Volvo S40 BTCC

Volvo has always been active in the "racing" industry and has its name for producing really fast cars and not just safe. Most might think volvo are just cars for the old folks or a typical soccer mom, but only few knew the true potential of Volvo!

Volvo has been participating the British Touring Car Championship since ever since 1998. They started their flagship by using the 850r Estate. Imagine that, a typical wagon car that is tearing up the tarmac on the track. As they evolved, there was a point where they were using the S40 and wining the BTCC. Of course those S40 are T4 and mine is only a T3 but its the same base only different CC, Cylinders, and most importantly the T4 uses High Pressure Turbos and mine is just a low pressure turbo..well not for long at least.

Also not to mentioned they have dressed up the S40 stunningly sexy!!

Inspired by the decals on this BTCC model, i went ahead and ordered the 'S40' & 'Volvo' decal for myself. Tried my very best to interpret the size and font from this picture as closely as i could.

Now this is more of a trial actually to see the end results, so the quality on this decal are not he best but meant for some outdoor climate beating. 

Now what i should have done is gone to get a professional to get this on the car but i love DIY and this is just simple right..well not really. Ensuring that you follow the lines of the body is not easy heck its was hard! 

  
But after about a few hours, above is the end results...not too bad i would say. Does give 'i am not an uncle driving volvo' look to it.

Now if only the rims were bigger and the car was about an inch or so lower...then it would look and perform better at the curvy roads.

Double Layer Tinting

Not sure if its me or its just really hot these days. Since i was on a long leave (recovering from a motorbike accident), while having lunch i dropped by the accessory shop close by to my place just to check out on some things.

While i was there, few cars were getting their tint replaced for a better quality and darker ones as well. That is when it hit me, maybe another layer just to make it abit darker will improve the cabin temperature.

One thing went to another, and decided to go 70% darker on all 6 windows. Now i already have a very good tint stucked on it not too long ago, it was doing a good job, but due to its compliance of this country it only filters 50% of light. 50% might already sound like alot but in actually fact i feel almost all light goes through the screens.

This is what the 50% does...close to nothing right, just minor reflection

From the front...even in indoors you can see everything inside, imagine outside under the hot sun

Its a cheap tint where it only filters light, even so it claims to filter out alot more....

End results under the sun...ok i know this is abit too much

Sides, yeap its too dark..i know i know...but im loving it!! :)

After a few weeks of enjoying this deem cabin, i decided to remove the front piece. Most the light that comes in any car is actually from the front windscreen, not the sides or even the back. So by removing the front layer it allowed more light into the cabin and made the overall cabin brighter and not so catchy to the cops eyes.

130k Service..

I have been so busy lately and hardly had time for myself. With work and outside work stuff, things on the car has definitely got the e-breaks ON! Also on top of that, what ever extra cash i have is strictly for savings only as the wedding bells are not too far along and the bank balance arnt looking so good.

Even with all that back in Feb 2014, the moose was schedule to have its fluids change at 130 000 kilometers. Shocking i know as i actually clocked 30k so fast since i bought the car, considering that i usually use my bike for work and the car is only for the weekend.

I will usually bring the moose to my regular place in USJ, but ever since my last visit at MRZ for the wheel bearing replacement, im actually happy with his service. This guy is actually an ex-federal auto mechanic and an enthusiast to volvo cars. He definitely knows his way around the S40 in particular and has seen it all in Volvo cars.

This time, it was just a change of fluid with the regular Castrol EDGE TITANIUM 5W-40 SN. 5.5L needed to be filled into its oil tummy hence 2 bottles are required, lucky for me, i had balance from the previous service.

Also along with it was the OEM Oil Filter as well. The only thing i did like about the service is the fact that they sucked out all the oil as oppose to draining it out. Some may say its the same thing but to me, only by draining it out you will get all the old oil out.

As you can see, its a trusted place for S40 in particular.

Damage:

Oil: RM 200
Oil Filter: RM 40
Labor: RM 20 i think...

More LED

So yes i know my moose is rather old today and in comparison with the new cars coming out of the factory today and the techhy stuff that's fitted in this newbies, definitely i cant compare.

So in making her feeling abit younger of trying to add abit more new era stuff if you may.

Ever since LED lighting became popular in the automotive industry i began being more fond of it as well.

I started by getting the H7 Xenon conversion kit and adding Phillips LED bulps to it as well.

I always see new cars fitted with DRL. Day Riding/Driving Lights in other words. This is actually popular or standard in countries that snow to help other driving looking at your car.

In Malaysia today its equally popular as well. Some cames standard or you can always purchase an after market one.

I could not help myself by getting a pair for my moose as well.

These are not branded and YES its from the motherland of imitation parts...China. Learning more about parts from China, i soon understood that even this "fake" stuff if you may have their grades as well and the quality aint that bad. So the above cost me a total of RM170 which is not that bad seeing the warranty that comes with it and the finishing of it. Just for your knowledge, a Phillips 4 LED would cost RM 550 :)

This DRL comes with 9 LEDs in a reflective enclosure which will generate better light quality. The quality of the LEDs as well are of good standards...good in a way that i go abit blind by looking directly into them for a few seconds. It comes with all the needed wires and sockets for easy fitment. No wires to cut or splice which i like.

Based on the length of the DRL, the only suitable place would be just below the number plate. My initial plan was to fit them just above or below the fog lights which is a bit tight and decided not to. Any other location would require cutting the bumper which of course im not happy about. 

After the fitment, they actually look awesome. Its not too high up that will glare onlookers, but does the job as well. They have been wired to the ACC power source, which means if the key is on the ACC position, it will lit up. Another way of doing this is to wire it up to your headlamps, but that means only when your lights are on they will come on as well.

End results are awesome...

So with this in ending year 2013...(the mod was done just a few days before new year)..hopefully 2014 will be really bright.... :)

S40 Wheel Bearings

During the purchase of this S40, i noticed that there is a slight noise coming from the rear wheels when entering corners, to the left only. After much digging under the car, we thought i could be some aged bushing.

Since that was the case, i never really gave much thought to it, just told myself that i will change all of them when im doing the suspensions.

During my last maintenance, (post about it is here) i had to do a full wheel re-alignment which made the same noise now permanent. This drove me mad, and after much of searching, its was the wheel bearing. In a way i was a bit please because it was not a major issue.

Called up the local volvo spareparts shop and to my shocking 1 wheel bearing cost freaking RM500..arghh plus labor its at least going to be RM550-600.

After a few rounds of my fingers dancing on the keyboard, research found that the Mitsubishi Evo 3/Waja also uses the same bearing... :)

This is thanks to the fact that they share the same chasis construction. Big smiles on my face, as this only means cheaper parts!

Fingers continued to dance to later find out that the ABS tooth thinggy that sits at the back of the bearings are different compared to the Volvo and Mitsu. Their gaps are different, and the way its assembly is not the same as well.

Volvo's one are bolted to the hub while the other is just slotted in. hmm...

So after some thoughts, i do not want to disturb the way the ABS works on the Volvo and decided to send the New Japan Bearing, which is bolted on to a new hub to the local machine shop to make 2 holes so that the ABS tooth thinggy can be bolted on. After an hour its done.

NTN Japan produces the best bearings apparently.

Notice the 2 bolts that have been added :)

This is before the extra 2 holes are made.

 All in i only spent RM 110 for the bearing and RM 80 for the labor and machine work. Total of RM190 and i am happy.

Next things to fix/do:

1. Front Lambda Sensor 

2. Steering Rack cover 

3. Belt Tensioner 

4. Service AC

5. Suspension

6. Bushing

7. All parts related to its arms and suspension

8. Rear passenger power window = RM 1 000 (Better find a used one from the halfcut shop)

9. Tint

10. Multimedia system

11. Rims + Tyre

12. Painting = RM 1500 +- (Hopefully 1 layer of paint will do the job)

13. AC fan

14. Rear wheel bearing

15. HID

16. LED Lights 

Service of 120k km 24/08/2013

Kinda backdated but what the hell..a blog is a blog :)

Seeing my to do list was getting longer and longer this service i decided to knock off some items from it..

Here is the list

1. Castrol Fully Sys (lucky had balance from the old bottle so no need to buy 2 --> RM220

2. Volvo Original Oil Filter - RM 45

3. Steering Rack Cover (Driver Side) - RM 105

4. Toyota ATF (I was told its the best alternative) - RM 145

5. Drive Belt (Since i was changing the tensioner) - RM 195

6. Belt Tensioner - RM 275

7. Front O2 Sensor - RM 650

To reset CEL - RM 45

Labor - RM 180

And total burnt = RM 1860

on top of that an additional charge for using my card so in total = RM 1906

The charge of using the card to pay should actually be paid by the merchant legally but they are conveniently charging it to their customers..sigh

Post Service - Well the CEL came back on after some time with the same error so im really getting pissed off now with this issue. Starting to think this workshop is unable to solve this issue but more of trial and error arghh..

On top of that i had to do alignment for the front as the shocks were removed to help with installing the rack cover. Took it to a shop recommended by Wyn as well and did it for all 4 tires. The prize that i got now i there is a new noise coming from the rear of the car that sounds like bearing...and bingo it is bearing.

You would think that after spending so much of your hard earned $$$ to actually solve all the issues and make the car as perfect as possible but one by one it is testing me, hmm no worries i still can hold it together.

so now back to the list:

Next things to fix/do:

1. Front Lambda Sensor 

2. Steering Rack cover 

3. Belt Tensioner 

4. Service AC

5. Suspension

6. Bushing

7. All parts related to its arms and suspension

8. Rear passenger power window = RM 1 000 (Better find a used one from the halfcut shop)

9. Tint

10. Multimedia system

11. Rims + Tyre

12. Painting = RM 1500 +- (Hopefully 1 layer of paint will do the job)

13. AC fan

14. Rear wheel bearing

15. HID

16. LED Lights 

Item 13 & 14 is on priority and need to keep checking why the CEL keeps coming on..

 

Weekend Shootings...........

For the very first time i managed to give the car a personal hand wash by no other than me :)

As promised on my previous post i decided to take some photos but unfortunately i was only armed with a 5mp Samsung Galaxy with the help of Camera 360 on HDR. 

Introducing my Volvo S40 2.0 Turbo Phase 2.5.....

The puney snail

B4204T

Since this is the final Phase 2.5 of this model, its comes with Remus Exhaust..