I own a 2016 T6 R1 Edition with 60K miles and have been adding about a quart a month of oil (~600 miles per month ). I was relieved to find out there's a recall that covers out of warranty vehicles.

But when I took it to the dealer I was told I had to replace the rear main bearing FIRST before they do anything about the piston rings. They claimed they "cleaned off about 1/2 quart" from the undercarriage shield. That's a $3,500 job before they even start the piston ring recall process.

This made me quite suspicious since I have never found a single spot of oil in my garage floor since I owned the vehicle. None. Zilch.

A month goes by and I add another quart. This time I took the shield off and here's what I found:

- no obvious traces of oil on the shield
- no drips or streaks
- the housing around the rear main seal does have a golden layer of what looks to me fresh oil
- where did the quart of oil go?

My oil right now is due for a change. It's blackish, not golden. The oil around the housing did not come out in this past month. I took pictures and I went back to the dealer. I found a reasonable service tech this time who told me I'm 100% right. My problem has everything to do with the piston recall. The fresh oil on the housing around the rear main seal is just seepage after a new oil change. Since the service manager was not there I had to come back a third time.

What a complete waste of time. The service manager was not even interested in hearing or seeing my findings. Volvo strict orders is what he said. Sounds fishy too since they are the ones that "cleaned off 1/2 quart from shield"

So this seems to me a way to weasel out of the expensive recall, or at least minimizing it by colluding with dealers. The rear main seepage has nothing to do with the huge oil consumption. It has everything to do with Volvo trying to get a better gas mileage with looser rings, which failed, and is now causing a nightmare for owners and increased air pollution. The maddening thing is that replacing the rear seal is a complete waste of time too since they will do it anyway when they replace the rings.

I have started a case with Volvo. No answer yet. I have also placed a piece of absorbent cloth in the shield so I will capture every single drop that is coming out of the rear main seal as proof that is all BS. Probably will need to join one of the class action lawsuits.

Thoughts? Anyone else being extorted?

 

something sounds odd here - I assume the $3500 was a quote for replacing a rear main seal - not to pull off the splash pan and inspect for leaks. I would agree that if you are adding a quart every 600 miles, if that leaked out of a seal there would be quite a mess - I recall having a turbo return line seal go out and spray out about a quart of oil and it was all over the bottom of the engine. Plus, at least on older models, there should be a weep hole that would allow the oil that got by a rear main seal to drain out of the bell housing which would be easy to spot as well. I can understand the dealer wanting to follow a service bulletin procedure to check for leaks etc before diving into a very costly engine rebuild so you may want to google around to see what's been published. Is there another dealer you can reach out to or contact the dealer's owner? sounds like the service manager is not communicating the game plan that well.

 

... yeah probably because he wasn't even paying attention (but the service rep agreed 100% w me).

Problem is that they now put it in writing that there was about a "1/2 quart on the shield". This figure btw was added *after* I asked them to put in writing how much oil was found. My guess is that the mechanic used a rag, wiped off oil that had been accumulating for 6 years, and just blurted out some numbers when asked.

So now my chances of getting Volvo to agree with the recalled piston rings procedure became much harder. It's my word against the dealer's mechanic.

I don't understand dealer economics. Don't they get paid by Volvo for official recall repairs? Why not side with the customer (or pretend) to get Volvo to green light the recall? They get the money for the repairs regardless who is paying, no?

Thanks for the tips and your technical knowledge. I'm new to this mess, not sure what's out there. I did find some class action lawsuits for these first year engines. I'll wait for Volvo official reply before I reach out to a different dealer, or go the owner route.

 

And there is it. Volvo official response.

As much as we truly desire to resolve all of our customer's requests to their satisfaction, it is not possible to meet every expectation. We regret that in this instance; a repair needs to be done prior to the start of the oil consumption test. There will be no financial assistance with this repair as it is not related the the oil consumption concern.

Hey Volvo, where did a quart of oil go in only 600 miles? Not on the shield, not on the floor, so where?

They produce car using loose fitting piston rings to get better fuel economy, which started destroying the engine and eating oil probably around 40K miles. Then they reluctantly do a recall and find *any* excuse not to do the repairs, or extort any money from customer.

Well Volvo, this is the last time I buy or recommend your cars.

 

Bottom line the rear main seal does not need repair. Seepage is normal. There are no leaks. My rear main seal can go on for another 10 years. This is confirmed by the service rep at Volvo dealer, but only when speaking to me, not in writing.

Looks like Volvo, the company, is the dishonest one: requiring an unnecessary costly repair in order to allow the recall.