I have just had the second air pump and check valve replaced on my 1996 850. The first was at about 50,000 miles in 1998, and was under warranty. Now I'm at 100,000. It cost $346 for the pump, $109 for the check valve, $3 for the gasket, and $160 for the labor, a total of $618. This was just after saving about $400 on the ABS Control by sending it to Vic Rocha in California to repair, which by the way was when the check engine light first came on.

Incidently, my Volvo shop (Crown Volvo in Chapel Hill North Carolina) is always happy to reset the light for free (perhaps because I bought it there?), which apparently is not typical dealer behavior from my readings of other posts on this subject.

I had this fixed since I didn't really want to try and override the emissions rules, and also since I wouldn't know if something else was going wrong if my check engine light was always on.

My question is, does it seem "normal" to have to replace this system every 50,000 miles, or is it possible Volvo has somehow recognized this as a faulty system and perhaps would pony up some replacement money if I wrote to them?