Hello,

First and foremost, I am new to this, and do not know that much about cars. I am a female also, so when you explain things to me, I may ask for clarification. Just wanted to point that out to begin with.

I bought my first car at 22. Its a Volvo S80, year 2000. Lovely interior, and it is beautiful, but it has a few things wrong with it, and I wanted to see what you all thought might be done to lower costs and such with repair.

Bought it for $3,000 from a private sale, as-is dealer.
Took it to Midas, who said it needed a new ball-joint and control arm.
Took it to Meineke for a second opinion from my friend Kevin, and he said that yes, it needs the control arm, and ball-joint repaired as well as the front break-pads, but the issue is the oil leak, without the oil leak being fixed, because oil is caustic, I would be in for repairs repeatedly.
Took it to Firestone to get the oil leak checked out -- they said it needs around $1100 in repairs -- their exact words were:

Repair:
Gaskets: Engine
- Valve Cover Gasket Leaking Badly, j8 valve cover gasket set
remove and replace valve cover gasket

- Timing Belt: Cam and Crank Shaft Seals leaking very badly, might damage engine if continued driving.
95319 Timing Belt: Remove and Replace Timing Belt, Remove and Replace Camshaft Oil Seal, Camshaft Sprocket, Crankshaft Sprocket, and Timing Belt Tensioner.

- System Failure: Required?

- After these are fixed: Needs front break pads, and a new right control arm with balljoint repaired. Not worth fixing until the oil leak is fixed... thats what he said...

Can anyone explain to me what these are, and if these truly are bad things? Also, is it cheaper to to take to volvo dealer?

The Car has 81,000 miles on it, and is in good condition.

 

Everyone has an opinion, here's mine:
It's good to shop. Talk to friends and any other Volvo owner you see and ask where they get their car serviced.
Look for an independent mechanic close to you that specializes in Volvo or European cars.
I don't recommend muffler shops and tire stores to anyone.
There is no valve cover gasket per se, a sealant is used.
The seals can be replaced without removing the valve cover.
Your likely cause of the leaks is the crank case ventilation system (PCV), causing excess crank case pressures and pushing oil past the seals.
Shop times are estimated the same way by most shops. If they know what's going on, they give you a realistic estimate. The job gets done and you go on your merry way, coming back when you have a different problem.
If they do the described work and you still have a leak, you're disappointed and spend more time and money to correct the problem, or they find their mistake and repair it and change the total bill and you're disappointed. Shop rates vary, and the Volvo dealer will be the highest.
It is time for timing belt and rollers as well as PCV service. Excessive crank case pressure can be seen and felt by pulling the oil dipstick noticing the release of pressure.
T-belt service is not cheap and must be done. If you know the previous owner or have record of previous timing belt service, you need only replace the belt and not the other components.
Good price on the car.
Here's a helper for you: RepairPrice Estimator - Get an Estimate for a Service or Repair on Your Car : RepairPal
Good luck,
Ed

 

I agree with Ed7. None of this sounds too dire but get the timing belt done, as well as the tensioner and water pump while you are at it. Not much additional expense to do these at the same time as the timing belt but it gets expensive quickly to have them done separately. Ball joints and tie rod ends are normal maintenance issues so get them done. I agree about the oil issue. That's a lot of leaks on a low mileage car and points to 1 issue - PCV - as stated.

Brake pads - again, normal maintenance item. Get them fixed.

Take it to an independent Volvo or European Import shop as they will typically do a great job for much less than a Volvo dealership. And they will know what really needs looked after. If I knew where you lived (doesn't anyone update their location in their profile any more???) I may be able to recommend a shop. Otherwise, go out to the Car Talk / Mechanics Files website ( http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechanics-files ) and look through their recommended dealer list. It's a great resource.

Good luck with what sounds like a good car purchased at a good price!

 

What is a PCV??

(remember, I have little knowledge in this area of cars)

Can I repair these on my own, or save $$ by having a friend repair them? What sort of person can repair them (I know you said it shouldnt be someone at a tire place ect)

I live in Manchester, NH, there is a Volvo Dealer on Merrimack St in Manchester, NH, but no idea elsewhere.

 

Gary Rondeau's shop in Hooksett is supposed to be pretty good. A buddy who lives in Windham has used then.

 

Thanks! Will check them out!!!

 

Whats a pcv? does it have to do with the head gasket, and the crankshaft and camshaft? and the Timing Belt?

 

PCV - positive crank case ventilation system
This uses the engine's air intake system (goes into the cylinders) to draw combustion gasses that have blown by the piston rings in the cylinders as the engine runs.
This happens in all engines, less in new engines than older ones.
It draws a slightly negative pressure in the engine. When clogged, excess pressure builds and pushes oil out of the weaker points like the seals.
Ed

 

ok, oil leaks from these cars somewhat normal. The rack and pinion leaks on all of them, nothing to be alarmed, just a little power steering additive resolves the issue. It it is a turbo, the turbo will weep oil, this is normal to a degree. There is a gally drain for when you spill over topping the oil off on the top of the engine, oil will drain back and make it look like a large leak.

Timing belt is due, however I would go to the dealer and see if there are any records on your car before having it done, dealerships change the belts about 20,000 miles sooner than they really need to be.

control arm and ball joint?? I have only seen a handful go bad on the s80. The ones I have seen the cars had well over 200k miles.

I wouldn't worry about the PCV system just yet. Typically they start going out around 175+ miles with "OK" maintenance.

for the record oil is not caustic. I am in it all day long and I have never had a chemical burn from it.

 

you can try DIY, if it has little problem. the VCS scanner interface may be suit for you to DIY, which can quick to test you car.

 

So... Update

I was considering trading my Volvo in for a Saturn, but the guy who was going to do the trade looked at it, and said that it needed too much work. Too much work to him consisted of:

- Upon his inspection of looking at the car, it clearly had been in a front end collision, and it looks as though the motor had been re-done.

- He stated that there seemed to be some oil on top of the fuse box (?) no idea where that would have come from or how it got there to begin with.

- He ultimately stated that it would be too much work for him at the present time.

I took my car in to a friends garage yesterday, who is going to be fixing everything that is wrong with it. (that we know of)

Which is the front breaks, cam shaft, crankshaft, and timing belt.

I guess ultimately, is when speaking with the Volvo Dealership they said that the car could have an issue with the PCV.

What is the likelihood of it being a PCV issue, when everyone else who has looked at it (Meineke, Midas, Brothers Automotive, Firestone, Colon Auto Repair, and Felos Garage and Repair) have said it is not a PCV Issue?

After sealing the head gasket, cam shaft, crankshaft and re-doing the timing belt/tensioner, what else could cause an oil leak?

 

SATURN is going to be worse than this S80 im telling you now.

PCV system being clogged is very likely. with the engine at operating temperature and running, pull the dipstick out 1/4 way and shine a light across the hole. If you see smoke 99% sure it is the PCV system being clogged. A clogged PCV will cause a lot of oil leaks.

Crank seal on the front? never heard of having to replace one. However the Rear main seal usually goes before the front one. A leaky cam seal and make it look like a front main seal.

 

UPDATE:

Decided not to trade my Volvo S80. I got the waterpipe, seals and timing belt repaired for $750 from a friend.

Inspected::

FAILED::

Reason::

Saftey:
- Steering Suspension Defective Steering Column Looseness
- Steering Suspension Ball Joint Broken/Damaged

OBD:
- Vehicle not ready for EPA Guidance

What is OBD? and EPA Guidance? The mechanic said that the check engine light was on, and that I "put gas in my car with it on" and thats why it remains on... atleast thats whats my mother told me anyway...

It says Catalyst, O2, and Evap are the reason it is not ready and not passing? What are those?

I basically need to know how to fix my car to pass inspection>? I have until 9-4-12 to fix this...


Additional Question:: Can a dirty air filter cause this? could it be as simple as changing the air filter?

Also:: I get the message alarm service required?

The car has around 82,000 miles on it... What should I get done for routine maintenance? Other than these repairs?

Any idea where the fuse is for the sunroof? It suddenly stopped working...

 

unless they actually test emissions in your area I wouldn't worry about the engine light. In Virginia at least the only 2 dash light that will cause a failed inspection is bulb failure and SRS.

service required is the "time to change oil" reminder.

I never actually heard of steering collum looseness? Not in cars that are that low of miles. ball joint is possible, but some play is ok, there is a spec limit.

 

OBD is the On Board Dionostic system that mechanics connects a hand held computer into to see what is wrong with a car. Sometimes when the car battery is removed or disconnected it will reset the computer and cause it to give a NOT READY notice until the car's computer figures out how you drive. Till then, the car's computer can't really tell what may be wrong with the car and wont give codes. It may take as long as 2 weeks or 400 miles to get the computer to cycle and show the READY notice. There are some people that know how to speed up that process but I don't.

If you have an evaporator system problem, changing the air filter won't FIX anything. You'll have to figure out what the real problem is and have it repaired.

Please look in your OWNERS MANUAL to see what routine maintenace should be done. There is a full schedule of what it will take to help the car go the distance.

The owners manual and fuse box will show you where the sunroof fuse it. However, if you hit the button and hear a click, your problem is likely not the fuse.

 

NH Tests for Emissions, and REQUIRES inspections. They failed me for saftey and emissions. I need to know what repairs need to be done, or thoughts...

 

No click for it. I have the owners manual, but realistically, based on what the thing says, what should I do?

Someone mentioned to me that I need to get a new O2 Sensor, and it could be something to do with the catalytic converter and the MAF sensor? I know I need to get new air filters and such... but I really just wanted to see what you all's thought were.

I called the garage that looked at it, and they said "The code the computer gave was a code that is given when you put gas in the car, and the car is on" and the "Check Engine" light emits. We cleared that code out, and that should solve the problem...

I am really worried something else is wrong lol..