Hello all!

I just bought my first Volvo today. It's a 2001 s80 T6 and I'm pretty much in love with it. I am a little worried though, in terms of repair costs, so I want to do a complete servicing to the vehicle before my work schedule gets crazy and I won't have time to fiddle with it when/if it does break down.

So what do you recommend I do to ensure it's maintenance?
Do I bring it to a Volvo Dealership?
Local Garage?
Ex-mechanic friend?
Do it myself?

I've never really owned a car of this caliber with the turbos and computers and all, so I don't want to get ripped off and I'm not entirely sure what needs to be serviced immediately. Especially when it's past life isn't entirely accounted for in it's previous maintenance.

It's a used car with a little over 82,000 miles.

One other thing, the sunroof doesn't work. I replaced the battery and checked the fuses so I'm not sure what could be wrong with it.

Fixes I'm planning to do later this week is:
-get new tires
-alignment

and I'm thinking about:
-synthetic oil change
-flush transmission with some sort of fancy ATF, not yet sure what brand works best.
-timing belt change.


I can't think of anything else that seems important.
I hope you guys can help me!

I'm a really big fan of this car so far and I don't want to let it go to waste with bad maintenance. It's a little frustrating since I'm not too familiar with the specific mechanics of this brand and I'm looking here to see if I can get that much appreciated information.

Also a price quote would be cool too. Haha.

-Thanks!

 

I would go to a Volvo dealer who has the computer that reads the codes if any correctly. Although most folks seem to think the dealers are a rip off and some may be,their work is guarenteed (sp). In the long run I believe Volvo dealer is the way to go. I too just purchased a 2001 S80 T6 and I am in love with it, nicest car I've ever drivin/rode in.JMO

 

Sunroof problems are often in indication the siren module under the RH front fender is bad. There is a battery in it which often leaks acid, corrodes the circuit board which causes a problem with the module which controls the sun roof, alarm system and power door locks.

 

I would start soon with the timing belt if you dont know when was it changed. Then throw some spark plugs good ones, air filter, fuel filter and small tune up. As to the sun roof try pressing your unlock button on your remote a couple of times sometime this works.

 

I bought a 2002 S80 T6 last week and am exactly where you are right now. I don't have a whole lot of money to put into this luxurious ride, so prioritizing my maintenance schedule is a must.

I'm thinking that a transmission flush is towards the top of my list. I keep running into posts about trannies slipping and needing rebuilds. I don't want to run into that. Alignment for certain--I'm pretty sure the previous owner of my Volvo ran over something pretty hard on the passenger side of my car because both wheels are pretty bent on the inner side on only that side and the mount that connects to the stabilizer bar is broken in half on the passenger side.

Most everything else is good to go for me, except that someone stole the fuel door the night before I bought it, so i need to track one of those down. Punks.

Anyways, let me know how yours turns out and how much you're paying!

 

With regards to the trans its a GM transmission a 4T65E-GT. I had mine rebuilt at 125,000 km I took it to a shop who used Borg and Warner clutch packs and also updated the valve body I used Amsoil trans fluid..

All was well untill 225,000 km later(350,000 Km) I had another trans issue it was a input bearing that failed and put shaving all thru the trans and destroyed it.. I rebuilt it this time agian and since all updates were done on valve body I also used a Transgo Shift improver Kit SK4T65E. Alot of GM car owners have installed this even when slip signs start to happen. What it will do is help the transmission accumulator to build extra force to engage the gear solid and not cause it to slip into gear. it reduces the heat and also the wear. If you install this Kit it will help your trans last alot longer. Even the updated valve body helped alot when the trans was ripped apart the clutches were not burned up in third like what is normal on the t6.

Now that the trans is Solid I plan on installing Dual Exhaust and Chip the car and have a bit of fun with it.

Good news is that there are ways to beef up the transmission in these cars to last and take the power too.

 

I was looking at S80's on E-bay and came accoss an inspection report by a dealer explaining everything that they did to the car this might be interesting for you to read see below.:


Service and Inspection Report:


We brought this clean Volvo in for service and noted that the prior owner took pretty good car of this vehicle. There were a few things to address to make the car “just right” so let’s begin.
Our service began with a NEW TIMING BELT as well as a NEW SERPENTINE BELT. We continued along with new spark plugs and NEW COIL PACKS. We’ve been doing spark plug changes with timing belts. The coil packs appeared to be original and can fail without warning causing a misfire. We wanted all new ignition components so there you go!
We then did an oil/filter change and used the correct drain plug seal as specified by Volvo. While we were under the hood, we noted that the starter was in need of replacement so we replaced the starter with a new unit from our supplier. Works fine.
Another typical service item that we are doing is the coolant hose from the reservoir to the back of the coolant plenum. It is often overlooked and can leak over time. Done for you!
We finished under the hood by doing an AC system check. The system is tight and performs quite well. As part of the routine AC service, we replaced the cabin air filter. We did notice some minor coolant leaking at the heater core. We replaced those o-rings and removed the driver’s carpet for a thorough cleaning for you. It is quite a job and you don’t want to have to do it yourself or pay someone. We do things right and it has been done for you!
Since we had the hood open and noticed that the hood struts were weak, we replaced them for you.
Moving along to the chassis, we noted some noise coming from the front strut area and traced it back to strut mounts and spring seats. It is an easy repair and we replaced those items for you. The struts are fine. During this repair, we noted that the front brake hoses were showing some signs of the outer covering coming loose so we replaced both front brake hoses. We’ve noticed this phenomenon on the S80 vehicle and commonly replace those brake hoses. No dealer in the solar system would have done that for you, except for us.
The brakes looked good both front and rear.
The tires on this car were less than half tread so we fitted this fine Volvo with a brand new set of Uniroyal ® Tiger Paw Touring ® tires. Rides nice and smooth.
As is usually the case, we installed a new wiper blade. Rather than “let ‘er go” like most dealers, we like you to have a new blade.
All in all, we did what would have amounted to $2,800 worth of service to this vehicle if you bought all of this after the sale yourself! Shop around and then ADD IT UP! That’s the Grove Automotive Group, Inc. difference. We service our cars and we do most all of the work internally. We don’t use some rhubarb pie tobacco-spitting shop that cuts corners and tells more lies than Carter has peanuts. We do the work ourselves so that we know that it is done RIGHT! Beware of the typical “Elmer Fudd” dealer.WE SERVICE WHAT OTHERS TRY TO HIDE™

 

just got 2001 s80 t6 put plugs and coils in check engine light went out, no codes or messages but alarm,runs very slow till speed builds up please somebody help

 

For something like this start a new thread instead of scabbing on to someone elses. It will get you more looks and hopefully someone who can make an intelligent suggestion.

 

I would say have the pcv system serviced probably wouldnt hurt to have the whole system replaced. But if money is an issue you can replace the oil trap and blow some carb cleaner thru the hoses. The oil trap runs about 35 40 dollars online and is a fairly simple task to replace.