V70 heavy steering

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Baffler

Everything has a shelf life nowadays as with all things manufactured post Y2K.

Perhaps consider a refurb of your existing pump?

Yep. At nearly 17 years old and 163k, its done its day I think.

I don't think I'd bother with refurbishment. I'd more than likely just put a new aftermarket pump on it from a reputable brand like Meyle.

The V70 has had quite a bit done to it (not all recent, but money spent all the same);

-New shocks and top mounts (front and rear) - Sachs brand. Me and Dad replaced these about two years ago.
-New control arms on the front (Meyle), as well as rear trailing arm bushes (Febi), with an alignment - Garage
-Cam belt and water pump (genuine Volvo parts) - Garage
-Aux belts replaced and the tensioner (genuine parts) - Myself
-New brake discs and pads (Genuine - Myself)
-Auto gearbox service with the recommended JWS3309 fluid (drain and fills). We did this ourselves.
-New engine mounts (all of them). Did them ourselves.
-All servicing is done by us (I have VIDA). Not that you can really count servicing as a cost as such, as any car needs a service. Its had other bits like tyres, a battery and so on. Again, not things that can really be counted so to speak.

For a while now, there was an issue with the rear soft close boot. The button you press to close the tailgate when its open wouldn't do anything and I noticed that the boot lid didn't 'suck' itself closed like it used to. You had to close the boot manually by hand (no big deal), open it with the latch at the number plate or hold the boot button on the key... Not the end of the world. The boot still locked with the key.

However, I started noticing damp spots around the close button on the underside of the boot trim (which were getting worse) and I couldn't figure out how water was getting in. First port of call was to replace the boot seal (the one that goes around the aperture of the boot). It was in poor condition, so it needed replacing anyway (£80 or so from Volvo). It didn't solve the problem though.

It turns out (as advised by an auto electrician) that the boot has a two stage locking system. When you press the button on the tailgate to close it, this closes the boot and then it pulls itself into place automatically via cables in an actuator.

The secondary stage of the lock wasn't working, which meant water was getting in where it shouldn't be because there was a gap for it to get through (only 1 stage of the locking was working). However, you could still shut the boot manually, it just didn't close fully (it didn't 'suck' itself closed). The car thought the boot was still closed thankfully, despite the car not actually fully closing the boot lid. No "open boot" warnings were on the dash. I suppose it was technically closed, just not completely. This allowed a gap for water to get in.

Anyway, I stripped the trim off around the boot close switch. It wasn't a pretty sight... The wires were damp, the auto close switch was corroded. The rear wiper wouldn't work, the number plate lights stopped working and the rear wiper also. I suspected water had done damage this time... I was right. Obviously, this didn't happen overnight. I just figured as the boot could be closed and it locked that a bit of damp didn't really matter. It wasn't soaking the carpet or anything, it was just the trim around the auto boot switch that was a bit damp. I used to open the boot on warmer/windy days and leave it open to let it dry out. Obviously, I knew it would need to be fixed at some point, but we weren't expecting such a hefty cost. I was wrong...

I brought it to an auto-electrician for him to investigate. The wiring for the boot close switch was damaged, the actuator that locks the boot into its fully closed position was all rusted inside (meaning water got in)... no wonder it wouldn't close properly and the water had blown a few fuses. He tried to salvage the actuator, but it was beyond repair, despite his efforts. He got a second hand genuine actuator (£150) and had to do a load of rewiring. It cost £490 in total to fix. Reverse lights, rear wiper and number plate lights work again. The boot closes fully now (1st locking stage and 2nd). Not cheap.

So now my Dad has basically said enough is enough in a roundabout way. Its been a good car generally, but now things are starting to go wrong. Being a prestige car, nothing is particularly cheap (which he knows), but there's a point where you have to seriously weigh up if its really worth it (16 years old, 163k). He's at the stage where he thinks it may be time to move it on for something newer with lower miles. He doesn't intend to spend any more on it (unless its absolutely necessary). He's basically anticipating what will come next, which being an older car, something likely will.

I've explained that most of the things that have been fixed were wear and tear items anyway, so really, there's nothing (for now) that it wants. I think he's just fell out of love with it. I can't see the power steering pump being replaced, unless he changes his mind and decides to keep it. I think the £490 boot actuator/wiring repair was the last straw.

Like I said, it has been a good car in general. I know that newer isn't always better. He knows that too, so maybe that's why he hasn't made a final decision yet. Maybe he'll get it through another MOT (September this year) and then make his decision then. If anything major comes up on that, he'll fix it because he has to, but then I suspect it'll be going sharpish after that. If it passes, he might keep it a bit longer. Hard to say for sure what he'll do, but if I had a guess, I'm leaned towards him getting rid of it (likely after the MOT). We'll see though.