1999 S80 2.9 SE - Worth saving?
 

Hey chaps,

It's been a while, but nice to be back :)

Thought I'd give you a guys a look at what I picked up today for £300. A 1999 S80 2.9 SE Auto which has been sat stationary and unstarted for a year and a half. A vile set of aftermarket wheels and a green covering wasn't guna put me off getting to know one of these finally.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...psdea9c972.jpg

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http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps75c143e5.jpg

I stuck a battery in and that beast of an engine roared into life on the first turn of the key. Engine Management light on and SRS SERVICE REQUIRED.

Stuck it in D and it pulled off VERY sluggishly indeed. "TRANSMISSION SERVICE REQUIRED". The gearbox definitely isn't behaving as it should. It didn't drop into fourth at dual carriageway speeds, and roundabouts were a tense experience as it really struggles to pull away from a standstill.

A few more tense moments passed and "ABS SYSTEM SERVICE REQUIRED" and "STC SERVICE REQUIRED" appeared.

It seems that one (or more) of the brakes are binding, which would make sense considering how long it has stood. Apart from all of that, it's a really lovely car. The engine feels as healthy as day one and I'd love to be able to experience the full potential of it, but the gearbox is holding it back!

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...psc4d2064a.jpg

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...psbbec5ac0.jpg

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What do you think guys? Is it past spending time and money on and better for parts? Or are there a few simple things I can try?

I'd really love to bring it back to life. But at 196k, is it worth it?

Personally, I think it's a breaker. These are only £750 cars once road worthy, sad but true :(

A lot of that might be solved by a good service (inc. brakes), then clear the codes and see what returns.
The gearbox could be the nail in the coffin though.

Depends whether you bought it to sell on or not. If so, I guess there's not much (if any) money to be made but if you intend to keep it, there's probably plenty of life left in it.

Change the fluid and I bet it will be OK. Give her a good clean up, make a bit of use of her and hopefully lots of those messages will disappear. I had a similar car, not such a high mileage, and I thought it was a great car. Only got pennies for it when I traded in for my S60.

Thanks for the advice :thumbs_up:

I bought it as I've always wanted to try an S80, and it has to be the 2.9 for me. At that money there was nothing really to lose so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'll do a fluid change on the gearbox, it's great to hear that that might cure it. Fingers crossed. It doesn't feel terminal, but it certainly needs attention.

Got a mad few weeks ahead so it's been parked up with the rest of the fleet - after nearly two years, I'm sure it can wait another two weeks!

Will keep updating this thread as progress is hopefully made.

It certainly is worth changing the fluid, you might find that it is just a bit low on atf.

Maybe my first post was a bit too brutal so I apologise!

You were just being realistic!

Well I started the car from cold this afternoon and it literally wouldn't move in D until the car had warmed up a bit. It came with a Haynes manual so I'll have to get a look at how much of a nightmare the fluid change is, it's worth a try!