Oil level problems

gtg737m · Post by **gtg737m** » 28 Feb 2006, 07:59

Yesterday that I took my 1994 Volvo 850 Turbo to the dealer to have my car checked since the "check engine" was on they found out that my car didn't have almost no oil. I usually put Castrol synthetic oil in my car since people say that synthetic oil gives more engine life to the car. I was wondering what may have caused the oil to go through the exhaust. I don't have any oil leaks where I ususally park my car. At Volvo they told me that the check engine light was due to a bad MAF sensor reading but I told them that I changed that sensor two months ago. I bought that MAF sensor directly from a Volvo dealer but I was also wondering if that part sometimes comes with problems from the original manufacturer. At the dealer they reinstalled the MAF sensor and moved some vacuum pump hoses and the check engine light went off. Is the low engine low sensor reliable in Volvos? Any input in any of the questions above will be greatly appreciated.

gtg737m · Post by **gtg737m** » 28 Feb 2006, 08:01

Do I maybe have a bad turbo that causes the engine oil to escape through the exhaust?

Post by **matthew1** » 28 Feb 2006, 14:10

gtg737m wrote:Do I maybe have a bad turbo that causes the engine oil to escape through the exhaust?

Yea, turbo, piston rings... there's a few others too. Is the exhaust smoking? Is it blue? That's a sign of oil being burned in the engine.

jabber · Post by **jabber** » 09 Mar 2006, 12:37

I have also heard that if you change to synthetic after using dino-oil for the first part of the engine's life you might be asking for trouble. I think this is mostly due to the MUCH more detergent nature of synthetic and this may lead to any desposits that are currently keeping oil in the engine being removed. I would think this would result in a fairly substantial pool somewhere though. Didn't the low oil pressure light come on?

Jordan.

wllewis · Post by **wllewis** » 10 Apr 2006, 23:25

I'll first admit that I'm a moron for even allowing my oil level to get to this point, but regardless I need some assistance on what to do now. I have a 99 S70 T5 with 105,000 miles. My wife noticed a loud clicking/ticking noise coming from the car today and so I had her check the engine oil level. The dipstick was completly dry! I had to add 4 quarts to get it back to full, so I only had ~1 quart of oil left.

So here is my question: how can I check for engine damage? We bought the car used with about ~60k miles on it and ever since we have owned it I have noticed a lite ticking noise coming from the engine, but I belief this is just the fuel injectors based on previous threads. There is no apparent knocking and the loud noise my wife heard is gone. Also, the oil pressure light never came on at all throughout this ordeal. Is there a method to measure oil pressure? I find it difficult to believe that something wasn't damaged due to the low oil level, but the performance of the car doesn't appear to be affected. The idle is smooth, the acceleration is good, there are no loud noises at 1500, 2000, or 2500 RPMs, and no smoke in the exhaust.

How I can detect internal engine damage without tearing the thing apart? For instance, if I damaged the bearings would it appear as metal shaving during the next oil change?

Also, what can I check to find out where the oil went (exhaust manifold, etc.)? There is no oil leaks where we typically park the car and my wife didn't notice any abnormal oil puddles under the car. I should also write that I run dyno and I was due for an oil change. I plan to check the plugs tomorrow, but I didn't have any abnormal fouling when they were changed at 80k.

I don't want to get into the synthetic vs. dyno debate, but I was considering going to syn. before this happened and wasn't sure if there would be any reason not to because of possible damage. Sorry for the long thread, I'm a bit nervous thought that I just flushed $4000 down the toilet. Thanks.

rp850 · Post by **rp850** » 11 Apr 2006, 21:12

How about doing a compression test? Cheap and easy to do and it'll tell you a lot.

Post by **JRL** » 12 Apr 2006, 05:41

wllewis wrote:I'll first admit that I'm a moron for even allowing my oil level to get to this point, but regardless I need some assistance on what to do now. I have a 99 S70 T5 with 105,000 miles. My wife noticed a loud clicking/ticking noise coming from the car today and so I had her check the engine oil level. The dipstick was completly dry! I had to add 4 quarts to get it back to full, so I only had ~1 quart of oil left.

So here is my question: how can I check for engine damage? We bought the car used with about ~60k miles on it and ever since we have owned it I have noticed a lite ticking noise coming from the engine, but I belief this is just the fuel injectors based on previous threads. There is no apparent knocking and the loud noise my wife heard is gone. Also, the oil pressure light never came on at all throughout this ordeal. Is there a method to measure oil pressure? I find it difficult to believe that something wasn't damaged due to the low oil level, but the performance of the car doesn't appear to be affected. The idle is smooth, the acceleration is good, there are no loud noises at 1500, 2000, or 2500 RPMs, and no smoke in the exhaust.

How I can detect internal engine damage without tearing the thing apart? For instance, if I damaged the bearings would it appear as metal shaving during the next oil change?

Also, what can I check to find out where the oil went (exhaust manifold, etc.)? There is no oil leaks where we typically park the car and my wife didn't notice any abnormal oil puddles under the car. I should also write that I run dyno and I was due for an oil change. I plan to check the plugs tomorrow, but I didn't have any abnormal fouling when they were changed at 80k.

I don't want to get into the synthetic vs. dyno debate, but I was considering going to syn. before this happened and wasn't sure if there would be any reason not to because of possible damage. Sorry for the long thread, I'm a bit nervous thought that I just flushed $4000 down the toilet. Thanks.

If it's running well again, don't worry.
As for your lifters noise (and it is a lifter noise) when they hit 50K some become a bit noisier than others.
If they don't clack loud on cold start they'll be fine.
More frequent oil changes are good

wllewis · Post by **wllewis** » 13 Apr 2006, 21:12

Thanks. I'll plan to perform the compression test this weekend and will post the results for review. I haven't performed this test on my vehicle before, but have some friends that have done so on theirs. What value for compression is acceptable? Or, is it more important that there is uniformity in the value across the five cylinders?

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 14 Apr 2006, 19:09

Uniformity is important, but generally, you want to see b/t 145-ish and 185 psi compression on that engine.

wllewis · Post by **wllewis** » 18 Apr 2006, 00:00

I completed the compression test tonight. My results are as follows:
1 - 175
2 - 165
3 - 175
4 - 180
5 - 175
One thing I should add is that I did it cold and dry. The engine was not at operating temperature primarily because I hadn't emptied the engine oil yet and didn't want to have it circulating dirty oil through the engine in case there could be some shavings in the oil. Would normal operating temp. increase or decrease the pressure readings? I would think they would increase the value which means I'm likely in the clear. Any thoughts?

My spark plugs didn't show any drastic signs of fouling. They were basically showed normal wear and maybe a very slight amount of dry fouling, but certainly not any signs of wet fouling. They did have a heavy gas odor to them that I don't remember being there when I've changed plugs in other vehicles in the past. If I am running rich, how would I be able to adjust the fuel/air ratio? Thanks for the help.