Happy S80 owner.

Rotorhead · Post by **Rotorhead** » 17 May 2012, 21:37

2002 S80 2.9. I just wanted to say that after many years of being around Volvos but without having ever owned one, I decided to purchase a Volvo S80. I had my doubts after reading all of the issues that other people have had. I am an electronics technician professionally, and work on many of the systems used in these cars in one form or another. I found a 2002 S80 with electronic issues and thought it would be the perfect challenge for me. I bought it for scrap price and I have to say that it has been my best vehicle purchase ever. It is an absolute pleasure to commute to work in every day (especially coming from the Toyota world) . I have with the help of this fine forum fixed every problem that I purchased the car with except for the lack of keyless remotes. I plan to build a keyless entry and remote start system as time permits. I know that everyone seems to believe that this is a near impossibility, but I believe that I have bypassed enough similar systems in my day to be very comfortable in building this system. I purchased the car without any functioning lighting systems, and with nearly every electronic system disabled or damaged. So far the only parts that I have had to purchase have been simple and very reasonably priced. I only have a few thousand miles on this car at this point, but I am building them quickly. My daily commute is 115 miles of beautiful open and vacant roads with visibility for miles... talk about a beautiful drive... and the milage is respectable for what this thing does. The previous owner got in way over his head very quickly and sold the car at a huge loss. I knew that some of the systems might be a little tough to fix, but compared to the systems that I normally tackle, this thing is simply laid out and access is a breeze. I appreciate all of the thoughtful post by owners, and the schematics are priceless. I look forward to sharing my experiences and modifications with this forum.
thanks again for this great resource!
P.S. I had some problems posting this from my phone as the formatting became an issue. Please overlook poor formatting.

Post by **precopster** » 18 May 2012, 08:13

Welcome to MVS.

Glad to hear that you've managed to overcome what the previous owner couldn't. The S80 is not the only model hit by uninformed dealers or public. I bought a perfectly good 2000 V70 for my wife because the dealer who sold it to me on eBay thought the trans was toast!! New fluid and a $22 cover for a servo piston later and it's driving perfectly!!

S80 is my pet car. I want badly to own one, especially a T6 but am really afraid of transmissions and systems within. You could be a very valuable member of this forum with the experience you have racked up so far.

You'll have no trouble tackling the ETM if it fails, just put in a Sacer sensor for around $140 as I did and away you go.

By the way how many miles has she racked up? Is the PCV in good condition? There's a thread floating around here somewhere about posting your photo of the car you own. If you log in from time to time a new post on this thread hits MVS. Post in a pic, I'm sure everyone would love to see her.

Rotorhead · Post by **Rotorhead** » 18 May 2012, 12:34

Well so far she has about 160K, but the miles are building pretty fast as I have been pretty much only driving this car. It sure makes my other vehicles feel like dinosaurs. LOL. It isn't the fastest thing out there off of the line, but I'm not 15 any more either. It is incredibly quiet and stable and the seats are really good. I am not too worried about the transmission issues yet, but if they arise I have a lot of experience building transmissions. The PCV is clean, no blow by whatsoever. The ETM should be ok, but of course any of these systems can fail. Some are just more prone than others. I did purchase a set of Pirelli T6 tires for it and I am so far undecided on this choice. They are quiet and handle ok, but they are not as grippy as I would have thought. I will report on them after a few more miles.

Rotorhead · Post by **Rotorhead** » 18 May 2012, 13:22

I can submit more pictures as I modify and upgrade my car. Thanks for the welcome, and good luck resisting the S80 attraction... I have been interested since I saw the first one and eventually the right one found me. LOL

Rotorhead · Post by **Rotorhead** » 18 May 2012, 13:32

No wash is complete without washing the engine bay too...

Rotorhead · Post by **Rotorhead** » 26 May 2012, 21:13

Probably should go under another topic, but I will just mention that I did a headlight lens replacement on my passenger side headlamp and it was really easy. I purchased a new lens from eBay for a grand total of $44 and it was a very nice quality replacement. It is not manufactured by Volvo, but the fit and finish and quality appear to be spot on. I was afraid that it might be a little tough without removing the front bumper cover, but it turned out to be a very simple job that can be done by anyone with some mechanical skills. I liked the outcome enough that I may go ahead and replace my drivers side too and will photograph the process and post for anyone who is interested. I had read that the front bumper cover had to be removed but found that it could be done by simply removing the upper push rivets and simply pulling the cover out slightly. The bottom clips can be reached using a pair of 90 degree needle nose pliers. From start to finish took slightly less than 30 minutes and the outcome is a headlamp that no longer fogs up. I also took the time to polish the bezel and cups, my right lamp is much brighter than the drivers side now.

Post by **yuckuJackD** » 27 May 2012, 00:33

Removing the bumper cover is very easy and simple job, too. First time for me took me some time, but now remove/reasemble process tooks me less than 4 minutes. Oh, I replaced the rivets with plastic clips (bolt style).

: Plastic-Fasteners.jpg (10.4 KiB) Viewed 1787 times

Something like this, but longer.

This way you're not able to be in place with power plug for driller and you don't need to carry new rivets every time.
Just an idea, you know...

Rotorhead · Post by **Rotorhead** » 27 May 2012, 03:56

Mine already had those installed so it was a breeze. I am guessing that the originals were the plastic pop rivet style? Someone had previously replaced mine with the push rivets which are the same without the threads.

trill2ride · Post by **trill2ride** » 09 Jun 2012, 12:42

Hey Rotorhead, I would really like to replace my headlights too. I would really appreciate it if you could post pictures on how to do it when you do the other side.

Thanks.

Post by **yuckuJackD** » 10 Jun 2012, 11:02

Here is a manual of how to remove front bumper cover: click. It's wrote in Bulgarian, but pictures are enough to figure out the main process.
Good luck.