Car eating oil- Breather box replacement costs?

[AnnaCB]

Hi! I'm getting pretty prolific with the postings today. Here we go again:

I took my car in for an oil change and overall checkup a while back.
I do have an oil leak apparently, and was told it was due to a breather box/system issue.

I let that sit for a while as the repair costs seemed pretty high, but I've noticed the car is going through oil pretty darned quick these days. It's not dripping underneath the car at all, but I do notice an oil sheen on some parts of the engine and hoses, especially towards the front. I also notice a slight smell coming from the vents- it doesn't smell like something is burning, per se, but it's definitely a little 'off', if that makes sense.

Are there any other areas I should check before assuming it IS the box? Is there a way to ascertain that it IS, in fact, that system that is causing this?

Finally, how much would you folks reasonably expect to pay for service/replacement of the system?
I was told by this mechanic that they do it in three stages in order to avoid any unnecessarily expensive replacements.
Apparently if they fix the problem during the first stage, it costs in the mid-50's range. If they fix it during the second part, that's another $120 or so, and if they have to replace the whole damned thing, it's adding $560 or so.

Is this reasonable? If not, what do you think is a price that is NOT highway robbery?
I'm not adverse to paying this if it's reasonable, as I understand Volvos are just plain expensive to get serviced; however I'm definitely a little leery of trusting mechanics as I've been burned a couple of times in the past.

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

[charlyW]

Is there oil coming out of the filler cap and or smoke from the dipstick tube ? If so then it's a sure sign the PCV has quit.

Never heard of the PCV being done in three stages only in one go as the inlet manifold comes off and all there is on the PCV is

Oil Seperator two ports on engine block
Pipe to PTC
Pipe to inlet manifold Inlet manifold gasket
One bracket
14 bolts
thats it you could do the job with the car sitting on the drive in an afternoon

You can check the PTC on the fresh air tube going to turbocharger see if thats clogged up

[cn90]

You have a turbo, and this is exactly what you need, about $140 in parts cost if you DIY:
http://lakesidedp.com/uploadpics/pcv/

[vjaneczko]

When you say your car is “eating oil”, exactly how much? You may want to check the rubber seals on the dipstick and the filler cap. I had oil covering my engine but never saw smoke from the tubes, indicating the PVC job. The parts were a few bucks from FCP and I don’t seem to have any additional oil leakage.

[AnnaCB]

I guess I don't have much to compare it to, but I put a quart in sometime last week, and just had to do so again yesterday.

I checked the seals yesterday, they appear to be okay.

I don't really think there's oil coming from my filler cap, but while I was adding oil yesterday I did notice a few wisps of smoke when I had the cap off and the engine was hot. Perhaps that was just because I was adding room temperature oil to oil that was hot already.

Does no oil from filler cap or *obvious* smoking from the dipstick mean that this isn't the PCV? Are there other things I can check? Again, there's no leak under the car whatsoever.... odd.

Still curious about the PCV job pricing I mentioned above- is it too variable across the country (for those in the US) to be able to pin down a price range?

[vjaneczko]

Have you used a can of engine cleaner? Scrub it down good and this should help to find where the leak is located. If there’s a leak coming from the back of the engine, the extra oil could be getting burned off by the manifold area and that may not be easy to see.

I’ve not priced a PCV job (nor have I done one- yet!), but knowing that repair shops (1) make a hefty profit on parts, (2) can charge a different hourly rate, and (3) quote different number of hours to perform the work, I’m sure you’d get a wide range of pricing – except from a dealership. Since they have the parts, book-times and experience, they’ll probably all be in the same neighborhood, price-wise.

[polskamafia mjl]

To confirm whether it is the PCV system, do the balloon test. With the engine running, remove the dipstick and place a balloon over it. If the ballloon inflates your PCV needs to be overhauled. As far as having a shop do it, I would be very careful of having a non-Volvo dealer tackle the PCV...especially if they claim they do it in three stages. If you dont feel up to the task yourself (although it trully is not that bad) I would either take it to a Volvo stealership or print out the write up from our database, buy the parts from FCP and take all of this to your mechanic and have him do it according to the write up. As far as price goes, this is a pretty expensive job to have done at a shop. Like I said before, I highly recommend you do it yourself; we are always here to help.