My wife's 2005 XC90 t5 seems lost some of its power. I took it to local shop and they thought it was normal. No code came back. Is there a way to increase power.

 

How many miles?

 

It's has 135,000 miles.

 

Have you been using full synthetic at every oil changes? Are you using any oil between oil changes? I wonder if you Turbo is getting the proper boost as it should....

 

Also, get a can of 44K made by BG group and you'll see better results.

 

No I haven't been using full synthetic, and yes I had to add some oil between regular oil change recently . How do I check if it's getting the proper boost, and 8 not do I have change the turbo?

 

The seals on the turbo must be letting the oil seeping through, that's why you're topping off between oil changes. Not mentioned the boost of your turbo is down as well. Too late to say, you should have been using synthetic oil all along. At this point, I wouldn't do anything at all. Continue to run the same oil you have been using and wait until the turbo goes kaput and than change the turbo and start using synthetic oil. It would be difficult to test the boost without some gauges. A shop could possibly help you for a small fee. Check with autozone and see if they have a tool that you can rent... Tools that are for rent at autozone and O'reilys are all free with a small deposit.

For now, save some money on the side for a new Turbo. If you're handy, you can swap out the turbo yourself. You can buy new or have yours rebuilt. A new one would runs you around $700 or less... Have yours rebuilt would cost around $450 or less.

Don't be alarm if you come out one morning and start up the car, a stream of black smoke coming out of the tail pipe. This is a symptom of blowing the turbo seal.

Best of luck.

Jay

 

There is no requirement to run synthetic oil. And it is normal for any engine to need some oil between oil changes. I wouldn't jump to the worst case scenario just yet.

 

I dispute that. If you have a non-turbo vehicle, yes, use whatever you feel like it. However, with a turbo cars, yes, full synthetic is a must. This will prevent from early sludge built up and cool your turbo bearings a lot more efficient. You defiinetly don't want your oil to cook inside of your turbo after you shut off the engine.

A few years back, I had a nice running 2001 Saab 9-3 SE with a HO Turbo. The Saab ran flawless until 1 day I decided to save money and went with standard oil, but name brand though. To make a long story short, 5K miles into the new oil, I blew the turbo seal. I rebuilt the turbo seals and went back to full synthetic oil again. The Turbo bearings, which is tiny, which also needs quite a bit off cooling. Therefore, using full synthetic will prevent from the oil cooking after shut off the motor.

You shouldn't be using any oil between changes unless you haven't been taking care of the motor. The only SUV that I know of using 1 quart of oil between changes (5K) is a super duper American V8.. How do I know, I had a Mercury Mountain AWD V8 and the SUV ran like a top, no oil drips of any kind, just use oil.

My 2002 Saab 9-5 4-cyl with a Turbo, which has 153K miles now and does not burn a drop of oil between oil changes at 5K miles with Mobil1. I also have a 1997 BMW 328i convertible with 173K miles on the clock and no drips or use a drop of oil between oil changes at 5K. My primary vehicle is my 2007 XC90 V8, which also get the benefit of the full synthetic oil and does not use a drop of oil between changes at 5K.

Again, at this stage, you're probably too late to use full synthetic... I would continue to use standard motor oil, but change it more frequent than you have been in the past...

Bets of luck!!

 

You need basic tune-up:

1. Fuel Filter:
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...p?f=10&t=64409

2. Spark Plugs:
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...p?f=10&t=64080