My S60 T5 is now running rough at idle and in 1st gear until it gets going. The gas milage really sucking now at 19 MPG compared to 21.5 prior. Seems to be running on 4 of 5 pistons.

The problem is definately result of my screwup as I was jacking with the techtronic shift and revved it too high in 1st gear. I switched from Drive to TTS and pulled the stick back to 1st gear quite by accident. Thank Volvo Engineers that the TTS system incorporates a governer to save the engine from people like me. Not too long after was a strong engine smell coming into the cabin. I was hoping it was coming from another car not my luck this time.

It has 110K Miles and at 107.5 I had timing belt changed at a dealership.

As times are real tight I try to do most all my repairs except for engine teardowns. Any ideas what this might be?

Don

 

what type of smell?
how high did you rev it?

probably bent a valve...

 

I was driving about 30 mph accelerating and switched over to the tt shift and dropped it into 1st gear where the revs quickly approached 6K. The governor kicked in and held it at 6K until I was able to recover to a higher gear. The smell came about 10 minutes later. It was not fuel and it was not exhaust. It must have come through the venting. I wanted to say that the smell was kind of sulferic smell but do not want to mislead. I have smelled strong sulfer odor from a bad battery before and that is more like a rotten egg smell. This was not like that.

 

I think know the smell you're describing. Not burning, but like a hot oil smell (hard to describe if you don't work in a machine shop)? I smelled that a lot in an '81 Saab I had years ago when I'd push it really hard.

You'd think the rev limiter would be there to help any problems such as over-revving and causing damage to the engine. Sounds like the rev limiter was working properly.

 

Thanks Brian,
The smell did not persist but the bad performance did. The rev limiter did do its job as you noted. My thought was to check something like a mass air flow sensor. I read where one guy replaced an O2 sensor and it improved his performance. Not sure what the S60 has for that.

 

Okay. I had two engine code scans done at Auto Zone today. Cylinder 5 misfire. I removed the top plate, then removed the coil on position 5. The coil certainly looked like it heated up. It has ripples on the top surface and can barely read the labels, while the other coils are smooth and labels are very visible. The area between the coil and the sparkplug had a redish color oil sprayed on the sides, I am guessing it is motor oil but has me a little concerned. I am heading out to check the 24 hour Checker Auto to see if they have a coil. I am convinced the coil is bad.

Should I be concerned about the oil?

 

at BEST your valve cover gasket is shot and your PCV needs replacing.

At WORST you bent a valve.


get it in ASAP.

 

Installed new Ignition Coil tonight and problem solved. However, I am sure that I will need to plan on addressing the oil seepage soon.

After a drive around the block, I pulled the coil and no new oil has seeped out.

As others have noted before, the wire shielding is very brittle so I went ahead and busted it all off and vacuumed it up before I put in my new Autolite XP Iridum plugs.

I will update you on the performance improvement with the iridiums as compared to the Bosch Super R6 they replace. Not sure if they have ever been replaced before.

Don

 

I will add back the wiring protective cover but wanted to make sure this is not critical if I wait a day or two to find the right stuff.

Any thoughts on that?

 

So far she runs like a top. Much quicker now than before. Next project replace lower control arms and ball joints. The parts should arrive within the next few days along with a new DVD manual. With the suspension rebuild this baby will be driving like new.

 

Watch that oil, i would be very concerned.

 

Hi Paul,

I left a picture of the oil in my photo album in garage.

 

Well you definitely didn't bend a valve. What probably happened is that the Boost from the turbo overwhelmed the system and forced some oil through that gasket. I've seen it happen a lot on 16 valves that are boosted. Drive it for a bit, see if you get more oil accumulation, if you do pull the valve cover and replace the gasket.

 

+1 to adub - not a valve issue but could be a valve cover gasket issue depending if that oil comes back.
thanks for the picture!

 

I just looked at your photo and can't help but wondering is there a chance that the redish stuff in the sparkplug well came from your failed coil?

 

no - that is definitely oil.

 

The oil leak is back in the spark plug well and I am getting ready to take on the project of removing the Cam(Valve) Cover to lay a fresh new chemical gasket. The car is an 01 Volvo S60 T5 and is now suffering a real loud ticking that goes away after the engine is warmed. I did have aeration in the oil and as result dropped the oil sump pan and resealed all the seals and now the bubbles are gone and oil has been looking real good and clean but the ticking only appears to be getting louder. My theory is that the space where the oil is leaking is allowing the oil to drain back down to the sump.

Can you point me to a good explanation or link that can show me a way to avoid removing the timing belt and keep this as simple as possible?

I assume that the PVC system has not been touched so I will order this from FCP.

Thanks a million.

Don

 

Doesn't techtronic force you into the next gear if you rev too high?