crewsr
03-28-2016, 07:58 AM
So having had the car for about a year, I felt that it was time to check the PCV system. I didn't have the history of the car, which had about 110K miles on it when I purchased it, so couldn't say for certain if it had been done or not (the user manual showed the previous owner had Volvo routine services performed up to 96K miles, but PCV wasn't listed). So, this weekend I took the plunge, here are some observations for those planning on doing their own.
There's a pretty good how-to here on volvoxc.com for a XC90 PCV, the vehicles are really similar in the engine compartment so they were mostly spot-on.
A good collection of 3/8" and 1/4" drive sockets, extensions, ujoints and ratchets will be necessary to get at some of the bolts holding things together. If you don't have a variety of extensions and accessories, get a few before beginning. I found that the 1/4" drive was more useful than 3/8" in many places. A 7mm on a subby 1/4" ratchet works great for the big band clamps holding the charge air and intercooler to tb pipes; a 6mm on the same ratchet good for all the smaller hose clamps. The banjo bolt under the manifold (little bast**d) was 18mm, and I didn't have an 18mm wrench; it would have been easier if I had one but an adjustable wrench worked.
Taking it all a part was time consuming, but relatively frustration free. Remove the fan shroud for more working room (2 10mm bolts in the top corners and pull straight up). Hang a piece of cardboard or similar in its place to protect the now-exposed radiator from getting banged up.
After depressurizing the fuel rail it will still be full of gasoline when you disconnect the line, be prepared to catch a few ounces.
The electrical connections are all brittle with age; be super careful. I damaged the retaining ears on the throttle body connector electrical connector while disconnecting it and used a zip tie to secure it in place when I hooked it back up. You may consider unbolting the throttle body before trying to disconnect this.
The ports on my engine weren't blocked up at all; I stuck a piece of 5/8 tubing into the lower port and blew through it easily and could hear bubbling (yay!).
Installing the new, crazy complicated pipe to the underside of the intake was just a frustrating as many before me have described it. In order to get the threads started, I had to unscrew the lower manifold bolts as far as I could (only a couple turns in) AND disconnect the line from the 'crazy pipe' (I don't know what this thing was really called) from the coolant flange in order to get the banjo fitting wiggle just right for the threads to finally catch. This was by far the most time-consuming thing to figure out. There was a significant amount of cursing involved. Once the threads caught the bolt was easiest to tighten before securing the manifold to the head. Once the bolt was in place the rest of assembly was smooth.
The IPD kit comes with a bunch of stuff (o-rings, washers, hose clamps etc...). The 4 washer are for the banjo fittings, the 5 black o-rings are for the injectors and 1 green o-ring for the dipstick tube. Be careful removing the old o-rings from the injectors, there's a plastic flange at the base of each one that breaks very easily. The only thing the IPD kit doesn't come with is a new TB gasket (I reused mine...). I did not have to remove the coolant flange or power steering/alternator, however the power steering line is exactly in the way the entire time... you may consider at least disconnecting this line and moving it out of the way.
The crappy plastic conduit Volvo used on the electrical system was essentially fossilized; I didn't have any but if I had I would have re-wrapped a bunch of eletrical while the manifold was out of the way. Get an assortment at the electrics store if you want.
There's a pretty good how-to here on volvoxc.com for a XC90 PCV, the vehicles are really similar in the engine compartment so they were mostly spot-on.
A good collection of 3/8" and 1/4" drive sockets, extensions, ujoints and ratchets will be necessary to get at some of the bolts holding things together. If you don't have a variety of extensions and accessories, get a few before beginning. I found that the 1/4" drive was more useful than 3/8" in many places. A 7mm on a subby 1/4" ratchet works great for the big band clamps holding the charge air and intercooler to tb pipes; a 6mm on the same ratchet good for all the smaller hose clamps. The banjo bolt under the manifold (little bast**d) was 18mm, and I didn't have an 18mm wrench; it would have been easier if I had one but an adjustable wrench worked.
Taking it all a part was time consuming, but relatively frustration free. Remove the fan shroud for more working room (2 10mm bolts in the top corners and pull straight up). Hang a piece of cardboard or similar in its place to protect the now-exposed radiator from getting banged up.
After depressurizing the fuel rail it will still be full of gasoline when you disconnect the line, be prepared to catch a few ounces.
The electrical connections are all brittle with age; be super careful. I damaged the retaining ears on the throttle body connector electrical connector while disconnecting it and used a zip tie to secure it in place when I hooked it back up. You may consider unbolting the throttle body before trying to disconnect this.
The ports on my engine weren't blocked up at all; I stuck a piece of 5/8 tubing into the lower port and blew through it easily and could hear bubbling (yay!).
Installing the new, crazy complicated pipe to the underside of the intake was just a frustrating as many before me have described it. In order to get the threads started, I had to unscrew the lower manifold bolts as far as I could (only a couple turns in) AND disconnect the line from the 'crazy pipe' (I don't know what this thing was really called) from the coolant flange in order to get the banjo fitting wiggle just right for the threads to finally catch. This was by far the most time-consuming thing to figure out. There was a significant amount of cursing involved. Once the threads caught the bolt was easiest to tighten before securing the manifold to the head. Once the bolt was in place the rest of assembly was smooth.
The IPD kit comes with a bunch of stuff (o-rings, washers, hose clamps etc...). The 4 washer are for the banjo fittings, the 5 black o-rings are for the injectors and 1 green o-ring for the dipstick tube. Be careful removing the old o-rings from the injectors, there's a plastic flange at the base of each one that breaks very easily. The only thing the IPD kit doesn't come with is a new TB gasket (I reused mine...). I did not have to remove the coolant flange or power steering/alternator, however the power steering line is exactly in the way the entire time... you may consider at least disconnecting this line and moving it out of the way.
The crappy plastic conduit Volvo used on the electrical system was essentially fossilized; I didn't have any but if I had I would have re-wrapped a bunch of eletrical while the manifold was out of the way. Get an assortment at the electrics store if you want.