Hi Folks
I’m posting this as a follow up to my recent ‘newbie’ post regarding my 1997 V70 T5. I’ve been a little concerned of late at the cars oil consumption (3/4 litre per 1000 miles) and intermittent clouds of oil smoke from the rear, the conditions for which seems to be along the following lines:-
A) If the car is left to idle for a few minutes then revved up
B) If the car is driven sedately for a while, then full throttle and turbo boost are used
Once the smoke has cleared, the engine runs as clean as a whistle until you go back to the original idle/ non-turbo conditions for a while….
I had the car compression tested yesterday and the results were in the region of 170-175 PSI for each cylinder which for an engine with 178k miles on-board is, I’m advised, pretty good. I’ve also been advised that the PCV system appears to be working correctly and that Volvo only consider oil usage to indicate a problem if it reaches around 1 litre per 1k miles. The only other thing I’ve noticed with the car is a very very occasional puff of oil smoke when started from cold, although as there’s no over-run smoke or smoke following a descent, I’m sure there’s nothing major in terms of valve stem wear.
I guess this all points to the turbo, considering that the oil smoke only really only becomes apparent when the ‘blower’ is pressed into service. The advice from my local Volvo specialist is to strip the turbo, clean and install new parts as required (apparently there’s a kit available), however, there is the risk that the finding may necessitate a recon swap out at approx £400 for parts only.
Coming to the point then, I’d really appreciate your feedback in terms of the problem, my findings so far and the potential course of action plus any comments on the cost for the recon turbo. I would much rather keep this car, which I’ve maintained over the past three years, than sell on so I’m keen to get to the bottom of the problem.
Thanks in anticipation
Happy motoring
PP
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