I am pretty sure that I need to bleed my brakes. They are kind of spongy, require more pedal pressure than usual to stop, and improve if you pump them. I have done this on Chevy trucks and was considering doing it myself for the S70. I talked to a local auto shop to get an estimate before I buy a one-man bleeder kit ($35). The mechanic told me it would be about $80, but that they preferred not to do it.

The mechanic said that since Volvos have a good ABS system, the brakes need to have a special pressurized bleed done. They told me to go to the dealer (closest dealer to my house is 75 miles away). Is this true, or is the mechanic feeding me a line of bull? My Chiltons manual says to bleed the brakes like any other system, with your normal list of steps.

You can bleed them like any other car.The only thing I would reccomend is the star with the R/R tire then L/R tire then R/F then L/F.That is how Volvo reccomends to do it start at the furthest bleeder from the master cylinder fist and work to the closest.You can have some one help you or get a 1 man bleeder system.Which ever you want.

Thank you for the guidance. I just finished bleeding the brakes and all of my problems have been solved.

Im glad to hear that it went so well for you.