98 S70 Turbo Burns Oil/Smokes, but Runs Great
 

Hi all,

I have a 98 S70 turbo with 200,000 miles. It's been a daily driver and runs great; it gets about 28 mpg. I love the car. I had the oil lines to the turbo replaced in February--it was leaking badly. I noticed it was smoking about a week/10 days before the shop fixed this; it was really, really oily underneath, and my husband and mechanic told me to keep an eye on the oil til the hoses came in, and it was likely that the smoking was just the oil underneath burning off.

After replacing the oil lines, I drove it 50 miles to work and back home, and the oil pressure light came on as I left the highway; when my husband checked, I was 4 quarts low (the mechanic had refilled it after replacing the lines, and husband had checked before I went to work and it was full). I immediately took it back to the shop--the guys looked at it and couldn't find any leaks, but when they added oil and drove it, it again smoked like crazy, basically just blowing oil out the tailpipe.

They told me the turbo is blown, but I've had a blown turbo in another Volvo and know what that's like: lots of smoke, AND no power/runs rough. This one blows the oil through but runs like a champ. (Of course, these same guys at the shop told me a turbo couldn't be rebuilt and I'd need one from Volvo for $1200, so that was another alarm bell for me.)

In reading everything I can pull up online, I'm thinking it's more likely a PCV replacement rather than the turbo. Does this sound right? I've had the car since 60,000 and haven't replaced the PCV stuff, so I'm presuming it's due, and it seems to fit the symptoms. Mainly, I just need to get this thing back on the road, and the PCV should probably be replaced just as routine maintenance anyway, right?

So, my real questions: is the PCV kit/replacement likely to fix the problem? and, What else needs to be done after replacing the PCV (i.e., is there going to be oil "stuck"/pooled someplace, and will it need to be cleaned out? How do I do this?)?

I'm thinking, even if the seals in the turbo are bad and do need replaced, the PCV needs to be done anyway so might as well do it now, right? And how will I know if I need to go ahead and then replace those seals? As I said, the car has great power and runs just fine--aside from fogging for mosquitoes!

I really love the car, and it's in great shape in terms of the engine (at least to this point) and body, so I really hope the PCV replacement for about $150 parts and an afternoon's labor from my husband and his buddy will take care of it. ALSO: any links to clear documentation/diagrams/pictures for replacing this? As I understand, it's not a hard job, just a lot of stuff to R&R, but photos etc. will make the job an easier "sell" for me, too!

Thanks for any information, ideas, etc. anyone can share.

Well, the PCV kit is $100 from fcpeuro.com so there is $50 less than you anticipated in spending in parts! Thats a Volvo OEM kit so no worries about cheap aftermarket stuff. Turn the car on, pull the engine dip stick open and if you have white smoke puffing out of the dipstick tube then it is PCV time! What the shop should have told you is that they are not qualified to rebuild your turbo, not that a turbo cannot be rebuilt! If you can do without your car for a week or so, there is a company in California that you can send your turbo to, for $250 they rebuild it and send it back. You can always check the junkyard for a turbo also. You might get lucky and find a turbo from a T5 and get an upgrade!

Easiest way to tell if turbo is "blown" is to take intercooler hose off and stick your (or hubby's) finger in and see if the turbine spins freely or spins at all. I would definitely find a European car mechanic shop and have them look at your oil situation. They can fill it back up, add a dye and tell exactly where your oil is leaking from. If you havent done the cam seals yet, they may be a good place to look.

Any oil pooled under your valve cover where the sparks plug go?

I'm not a mechanic, I'm simply telling you my learnings from experience with my S70.

Hi Ms. America and welcome to the site.

If you're PCV has not been done within 100,000 miles, yes it's overdue. And yes that is part of rutine maintenance. Do it wether the oil dip stick smokes or not. Mine did not smoke and was in real bad shape. A clogged PCV system can cause massive oil leaks and a RMS (rear main seal) leak which is a $1,200 repair. Ouch!!!

When you order the PCV kit, make sure you do REQUEST the Volvo oil box and hoses. Not all of them are Volvo OEM parts and some people complain about the hoses not lasting long and failing in short time. I did not know the difference and just ordered a kit. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

As for the car smoking, if it is, my guess would be a worn turbo. Another option would be a bad piston seal letting oil blow by which would be bad. If I were your hubby, I would do a compression test before putting any more money into the car. Here are easy instructions for that:
Compression Test - Volvo S70 GLT, 1998
When I blew the cam seals out of our S70 I did a compressession test and it was good so I did change the cam seals. If they are not leaking, I would NOT mess with them. I'm from the school of "if it aint broke don't fix it".

If the compression test comes out fine, do the PCV and by all means make sure the timing belt is good. Here are good instructions for the PCV system replacement:
PCV Replacement
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...hp?f=1&t=28487
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...acement-33970/

It sounds like you're a smart lady and have a handy husband. The 850's are basically the same car as your '98 S70 so by all means do use the 850 threads to learn about and fix your S70.
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...repairs-26114/

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...s-s-v70s-9266/

Hope all this helped. Have a good week.