I have been dealing on and off with this issue for a while, but I now have to decide to keep the car or not.

2004 S60 2.4, a little over 100k

Between 60 and 70k, the car went through almost all of its oil during its 7500 mile interval. The dealer insisted on an engine flush and keeping an eye on consumption. Despite consumption remaining above Volvo standards, they did nothing. A while later, a second dealership claimed they solved the problem by replacing the flame trap. Subsequent level checks showed a drastic improvement.

Now the car has burned 2 quarts in about 3000 miles. Dealer wants another engine flush to remove possible sludge (causing blow past the rings?). The dipstick smells burnt. I've seen a lot of posts about this car burning oil at higher mileages, but what about this much? Am I just waiting for a fouled sensor or cat? Will I see the famously high Volvo miles with this engine?

 

Could be the flame trap but also the problem can be the turbo or the seals to it allowing oil into the exhaust. Do you have bluish smoke coming from the tailpipe?

 

This car does not have a turbo, and the flame trap was already replaced.

Bottom line is if this is going to cost me big money, or the engine's lifespan has been shortened already, I'm ditching the car. Volvo won't do anything for me even though this problem started well within warranty. I need a reason to keep the car.

 

Sounds like the car has already made you nervous, just get rid of it. However, 1 quart every 1,500 miles is not bad. My mom's Saturn uses 1 quart every 500 miles. LOL

Some damage may have been done when YOU let it go 7,500 miles without checking the oil. Oil should be checked monthly or every 1,000 miles. The best thing to do, if it's not smoking after it's warmed up, is to have a compression test done. If compression is within range, don't give it another thought. Keep the oil topped up, have it changed every 5,000 miles and don't look back. It should take you to 300,000 miles.

 

Thanks for the input. I never owned a car that leaked or burned oil, so it wasn't high on my list back then to be checking between changes.

So is compression the litmus test for the engine's health at this point? One of the cylinders is low but not critically low according to the dealer. What about scoring/wear? Or the O2 sensors and cat?

 

I had a similar issue with my e46 bmw. Eating a quart of oil average 1200 miles and of course it was "at BMW spec" lmao. Bull****. No car should have oil consumption that bad. I replace multiple parts related to the oil. Check your spark plugs. My plugs 1 and 6 on the bmw were dry, but plugs 2-5 were drenched in oil. I replaced the the valve cover gasket and that didnt solve the issue. Your car, like my bimer, were oil eating machines. I bet you anything your piston rings or valve seals are shot. Maybe not completely, but getting there. Put your Volvo on CL as as soon as you can. I sold my bimer in like 3 months.

 

o2 sensor and cat would not cause your car to eat oil.

 

my Volvo that's over 120k miles burns absolutely no oil, the Volvo over 340k miles burns about the equivalent of 1 quart every 25k miles. it's all about how well you maintain the car, not so much how many miles are on it (and for me it's really good because they are both turbocharged which lend to leak oil more readily)
for you, you wore your engine down running low on oil for so many miles, what likely happened was your flame trap got clogged pushing oil into combustion chambers, you didn't check your oil levels and ran low for 7500 miles causing ungodly wear on your rings, valves, seats, lifters and all your oil bearings. if it smells burnt then you definitely overheated something inside the engine. honestly you're lucky it's a Volvo because if it was a Saturn or a Honda you would have seized the engine.

sell the car as soon as possible, tell them about the oil issue so they don't destroy the car (I mean it is a Volvo after all) and buy something else just this time, check the oil every time you fill your fuel tank as recommended in the manual. or if you can't do it every Friday when you pull in from work it takes just 5 seconds.

 

I had an integra that burned a quart every 300 miles lol. I just recently sold a 2003 saturn ion. Owned that thing for a year and it didnt eat a drop of oil. My brothers sold a 96 saturn SL with 160k miles on it few years back and it ate maybe half a quart every 3k miles. I agree with Nichals, its all about how you maintain your car. I bought my bimer with 93k miles on it and was surprised to find out how much oil it was eating. Those things are supposed to run well over 200k miles, it was hard to believe it was eating so much oil halfway through its life span. How does someone not maintain such a beautiful car?? Nichals is right, the previous owner of your car had no idea how to properly maintain their car. Best advice is get it off your hands. And if you do end up keeping it, don't waste anymore money on buying parts to fix the oil consumption problem. Only way to fix that is a brand new motor. Heck, go to the junkyard, maybe you will get lucky and find a low mileage motor for your car?

 

There we go again, thinking a low mileage motor will make a difference. LOL Lets just say you find a car that has been garage kept, is 7 years old and has 35,000 miles on it. It was owned by a, lets say, very mature person that ALWAYS took very good care of their cars. The owner will no longer drive due to failing health. So, a week later the car is rear ended and 2 months later ends up in the scrap yard. You happen upon it before the vultures attack it, see the beauty and yank the motor. Yes, all looks good, except for the fact that the po's health was failing 4 years ago and the oil hasn't been changed but one in the last 4 years, and that was when the child pulled it out of the garage 4 days before the accident (the child knew the car had sat for a year and seen no evidence of a oil change in years). How good of a deal is that low mileage motor now?

It's all about care, as it's been said time and time again. Even with that, a compression test should be done which doesn't guarantee much. The good thing is that good care can slow down the wear. My wagon has over 210,000 and has a tighter motor than the same year sedan I had with just 80,000 on it.

 

I dont assume lower mileage motors means that they are healthier than higher mileage motors. I agree with the fact that its all about how well the owner maintained the car. But i bet that theres a higher percentage of low mileage motors that are healthier than high mileage motors =) I replaced my integra motor with one from the junk yard. Had good compression and lower mileage, 80k. Ya its still a risk, but the junk yard gave me a 3 month warranty if it did go bad. That motor ran strong for another year that i owned it before i sold the car. Didnt eat a drop of oil. I would recommend looking in to getting a motor from the junkyard, as long as a warranty is offered. Especially if you dont want to get rid of your Volvo.

 

Replacing a motor is a lot of work. I'm not so concerned about a warranty on a motor unless the warranty comes with a labor warranty as well. Who will install the replacement motor the second time?

Yea, getting a used motor is a risk but then again, so is crossing the street. I just think people put to much emphasis on a "low mileage" motor. Besides, who is to prove how many miles are on the motor? The guy that wants to sell it after he pulled it out of a car last week and set it on a rack? I'm sure they all have low miles :wink: Our country is currently running on greed and selfishness so I doubt you'll ever hear a guy say "I have a motor here that is in good shape. The car I pulled it from had 287,000 miles on it." LOL