I have a 2005 s40 t5. If I let it idle for about 5 minutes blue smoke will start coming out of the exaust pipe.. after I drive off it will stop. if I accelerate real hard nothing comes out. I asked my friend who is a mechanic what could be the problem and he told me I need a piston ring kit. I'm hoping thats not the problem I have 90,000 miles on the car. Someone please help. Thanks.

 

Blue smoke is oil. I'm not too familiar with the S40 though, so I can't give you much on specific causes. If you do a compression test, that will give you an indication as to the condition of your rings.

It would probably be best to post your question in the S40 section, rather than the new members section.

 

Hi Sade, welcome to VolvoForums.

These cars normally have oil smoke for 2 reasons, bad valve steam seals or leaking turbo. A good check would be to see if you get a puff of smoke at start up. If so, you likely have bad valve steam seals which are rare for a car with those low miles.

Has the PCV system been replaced/serviced yet? Drive the car till the motor is warm, park it and pull the oil dip stick out about 1/2 way with the car still running. If you see smoke coming out of the dip stick, you need to replace the PCV system. That alone will likely clear up the smoking problem.

These cars have very strong motors and almost never have low end piston problems. Like mudpie said, a compression test will tell you if the pistons are worn.

How has the oil changes been? Have they been done every 5,000 miles or every 6 months (whichever come first)? Have you been using the proper oil weight?

Other than that, tell the car to stop smoking. That is a nasty habbit.

 

thank you guys so much! i haven't did the 90,000 mile tune up yet because im deployed to afghanistan but when I get back i'll do that.. do you think that will help with the smoke? what type of oil do I need to use? also if the valve stem seals are bad how much do you think it will cost to be replaced? and if my turbo is leaking how much will it cost to be fixed??