Hi All,

I've been driving my 96 850R for a while now and for the most part it's been running strong. However, I do have two problems that are giving me a little cause for concern:

1. Smokey Starts: Every now and then it belches a plume of blue smoke on start (was the worst when the car was left idling for about 20 minutes). When this happens, it will continue to blow some blue smoke when you get on the gas. Occasionally, I can smell some burning oil from inside the cabin when these events occur. After running for a while, there is no more smoke, even when accelerating or revving. Is this cause for concern? My gut feeling is that it's an old engine with sloppy seals so some oil consumption and related smoke is no big deal. I think it's also possible that oil is being introduced through an oil leak in the turbo, or am I way off here?
2. Trip Computer Won't Re-initialize: I had to replace the battery after it went totally dead on me (during a road-trip too, thank god for AAA). Now that the new battery is in, everything is great except that the trip computer in the instrument cluster just flashes the whole screen and won't re-initialize. The new battery has been installed for 3 days now, and the car has been driven 400 miles (back home from Santa Barbara).

Ciritcal Stats:
'96 850R Wagon aprox. 160k miles
Just changed the oil to Mobil 1 10W-40 full synthetic.

edit: the PO claims he replaced the PCV system before I purchased the car. I was unable to fully verify, but the dipstick test revealed no smoke. Also, when I changed the oil it was very dirty but did not show signs of mixing with coolant or water.


In other news:
I finally got some money to order the detailing supplies I critically needed. Already did the interior, and will be getting to the paint soon enough. The exterior was not well loved by the previous owners but I think it should polish up nicely. Will post pics when done.

Thanks for the advice!

Best,
Rob

 

The problem with a turbo is it would have a similar problem if it was the valve stem seals or the seals in the turbo. If the stem seals are brittle and cracked the engine leaks oil down the stems and when the engine shuts down that oil pools in the chamber or on top of the valves that are closed. You get a puff of smoke that goes away quickly. Same if the turbo leaks some into the intake and until they get bad the symptoms are very similar. You need to figure out if the PCV unit under the intake was replaced or not. If it was then clean the boost tubing from the mass air flow sensor to the throttle body. Once it's clean give it some miles and see if it gets coated in oil. The problem is if the PCV wasn't replaced and it's dumping oil it's going to be dumping it into the tubing just in front of the turbo so it's very hard to tell which is which.

 

Mine smokes bad too if idles too long approximate 160k on mine too! Figure turbo seals not bad, no bad smoke while driving! I'm going to install a catch can this weekend, hopefully! Maybe try running normal oil not synthetic. Synthetic will seep through cracked seals easier than normal oil. I run 10w30 with no issues. Oil is still clean even after 2 months of driving.

 

The issue of smoking when idling but not when going down the road again could be either the valve stems or the turbo. When you get the RPM's up the oil is just diluted so much because you're passing so much more air and fuel you don't see you're still burning it.

 

Quick update on the oil: so I've been monitoring the car very closely the past couple of days and it hasn't been smoking anymore at all. This is very strange behavior as I saw it smoke at startup 3 or 4 times randomly, and then it smoked a lot after it had been idling for 20 minutes or so. After that smoke cleared, no more since.

Every now and then I also can get a whiff of burned oil, but there is no noticable smoke in the exhaust, and burning oil cannot be smelled in the engine compartment.

I rechecked the PCV system by doing the dipstick test - again, no smoke. There is some old leakage around the valve cover but it is very old and appears as though it could have just been a spill from an over-enthusiastic oil addition. I am going to keep monitoring the oil level and the exhaust but am not too concerned about it for now.

The more pressing question is - does anyone know who to fix the trip computer?

 

My trip computer died on me when I did a battery replacement. It didn't flash it just died. If you still have a Volvo radio and the radio code you can try disconnecting the battery overnight. I'm not sure how long it takes but that happened by accident (I ran the battery down) and when I went to put a new battery in the trip computer came back up and once again after trying to program my new keyless transmitters they would only work to unlock until the vehicle once again had the battery disconnected for a while. Not sure what they did to that vehicle but it seems something resets when you pull the battery.

 

ThEnder: Try not to be deceived by the smoking dip stick test on the PCV system. The wagon that I have now had NO smoke coming from the stick, however, I believe the system was clogged. I had a mild RMS leak and when I pulled the PCV system just to be on the safe side, the lower hole on the motor was almost totally clogged. I'm not sure if the system was ever replaced, however, the car has 190,000 miles on it and I had no history of the system being serviced. Some of the tubing was briddle but all was in tack. For me it was better safe than sorry, so I did replace the system. Also, the RMS.

The manual says that it should be checked or serviced every 60,000 miles. I have a feeling that the amount of time you spend in boost can effect the service life of it.

 

I think the biggest thing with the PCV system is how it was maintained before we purchased them and how we maintain them. I though I was getting a deal on my 850 because I purchased it from the daughter of a Volvo dealer mechanic. What I didn't find out until I called the dealer to see if I could get some history on the timing belt is that the vehicle had never been back there since dad arranged for her to purchase it. Found out her and her dad don't even speak to each other. She was a single mother, short on cash and only fixed what broke and only what broke that she really needed. I bought it with around 250K on it and I'm amazed now to realize it was still running. The worst part is oil changes. Knowing she probably didn't or rarely did any. That PCV system and all those rotating parts inside the engine really need clean oil. I have a brand new IPD PVC kit along with a spacer/ insulator for the intake that I'm hoping will take care of my engine leaking so badly. Just have to kick myself in the butt and get going.

 

Also check your PTC valve if that plugs up too it will burn oil.