Blown Motor

[aelek]

I have a 2002 XC70 bought in Mexico City. It has approximately 41,000 km (25,500 miles). All scheduled services and repairs have been performed at my Volvo dealer.

Two weeks ago, I was returning form the mountains and could not find the 93 octane gas I usually use, so I pumped 87 octane together with an additive to boost the octane. After a while the car started rattling and later it heated up. I let it cool for a couple of minutes. Once I got going again, the rattling got worse and the emission system warning lit up and the car lost a lot of power. I consulted the manual, which recommends taking the car to the nearest Volvo dealer when the emission system warning is on. The nearest Volvo dealer was approximately 60 miles away. When I took it to the dealer, the Volvo mechanic told me that the 87 octane fuel caused the car to overheat causing 2 compression rings to crack. In addition, one of the broken rings caused severe damage to the motor's head. The dealer provided me with a repair estimate of $113,900 pesos (aprox US$10,100).

I have consulted with several experts familiar with high end automobiles (dealers and mechanics included) and they indicate that using 87 octane fuel would not cause the abovementioned problem and that the greatest threat to the car would be to operate at lower performance level for the duration on the tank. Moreover, they mention that the damage caused to the compression rings is most likely the result of a mechanical or manufacturing problem.

In addition, when discussing the repairs with my Volvo dealer, he mentioned that none of the repairs would covered by the manufacturers warranty which at the time of my purchase was 12 months form the date of purchase. Subsequently, Volvo Mexico extended to 2-years from the date pf purchase. You can see that this is significantly less than the four year or 50,000 mile warranty in the US.

The dealer's position is that any support on this matter would have to come from Volvo's Corporate Offices in Mexico. They are currently reviering my case. Any advice on how to proceed?

[xc70fin]

****.... You have bad luck! I think explanation what your frend gave to you is correct. Lower octane gasoline do not blow engine! I do not believe it!

Other story is if ou are out of warranty. It is up to them how they want to treat you. If they are afraight that this will spoil their image, they are going to offer you something but othervice...

Unfortunatelly I can not help you but I believe that you will get a lot help from experts of this forum!

Good luck and keep us informed about development!

[adamc]

I completely agree!

87 octane will not blow up the engine! It should barely be noticeable, but if anything, reduced preformance...

I've never had to deal with a major issue like this, and I wish you the best of luck dealing with Volvo directly!

Adam

[BillAileo]

Sorry to hear about your situation.

I am now over 30,000 miles in my 03 XC70 and the vast majority of those miles have been on 87 octane. Use of 87 Octane is consistent with the owner's manual for the U.S. market. Many forum members have discussed the benefits of using higher octane gas, but I doubt any of them would attribute such an engine failure to the use of 87 octane, assuming the system for calculatting octane in Mexico is the same as in the U.S.

Best of luck with Volvo Mexico.

Bill

[gibbons]

The "rattling" may have been detonation (pre-ignition, knock, or ping). It is exceptionally damaging to engines, usually melting the top of piston and blowing a hole through.

However, the engines have a "knock sensor" integrated into the EFI control system. A knock sensor is just a sophisticated microphone that picks up the "rattle" as you describe it, in the specific frequency range (so the the normal combustion isn't sensed). Anyway, when the sensor hears knock, the control system is supposed to reduce timing advance until the knock goes away. However, the power goes away, too, as the advance drops. So the real effect of low octane gas is lower performance, hopefully not a toasted engine.

But, if your knock sensor was bad, and didn't hear the knock, it doesn't take long at all to over heat and muff things up really good.

[Len]

Sorry, to hear of your situation.
Did you consider of something else was put in the gas tank of your Volvo?
You mentioned that it was in the remote location in the mountains, perhaps the station out there was pumping bad gas. Also you mentioned some additive that you put in your tank. What is it?
I had MY02 XC70 for more then three years and was using 87-octane gas most of the time. Didn’t have any problem whatsoever.

[jmoser]

Just a hunch but:

If the fuel and / or additive you put in your tank, coupled with the altitude (you did say mountains) made your Oxygen sensor think things were richer than it really was, then your engine would have been running too lean (not enough fuel) which will heat things up in a hurry.

Typically when cars are going up big hills or hauling real heavy loads the fuel injection system is calibrated to slightly overfuel, this helps keep things cooler under severe conditions.

I have used 87 octane in my 01 XC many times, no problems whatsoever. It just backs off the turbo boost and ignition timing advance to control knock.

Stay away from additives - few are worth any money at all, some of them are harmful, most of them are useless. I know for certain that one 'Octane booster' additive called 'MMT' (made by Ethyl) contains Manganese and can absolutely effect Oxygen sensors and catalyst to 'fool' the air/fuel mixture into richer or leaner than it should be. MMT is not available in the USA (I believe) but is in other countries (maybe Canada if I remember correctly.)

If you remember the brand name of additive you used research it and see what is in it.

[Outrageous]

" The octane rating of a gasoline can be raised by treating it with a chemical which is not a fuel. The best chemical known is tetra-ethyl lead compound, which is added to the gasoline."
(from: http://www.autoshop-online.com/auto101/fuel.html )

[texascanuk]

I agree with the possiblilty that the knock sensor may have contributed to the problem. One other thing is that the Fuel that you purchase in Mexico is not the same "makeup" as the fuel in the USA. It will be hard to make comparisons between driving experiences in either country. I mention this from experience because while motorcycling down to Guadalajara in '96 I noticed that my motorcycle with 150K mi ran very quiet but with less power on the mexican gas. The other guys in my group noticed it with theirs also. I still got the same mileage per tank but that worn out old bike just purrred. When I got back across the border and filled up with US gas it ran noisy again.

Volvo may buck up and pay part of the repair but they may want you to pay half or something since it's out of warantee.

James

[texascanuk]

Oh yeah, and if the rings cracked they probably scored the cylender which requires a boring or resurfacing.

you may want to get a new engine instead of fixing that one. probably cheaper in the long run also.

[Outrageous]

"Novas is the lowest grade of gasoline and also the most common. It is sold out of Blue dispensing pumps, and is popular with Mexican drivers because of it's price ... it's octane level is far less than even the lowest grade of US gasoline, and it's use causes severe knocking and piston damage. Contrary to popular opinion, Nova does not contain significant amounts of tetraethyl-lead." From: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MEXICAN FUELS
(See: http://www.rversonline.org/ArtMexFuels.html )

[jmoser]

And coincidentally, what does 'No Va' mean in Spanish?

[aelek]

Thanks for your input.

Volvo Mexico decided not to help me in the repair of my motor so I must front the entire cost of the repair. I am quite dissappointed with my car's mechanical problem and with Volvo's lack of support. In the process of having a third party examine the engine and possiblly begin legal proceedings.

By the way most unleaded gas either 87 or 93 octane is imported from the US.

[ChuckK]

I pumped 87 octane together with an additive to boost the octane.

I'm with Len. What's the "additive" you put in the tank? I think gasoline would have to be pretty bad to blow an engine on one tank. But I would never put an additive in the gas tank or the oil. Sorry to hear about your problem. That's a terribly expensive repair. Maybe an independent shop can find another cause for the problem and then you can go back to Volvo.