Other S80 Problem: Dread Warning, that means Nothing?

[marcus.grant]

"W reg 2000 S80 2.9 Petrol, Auto, straight 6, 91'000 miles"

Went to volvo for this warning... "Emission Service Required"
£36.00 pounds lighter I was told that there wasn't a code.

There is a problem, but it will take 4hours to find it, as it could be 1 of 4 things. (£93 plus Vat per hr)

Don't worry nothing will cause any damage, if you drive it.

Bring it back when it goes into limp mode. WTF!

Firstly, I bought a garage car so I don't have to get oily anymore and to take the guess work out of every little grumble, after all it has 5 computer-ma-bobs to figure out were it hurts.

Words like "It could be", shouldn't be uttered in a volvo garage... Should it?
Then the cheek of asking for £400 to look, not including repair nor time to fix.

How do they know its okay to drive, when clueless on cause. surely there must be a main/common cause for this problem?

And above all I am disabled, and do not have much endurance anymore, so the thought of the car going into limp mode leaves me cold to be honest, as I live in country.
In just under 3yrs its only done 4'400 miles.

Few Ideas showed up. EMG pipe block.
Dodgy coil... But no missing, and running smooth. How do you test a weak coil?

Looked around but nothing really fits just right. So any ideas

[Missing Lincs]

My suggestion would be to try another garage and get a second opinion.

[Bill_56]

You could ring Volvo customer relations, explain the problem, explain that the dealer's advice has left you with some concerns, and ask if you could discuss it directly with an Engineer. Don't make it sound like a 'complaint' as that put's everybody's backs up, just make it sound reasonable and try to keep it friendly.

They won't let you speak with an Engineer, but they may offer to contact the dealer and encourage him to see things your way.

[toxophilus]

Or I'm sure someone on here will recommend an independent specialist in your area.

[Simon Jones]

I can recommend Martin Matthewson in Basingstoke as being a decent independent garage who are not a million miles from you.

I wouldn't be surprised if the low mileage you've covered wasn't perhaps part of the problem. Short or infrequent journeys result in things not getting fully up to temperature which may result in some deposits not being fully burned off. Have you tried taking it for a longish run just to see if it makes any difference?

[Georgeandkira]

Hello, +1 Simon Jones and Bill_56. Stretching a car's legs applys to all cars nowadays. Your vehicle is old enough to need all of it's vacuum hoses examined, if not replaced. Try finding a listing of those bits of hose. Kira