I have been told that a "special wrench" is required to remove the oil filter cartridge on the '05 V50. Anyone know what type of wrench is required? I have heard that removing the filter is difficult and it is necessary to remove air intake, etc.?

hi cbass,
I'm a tech for a local dealer and can help. First, you'll find that nothing on this car is easy to do. The engineers really did not think of the techs when designing the vehicle. This is in part to ford getting their hands on this car. It shares a platform with the ford focus and you actually see alot of ford parts on the car. To answer your question the filter cartridge is accessed from the top of the engine. As you are facing the engine you'll see an air intake duct on the left side, remove the 2 10mm bolts that hold this on the remove the duct and the accordian looking pipe below it. You'll then see a black cartridge with a large size 36mm nut on the top, this is the filter. You need a large 36mm socket, cv socket, and about a 8 in extension. Turn counter clockwise to remove. It's even more difficult to get to the cabin filter on this car and envolves removing the gas pedal! hope this helps.

Thanks for your help. Less than one year in to owning this '05 V50 and I'm not reall thrilled with it thus far. This is yet another negative. Oh well..........

Any idea whether the V70 is any better from a quality/maintenance standpoint?

Cbass11,
Sorry that I had to give you the bad news. To answer you question, yes the V70 is a much much better car in terms of quality and maintenance. This is largly because the V70 is still all volvo engineering, ford hasn't had a chance to f**k with it yet. It has it's short comings like all cars, but is still a very good vehicle. It is also very easy to service this car. Personally, I wouldn't rec. the s40 or v50 to my worst enemy!

Changed the oil last night... 90 minute nightmare!

Do you really think it is due to Ford's engineering.... or lack thereof? I was thinking that Volvo simply wanted to make it difficult enough that everyone would use their service departments?

wow... 90min!!
It took me a damn long time to change the oil on that car when it first came out. Now I've done so many my average is about 5 minutes. The reason this car is such a mess is because when volvo told ford that they wanted to redesign the s40, ford wouldn't give them the funding to completly re-engineer the vehicle. Instead they made volvo use the existing ford focus/mazda3 platform. So in turn volvo had to quickly engineer an engine that would fit into that small engine bay, none of their exhisting 5 cylinders would fit. The result was that tangled mess they call an engine. Not much else on that car is volvo either. Since its made in the same plant as the mazda3 they share almost all of the same parts! Granted they did make it so difficult that some people are forced to use the dealer, but none of us techs want to work on these nightmares either.

It sound like a lot of work to just get to the oil filter. I think car manufacturers are making it harder and harder for owners to self-maintain their cars. I thought Honda is bad when I have to get to the oil filter from the bottom of the car. It seems even worse for the V50.

volvotech06, so is there a nut on top of the oil filter? Mine is due for the first oil change next mth.

Thanks

albert,
There is a size 36mm nut cast onto the top of the plastic oil filter cartridge housing. The actual oil filter is inside of this housing.

Albert,
Might I also suggest from a bad personal experience, that you use a 6 point, 17mm socket for the oil plug, as opposed to a 12 point. Otherwise, you will strip the corners off of the oil plug. Also, be prepared for at least 7 quarts of oil to drain out.

Volvotech06,
I noticed that virtually all of the screws/holes that hold the plastic panel that covers the oil plug are stripped after the third oil change. Is this common? I hope I don't have problems with rattling, etc. down the road??? I was very careful when I reinstalled them, as I had heard about this problem, but I think it was too late...... the service technician who had performed previous oil changes had already stripped them out.

Thanks for the help, guys.

cbass,
It is actually quite common for these holes to become stripped out because the screws are self tapping. There are no cast threads for them to grab, they simpy make their own. The good news is that I have yet to hear of this cause any noise concerns

Is this the pollen filter, it used to be under a cover on the passenger side with the V40? If not where do I find the pollen filter - UK Right hand drive
Thanks
Mike