I took my 2006 XC-90 with 76,000 miles to Volvo of Dallas for an oil change, they said I had a vacumn leek and needed a new hose. After they did the repair the engine started to smoke then I lost all oil pressure with in 1/2 mile of leaving the Dealership. Volvo of Dallas states that the vacumn leak caused a hole in the piston and that I need a new engine. Can this be true? has anyone heard of this before? Why would an oil change and changing the vacumn hose cause all these problems? Is this my fault even though I can show all oil changes from the day I bought the car with 34 miles on it or did Volvo of Dallas cause the problem and are just trying to pass the blame???

 

What diagnoses have they performed that led them to this conclusion?

 

Volvo of Dallas is telling me by "looking at it". They have not gone into the engine, this is based on experience only. The Dealership wants me to authorize $3000 to tear into to the engine so they can "look at it"

 

Did they check the PCV system? Was there oil in the intake? I would think that this bad of a leak would likely come from oil being sucked or forced into the intake and subsequently the combustion chamber to burn....especially at the rate you've indicated. If there really is a hole in the piston, then a simple compression test or leakdown compression test should find this before going to the additional expense of a partial teardown to confirm. In a leakdown test, the chamber is pressurized while the intake and exhaust valves are closed to see if you have a leak.

I had an old '85 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe that had a pinhole leak at the edge of the head of one the pistons (right where it meets the piston ring and cylinder wall). This caused gases to vent past the piston rings and positively pressurize the crankcase while running at higher than idle speeds (like when the turbo would kick in), and would actually force some oil out the dipstick tube. So, they may be correct that you have some blowby and the vacuum leak you had masked this.

 

Well I took my XC-90 to an independent shop and they told me the engine was oil starved and driven with out oil. The smoke is coming from the seals around the turbo and the noise is more than likely the main bearings. I know I did not drive the car without oil; I am not sure if the dealership drove the car without oil and caused this. But how much or how far do you have to drive to cause this kind of problem. I don’t know. So back to the original question; Do I need an new engine?

 

I just looked through your other thread. You did say that the car said "no oil pressure pull over" after you left the dealership right, and you drove it back? Sounds like a good diagnosis to me. It doesn't take long without oil to ruin an engine.

 

You need to get your car away from Dallas Volvo asap and start the arbritation process. Document everything that has happened up to this point.

I have changed my oil in the past and have forgotten to remove the old oil filter gasket that stuck to the side of the engine. I did my own oil change and started the motor afterwards and noticed no oil leaking, it's ok now to drive, right! I then took the car for a drive and with boost the oil blow out all over the engine and I drove maybe 3 miles. The car had full synthetic oil in it and after a compression check everything was ok. Your problem is most likely from the dealer and they are trying to cover it up placing the blame on you......note to self go to Park Place Volvo.

 

The dealer found a big problem and sent you on your way. Unfortunately you chose to accept the car when it was smoking, drove it off in good faith and now they can blame you for the engine failure.
I would go right over their heads to Volvo head office. No car should be released to a customer with an engine that will fail in a half mile.