I just bought a '97 850 that had been in a minor accident and now has a salvage title but only needed a new hood, headlight glass, and the header panel to fix (very cheap to buy). My question is the car burns some oil, not sure how much, and I had to put three quarts of oil in her before I drove it home. Is three quarts low a lot for this 2.4l five cylinderengine? It seemed odd to me that no warning lights came on when I was driving around the block before I put the three quarts into the crankcase. No knocking from the engine and it ran rather smooth for the mile or so that I drove it. This is my second Volvo I also own a '03 S40.

 

I believe it would have come on if it were one more quart low.
I have seen many not making any noise 3 quarts low.

 

I would check the oil level each morning before starting it for the next few days to see if the oil level drops. Overall, I think you caught it in time though

 

It holds about 6 quarts so you were pretty low. I have heard of others putting that much in though. You were probably real close to the light coming on. I would think it would have been on, but I guess not. I've never seen mine come on so I have no idea when it should.

 

Thanks for the quick response. I put in three quarts of 10w - 30. I hope that is right for that car. I'm going to take it for a ride now just to see if it seems any different. Owning two Volvo's could prove to be costly. This one has some sort of noise from the front right strut that I have to look into (tie rod, strut mount?).

 

Hey now,

You are right with the 10W30.

Remember to check the oil at every other fill up as it isn't hard to do and it is better to be safe than sorry.

I used to own both an '85 Grand AM and an '85 (gutless) Cutlas wagon, both with the Tech 4 motor and they both would lose oil and in both cases spun the same bearing, on the number 3 cylinder and both blew through the block [:'(].

A spun bearing due to low oil can be a costly thing to repair and once it happens there is nothing left to do but have the engine rebuilt or replcaced.

If you hear a "squeeling" when the engine is running and it increases and decreases when you step on the gas, STOP or turn off the engine IMMEDIATLY, and have the car towed.

The next situation that you may find yourself in is a rod through the block. And then it's time for arebuilt at $1750 - $3000 and another $1000or new from Volvo at, now a drum roll for those of us who have a J.O.B.(just over broke)................................................. .................................................. .......................
...................................... KACHING $8000+[sm=jawdrop.gif] and that is just the block and head alone. A complete new engine is around $11,000 to$12,000.[sm=outcold.gif]

I know this as I had a water pump bearing fail and with an interference engine I had pistons slapping against valves and just to fix the head was going to be around $2000. Never mind the dents and dings in the pistons []

If the shop still has my old engine I'll take and post some pic's of the damage done tomorrow.

(All prices Canadian)

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

I drove the car a couple of miles yesterday and it sounds very good and runs strong (no turbo on this car just the base model). I'll be driving it home this afternoon which is about thirty miles. I'm going to post another question on a new thread for a motor mount issue (I believe that is the problem). Thanks for the information Quick Brick.