07 Volvo S60 2.5T Turbo failure question

otis44 · Post by **otis44** » 08 Feb 2010, 12:42

07 Volvo S60 2.5T, 20,xxx miles on the engine, car ran over something, busted the oil pan. I didn't wreck it so I don't know any previous history. Turbo is whistling, considerable lag upon acceleration and leaves a puff of smoke if the engine is raced in park. The car white smokes some but not excessively and there appears to be a liquid oily residue coming from the tailpipe. The car has used or lost approx. 1/2qt to 3/4qt of oil in 50 miles or so, its not leaking.

I have what appears to be oil in the coolant and coolant in the oil. If a turbo fails due to oil starvation could it allow this cross contamination of fluids? I know I may have other issues such as the radiator (tranny fluid is considerably low as well), the oil cooler and even the head gasket but I wanted to address the turbo first. I haven't checked compression/leakdown or pressure tested the cooling system yet but intend to do so soon. Thanks in advance

Post by **OEMVolvoParts** » 09 Feb 2010, 08:59

I want to give an opinion but you didn't give enough information. You didn't mention what you did after you cracked the oil pan and how long you drove before you noticed no oil pressure. Also no mention of what else might have been repaired in the accident.

I will say you are crazy for worrying about the turbo before you worry about the internal function of the engine. How can (and why would) a turbo make power if there is oil/coolant contamination and obvious issues with just burning fuel cleanly...?

otis44 · Post by **otis44** » 09 Feb 2010, 10:56

MyVolvoPartsOnline wrote:I want to give an opinion but you didn't give enough information. You didn't mention what you did after you cracked the oil pan and how long you drove before you noticed no oil pressure. Also no mention of what else might have been repaired in the accident.

I will say you are crazy for worrying about the turbo before you worry about the internal function of the engine. How can (and why would) a turbo make power if there is oil/coolant contamination and obvious issues with just burning fuel cleanly...?

I didn't wreck or drive this car so I have no idea how long the car was ran after the oil pan was busted, I purchased the car this way. The only repair to the car was the oil pan replacement and a drain and refill of the oil and coolant. There is no question in my mind the turbo is shot due to oil starvation, my only real question at this point is; Theoretically speaking could the turbo allow coolant and oil to be mixed and show up in the engine oil or the coolant tank?

I'm not necessarily worrying about the turbo before the engine itself, I may have head gasket problems, a busted oil cooler, a bad tranny cooler, or any combination of the above plus who knows what else. I intend to check for these issues in the next day or so, I basically was just curious if the turbo itself could cause the mixture of fluids I am seeing. Thanks for the reply.

Post by **OEMVolvoParts** » 09 Feb 2010, 17:54

Now I see...I mis-understood what you wrote.

Anything is possible when it comes to no oil pressure. Sure you could cook the turbo from lack of oil pressure, but the engine would suffer long before the turbo would (overheating, catastrophic failure etc). Which is maybe why you have a blown head gasket, whoever had it before you continued to drive it and cooked both the turbo and head gasket after they cracked the pan. If they managed to drive it that long after, the bottom end may have some serious problems also. Even if you really really ran the turbo on no oil, it would still not be the cause of oil and coolant mixing. They are two very different passages. It really sounds like an overheat from lack of oil pressure which lead to a blown head gasket. Compression test to be sure.

Post by **vegasjetskier** » 09 Feb 2010, 18:02

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the turbo water cooled?

Post by **OEMVolvoParts** » 10 Feb 2010, 09:37

Yes it is water cooled. I went to bother some techs around here and posed the question to them. The answer from them was on the old Garrett turbo's for 700/900 series cars that would happen. Mitsu turbos are much much more durable, and it would take A LOT according to them to have that happen.

So what I said is not completely true, it is theoretically possible, but in the real world it should never happen. Pretty amazing that the engine would last longer than the turbo with no oil pressure. Especially with enough RPM to cook the turbo. Still seems there is more going on, good luck getting back on the road.

otis44 · Post by **otis44** » 10 Feb 2010, 10:21

MyVolvoPartsOnline wrote:Yes it is water cooled. I went to bother some techs around here and posed the question to them. The answer from them was on the old Garrett turbo's for 700/900 series cars that would happen. Mitsu turbos are much much more durable, and it would take A LOT according to them to have that happen.

So what I said is not completely true, it is theoretically possible, but in the real world it should never happen. Pretty amazing that the engine would last longer than the turbo with no oil pressure. Especially with enough RPM to cook the turbo. Still seems there is more going on, good luck getting back on the road.

Thanks for clarifying the issue on the turbo, that is the answer I have been looking for. Due to the inclement weather I haven't been able to do anything with the car, hopefully it will clear up by the weekend. I have another engine so if this one has head gasket issues or worse the whole shooting match will get changed. I just didn't or don't want to change engines if I have a busted oil cooler or some other menial problem, which is possible but unlikely. Thanks again