Hi all,
With tax returns coming up and having landed a new job that pays pretty well I want to return my s60 to its former glory. I bought the car for 1400 dollars almost two years ago right before the most devastating part of the pandemic. I knew it had problems and I only had the money to fix things as they broke. Despite abusing my poor car it never let me down or left me stranded. Now that I'm approaching more financial leeway I feel I owe it to this car to get it fixed right instead of buying a new one. So here are all the things wrong with it: The turbo leaks oil like an old faucet, The transmission whines more than a 3 year old kid (it's not the fluid, I've triple checked), the BCM doesn't work and hasn't since I bought it, and the gauge cluster decides when it wants to work (recently has been turning on and off for the first time in 4 months). I know these are all extremely expensive fixes and I was wondering if anyone knew where I could take the car other than the stealership to get some of these things fixed. I've called around and a lot of people don't even want to touch the tranny. The cluster stopped working at about 139xxx miles so it's safe to assume she's past the 200xxx mark. She's old but other than all the other aforementioned issues drives like she's got another 200xxx to give. I really want to fix her but if I can save money by taking it somewhere else that would be ideal. Thanks in advance!

P.S. I'm located in Michigan.

 

transmission whines are typically pump noises - ie low fluid, clogged filter or failing pump. You may want to have a transmission shop quote the cost to drop the pan and inspect / clean the filter. You didn't mention the year or transmission model but I assume its a 5 speed Aisin which is also used by Toyota and Lexus so its not an odd beast. The problem is the cost to service if it needs to be pulled from the car. As to the BCM - I assume you mean the ABS controller/pump. You'd need to see what fault codes are but if the pump is good, then you may need to get the controller board repaired. Check out Midwest ABS and Xemodex for symptoms and cost to repair (unit rebuild should be in the 200-250 range and not a hard remove/install. Not sure about the gauge cluster - you may have a simple wiring or connector issue or again a crack in a solder board. If its the cluster, you may be able to source a replacement - dunno if it requires programming or can just be swapped in. A call to a Volvo friendly recycle yard like Erie VoVo may get you some answers and a replacement part.

 

I have replaced clusters in the past on P2 S60s. You need to match the numbers on the sticker on the back of the Cluster. After that it is plug and play, no programming needed. You need to match the VCC Pno. Its the actual part number. I happen to have one from an 07 with 140k on it that im working on getting rid of. They are pretty cheap on ebay at around $25-50. They are known to be faulty in our cars. Your BCM codes could be a bad abs pump. I guess they tend to get overheated and start to work intermittently before dying completely. There is a way to replace just the pump if the module itself is okay. Theres some youtube videos on how to do it so you dont need to reprogram an abs unit. I would get that turbo oil leak fixed asap

 

oh and I forgot to mention - for that turbo oil leak - clean the area up and see where the leak is coming from. Hate to see you spend $500 replacing a turbo when you just had a $.10 turbo oil return line seal fail on you. I've had that seal fail on my 850T and it makes the biggest mess for the smallest part. :-)

 

Thank you all for the tips! I'll go about these methods and hopefully save myself 1k+ very appreciative!

 

Sounds like you've got some serious DIY skills under the hood! Just remember, when dealing with car parts and electronics, it's always best to double-check and match those numbers to keep things running smoothly. And as for the ABS pump, it's like giving your car's heart a little TLC. Happy fixing and safe driving!