It got real cold where i'm at and when i started the car to warm it up to get rid of the frost on the enterior of my windshield ( I was told since here that moisture INSIDE the cabin is causing that) after about 5 min ALOT of white smoke was coming out of my muffler and there was a burning smell in the cabin. Found out later that the oil was low. No alerts showed on the dash during this. No smoke came from under the hood.. I was thinking just topping with oil would fix the problem but i was told it won't and it's something else as well. (By a mechanic of course) What do you all think?

The car is hardly used and was just sitting for most of the week before this. No problems before.

 

So now i had it checked , and i was told the following....

Crank case ok, compressoon ok, spark plugs ok, intake ok.. But

Problem with the turbo, need a timing belt, cam seal, crank pully, crank seal, fuel filter.. Told there is a fuel leak as well. Car was also topped up with oil.

 

At least the belt, seals and pulley can all be done at once. Why do they say you need a new crank pulley? is the balancer shot? fuel filter is easy too. White smoke, if lingering and thick, is usually coolant being burned, I would check your levels to ensure. However, when it is cold, you will have more white smoke coming out of the exhaust than normal because of the condensation and temp difference. I would find that fuel leak and see what the problem is with the turbo.

 

I've paid over $ 600 at 3 different places so far and nothing has been fixed yet.. Just diagnosis so far. ****!! And i was told they only will use parts from their own suppliers.. (I can't give them anything from ipd or Fcp.)

 

Is the problem recurring? The diagnoses and the description don't fit well. It sounds more like "Let's throw parts at it until something stick" approach.

 

As i've said.. Nothings been repaired as of yet.. All i've done is pay to be told what is wrong.. Thinking of just selling it for real cheap and cutting my losses since i hardly use or need the car anyway, since cost to fix will be more than double or tripple it's worth or what i paid.

I did try that PCV test with a plastic bag over the oil valve opening to see if it sucks the plastic which would mean good.. and it didn't seems to be good. (No sucktion after about 10 sec)

The person that got this car for me did not do this test:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gK8kUQxhT_8

 

Ok so i did the PCV test again with a proper rubber glove and it was sucking in so i guess the PCV is good. I also took out the oil stick (Oil good on it) and oil cap while it was running idle and the engine sound did not change while doing those two things so again.. A pass.. The belts i can see look good. I see no leaks anywhere on the engine.. I took the car for a drive and got no white smoke from the exhaust.. Smell in the cabin seemed ok .. Was it just low or nearly empty oil that caused this bull**** to begin with? I Feel like iv'e just spent alot of cash for nothing now...

 

Did you check if the cam seals were actually leaking like the shop told you they were? Or if there is leaking oil anywhere? Oil doesn't just disappear without going somewhere.

 

Well about 5 weeks before this i did notice the oil was low on the stick but didn't bother to top up cause i hardly drive the car. (Less than 6 miles a week in the small town i'm in) so i figure it was not a leak, but now i do notice that the rubber boot beside the passenger side front wheel break pad seems to have oil on it.. and the surrounding area seems to have oil on it as well. (area looks wet) I see no drips on the ground.

Took another few drives the past couple of days and no white smoke or smell. Gonna look into another auto shop since the one i used charged me way too much for just a look around.

 

I mean one of the mechanics mentioned the cam seals, seems likely. You can keep taking it to shops and getting diagnostics, but you're only hurting your wallet. Personally I wouldn't spend $600 at 3 different shops for diagnosing and then think about taking it to another one... At that price the problem could of been fixed already.

 

I agree, and for that reason since everything seems ok enough after topping up with oil i will just keep driving it for now and sell it after a yr or so. (At least Less than 2). I still see nothing leaking on the ground. I had a guy that knows more about cars sit with me while i drove it and he said it was fine as well. Like i've said earlier. No alerts came up on the dash during the whole affair except for the 'truck latch won't lock' one. Which Volvo watch to charge over $400 to replace. **** that.

I have noticed that the dash message that tells you roughly how many kilometers are left in the tank seems to be going down faster. I had it are 330 km at half a tank full, and after driving for about 12-15 miles over 2wks it's now says 230. (12 miles is only 19.3km) Hmm..

 

So the other day i went to check the level on my oil stick. That seemed fine.. Then i lifted up the cap and there was quite a bit of this pasty whiteish sludge on the underside of it instead of oil. What gives?

** Looking online the problem is a blown gasket or water mixing in the oil by not driving long enough to let the engine warm up enough to evaporate the water. That seems to be my problem since i do mostly short trips..

 

Short trips with the engine not consistently warming to full operating temperature in sub freezing weather will get you milky residue. It is moisture condensation.