Alright, so before doing a ton of research,I went out and bought a 2000 S80 non-turbo with 81,000 miles on it. I've already repaired the ABS unit (thanks Victor) and it should be getting put back into the car today as soon as it shows up. I'm going to do the oil pan o-rings this weekend, and the serpentine and timing belt within the next month. Are there any other "gremlins" that I should be on the lookout for and pre-emptively taking care of? Everyone says to stay away from this model, but so far it drives great, and other than the ABS problem and the o-ring problem, it appears to be a great car.

 

ball joints go bad. oil trap box and o rings go bad. supposedly the transmission goes bad.. maybe not the 2.9 na.. but i have a turbo and it still pulls and shifts perfect.

 

If you don't mind me asking, how many miles on your S80?

 

Make sure you replace the Idler Pully and the tensionors also when you replace the timing belt. Because if they go bad it will damage the engine as I heard many times in this forum as it happened to people. And if I were you I would not wait another mounth to replace the timing belt because even though the car has only 81k miles the the is 8 years old and since the belt is made out of rubber then it will have cracks on it after 8 years. I would replace it ASAP to aviod the risk of engine damage if the belt breaks.

 

While your in there...you may want to change the Water Pump..since it is located behind the timing belt..I wouldn't want to have to go back in there..in just a short while..after changing the timing belt...pulley tentioner etc...just my opinion...

 

hey mbreibta, if you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for your s80...
I bought one with 96,000 (2002) last year for $8800 so im just trying to work a comparative... Lovely car... so far, thankfully the only gremlin iv dealt with was the t-belt job, which thankfully wasnt much of a trouble

 

I bought my S80 about 1.5 weeks ago with 81500 on the odometer for $7900 including the 6 month/6,000 mile 50/50 warranty (I pay half, warranty company pays half). So far I've replaced two tires (the rear two were shot) replaced the gas tank hinge, had my ABS unit rebuilt, and am planning the oil o-rings and t-belt/serpentine belt/etc in the very near future. Fortunately I'm quite mechanically inclined, so getting in there and doing the work isn't so bad. My parents place is also a great place to work and while it is a3 hourdrive to get there, they have a full 20x45 foot shop with air tools, 2 huge rolling NAPA tool carts, and a pit that I can crawl into to get under the car and work. That's where I'll be doing the oil o-rings at, and most likely the t-belt and serpentine belt. As someone else said, maybe I should replace the water pump while I'm in there - probably not a bad idea. Once you get everything pulled off, it's probably only another 20-30 minutes to replace the water pump.

 

i hope that it is the oil cooler orings that is leaking on yours. i thought that was what was leaking on mine. it only took 20 minutes to change them but .. eh hem.. it did not fix my leak. mine happened to be the pcv system volvo has on those, and it involved taking the intake off to get to the box... so i hope you are VERY mechanically inclined..lol.. hope you get it resolved

 

You changed the oil cooler rings in 20 minutes? Is that the same procedure as described in the sticky for oil pan o-rings? I thought that was supposed to be a 6-8 hour job.

As far as being very mechanically inclined, I'd say yes....First engine rebuild was in 1995 with my uncles olds 442. We did a tear-down, balance/blueprint, and high HP rebuild. (vids here if anyone is interested - http://www.cocopuff.net/dounut2.avi

Past that, I've done wheel bearings, upper/lower control arms, ball joints, ignition coils, valve replacement on my olds aurora (not fun - DOHC V8 sux especially the back bank and no engine hoist) - ECU replacement, seat motors, paint/bodywork, pretty much anything that has gotten thrown at me. I spend most of my day in my office on my computer as a systems administrator, and getting to go out to the garage in the afternoon/evening and wrenching on cars is a great outlet for my frustration with stupid users. I still consider myself quite a novice, and these forums are a GREAT resource for all of the info that I need to repair my car.