99 S80 2.9 118k miles.

Hello,

I just got my timeing belt done along with the tensionors and Idler pully today at the Volvo dealership, and I told them to replace the Air filter too. I have a couple of other maintance questions I would like to ask.

1.) At how many miles should the coolant be flushed. And is that something that should be done at a Volvo dealership or are places like Jiffy Lube or Fire Stone ok.

2.) At what miles should the spark plugs be replaced. I think the owner before replaced them just under 70k miles. I bought the car two years ago at 80k miles and put almost 40k miles on it but there mostly Highway miles.

3. Also would anyone recomend a engine and fuel system flush.

4.) Also at what miles should the trottle body be cleaned. I got mine replaced two years ago at 80k miles just after I bought the car. Any idea on my much it would cost.

 

Hello Ahmed,

I'm an 850 driver and do not usually go out of the 850 forum, but at the moment everyone there seems to be doing ok and there are many experts there so I thought of visiting other forums to see if I can answer general questions.

As to each of your question:

1) Newer cars seem to use long-life coolant that should last 100,000 miles/10 years. However, even so I would still replace it at every 60,000 miles/5 years. If the coolant is not a long-life type, I would replace it at every 30,000 miles/3 years. I would not go to any franchise store to have any service done on Volvo. If you don't want to pay the premium at a dealer, try finding an independent shop that specialises in Swedish/European makes.

2) Newer cars use platinum-tipped plugs that last about 60,000 miles. I would replace them with platinum/iridium plugs at every 50,000 miles/4 years butthat's just me.

3) Engine flush is absolutely unnecessary, unless you drove into a large body of water. As long as you change oil & filter at scheduled intervals (5,000 miles/6 months for non-turbo, 3,000 miles/4 months for turbo), the engine should be fine. As to the fuel system, I personally dump a bottle of Techron fuel system cleaner once/year, but some people seem to use stuff called Seafoam, which I've never used before.

4) As far as 850 is concerned, I would clean it at every 3-4 years or so. This may be different on S80, though. 850's throttle body gets dirty rather quickly due to the design of EGR system. I'm not sure how much it is to have it cleaned at a shop.

Lastly, refer to the owner's manual for service intervals. If your car does not have one, it is a great investment to buy one on-line, if you want to keep your car for a long time. You can find one at the following URL, or other on-line shops:

https://www.volvotechinfo.com/index.cfm?event=shop.cart

I hope this helps. Time for me to go back to the 850 forum, bye!


JPN

 

Thanks for the info.

In 1999 Volvo started using ETM's (Electronic Throttle Module) which are known to be problem prone. The 98 and older Volvos have the reguler cable throttle bodys which are not known to have problems at all at least to my knowlege.