Just bought a a 1999 s80 t6 on a bit of a whim. After a little bit of research it seems this year and model seemed to have a lot of transmission problems. The car seems to shift fine but I want to know if there is any way to check for any problems with it. Also any preventive maintenance tips would be appreciated. Should note that it has around 93,000 miles on it.

 

big things for all older Vovlos include 1) timing belt service - typically its 10 years/100K miles so you should coming up to the 2nd service. This is would include belts, idler, tensioner and you may want to do the water pump while in there. 2) clean fluids. fresh water flush for the antifreeze, consider a new thermostat, engine temp sensor, and overflow reservoir cap, for the brakes, flush the lines, a power bleeder helps. For the transmission, do a drain and fill - refer to the owners manual to confirm if your model uses Dex III or JWS 3309. If the fluid is black and smells burnt, then you may want to drop the pan to inspect. For the power steering, you can use a turkey baster to suck out the reservoir, fill, start up and turn lock to lock a few times then repeat 3-4 times. 3) ignition tune up - if your car has the individual coil packs, they typically start to fail after 100K miles so you may want to replace and do the plugs to start fresh, otherwise do the stage 0 ignition tune up of wire, cap, rotor, plugs. 4) oil car - start by doing a rubber glove test or dipstick test to check for postive crankcase pressure. If your PCV system is clogged, it will turn your engine into a bleeder in a hurry. otherwise fresh oil - consider using high mileage sythentic blends as they have seal softeners.

 

thank you will definitely be doing a majority of these. Would you elaborate on number 4 though pretty unfamiliar with volvos so I'm unsure of how to do that