I noticed some oil on the large hose that is under/inside the upper radiator hose, not sure what hose this is. Enough oil to be dripping off. Asked my mechanic about it and he says it's coming from the turbo, turbo needs to be replaced. Quoted me $1,750.


Car has 140,000, I just bought it last fall. I know it has never had the PCV system serviced. Is there any chance that it is just the PCV pressure causing oil to spurt out? Oil is full synthetic and has always been changed on schedule per previous owner (a friend who I trust). It just seems like insanely bad luck to have the whole turbo unit go bad. Car runs fine.


Any/all advice appreciated. I am pondering doing this myself, as I have replaced both axles on it before which looks like it gets you much of the way towards replacing the turbo, however I'm not real experienced with Volvos and I have a new baby due in a few weeks which will take up lots of my time.

 

If there is pressure in the crankcase from a plugged oil trap, it will definitely cause this problem. Much more common than a blown turbo.

With high mileage, it could also be normal from years of slight amounts of oil getting in via the PCV system.

 

Ok, so possibly if I service the PCV system, things are fixed and no more oil leak? That would be a nice break...

 

Yep. Even with no PCV problem, some oil gets in there. Over time, that rubber hose deteriorates and looks worse than it is.

My XC90 has no PCV problem but I needed that hose.

 

Is there any test to tell if the PCV is clogged? Or is it like a routine maintenance, you just do it when your car gets over 100,000 miles?

 

Check for pressure from the oil dipstick tube with the engine running. You can use a latex glove to get an idea but we use a very sensitive vacuum gauge.

 

So this is scary... when I picked it up, the mechanic told me it was 4 quarts low on oil. I just got the oil changed in November. But there has never been any puddle on the driveway. All the oil coming out seems to bubble and gel up on the hoses. He says that it is all from the leaking turbo, which he says must be replaced. I took a few pictures. The last photo is a different hose than the first two.

 

My hose looked like that as well, and I have not had to replace the turbo (yet) 170,000 miles 2005 XC 90.

However, I DID have to fix the PCV system, which was clogged up, and causing pressure inside the crank case... The main symptoms were:

1. It had the commonly referred to 'volvo astma' idle. Idle was inconsistent, and would continually drop a bit, then RPMs would go up, then down, etc..

2. Oil was leaking from around the valve cover cap, and the intercooler hose (same as yours).

To test if your PCV system is working correctly - let the car idle, leave the oil dipstick in place. Undo the oil fil-up cap (top of the valve cover). Then use a latex glove and a rubber band to put the glove around the opening. During idle the engine should have very slight VACUUM (negative pressure) in the crank case, while running. ie - you should see the latex glove seem to get sucked in a bit. If it starts blowing up - you will need to address the PCV system, there are some DIYs on here. (You can also do the same test via the oil dipstick, I just find it easier to put the glove around the oil filler neck).

My oil consumption was higher than usual, over and above what is considered normal for turbo cars (about a quart lost in between oil changes). After fixing the PCV system - oil consumption went down, intercooler hose stopped getting gunky, and idle was rock-solid.

Note: To fix the PCV system, I only had to fix two hoses, without replacing any other parts:

1. Valve cover to oil trap, (was cracked) - https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vol...g-hose-8692217

2. The tiny hose that is part of the very expensive 'breather pipe assembly' - https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vol...-hose-30731068 . I did NOT buy the assembly, just replaced a part of it.

It can be seen most clearly on this picture:



lower right corner, the round banjo bolt connects to a tiny hose, which is mostly hidden by the foam insulation. This is the piece that is almost always clogged up. I removed the insulation, the tiny plastic hose broke into pieces in my hands, and was completely clogged up. Cleaned up both ends, and both outlets, used 1/4 fuel hose from AutoZone and a couple of clamps to replace it. It has been 2+ years, and no issues.

 

Wow, that is great info, thanks.

 

A couple things:
If you are that far in, I would highly recommend replacing the oil trap instead of trying to clean it. It isn't very expensive.
with regard to the PCV nipple (the part the banjo bolt goes through), you can get just that part with the proper hose attached. I have seen people patch it with rubber hose that eventually collapses. Sure, the new piece will eventually clog. But it will likely last longer than rubber hose. Definitely use fuel hose at the very least, like he mentioned.

 

A note on my oil trap - it was not clogged at all, and there was nothing wrong with it. Obviously there is no real way to know that in advance, and it is not overly expensive, so... your call. If you're not in a rush and can keep the vehicle out of action for a few days - try the hoses first, and then confirm the oil trap is actually blocked, before rushing to buy a replacement...

 

My Turbo lower hose, was just like yours. While I did a oil trap PCV replacement job, I did note something amiss with my turbo. I took it out, and took it to a company that was recommended by my local none dealer mechanic. It costed me about $500. to re-manufacture or rebuild it. They sandblasted it, replaced seals, a coat of paint, and I had it back within a week. the maintenance guy asked if I check out the turbo once I got it out? He was curious because the impeller didn't move when I got it to him. I hadn't looked. (I felt I had learned too much about the Volvo, for me to learn anything else. Another symptom I had was the tube that plugs into the butterfly valve, had standing white-ish oil there, and the butterfly valve was coated by spayed on oil from that goose-neck. Which caused me to spend a day to pull out the turbo inter-cooler, and ensure it was cleaned out of oil. My car was sputtering, now I attribute that to Coil #1 was not always firing. but I didn't know if that oil was passing the butterfly and messing with the fuel air, so I didn't know what else could be causing the sputtering/hesitation while gunning it.

the company I took it too was DCI, they typically work with Semi tractors/18 wheelers. So after talking to them, they were willing to look at it. DCI https://www.dieselcomponentsinc.com/ maybe there is something close to you. (There was one closer to my house, but the recommendation from my mechanic wasn't very good.)

 

I would strongly suggest SilverStreak to check the oil level every time you fill up the gas tank.

 

My inter-cooler hose looks just like the picture you provided. The part has been ordered but I was told by a mechanic that this is a sign that the turbo is going up. The vehicle, a 2004, only has 150K and I just bought it used less than a year. Needless to say, I will be quite distraught if the turbo needs to be replaced so soon. I will def try a PCV replacement first to see if that helps.

My question is this....my vehicle has a hard start. By this I mean sometimes it will start within 5-10 seconds (usually when the engine is cold), other times I have to attempt to start it numerous times before it will finally turn over (usually when the engine is hot). Could this be a problem caused by the hose or PCV?

 

Not at all. I don't think so anyway.

 

I had the same symptom for a while. The hose is greasy as the pictures show. At first the engine shows a code of rich idling or misfire in bank #1, then I changed the MAF sensor. It wasn't the cause. Then my mechanic carefully inspected the car and found the inter-cooler hose is leaking. After replacing it a few days ago, it is running fine now. Accelerating normally at starting. Cost me $66 + 1 hr labor.

I am a little concern that the turbo is going out. How to tell?