Xc90 T6 problems

[AnthonySitch]

Thanks for all your thoughts I think! Lol. Right Volvo are carrying out some repairs at the mo. they are replacing the DEM, brake survo, top engine mount and fixing the information display. They have given it a full once over and bar the dealer essential advisory on a couple of tyres (suggest early replacement) that is all they can find wrong with the car. I love the power of the T6 but the fuel bills not so much but it's worth it. I have read ALOT of reviews since I have owned the car and yes the gearbox is a ticking time bomb of which I will hopefully pass on in a p/x to Volvo on an upgrade next year. Oh and the brakes are different on the D5 to the T6 (so I am told by the garage) as the T6 calipers are bigger.

[y2blade]

Good on you for deciding to stick with the T6, we love ours.

Yeah the gearbox is always in the back of our mind too, but then if ours goes we could shell-out to get it fixed and sell it and still be in profit.

All the best with it.

[xc90tology]

I've also had my '54 T6 for twelve months now and have not had any troubles. While under dealer warranty, I changed a noisy passenger side drive shaft and top engine mount and it's been a dream car since. Drove all over Europe this summer without a problem. Next week I'm due my first MOT with it, and I purchased and replaced with ease all brake discs, pads and shoes with non-OEM Mintex ones. Yes, the transmission issue is always at the back of my mind, but have now passed the 100k miles mark (bought it at 90K) so I guess if it didn't experience an 'early' failure, I must be a lucky one.

One question for y'all experts here: how, in your view, do you better nurture the T6 transmission, in addition to being a 'smooth operator'? For example, I like to use the 1-4 shift to control the ratio and save fuel; is driving on automatic D extending the trany life?

Thanks, Chris.

[AnthonySitch]

Just got my car back today. They replaced the DEM and it feels like a different car. The power before was good but used to wheel spin a bit (yes i was nieve as didnt realise it shouldnt have if the AWD was working). Even in the rain it just grips and goes of like a sling shot. I realise that i need to drive carefully to try and prolong the life of the dreaded gm box. I loved this car before but know even more so as its so much better. Style, power, comfort and safety all come at a cost. Thanks for everyone for putting posts on this thread and all others as over the last 2 months i have read alot and i strongly believe that this forum helps people from changing a bulb to identifying if the honest man is getting screwed over by a garage. Thanks

XC90 T6 with mods

[poisondart]

Originally Posted by AnthonySitch

Just got my car back today. They replaced the DEM and it feels like a different car. The power before was good but used to wheel spin a bit (yes i was nieve as didnt realise it shouldnt have if the AWD was working). Even in the rain it just grips and goes of like a sling shot. I realise that i need to drive carefully to try and prolong the life of the dreaded gm box. I loved this car before but know even more so as its so much better. Style, power, comfort and safety all come at a cost. Thanks for everyone for putting posts on this thread and all others as over the last 2 months i have read alot and i strongly believe that this forum helps people from changing a bulb to identifying if the honest man is getting screwed over by a garage. Thanks

XC90 T6 with mods

It's a pretty darn good forum. And you're right about the T6, it's a nice car. I drove 600 miles in 2 days over the weekend. The car didn't break a sweat, and I felt like I'd just been sitting in an armchair the whole weekend. Seriously comfortable, especially with the Exec trim. And I have 110k on my T6 and she's driving fine. I've had it for a year, and given her mileage, she's been more reliable than the Toyota Avensis I had before.

[y2blade]

Originally Posted by AnthonySitch

Just got my car back today. They replaced the DEM and it feels like a different car. The power before was good but used to wheel spin a bit (yes i was nieve as didnt realise it shouldnt have if the AWD was working). Even in the rain it just grips and goes of like a sling shot. I realise that i need to drive carefully to try and prolong the life of the dreaded gm box. I loved this car before but know even more so as its so much better. Style, power, comfort and safety all come at a cost. Thanks for everyone for putting posts on this thread and all others as over the last 2 months i have read alot and i strongly believe that this forum helps people from changing a bulb to identifying if the honest man is getting screwed over by a garage. Thanks

XC90 T6 with mods

Originally Posted by poisondart

It's a pretty darn good forum. And you're right about the T6, it's a nice car. I drove 600 miles in 2 days over the weekend. The car didn't break a sweat, and I felt like I'd just been sitting in an armchair the whole weekend. Seriously comfortable, especially with the Exec trim. And I have 110k on my T6 and she's driving fine. I've had it for a year, and given her mileage, she's been more reliable than the Toyota Avensis I had before.

Thanks for the Update Anthony.

All the best with it

[xc90tology]

Originally Posted by xc90tology

I've also had my '54 T6 for twelve months now and have not had any troubles. While under dealer warranty, I changed a noisy passenger side drive shaft and top engine mount and it's been a dream car since. Drove all over Europe this summer without a problem. Next week I'm due my first MOT with it, and I purchased and replaced with ease all brake discs, pads and shoes with non-OEM Mintex ones. Yes, the transmission issue is always at the back of my mind, but have now passed the 100k miles mark (bought it at 90K) so I guess if it didn't experience an 'early' failure, I must be a lucky one.

Thanks, Chris.

Not a lucky one anymore. In January I had the first encounter with limp mode and the dreaded Transmission Service Urgent message. The message went away by itself after a coupled of days, and I never felt any change in the gearbox. Last Sunday we had some sleet and as I drove on it the car went again in limp mode but this time the gearbox works normal in 1-2 but slips under load in 3-4, unless when it goes into limp mode, when 3rd gear seems to work fine. I read lots of horror stories about tranny costing a replacement at £5k at VCUK dealers or £2-3k at independent dealers. Crazy thing is we don't use the car so often; I've done 3k miles since writing the above post last October, and we're half way through paying the finance on it. Would finance accept to write off this xc90 if I presented them with a £5k bill for the trany replacement, I wonder?

[irishcarfan]

That's terrible Chris - I read where you had travelled across Europe and thought 'wow he's brave!' but with admiration. Hope you get it all worked out - sounds like they are nice cars aside from this dreaded gearbox

And to the OP, hope the car is still going strong!

[xc90tology]

Thanks Irishcarfan, well I've now gone back to the "lucky one" stance. After a week of anxiety I took the car for a diagnostic at the Volvo dealers, afraid for the worse. It turns out they cleared all the codes, tested everything in my transmission, and there doesn't seem to be any problem. They carried out the TCM software upgrade and it tested okay. I paid £69 for all and was told to monitor and see if any error comes back. Although to my mind, these messages popping up are a warning of sorts; maybe a fault with the transmission is about to develop... fingers crossed

[poisondart]

Originally Posted by xc90tology

Thanks Irishcarfan, well I've now gone back to the "lucky one" stance. After a week of anxiety I took the car for a diagnostic at the Volvo dealers, afraid for the worse. It turns out they cleared all the codes, tested everything in my transmission, and there doesn't seem to be any problem. They carried out the TCM software upgrade and it tested okay. I paid £69 for all and was told to monitor and see if any error comes back. Although to my mind, these messages popping up are a warning of sorts; maybe a fault with the transmission is about to develop... fingers crossed

Well you know what Chris, I had pretty much the same thing happen at 97k in Nov 2011. Had the codes reset, had tranny fluid changed, had 2 software upgrades with volvo at service last may at 104k, now at 116k and driving fine. So maybe it's alright for a bit yet...