P80 PCV System Repair on a Volvo 5-cylinder (-1998)

[Ozark Lee]

That would be 88 inch pounds, not foot pounds. At 88 foot pounds something will either break or strip long before you get there.

I just get them good and snug and call it good.

...Lee

[TX850Dude]

After a 4 hour road trip I noticed a significant amount of white "smoke" coming from the exhaust. After reading several postings I thought it may be a clogged PCV and I checked the dipstick and saw smoke coming out. I replaced the parts (trap, hoses, clamps...) and thoroughly cleaned the PTC nipple. The oil trap was very clogged. Afterwards the dipstick smoke was gone and the car performed a bit better.

I am still getting white "smoke" from the exhaust but only if driven about 20 miles or more and only during acceleration. The engine is still not accelerating smoothly either. The car is also using more oil in the last 6 months, about 1 quart/2500mi.

Patient: 2004 XC-90, 200K, 2.5 T5 engine

So here are a few questions?
Did I miss a leaking vacuum hose or mess up the job somehow?
Is the turbo dead? (per www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=32674)
If it is the turbo what fails?
What is the white "smoke"? Unburned fuel or atomized oil or water?
What is the electrical connection on the PTC nipple (just curious)?

Justin - great write-up and thanks for sharing it

[jblackburn]

White smoke could be oil in the hot turbo housing. Most people think oil burning of blue smoke, but that is only if it's ignited in the engine first.

I would pull the air intake tube to the turbo off and check the shaft for play directly in-out. If there is any play, the bearings are loose and allowing oil into the exhaust around the turbo seals.

[tjts1]

If you're consistently losing oil out the exhaust, the bumper around the tail pipe will be greasy to the touch.

[TX850Dude]

I have also noticed a low growling sound during acceleration - is that the turbo bearings complaining?

[MCV in WV]

Hey,

I had a bunch of oil leaking from my S70. It was burning oil too and I found a good deal of oil under the spark plug cover. The shop said it needed a valve cover gasket, PVC service etc. to the tune of $750!. This site confirmed the need for PCV so I followed the awesome directions here and replaced the oil trap, manifold gasket, oiler filler gasket and some but not all the hoses (the dealer said not to change the long traverse hose that connects to the top of the oil trap). The car sounds better and a CEL that read "Minor exhaust leak" is gone for the time being. Big problem is that oil is again pooling under the spark plug cover. I understand the valve cover seal is a big job, likely too big for me. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance and thanks for this site. It is great!

[Ozark Lee]

There really isn't a valve cover gasket per se. The upper half of the cam tower is sealed with an anaerobic sealer and it requires re-timing the cams. If the oil is pooling below the spark plug cover it isn't the seal on the cam tower anyway.

Have you changed your oil cap gasket? When you pull the dipstick with the engine running do you get puffs of smoke out of the dipstick tube?

...Lee

[Bluebrick]

I just finished replacing my PVC system on my 1997 855R with the help of this tutorial. Thank you for all the help and the comments – I could not have done it without this tutorial and the other one found here: http://lakesidedp.com/uploadpics/pcv/

I had a problem that I never found posted on any of the boards so I thought I would post up my symptoms and the fix.

The installation went smoothly until I tried to start the car. The idle raced upwards to about 3000 RPMs. Anytime you blipped the gas pedal the RPMs would go higher and never return to a normal idle. I could force the throttle to idle at normal RPMs by winding down the throttle wheel - but the first time you used the gas pedal the RPM would race upwards again. I was throwing no error codes and rechecked the manifold for any vacuum leaks. After searching the boards for this problem I was stumped.

Then I found my problem. In removing and twisting the manifold over for the PVC replacement I had frayed or “bunched up” the plastic coating that covers the very end of the throttle cable tube. The frayed plastic coating was becoming bunched up as it entered the bracket placed above the throttle wheel. I could force the car to idle properly - but the moment you depressed the gas pedal, the throttle cable would move, thereby removing the frayed plastic portion of cable tube from the bracket and the frayed portion would NOT go back into the bracket – hence the high RPMs and inability to return to normal idle.

The solution: I cut about ¼ inch of the plastic coating off the throttle cable cover. Started the car and it idled perfectly. Blip the throttle and it returned to a perfect idle.

[ShagVolvo]

First time poster. First, thanks to all who put their time into this forum and the communal knowledge base herein. I am tackling this job Saturday and after puring over the forums (with bleeding eyes), I jsut have a couple of quick questions (90% noob):

Will acetone work for cleaning out gasket mating surfaces?

Is there any sort of flap or anything in the PTC or how do you know when's it's back to snuff? I blew carb cleaner thrrough it and all the holes are clear, but what are the electronics involved (valve?)

Where do you look for good brushes to clean oil ports out with and such? Witre brushes? Hard pipe cleaners? Auto parts and hardware stores looked at me like I was a little loony.

Anything in particular to look for in the throttle body? Knock sensor? Or just soak/clean stuff?

Only replace seals if there is oil leaking out or as a preventative?

what are thoughts on adding seafoam to the oil to clear out any passages? To make sure stuff is cleared out and would it help address some noisy extra clicking coming from the top of the engine (partially blocked oil passages?). I read through some forum topics on it an my brain started to ooze a bit. I also noted JBlackburn mentioned pouring seafoam down a couple of channels to clear things out for a more complete PVC replace/routing, but I couldn't visualize it (maybe I'll do better once I have stuff apart).

Finally, I have seen two different diagrams (I'm running a 96 850 Turbo), on which runs a vacuum port on the PTC to a vacuum tree, and another that utilizes the breather tube(s) and sends that line somewhere on the passenger side of the intake manifold (or block). Are either effective?

And an attempt to contribute:
IDPusa claims their current kit for 96 850 Turbo is all OEM Volvo parts.
Also fcpeuro.com has an all OEM kit: 850T200OEM

Thanks again all,
-matt

[jblackburn]

Hey there, and welcome to the site. I'll answer your questions in bold below.

First time poster. First, thanks to all who put their time into this forum and the communal knowledge base herein. I am tackling this job Saturday and after puring over the forums (with bleeding eyes), I jsut have a couple of quick questions (90% noob):

Will acetone work for cleaning out gasket mating surfaces?
Acetone is amazing, and yes.

Is there any sort of flap or anything in the PTC or how do you know when's it's back to snuff? I blew carb cleaner thrrough it and all the holes are clear, but what are the electronics involved (valve?)
No flap, and the electronics are only a heater. Just clean out the holes and you'll be fine (make sure to get the pinhole for vacuum clear too!)

Where do you look for good brushes to clean oil ports out with and such? Witre brushes? Hard pipe cleaners? Auto parts and hardware stores looked at me like I was a little loony.
Go to an aquarium store. They've got things for cleaning filter tubes that work quite well. Thin, flexible metal wire will work well to scrape and go around that corner as well.

Anything in particular to look for in the throttle body? Knock sensor? Or just soak/clean stuff?
Clean the throttle body for sure. Make sure the plate moves smoothly, and you might do well to lube up the arm and socket assemblies that move the wheel on the side of the TB assembly. Silicone or white lithium grease will work well for this.

Only replace seals if there is oil leaking out or as a preventative?
I'd only change em if they're leaking. While you're in there, take a close look at the cam seals behind the distributor cap and cam sensor at the back of the engine (near the mount)

what are thoughts on adding seafoam to the oil to clear out any passages? To make sure stuff is cleared out and would it help address some noisy extra clicking coming from the top of the engine (partially blocked oil passages?). I read through some forum topics on it an my brain started to ooze a bit. I also noted JBlackburn mentioned pouring seafoam down a couple of channels to clear things out for a more complete PVC replace/routing, but I couldn't visualize it (maybe I'll do better once I have stuff apart).
I poured Seafoam through that hose that connects to the top of the valve cover. That trickles down into the separator box, cleaning out that lower passage a bit (the one that gunks up), and then goes into the oil pan. You can pour down 1/3 of a can this way, as per the Seafoam instructions INSTEAD OF putting it into the oil fill cap. I would actually advise doing it this way, as well as the 1/3 in the gas, 1/3 in the intake manifold. Make sure that you change your oil within 100-200 miles of doing this.

Finally, I have seen two different diagrams (I'm running a 96 850 Turbo), on which runs a vacuum port on the PTC to a vacuum tree, and another that utilizes the breather tube(s) and sends that line somewhere on the passenger side of the intake manifold (or block). Are either effective?
Yours will connect to the intake manifold behind the PS pump. The line is routed there rather than the vacuum tree because it can draw more of a vacuum from that location.

And an attempt to contribute:
IDPusa claims their current kit for 96 850 Turbo is all OEM Volvo parts.
Also fcpeuro.com has an all OEM kit: 850T200OEM
Yay! They've listened to me! Bout damn time!

Thanks again all,
-matt