S70 whipping like noise

[genivieve]

I have a 2000 S70 turbo with 177,000k. Three weeks ago I was driving my car and the oil light came on, so I took it to the gas station and he stated I was down a quart of oil, and put 1 in. About ten minutes later my car was making a whipping like sound coming from the the right side. Then it started grinding and howling.

Orginally I thought it was the tranny but took it to a tranny garage and they stated it was somewhere in the motor, the tranny was fine.

A friend of mine told me it was the turbo, he then pulled it said it was shot. We put a used one back in with a 3 month warranty. He dropped the car off to me stating that the oil light was on, I needed to go get it changed right away. I was also down a quart. The car does not smoke or leak oil.

So driving ( about 1 mile) to get my oil changed, again a whipping like noise and howling everytime I give it gas. When I let off the gas it stops. I got the oil changed the light turn off. I started down the hill the oil light went on then off, and then on again staying on, and again the howling.

When you give the car gas in neutral it makes no noise, the motor sounds fine. It only when you put in in drive and give it gas. Any ideas? Thanks

[matthew1]

Wow, odd scenario. Lotta things going on here.

I'd stop messing around and take it to an independent volvo mechanic or volvo dealer service department.

Some of your post makes me think "engine", some of it makes me think "transmission", and some makes me think "turbo."

Whatever the case, the engine not getting enough/any oil can lead to the largest repair bill, bar none: a new engine.

[voltech1]

The "White Motor" aluminum 4,5,6 cylinder will form sludge if oil change schedule is not followed closely. The factory recommends 7500 mile service intervals but the oil must be changed every 3000 miles. One indicator is the bottom of your oil cap which will not be as bad as your oil pick-up tube. The dealer might tell you that o-rings in the engine need to be replaced which is a common cause for oil pressure lights and lifter noise. If there is any sludging evident dont spend to repair motor. Get a new/used motor with a warranty through your "reputable"dealership. Once sludge forms inside an engine it CANNOT be cleaned out of the oil passsages in the crankshaft and will starve the rods/used turbo. I had oil pan off 2k S-80 five times to clean out sludge and ended up replacing motor with siezed connecting rod. Or just dump the car and get a new C-70!

[saltydog]

What voltech1 is saying is true...I'm about to yank the engine in my 2001 xc70 for an oil pressure problem related to sludge. I've tried EVERYTHING to try and clean it out, but with no luck. y car had all the recomended service & ran synthetic lubricants but the one thing that was missed - the PCV box - created a situation that cannot be repaired. Save your money for a new engine & cut your losses now....your current mill is finished.

[ferrari9]

Unfortunately, the person I bought my 95 854T from did not take care of the car like she was supposed to. Not only did she ding and scratch the hell out of the paint (cost mucho dolores to repairo) I'm almost positive she probably never took it for oil changes/tune ups, etc at the correct intervals. The only two saving graces where that one, she had a very respected private volvo mechanic who took personal care of the car for the duration of her ownership - and two, I drove the car fairly regularly for two years without any major problems before I bought it.
All of this aside, last summer I dropped her off at the airport and took the car for one of my regular two week long "babysitting" sessions. Just like I always did when getting the car back home, the very first thing I did was check fluid levels, tire pressure, etc etc... well - to my horror - pulled out the dipstick to check engine oil level/color and saw nothing but what I ended up describing as oatmeal on the end of the stick... ( @#$*!!)
Took it to dealer IMMEDIATELY. Well, you can imagine my relief when the tech let me know that they changed the oil and ran the usual supects of tests and the car was fine. He said that it simply hadn't been checked and topped off since the previous oil change (eeegads!!! don't try to tell me that's okay!) But anyway, the motor really was fine. The funny part is that aside from the looks of the dipstick, there was nothing out of the ordinary going on in that engine (prior to having to hit the lube emergency room) that would have indicated to me that something was seriously wrong (for example; THERE IS NO OIL IN THE FU#$ING ENGINE!!)
I've kept a close eye on all service intervals for the car since and it is running just fine. Still a whiplash-fast kind of quick from the engine, smooth idle, no alarming DTCs, noises, smoke, etc... On one hand, I ask whether or not I should still be alarmed of the sludge once found in the engine even if it still runs very smooth at 140+k miles? However, this little incident just fortified my respect for how tough these machines are really built. I've heard enough people say that Volvo engines seem to be able to handle more abuse than those of their peers in the industry, but it actually really amazed me that despite the situation - one of which would have landed other marque owners to hit the new engine store or much worse - this swede had no idea and just kept on trucking.. er volvoing...
'Tis meerly a flesh wound!

[billofdurham]

Voltech says

The factory recommends 7500 mile service intervals but the oil must be changed every 3000 miles.

Since joining this forum I have wondered why U.S. Volvo service intervals are 7500 and U.K. Volvo service intervals are 10000 or 12 months whichever is first.

I am now on my 5th Volvo and have never experienced engine sludge in any of them. The first two ran on mineral oil and the others on semi-synthetic.

My son has a new Vauxhall (GM subsidiary) and his service interval has increased to 15000 miles.

Is our oil different?

Bill.

[Svenska 850 Wagon]

Is our oil different?

Bill.[/quote]

The oil is all the same. It is just a selling feature these days (Higher Service Intervals). It is like the Transmission Fluid. The manual says no need to change only inspect on my Canadian model. The delear will tell you that Volvo has changed their mind since 1995 I have since put new fluid in my tranny.

I also change my Oil every 3000miles. Cheap insurance.

[les & reilly]

just thought id post some info which may be usefull to all experiencing sludge build up.

SLUDGE BUILD UP DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN AN ENGINE CHANGE !!!

the way i remied the sludge build up on my t5 approx 40,000 miles ago was;

replace the oil trap and all relevant pipes.

INSULATE the engine dip stick tube with plumbers pipe insulation and secure it with cable ties.

due to chemistry the dipstick becomes cold when moving/driving and the dipstick is naturally hot from the engine.

the hot and cold meet on the dipstick and produces condensation. turning into water and running down inside the engine, mixing with the oil and causing it to turn into sludge.

once the condensation mixes with the oil, it goes into all the engine internals, just flush it out with oil and insulate the dipstick.

have any of you ever been in the dester without water? with a sheet of polethyne and a basin, you can condense the air and turn it into water, this is the hit sun and wind meeting.

i learned this on survival when i was in the forces.

les (& reilly...gs dog)

[danz20]

i have found with some motors to get rid of sludge pour a 1 litre of kerosene in the engine when oil is warm and let it idle only idle do not rev the motor just let it idle for a couple of minutes and turn off and change oil as per usual an filter of course

[Japedo]

"If there is any sludging evident dont spend to repair motor. Get a new/used motor with a warranty through your "reputable"dealership"



I find this a bit harsh, I didn't know reputable and dealership could be in the same sentance. lol But seriously if your engine is full of sludge why not attempt flushing your engine with one of the various products avaliable. I had to repeat the process about 3 times to get my V70 XC's engine cleaned out but I wouldn't even recommend a new engine to anyone without a blown engine. These engines are tough.

Japedo
04 850 turbo
01 V70 XC

[wheelsup]

I've actually been wondering about sludge myself, I'm not really sure what it looks like, but I've been worried because between 100,000 miles and 130,000 miles I was a bit lackluster in changing the oil on the car.

I took some pictures with the oil cap off, how's it look to everyone?









I Googled "engine sludge" and it doesn't look like it's go too much yucky gunk in there, but maybe I need to do an engine treatment or something? I've heard good things about AutoRx, anyone tried it?

Thoughts?

-matt

[Japedo]

It's hard to say how much sludge is inside of your engine. Maybe not much at all, but there is deffinently a varnish build up and some sort of engine flush wouldn't hurt in my opinion. Just review the product a little bit first. I'd recommend seafoam but ive used the gunk engine flush sold at wallmart on my XC when I first got it and it removed a lot of crap from my engine.

Japedo
94 850 turbo
01 V70 XC

[confused_al]

...took some pictures with the oil cap off, how's it look to everyone?

I think yours looks ok, here is my 95 850 GLT w/ 164 k miles...


edit: I dont know why my upload didn't work...will try later