so i had a civic for about 6 years, but just last month got in a nasty car accident and surprisingly didn't get hurt. well anyways needed a car really fast and found what i thought was a good deal on a 2000 s80 t6 in vegas. has 125k on it, and i don't know about its service record, but i test drove it and it drove very well like a brand new car. I liked it and I ended up paying 3500 for it which i thought was a good deal, you guys be the judge??

Now that I drove it the 100 miles home I've noticed 2 things that are bothering me (along with the check engine light on).

1. Is that when idling sometimes it is very erratic, the needle bounces up from 500-1k rpm and the lights kinda flickr, when idling if i step on the gas this alleviates the problem, when in drive it seems to overcompensate sometimes and kick up to 2500 rpm and throw me back in the seat then settle down to a normal acceleration, i've been doing some research and perhaps it could berelated to the etm? (which is a recall?)

2. I also noticed when I got home and parked it in my driveway a tiny oil leak, when i say time i mean it probably drips about 5-10 drops a park, i looked under the hood and could find no obvious signs of the leak, underneath it looks like it has been an old leak as their is dried oil thats collected on the splash guard. I was assuming maybe it was a faulty plug, cracked pan something along the lower end, maybe even the turbo seal, or return lines?

I took it to a supposed volvo mechanic in the area, one of the only ones, and he couldn't diagnose it visually so he used the dye. He said that it's not coming from the bottom end of the engine, and couldn't find anything underneath. From above he said he couldn't see anything unless he took out the intake manifold (which i haven't let him do yet) but he was leaning toward a leaking head gasket and estimated the costs at $2200? Is there anything behind the intake manifold that might be leaking oil besides the head gasket?

If it is a head gasket leak can i just use a sealant to seal the head from leaking. I've checked my exhaust no white smoke, the oil is normal and not milky or anything, and the coolant doesn't have any visible contaminants in it?
It drives fine, the only problems is with idling like i said.

I'm taking my car to the dealership 100 miles away to at least see what the code reads and get a couple recalls done and an overall tune up.
Any insight is appreciated and fingers crossed it isn't a head gasket?

 

battery or alternator and oil trap (crankcase ventilation system). think you have to remove alternator to get to your oil trap, so it's a two-birds-one-stone job.

 

so i got the results from the dealership, turns out i had 5 codes, the diagnosed the leak to the oil trap like you said crito, i had to get an ecm update and they had to fix something with the pedal sensor all that for 600 which included diagnosis, now here is the bad news, turns out i really didn't have anything wrong with my engine except that my transmission fluid was a little on the burnt side (they wanted to charge me 280 for a flush!), but the worst part is my suspension.

I have cracked spring seats they wanted to charge me 500 for those, i have worn control arm bushings they wanted to charge me 800 for those, and two front worn axles which they wanted to charge me 1700 for. I found a whole new strut set on ebay from FCP groton which are i believe the oem brand "suchs" for $500, this includes everything but the control arm bushings which i found on pelican for really cheap as well Ipd? (front and inner bushings for the both front driver and passenger for around 75?). I also found some FCP groton axles for about 140 each. Is this a good deal is FCP groton a reliable any insight or recommendations for brands, also any tips on installation, i'm going to be helping a local mechanic install these so i can learn a little bit about the car.

 

fcpgroton and IPD are good to go!

If your front suspension really is that bad, then you should have some LOUD CLUNKS and DUNKS coming from the suspension? If not, then the dealership is trying to s**** you. And I mean SERIOUSLY loud noises. I had my spring seat go bad, and it really made a lot of noise.

 

i'm pretty sure they're right about the suspension, there was almost a squeeking in the front right tire area when driving and my car started shaking from that side when i got into vegas yesterday, i'm pretty sure they're dry and were locking up on me on the way, gotta get em done i guess but i sure as hell am not going to pay volvo to do it.