I bought a 2001 S60 2.5 Turbo in May 04 with 50,000 on it from a reputable Toyota dealership in Richmond, Va. PreCertified owned vehicle. Well, I didn't have it checked out first - oh how fast you learn. I haven't had any major, major problems except in June, 08 I had to have the alternator replaced for the tune of $800. That sucked all in itself. I have had regular maint. on the car since I bought it - tires rotated, oil changed, etc. I don't put much mileage on it at all because I work near home and my son's daycare in close by. I have put 18,000 on it in about 4 yrs so I am at 68,100 now. I know - I'm lucky as far as that goes.

The low coolant light has been coming on for the last month or so and I knew I needed other stuff done, oil change, tire rotation, etc. so I took it in on Friday, 12/12. Well they did what I asked including what I belive was an engine flush deal they had going on and now I am told after they did the work and drove the car around, so they say, the engine oil pressue low light came on. I am now told my car has sludge in the engine because the previous owner, who bought the car from one of the two Volvo dealerships here in Richmond, didn't change the oil in the freakin car for almost 16,000 miles. WTH??He could have done it elsewhere?

I'm pissed - my bill now is about $1,200. and all they can do now is have the oil pan cleaned, filters, etc. Sorry if I'm not explaining all of this too well but my husband has been talking with them as well. Told they will do what they can, but don't know how much longer car will last without new engine.

Paid it off with a refinance and now this crap. Can't ever get ahead - never!!!!

Anybody else with this situation?

 

If they hadn't flushed the engine it would have been fine. When they flushed the engine they knocked it all loose and it is getting sucked up in the pickup tube.

They need to clean it and see what happens from there. Sometimes they can clean it without pulling the pan. With the oil drained stick a long blowgun in there and blow the pickup tube off and refill the oil and let it run for a few minutes and drain it again.

The engine desludge is a pain to do.

 

Obviously, Moore's Volvo in Richmond, Va knows all of this since I am paying them about $90.00 an hour for labor. Hello? What is this stuff they are now trying to tell me about a new engine when I have had no lights come on whatosever until they touched the car and flushed it? Oh, I won't take it there again.

 

They should have known better than to ever reccomend a flush on any of the 5 cylinder motors.
They are out to upsell a ton of things when people come in to make money. It is somewhat of a problem. Thats why I always say on a turbo motor whether it is regular or synthetic oil it should ALWAYS be changed at 3,000 miles.

We have successfully cleaned many motors but it is a pain because the pan needs to be dropped a couple of times to get it all out.

What I would do is go in and see the Service manager and talk to him.

Explain that you have never had a problem with the oil light coming on till they ran the engine flush through there and knocked all the junk loose causing the pickup tube screen to be clogged. Then they are trying to sell you a motor due to them selling something that Volvo doesn't even recommend doing in the first place.

Volvo doesn't recommend any kind of additives in the oil or fuel system in the cars at all.

I think some Dealers are doing anything they can to try to make money at anyone expense.

I hope they do something to help you on this issue.

 

Tech - thank you for all your informaton. I will be in touch - believe me. Not getting taking for a ride on my buck!

 

Hello Tech:

I bought a certified '06 s60 awd (has a turbo) from the dealer. The dealer doesn't have any service info since the previous owner took it elsewhere. Should I be proactive and drop the pan and clean it or leave it be? Please explain why the turbo sludges oil ... does it really run that hot? Thanks.

 

The turbo motors are supposed to have a cool down period after driving. They should really sit and idle for a few minutes after driving to allow the turbo to cool down.

Also with the oil getting hot like that and 7,500 miles between oil changes(More like usually 10,000) the oil breaks down and starts to sludge up.

But if yours is an 06 it must not have all that many miles on it I would thing it would be fine.

 

Just make sure that you let the car idle like tech said for a while after driving the car. If you can't do that then get a turbo timer, they let the car idle when you take the key out of the ignition for a set time. Same when you start the car. Let is warm up before you mash the pedal.
If you do that and do regular maintenance, ie. regular oil changes and tune ups, you should have no problems with the car.
My turbo has 256,000 original miles on it and it is still soild, like new,and the lines are clean.

 

Thanks Tech and Tipsp

 

where do you a turbo timer?

 

So I have a 2003 S60 2.4T with 57k miles on it that I just bought from a reputable dealer, with all maintenance records. I want to make sure I keep it in tip top shape. I will be changing the oil every 3,000 miles and taking it in for regular service. However, I'm trying to figure out how long to idle before leaving in the morning, and how long to to idle before I cut the engine off. I usually count to 10-15 mississippi. Is this enough? Not enough? Too much? I'd like to be safe, but I don't want to waste my time.

 

If you really want to be safe do 1 minute on start up and shut down.

 

As long as you are keeping the revs below 2000 for the first and last few minutes of driving is it truly necessary to use cool down and warm up periods?

 

I would to be safe.

 

http://www.boostcontroller.com/index.php?category=182

 

I have a 2002 volvo wagon in Buffalo NY. I had all my oil changes done at the dealer as per their schedule. It has nothing to do with the frequency of oil changes the buildup of sludge. Volvo is now replacing my engine!!! No charge , They have a problem!!! There is a technical bulletin 20-05 out on these cars. You must make Volvo responsible. I had only 48000 miles on it and had the oil changed every 4500 miles. Sludge killed my engine. Put a complaint into the Attorney General. There is some problem with the air intake and coolant process as it relates to the pollution control on these engines, they run too hot and basically fry the oil and hence sludge. They tried to get me to pay but I kept on asking questions which they could not answer. Even my extended warranty refused to pay for this.

 

Hi BeetleBaby, I have a 2001 S60 with 99,000 miles on it & live in NY also... where can I find the technical bulletin 20-05 you are talking about. Luckily I don't have any sludge problems with my engine, but I would like to see this bulletin for future reference. Thanks

 

Points to consider.

-If you drive home, say, in a subdivision, and you are casually doing 25 mph max then you don't need a cool down. On the older turbos maybe, but not the P2's.

-always use synthetic oil, dealers use non synthetic, or just bring your own own and negotiate the oil change down from there at the dealer.

-why pay the dealer price for an oil change?

-Change at 5K max

-run www.auto-rx.com to rid the engine of sludge and clean it. (auto RX)

that's the first thing I did on my 02 and 98 which I bought used. I know the engines are not sludged, it may fail from others things but not that.

-don't ever use a quickie engine flush, that's asking for trouble, it's way too agressive

-If the engine was sludged chances are the PCV was as well, that should be a big clue.

 

I don't exactly cool down my car much, but I do try to drive it "gently" before I park it. Nobody is perfect though, I think I might have to grab a turbo timer. I change my oil myself with castrol synthetic from walmart.

I might have to look into that engine flush. Fred, as i told you in my PM, my motor is pretty new (15k roughly). turbo is the same.

 

I had same prob. w/ my 2001 v-70. The mechanic said looks like coffee grounds in oil pan. He removed it, cleaned oil pump screen, cleaned pan out, replaced oil filter and replaced gaskets(the most expensive part) for around $290. This was after he replaced oil pressure switch. The oil pressure light was on but mechanic thought it was just a bad switch. After replacing switch, light came back on so he pulled pan and found sludge.