After sampling my 850.. my father went out and picked up a lightly used XC90. His is FWD with the I6 (non-turbo) what says the hive mind about problems with Volvo's SUV?
After sampling my 850.. my father went out and picked up a lightly used XC90. His is FWD with the I6 (non-turbo) what says the hive mind about problems with Volvo's SUV?
If he doesn't need AWD then he's got the right one. Most issues were with the t6.
Interference engine with a timing belt, be sure to do tensioner, idler, pulleys, & water pump (with new bolts) when it's serviced.
Don't expect great MPG, but reliable, & safe.
So if its a 6 non turbo, it must be fairly new, correct? If so, one of the tragic flaws is gone, since they ditched the Hydramatic a while ago. The Aisan Warner is a much better feeling gearbox, and they last waaaay longer.
I betcha it still has the hateful, overintrusive traction/stability control, though. If you don't care about that stuff, they are wonderful to drive on the highway. We made Saskatoon/LaCrosse (1100 miles or so) in 14 hours- including lunch, 20 mpg as long as we stayed under 85.
They made i-6 x90s all the way back near 2000 iirc. They were definitely using the gm 4t60 (iirc?) at that time if that's what you're referring to.
My mom's s80 has the gm trans and that makes me happy. It acts just fine and if it breaks, for me personally it's a case of 'the devil you know' since i have built 4t60s in the past and i know for a fact they are not cruelly complicated or expensive as some import transmissions can be.. I am less enthused about the transmission in my dad's Diamante.
I did the timing belt on my mom's s80 with the 2.9. Hers has a variable cam gear on the exhaust cam iirc, and there is some sort of procedure for turning it this way or that to find the ends of its range and set it in the middle or some such crap. Since her belt wasnt broken i just marked the existing belt to a tooth on each pulley, transferred the marks to the new belt, and installed the belt back on that way. I didnt even set the engine to any other kind of reference like a timing mark, cyl 1 tdc etc. Just used the marks i made on the old belt and pulleys and wherever the engine had stopped last time it was shut down was just fine. 
If you have to do a HVAC fan its an easy 12-14hr job to take the entire dash out down to a little bit beyond the crashbar and the fan itself is about $600-700.
That was my experience and it was under warranty so i only got paid for 6hrs, needless to say i was uber pissed!!
mad_machine wrote: After sampling my 850.. my father went out and picked up a lightly used XC90. His is FWD with the I6 (non-turbo) what says the hive mind about problems with Volvo's SUV?
My wife drives an '07 XC90 3.2 I6 AWD bought used as CPO about 3.5 years ago. It has about 80kmiles now and it's fully loaded with third row sat, rear seat DVD, Nav etc and so far, knock on wood, has been pretty reliable. We've only done regular/scheduled maintenance. It's not fast and gets about 17-18 mpg mostly city driving but the best part is that it uses regular instead of premium so that helps. I also heard that the problematic one was the 2.5t supposedly because it used the S80 2.5t transmission on a much heavier SUV.
3rd row seats are to be desired and help on re-sale. I used to sell used cars and XC90/70s were always a hot ticket.
all very good info.. thanks guys!
ea_sport wrote: \ I also heard that the problematic one was the 2.5t supposedly because it used the S80 2.5t transmission on a much heavier SUV.
All the early twin turbo 6 had the hydramatic. It seems the 80s are not too bad, but its pretty rare to see an turbo6 xc90 make it too far past 100k miles without peeling the teeth off the final drive planetary...and its a proprietary Volvo part. In my experience, the 5 is the more reliable one, but the Aisan trans might be a wee bit undersized for the big body there too.
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