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Thread: Volvo Valdez

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Stonington, CT
    Posts
    111

    Default Volvo Valdez

    Just about a week ago was thinking that my 98 XC's oil consumption was pretty decent, all things considered, at about 2K miles per quart since its last oil and filter change at around 201K miles. Then it started drinking oil pretty rapidly. Now its blowing a LOT of oil out the dipstick tube, leaving a heavy film on the top of the cam cover hood liner pad and radiator shroud. Even a run of 20 odd miles to work results in a fair amount of mess. No indication of other leaks such as the rear main seal so far, thankfully. The o ring on the dipstick is new, as is the seal ring on the filler cap. Engine is running strong and smooth, no significant tailpipe smoking.

    So it looks like its time for a PVC system overhaul again...this was previously done about 3 years/50K miles ago when I had a head/timing belt and tensioner/water pump job replacement done.

    Surprised this has come up again in only 50K....cars has always had frequent oil changes and I have been running Castrol synthetic 10W30 for the last couple of years since the head work. Drained oil has has never looked sludgy, and everything looks clean from what I can see under the cam cover through the oil filler cap hole. Car has done a lot of mostly highway miles in the last few months. I don t feel a strong vacuum or pressure buildup at the dipstick tube, but can see the oil mist being spit out when revving the engine when its warmed up with the dipstick out.

    What's a typical cost of this job in an indie shop these days? Anything to watch out for that might be overlooked/not properly accomplished when this done? Going to the shop, needs to be done quickly and I don't have time to do myself right now because of work and other commitments. Sure sucks that Volvo's engine designers buried all that plumbing under the intake manifold. Makes changing/cleaning simple inexpensive parts an expensive undertaking.
    Last edited by StoningtonXC70; 07-14-2011 at 03:26 AM. Reason: Correct typos

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Stonington, CT
    Posts
    111

    Default

    The oil mist discharge from the dipstick tube seems to have abated quite a bit. The indicated oil level on the dipstick seems to have stabilized as well. I am starting to think the root cause of my problem is not a clogged PVC system, but that I have been misreading the dipstick and over adding oil- with clean oil it's kind of hard to see where the actual level is. When I look real closely at it, it seems that there may be some sort of stratification going on , and there is actually clean oil that I am looking right through on the upper end of the stick reading. Going to do an oil change today so I know how much is really in the sump and see what happens from there. I always check the oil with the car level after it has sat overnight and never ran into this problem before, but have noticed that for some reason the Volvo dipstick gives a less definite indication than those of other cars I have had over the years, especially when the oil is really clean after a change. Maybe it's due to the small diameter and being round, vs the more common flat blade? Maybe something to do with how the Castrol synthetic adheres to the stick? Puzzling....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Stonington, CT
    Posts
    111

    Default

    Well, my possible oil overfill theory is shot to Shineola....Still blowing oil mist from the dipstick tube after a complete oil drain, filter replacement, and refill. Definitely not as bad as it was earlier in the week, but still abnormal. At least I have eliminated overfill as a root cause. Car goes to the shop this week for a complete PCV overhaul.

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