kudos to whatever engineer designed the PCV system for the Si6 compared to the old whiteblocks; it took me maybe 20 minutes to change? Also what I thought was bearing noise was actually the classic PCV diaphragm whistle which is now gone.
 
ortho stice said:
Say what you will about the FoMoCo era of Volvo, but kudos to whatever engineer designed the PCV system for the Si6 compared to the old whiteblocks; it took me maybe 20 minutes to change? Also what I thought was bearing noise was actually the classic PCV diaphragm whistle which is now gone.
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I think Rover actually design it.
 
Couple thousand miles on the 2010 XC70 and thought I’d provide some updates on my impressions and the ownership experience. Yesterday I changed the fuel pressure sensor finally, and have not had the check engine light come back since. The engineer that designed that has my scorn, unlike the PCV (which was simple) they attach the sensor with a single T20 machine screw that is not accessible with a ratchet. Very annoying!

Pros so far:
- unstoppable with winter tires. Even amidst all this snow and ice I think I’ve felt wheelspin twice.
- interior volume is excellent, fold down rear seats are super easy.
- comfortable seats and rear heated seats even in a no option car.

Cons so far:
- fuel economy is like 17 mpg in the cold with mixed urban and highway driving. We’ll see if this new sensor improves anything.
- center console design sucks imo; my P2 felt well laid out, now my water bottle always seems in the way and I don’t like the shifter.
- suspension squeaks and rattles are out of control, something in the rear on both sides is horrible, metal on metal sounding. Something in the front rattles like crazy over even minor road bumps. My wife’s diesel Jeep Liberty is quieter than this thing with 40k more miles.

So far I don’t love it but for $1500 I can’t complain. I’ll have to do the accessory drive service once it warms up and we’ll see how that all goes. I might end up selling this one (and probably profit a bit these seem to be $5-$6k cars around me) and look for another nice P2.
 
The sides could be bad trailing arm bushings. It's not a fun job. It's worth buying the Volvo pressing tool if you plan to do it yourself.
 
I have seen rumors of this job out there and had a similar thought. Sort of like a 21st century version of the 240 issue but at the other end? I haven’t had the rear of the car up yet so I haven’t looked those over, but I’ll add it to the list.
 
Those bushings are common. If they fully separate they make a ton of noise (or none at all!) and can cause wandering/pulling etc. Worth a check.

Also check the springs- the rears, around here, like to break.

Jordan
 
Noted, thanks for the pointers.

One last complaint; the car does that modern car thing of shifting into the highest gear possible, bogging on the slightest hill, and then needing a ton of throttle input to downshift. I’ve actually been using the manual shift mode on hills, which I never do, just to keep the engine above 2k rpm going uphill.
 
I have the opposite opinion of my car, that its too downshift happy. I know that 3 liter with it's little baby twin scroll has torque, use it! I've mostly gotten used to it but hate when I almost-not-quite come to a stop and it just has to downshift into first after I give it any throttle.
 
My impression was that it adapts to your driving style. If you usually drive like a grandpa, and then suddenly mash the throttle, the car can be slow to react.
 
I wonder what my transmission's opinion of my driving style is.

I do like how hard it shifts at wot. Especially if it kicks down into first or second while already moving. My dad's s60 is way smoother. Different tunes for different models, or it could be that my car has never gotten software updates or something.
 
Cwazywazy said:
I have the opposite opinion of my car, that its too downshift happy. I know that 3 liter with it's little baby twin scroll has torque, use it! I've mostly gotten used to it but hate when I almost-not-quite come to a stop and it just has to downshift into first after I give it any throttle.
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The 3.0L (B6304T3/T4) does not have a twin-scroll. It is a single K16 turbo.

The four cylinder (B4204T9) has the twin-scroll starting in like 2016. They call it a T6 but it IS NOT a six cylinder anything.
 
Meatball said:
The 3.0L (B6304T3/T4) does not have a twin-scroll. It is a single K16 turbo.

The four cylinder (B4204T9) has the twin-scroll starting in like 2016. They call it a T6 but it IS NOT a six cylinder anything.
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Are you confusing twin scroll and twin charge maybe?
 
GTJordan said:
Also check the springs- the rears, around here, like to break.
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Same with the rear shock absorber upper mount, at least if it's the aluminum model. Makes a lot of noise in the rear when it breaks completely.

Another thing to look for is rust if the car has seen salty roads. Rear part of the frame rails and behind the wheel well liners / strut tower. Rocker panels.
 
Acke said:
Same with the rear shock absorber upper mount, at least if it's the aluminum model. Makes a lot of noise in the rear when it breaks completely.

Another thing to look for is rust if the car has seen salty roads. Rear part of the frame rails and behind the wheel well liners / strut tower. Rocker panels.
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The car is currently 80% salt as I live in the rust belt and it snowed a lot this winter. But I’ll check the rear shocks, too.
 
Update: CEL came back again; low rail pressure code and o2 sensor related codes. I think the car has its original sensors, so perhaps an o2 sensor swap is on the horizon. I didn't screenshot VIDA but LTFT was like 4.9% or something and short was like -2 to 2.

The rail pressure is interesting to me since I replaced the sensor (an original 16 year old part). It's measuring fuel pressure around 370 kPa and the pump duty cycle is around 45% (at idle, I should specify). This doesn't seem crazy to me, but I don't know what the target should be.
 
When you are monitoring parameters in VIDA, you should be able to see what the parameter spec is.

For example, I'm looking at a 17 P3 in VIDA right now and it shows: (Note, different engines/years will vary, so don't trust this for yours).

Fuel pump low pressure side, workload (%)
The value indicates the actual control signal to the fuel pump control module for the low pressure side.
Measurement range = 0 - 100%.
Normal value: 50% (±10%) at idle with hot engine. Working range is 10 - 85%.
 
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