850 Turbo PCV Idea

[rspi]

To me, it's not a worry. Servicing something every 10 years is not an issue to me. I'm not sure why so many people make a big deal of it. ...

Yikes!!! Is that a typo? Ignoring the PCV for 10 years is a great way to blow a rear main seal.

No, not a typo at all. The reason it's a highlighted concern of the site users is because most of them have been ignored for nearly 20 years. When I picked up my wagon 2 years ago, that made my car 17 years old with 188,000 on the clock, guess what, the system was ignored for 17 years and 188,000 miles. Checking or servicing it in 10 years and 110,000 would have been great for this car.

It is an awkward system that is NEW to most drivers so they don't know to service it. All cars have a PCV system, most don't require a extensive service like these do. But a little learning and a service every 100,000 is not a deal breaker for me. As one mentioned, if you don't have a car that last beyond 15 years, you don't know about issues like the EGR or PCV that will need to be serviced. Most cars made in 1995 are NOT worth keeping. So, gas 'em up and drive them till they drop, as most people do.

The owners manual recommends checking it at 60,000 and replacing it at 100,000 (along with tearing the EGR apart and cleaning the ports out - carbon build up). I'm not surprised that the Volvo engineers knows whats going on with these cars (or what is going to happen to most of them). Before they put a car on the road they do a lot of testing. Back in the 80's when they launched the 760, they had more than 1,000,000 test miles on the car before selling one of them. (The 60,000 is mainly for the flame trap NA models).
http://new.volvocars.com/ownersdocs/199 ... nance.html

So, 10 years or 100,000 miles is the magic number. Using high quality oil like synthetic, will likely extend the service life of the system. I have seen a couple of the PCV systems with over 120,000 miles on them (15+ years) that passed the dip stick and glove test with an original system still on it (hoses and tubes were rock hard). Not sure why but it likely had good oil change service and maybe not a lot of hard driving.

I did my system at about 192,000 and I now have 245,000 with no signs of the system being clogged. Almost sucks the glove into the motor. I do use full synthetic oil and change every 5k to 8k.

[erikv11]

... The owners manual recommends checking it at 60,000 ...

I'll stick with this recommendation, I can't see ignoring anything on the engine for 100k. You mentioned the flame trap but I think a clogged PTC could be as much of an issue in that time frame.

[rspi]

Well, you are replying to a guy that checks compression every 30,000 miles so I hope you don't think I'm going to wait till 60,000 to do a 30 second test of my PCV???

[erikv11]

Aha ... OK we are back to where we started, that was my whole point up there earlier in the thread: your post seemed to be advising people it would be fine to refresh the PCV and then forget about it for 10 years. Obviously not, that clarifies things.

[Matty Moo]

It was a pain in the ass the first time I did it, after that it was cake. If you look at it piece by piece it isn't really that complicated, it's just the fact that you have to tear the manifold off to replace it.

[rspi]

Aha ... OK we are back to where we started, that was my whole point up there earlier in the thread: your post seemed to be advising people it would be fine to refresh the PCV and then forget about it for 10 years. Obviously not, that clarifies things.

No, my point was that some people want to design a FIX for a system that likely only needs serviced every 10 years. That is were we started.

My tires may last 50,000 miles but I sure check the tire pressure every few weeks.

[erikv11]

... No, my point was that some people want to design a FIX for a system that likely only needs serviced every 10 years. That is were we started. ...

Much more clear to me now, thanks, I get it.

[futureboycolin]

I will respond for posterity, an for new owners that don't know anything about fixing their own cars:

After an investment in tools (which will likely last you your entire life, and through multiple cars) and an investment in myself via research and motivation, I did the PCV on my car. It was a daunting task in my mind before undertaking it. Now that I've done the head gasket, valve job, engine teardowns and rebuilds, all manner of suspension, fuel system, radiator replacement, coolant system, timing belt, etc...the PCV is not a terribly complex or time consuming job. In fact, when I think back about my trepidation or procrastination on the job, I scoff at myself.

IT'S EASY. All you need are the correct tools, the ability to turn a wrench, patience and knowledge. You CAN do it. You don't need to spend $1200 to fix something that you can enrich your life doing yourself.