Hey y'all. I just bought a 2008 S40 for my 19 year old son. 84K. So far, so good. Brand new AC compressor from dealer upon purchase. To keep this car running well over the next 4 years and beyond, are there any tips, suggestions on major or minor parts, repairs to look at replacing before they break? I have a good local Dallas Volvo repair mechanic. Other than the maintenance schedule in the manual, what would y'all suggest I forecast to repair? Right now I'm going to get the suspension and the brakes replaced. Thanks in advance!

 

I would recommend a full synthetic oil and a good quality oil filter like Mobil 1 when it's time for an oil change. No need to change it early, just wait for the Service Engine message. If you are in Dallas then go with the 10W-30 as recommended for hot weather. 5W-30 is good when air temps stay below 90ish. My 2005 has 165,000 miles and it just now needed the infamous PCV system replacement. It wasn't even clogged either. I think something in the oil filter housing broke.

You will need a timing belt at the 120k mile mark. It's not hard to replace if you DIY. Get the whole kit including idler and tensioner, not just the belt. The water pump is optional if you do your own work. Otherwise recommended if you have someone else do the work since it's run off the timing belt. No need to pay for the same work twice.

If the car is parked under a tree then watch out for clogged sunroof drains. If it's garaged then normally it will be fine. Sometimes a hose comes loose and leaks into the car anyway.

If the interior lights act weird check your fuses. A blown fuse sometimes backfeeds the interior lights causing strange behavior.

The car is very finicky when it comes to the alternator. It needs a very specific voltage or it acts up. If your alternator needs replacing consider a local rebuilder and quality parts. The cheap chain store remans have given many of us grief. The OEM Volvo unit is priced as if it's made of pure gold.

Now that you have a new compressor you probably won't have the intermittent A/C issue where the air goes cold.....warm.....cold...warm and on and on. Always on the very hottest day. If you see this in a couple of years it's the compressor clutch needing a shim removed. Mine took 10 minutes tops to fix. That was years ago and it's still ice cold.

 

Good advice above! I'd add that doing a drain-and-fill with the tranny fluid with every other oil change would be the best preventive maintenance you can do. Just drain the fluid (easier than doing the oil) and pour in four quarts (make sure you get the right fluid). Don't even try to measure the level, since the genius engineers at Volvo put the tranny dipstick where only an 8" tall elf could reach it. ;-)

 

Since the car is new to you, I'd probably have the brakes flushes when its in for its servicing. In addition to tranny and oil, you should also consider a coolant flush (distilled water flush only) and power steering fluid can be flushed using the turkey baster method (use the baster to pull the fluid from the reservoir, refill with new ATF (see owners manual for requirements but my Gen 1 uses standard ATF like DEX III) start the car, turn lock to lock then shut down and repeat 3-4 times. By then the fluid should look like new.. all for about $6 (one quart will do the trick). Think of this as baselining your new car. Another self service thing is the cabin air filter. Generally plugs get swapped at 60K miles so you should be good there but new plugs will only set you back $15 - stick to Genuine Volvo as the more expensive plugs are not better in many cases. Things like coils tend to get replaced when they fail (usually somewhere over 100K miles). For parts, start building your book marks for Volvo friendly online stores - FCP Euro on the east coast, IPD USA on the west and then some of the dealer web stores (I use Tasca Parts out of Rhode Island but there are many others who discount dealer parts). You can buy OEM Mann filters in bulk and the other paper filters to have ready (air filter, cabin filter). Not sure if your model even has a fuel filter, but it can't hurt to throw in a bottle of Techron injector cleaner from time to time. The car will run fine on regular gas but it also helps to run name brand premium from time to time to get the extra detergents... I also like to keep tires about 3 PSI higher than what the door sticker shows as a rim-saver :-).

 

Do the timing belt now, not at 120k. It's due by time.

Check the coolant reservoir for cracking. Also check the radiator hose that goes over the trans. Common leak points and there is no low coolant light.

Check the inmer CV boots. Common to tear.

Control arm bushings are common to tear and front struts are common to leak.

Make sure the sunroof drain hoses are connected and not shrinking. Its common for them to shrink and pull out of the elbows at the bottom. Speaking of which, remove the elbows and cut the lips off to prevent clogging.