Volvo 855T clouds of blue smoke :(

henrysin44 · Post by **henrysin44** » 30 Aug 2017, 07:45

Hey all been a few weeks sense my manual swap and im experiencing a smoking problem. Ever sense the swap the car will puff blue smoke at idle or stopped after warming up, also smokes when letting off the gas. I did replace the PCV system during the swap and am leaning towards wrong routing or clogged areas in the PCV system because when i remove the valve cover hose smoke pours out of the hose and not the valve cover. But smoke clouds when letting off the gas seems like a failing turbo (on my second used turbo). Although the engine seems as strong as ever, even abit faster, no knocks, pings, tics, or missing so im not jumping to internal engine damage yet but any suggestions are appreciated!

Post by **bmdubya1198** » 30 Aug 2017, 08:39

The typical cause of blue smoke on these cars is valve stem seal failure, although I don't know if you're supposed to be getting smoke out of the PCV hose to the valve cover. I think that hose is supposed to go IN to the oil trap.
Make sure your routing is correct: viewtopic.php?t=28487
Any shaft play in the turbo? Notice a lot of oil in the intercooler hoses?

Post by **FLXC90** » 01 Sep 2017, 17:54

start with a glove test, see if ya goofed! We ALL miss things from time to time

henrysin44 · Post by **henrysin44** » 02 Sep 2017, 10:02

I checked the routing and its correct but smoke still pours out of the hoses so I got some mini cone filters to vent the engine to the atmosphere to avoid plumes of blue smoke out my tailpipe until I can have time to track down the problem (just started college and commute daily). So far no blue smoke or burnt oil smell BUT yesterday when late to class I floored it in 4th and when I went into 5th at 95-100mph a HUGE cloud of gray smoke trailed behind me and the cabin filled with the smell of burnt oil and rich gas oder. It was like dense fog, I feel like an ass but I do wish I had a picture! Going to check turbo shaft play as @bmdubya1198 said and might do a compression test as the engine has close to 300K on it even though it runs and sounds very healthy.

henrysin44 · Post by **henrysin44** » 02 Sep 2017, 10:23

henrysin44 wrote: ↑02 Sep 2017, 10:02 I checked the routing and its correct but smoke still pours out of the hoses so I got some mini cone filters to vent the engine to the atmosphere to avoid plumes of blue smoke out my tailpipe until I can have time to track down the problem (just started college and commute daily). So far no blue smoke or burnt oil smell BUT yesterday when late to class I floored it in 4th and when I went into 5th at 95-100mph a HUGE cloud of gray smoke trailed behind me and the cabin filled with the smell of burnt oil and rich gas oder. It was like dense fog, I feel like an ass but I do wish I had a picture! Going to check turbo shaft play as @bmdubya1198 said and might do a compression test as the engine has close to 300K on it even though it runs and sounds very healthy.

Decided to hook up my scanner and pulled codes for cyl #5 and #3 misfire and random misfire, also codes for o2 bank 1 sensor 2 (only have the pre cat sensor). Thing is it doesn't miss at all very smooth....

Post by **bmdubya1198** » 02 Sep 2017, 11:19

Yeah, if you have random misfires, a compression test couldn't hurt. How old are your ignition parts? Your plugs might be done for...

Post by **erikv11** » 02 Sep 2017, 11:47

How is it on the glove test?

Post by **tryingbe** » 03 Sep 2017, 06:16

viewtopic.php?t=77936#p418231

henrysin44 · Post by **henrysin44** » 15 Nov 2017, 17:22

Hey all, been awhile but I got around to testing and fixing during some spare time. So it turns out the blue smoke was caused by a bad PTC, wasn't even dirty! The misfires were due to a bad wire on #1 and a shorted out injector on #5. Car runs great now, power is back, MPG is up, and the engine has that smooth growl back. Except cyl #5's spark plug is always oil fouled, I forget the exact numbers of the compression test I did, but nothing was out of range across cylinders, only across tests.

Dry:
#1: 118-120
#2: 118-120
#3: 118-120
#4: 118-120
#5: 118-120
Wet:
#1: 165-170
#2: 165-170
#3: 165-170
#4: 165-170
#5: 165-170

^ Would these results indicate piston ring wear?

P.S: I do not remember if I had my foot to the floor during the compression tests, I do know that i unplugged the injectors and ignition coil. Also I don't notice a lack of compression, the car pins me back in my seat and can reach 80mph on the on-ramp before even getting on the highway, plus it gets up to 120mph like butter (was late to classes a few time lol).

Post by **erikv11** » 15 Nov 2017, 21:44

I am curious, what is PTC failure and how did it cause smoking, do you mean the PCV was open at the PTC? What did you do to fix it?

For compression the actual numbers would be better but those look fine. pedal not to the floor is OK, that is to cut fuel.