Hey fellow Volvo brethren!

Just purchased a black 95 850 T5R for extremely cheap due to a smoking issue. I did my reading before looking the car over and I've narrowed it down to a clogged PCV system due to smoke coming from the tail pipe intermittently, smoke coming from the oil dip stick, oil dripping on the ground, and smoke / air pressure coming from the oil cap on the valve cover.

I've done the research and understand the process of removing, cleaning, and reinstalling the PCV system.

My bigger question is am I able to bypass the stock pcv system and just use a catch can/breather setup? And if so, is this a common mod? I did search the forum but apparently "pcv" is too common or short to search so I did not come up with much.

Otherwise, thanks in advance and I look forward to frequenting these boards often!

 

Do give more info about your new purchase. Miles, pics, condition, etc. We like pics.

Search "CAN" and you'll likely find results you need. It's not a common mod but some have done it. I have also read where some have tapped a hole in the oil filler cap and routed a tube under the motor somewhere to bleed pressure off the motor.

I would not bypass or mod the system unless you plan to boost a LOT. With normal driving, you should probably replace the system every 5 years or 60,000 miles (unless you have hose problems from a cheap materials). Under normal driving with occasional boosting, your system can last 100,000 miles. Most problems with the system do not surface until the car is 10+ years old or over 100,000 miles.

As for the puffing smoke from time to time, my guess would be that you have an internal oil leak, maybe near the turbo or the turbo itself. Building up oil then when it gets so much it burns if off or dumps it because of a condition like a spill over.

 

Well here is the craigslist ad, get it while it's hot:

1995 Volvo 850 T5-R

The details are this. I offered 1100, he countered with 1150 and I accepted. From what I've seen and read I'd be stupid not to take it so obviously I took the deal. He also had some other people hounding him about it so I made sure to not let it go.

The hood has some **** paint on it. Otherwise the body is very nice. No rust.

The smoking issue did stop when I popped the dip stick out and took it for a drive. Unfortunately it also got oil everywhere, lol.

I'll slowly and surely begin to bring it back to life 100%. I also just bought a house that's eaten up most of my "fun-funds" so it may take a bit.

 

Adding a catch can does not replace the PCV system, it simply assists the PCV system. You install it in line with the main hose that goes from the top of the breather box to the PTC. This way is simply for relieve some of the pressure and catching most of the blow by that would otherwise get sent back into your intake. Like in my old set up, from the top of the breather box, to the can, from the can, to the PTC on the intake.



Or, like my current set up, you can vent completely to atmosphere. From the top of the can to a baffled catch can with a filter, and instead of going back to the intake, goes to a second "collector" can that simply catches any blow by that makes it's through the can.



This is an option, however, I wouldn't recommend it for a daily driver. All fumes from your engine find their way into the cabin, and you can't park the car in below freezing temps because the hoses can freeze, and part of the PCV system with the PTC is sending in warm air into the intake to help with cold starts.

Also, keep in mind, most catch cans you see on ebay are ****ty. In order for a catch can to be effective, you need a baffle inside of it, and all of the cans I've seen on ebay that are sub $200 do not come with a baffle. My main catch can didn't come with a baffle and blow by simply went in and out. You can see in the second pic a weld across the top and down the side where I had a baffle welded in.

 

Ok thanks for the response! All of the other turbo cars I've had simply just have a baffled breather on the valve cover that exhausts the crank case pressure. Although it seems that if I do that the PTC will have issues?

 

Thanks Gilber.

As for the car's mileage, you can get exact mileage from the OBD-I ports under the hood near the pass headlight. You can find instructions in the DIY thread.

Have fun and don't hurry. I would take care of the PCV, then the oil leaks, and go from there.

 

I'd say if you want to add a catch can, easiest way to do it as to add on inline and retain the PTC. Yes, some cars simply have a filter on the cam cover or something similar, but you should keep the factory breather box on these.


And rspi is correct, do your PCV system first before you take care of the oil leaks. Chances are if the car isn't maintained, one of the reasons you have oil leaks is because the PCV system is clogged somewhere and you have excess pressure. Don't ignore this as a clogged PCV system has been responsible for blowing out your RMS.

 

you lucky sob lol nice score!

 

Just a quick update.

I ended up confirming the pcv issue by running the engine and noticing small air/oil bubbles coming out from around where the dip stick goes into the block. But when I loosened the filler cap the bubbles went away.

I then decided to make a small hole in the oil filler cap to relieve the pressure and I took it for a drive. NO SMOKE! yay.

But upon returning home I found yet another issue which seems to be a possible valve cover gasket leak probably from excess crank case pressure blowing the gasket out. Oil seems to be slowly dripping out of the valve cover (or some associated oil line) on the far back drivers side and onto the exhaust manifold causing some smoke.

AND I still have some oil puking out somewhere leaving a decent sized oil spill under the car after driving. I can only assume this is from a broken/leaking pcv related item.

Lastly, the car seems to have a small stuttering issue under full load. Sometimes it feels smooth but most of the time it feels like its stuttering and somethings clogging the system up. I tried doing a plug check but ran into an issue removing the volvo cover from under the cold side turbo piping.

EDIT- Also I forgot to mention that for some reason my temperature gauge reads nearly 0 and the car doesn't have any heat? Weird because when I test drove the car it had great heat and the temp gauge was working fine. Ill assume it's a thermostat issue.

 

Under Full Load??? You are not putting your foot in that car with a known PCV issue and oil leaks? You didn't just say that out loud did you???

Man, you need to stop driving the car if you can... The worse thing that can happen is that you blow the RMS (rear main seal). At that point you will have to pull the motor or drop the tranny to fix it. Easy $1,200. Not to mention the chances of blowing a head gasket, cam seals, fwd crank seals, need I go on??? You can read this post about my experience with a CLEAN PCV system and weak cam seals.
Cam Seal Replacement, rear, 1998 Volvo S70 GLT - Volvo 850 Cam Seal Replacement

If you have to drive the car, take it REAL EASY until you get the PCV system replaced. After you get that replaced deal with the oil leaks. One leak may be the turbo return line on the back of the block which is an easy fix and just a few dollars. You likely have bad cam seals as well. The heads rarely leak, matter of fact, I have never heard of any leaking in the 3 years I've been on the site.

After you get the oil leaks dealt with, then go right ahead and put your foot in it all day long, providing that you can afford the traffic tickets that will likely follow. A knee jerk reaction to the current economy problems is for our law enforcement to ramp up all kinds of tickets to help the suffering cities and counties with their budget issues. I have gotten more tickets in 2008 - 2010 than I did from 1979 - 2007, if that tells you anything.

Back to "after oil leaks are dealt with"... at that point you can figure out what is causing it to hesitate. You can start by giving the car a "Stage 0", which would include spark plugs, wires, rotor, and cap. If the wires are over 5 years old, do all 4 (the wires have dates on them, month/year 22/95). If wires are less than 5 years old, there is likely no need to replace all, just plugs.

Let me back up a little. If you think that you may want to take the car towards RESTORED, you should start off by doing a compression test (Compression Test - Volvo S70 GLT, 1998). That will tell you the integerity of the motor, internally. If the compression test gives good results, then move forward with your future plans for the car. These motors can go 500,000 miles when properly cared for. I think a black T-5R in GOOD condition should bring $4,000, maybe higher for a car with less than 200,000 on it. There is alway the chance that the value might increase for a car with less than 200,000 on it as the number of them on the road continues to dwendle down. As for a car with more than 200,000 on it, I'd think it would have to be in excellent condition or look like new to bring more than $4,000. So, it may be worth your while to fix it up if the motor is in good shape. I'd hate to see you put a lot of money into a motor that is on it's way out. Also, if the motor is weak or damaged, you may not want to put to much into the car. Noone wants a money pit that you'll never get your money out of or be able to enjoy. If I had my way, I would purchase every T-5R, get them in GOOD condition, then sell them at a good price (people tend to try to take better care of stuff that they paid good money for).

Please, Please, Please read the New 850 Volvo Owner thread. It's priceless. If you can't determine the history of the timing belt, you should replace that with all related rollers ASAP. Nothing will bumb you out as much as a broken timing belt or one that has jumped cogs due to a failed roller.

Just trying to help...

 

/\ +1000

 

Loud and clear. I'll keep the thread updated as more progress happens. I went around today to try to find a thermostat and gasket with no avail. lol oh well.

 

I would read the temp from the OBD-II port with a code reader before I go changing the t-stat. My gauge drops to full cold sometimes. Not sure why but my ecu is reading 184 degrees.

You should be able to get that t-stat from any store. They are very common. For the R get the one that starts to open closer to 182.

 

Thanks for the update, we really do like to read of your progress. Just in case you are wondering, I'm usually the one that fusses at people.

 

Normally I'd say a gauge issue but there's also no heat when moving but the car warms up when idling in park.

 

Omg, please stop beating the car when it has known issues.

With the heat, do you mean the temp gauge on your dash isn't doing anything? Heat from your vents? Again, if your thermostat or ECT is bad, they are NOT issues you want to ignore.

 

I plan on ripping into it later today and I will update with pics.

 

Temp gauge works when idling but the car immediately cools down upon driving. I've already bought a tstat and plan on adding it to the laundry list of things to do.

 

Glad to hear you got a t-stat. If you still have the torque bolts in the top of the housing be careful when trying to remove them. They are a little soft and strip easy.

 

Hey guys!

Just finished up with some work on the car last night. I read through a couple write-ups about removing the intake manifold and I finally got it off. It all went without a hitch (even getting the 2 ridiculous bolts on the bottom side of the manifold!) except for right when I tried to remove the intake.

It was loose and ready to come out but something was holding it back. I couldn't figure it out until I went to the driver's side fender (where my shop light was) and realized there was a EGR line going to the bottom of the intake. I got a 22mm out and removed that beast and then the intake was removed freely.

Upon removal of the intake I noticed a nice oily mess around and on the PCV and some pretty epic sludge in the intake runners. The valves look good though! Also under the spark plug cover there was an oily mess which was the source of the random plumes of smoke that I was seeing. Are these leaks coming from the oil cap? Is it possible to just replace the gasket, or is there a source for a new OEM cap?

A few unfortunate things happened during some vacuum line removal though. I broke one of the barbs on the vacuum post on the top side of the throttle body. I think I will try to seal the hole and then T off another line to hook up the line that was supposed to go to the broken post. There were also several 90 degree vacuum connectors that were deteriorated and easily broke when I tried to remove them. I imagine there were some leaks there, so it will be nice to get that all straightened out.

I flirted with the idea of using some of the members plans for adding a catch can and venting it to the atmosphere. No emissions check here in Michigan so no worries there.

I do have a question though... what is stopping us from simply just removing the oil trap and running all the lines coming from the block to a catch can, then venting the can to the atmosphere? Do we really need the OEM style oil trap box? And is the PTC really necessary? I have seen a few PTC delete posts from other Volvo forums.

I will probably just go with replacing the entire system with all OEM stuff but I would like to know if its possible to just delete it all and make your own oil trap......