Hi, I have a 2003 XC70 with 96k miles, and having the following issues:

The #1 a #3 ignition coils failed. I brought it to the dealer, and after his whopping $600 quote, I decided to order them pnline and do them all myself. A bunch of communications codes came up as well, so the dealer did a SW upgrade. I got all 5 + new spark plugs from FCPGroton.com . I changed everything and was very happy to have saved $250 in the process. Now the problems:

While changing the plugs, I had to remove the Turbo hose that goes over the top, and I noticed that there was oil on both ends. I had noticed a few months back that there was some old oil/dirt on the on outside of the hoses where they connect with the hose clips, but did not pay much attention. The car runs fine, its my wife's, and she drives average around town/errands. The car has always run fine. Is this something that I need to worry about?

I also accidentially broke the dipstick handle while changing.

Second issue appeared after the spark plug change. After the car warms up, it starts to rev up/down between 500RPM and 1100RPMs. It sounds like its about to die, then the engine kicks up and it revs higher, then returns to normal idle for a 10-15 seconds, and repeats. Before anyone mentions the dipstick not sealing, I also have an S70 (2001) that I borrowed while the XC was broken, so i took the dipstick from that car to test it out, and same thing.

After some further looking, I also discovered some milky resedue on the older dipstick. Its cold in boston these days and the car has not been used in almost a week, so i am not as worried about that, at least not at this point. I have an 1997 850, and it had the same issue a few years ago. After a while it went away. The issue came up in the winter as well, and i did not drive much at that time.

So whats my problem???

Thanks for all your kind help...

/lev


Ignition Coil

 

Some oily residue in and on the outside of the turbo hose is fairly normal. I would not worry about it right now, just keep an eye on it whenever you change the oil. As for the oil, and dipstick, well, you obviously need a new dipstick. Did pieces of the old one fall in the motor? The milky residue is due to the engine not getting warm enough to burn off any moisture in the motor/oil. Change the oil and drive it on a few longer jaunts (30 mins or so). As for the weird idle, check to be sure all connections are tright and that their is no broken vacuum hoses. It is possible you got a bad coil but a check engine light and code should come up.

Others will chime in I'm sure, but this should get you started.

 

I would also clean the throttle body and see if that fixes it.

 

I checked all the hoses and they all seem fine. The check engine light was on for a few hours, and then shut off, and has not come back on, so I don't think that its a faulty ignition coil, since that would turn the check engine light on.

still lost... thanks for the advise...

 

If the check engine light was on you should have a code or codes stored in the ECU. Get the codes read and it should point you in the right direction to start