Lately I've been getting a burnt oil and/or exhaust type smell coming through the vents of my 855T (if I don't have the recirc switch on). It's especially noticeable after stopping at a light, etc. Car is not leaking oil and has about 128K miles. Oil consumption seems a bit high (a little over 1 quart/1000 miles). Is this normal?

Thanks!

 

That is really not normal.
Are you sure you aren't leaking any oil at all?
Also make sure a peice of the upper torque mount didn't fall onto the exhaust and is burning.

 

There's no sign of oil on the driveway aside from an occasional drop or two. Nothing significant for sure. What is considered normal oil consumption? By torque mount you mean engine mounts, right? Thanks for your help tech.

 

1 quart is pretty much concidered normal for 3,000 to 5,000 miles.
By torque mount I mean the upper engine mount on top of the engine.

If it is a turbo car look at the back of the engine from underneath and see if the turbo return line is leaking.
It is a metal pipe that goes from the turbo to the engine block.

 

Hmmm, I'm probably at 2-3 quarts every 3,000 miles. A little high but the car doesn't seem to have any blue exhaust or anything like that. A puff of black exhaust for a second if the car is at full throttle so I'm told (can't see it from the rear view mirror). Nothing appears to be smoking in the engine compartment (thankfully) and the upper engine mount looked like it was all there to me. I will check the turbo return line again and see if there are any leaks that are not bad enough to make it onto the garage floor. Could it be a clogged PCV? How could I check for that?

Thanks again!

 

To check the PCV you just have to check all the vaccum lines that go to the breather box on the fron of the engine.The PCV really isn't servicable on those cars.The turbo cars don't have a flame sheild or a Valve.

 

This is so funny... I have the same problem with my '95 850. It only happens when I have the AC on for awhile and when I come to a stop I smell exhaust or some type of fumes. There are no cars in front of me to blame either. I'm guessing it an exhaust leak but not sure. Could you please let me know if you get your issue resolved. Thanks so much, Marie Myers

 

You might have an exhaust but also check the recirc door arm.The arms break sometimes and lets fumes in when it shouldn't.

 

Hi everybody,

thanks for the replies. The recirc function seems to work because if I turn on recirc I don't get the smell. If I shut the recirc light off the smell comes back. I've also set the airmix to let only a drop of outside air come in. If I do these things the smell goes away but as soon as you get out of the car you can pop the hood and smell it in the engine compartment -even for a short while after the engine is switched off. I don't see anything smoking and no obvious exhaust leaks but that doesn't mean there couldn't be a pinhole somewhere. Bottom line is if I let fresh air into the car I'm going to smell burnt oil/exhaust - especially at a stop or sometimes right after starting the car.

The main thing I'm worried about is from a safety standpoint. I've brought it to my mechanic and they've checked it out and said there were no problems. Maybe I should just leave the thing on recirc so don't I have to smell it and just forget about it...

 

Also check the injectors and fuel lines near the engine.

 

Thanks tech. It's not a fuel smell but I will check the lines. I already had one fuel line changed because it was cracking at the end so there very well may be more. By the way, there's a similar thread on the volvospeed forum today relating to exhaust fumes getting in the car.

 

Would anyone know what's involved in checking the recirc. door arm? I'm not even sure I know where that is?

Thanks!

 

Remove the glove box insert.Then look straight in and you will see a black motor mounted on the air box.There will be a plastic arm that leads to a metal rod.Most of the time they break at the motor.

 

Sounds easy enough. I will give it a try. Thanks again tech!

 

No problem let me know how it goes.

 

I've just replaced the oil cooler lines on mine. When the car was standing, they did not leak oil, but when the car was up-to-tempreture, they did, most noticeable a few minutes after switching the engine off, a few drops of oil could be seen on the floor. I also get the burnt oil smell (or whatever smell it is) through the fans when not on recirc. I'm hoping that now I've swapped the cooler pipes, this will eventually go away.