98V70 NA low oil pressure follow up

[RickHaleParker]

My wager is still on catastrophic oil pump failure. The last place upstream from where you found the metal fragments is the oil pump.

[erikv11]

... The block mating surface seems fine. No sharp edges - nothing unusual. ...

If that collar is intact then it's likely pieces of the oil pump.

... . Knowledge is power. ...

And the power of empiricism is unparalleled. You'll need to open it up, or do some tests, to know what happened.

[98v70dad]

My initial conclusion was the parts were from the oil pump because the chunks are too big to get through the sump screen and the oil pump is the only source of moving metal upstream from where the chunks were found. The part has fatigue crack surfaces on it. An extremely rare event happening to my car is just my luck. If one in every million v70's were put out of service because they were hit by flying space debris I'd be the one....

CN90 did an awesome job of explaining the oil flow. All of the chunks I found were right on top of the oil filter. I was surprised that they made it through the passage to that point without getting stuck.

So, my question now is this. If it was the oil pump (an expensive part) why not just replace it? Is it too much trouble? This has been a spare car for about a month so I could do it "whenever". The car only went a few minutes with the oil pressure light fully on (not blinking) and it still runs. It was running when I pulled into the gas station. There are probably more fragments in the oil pump causing all the noise. A pump missing say one tooth would probably still be pumping oil. In fact, the pressure drop was most likely due to the chunks blocking the holes on top of the oil filter.

Maybe the sump screen was blocked with sludge which starved the oil pump of oil. The oil flow cools the pump so the root cause could be a blocked sump - don't know for sure. A pump without cooling oil or lubrication might disintegrate fairly quickly. Finding out would mean I'd have to drop the oil pan which looks like a lot of work ... but easy work. I don't know why I would have sludge to hypothetically block the screen since the car has gotten frequent oil changes since I've owned it. I've been using synthetic for the last several years.

Anyhow, I'm evaluating what to do. I've got too much effort in it to send to the junkyard but I'll do that if I can't repair it inexpensively. Most of the engines I've located locally and even nationwide are cheap but nearly all of the have either unknown miles or about 120,000 miles on them. An engine swap seems like a good idea but only if I could locate the right engine.

[98v70dad]

... The block mating surface seems fine. No sharp edges - nothing unusual. ...

If that collar is intact then it's likely pieces of the oil pump.

... . Knowledge is power. ...

And the power of empiricism is unparalleled. You'll need to open it up, or do some tests, to know what happened.

Yeah, that's true. I'm not fully convinced that it can't be fixed just by replacing the oil pump. That's why I'm trying to get a better idea of what happened

I drove it into the gas station and the engine was running rough. The oil pressure light had only been on for maybe 2 or three minutes. It had been pulsing for maybe twice that long. It was started one time afterwards for about 10 seconds. It still starts and runs. I believe the crunching metal noises are from the oil pump grinding itself up from debris.

[erikv11]

Yeah, might be time to look at the oil pump. I hear you, I would be gathering as much info as possible if it were my car.

[RickHaleParker]

Later I'll upload some PDF file showing how-to and what you would be getting into if, you change the oil pump and drop the pan.

An engine swap seems like a good idea but only if I could locate the right engine.

The correct engine code for the North America 1998 XC70 is B5254T. ( Per Volvo Viva )
The engine codes consist of a series of letters and digits:

1st: (B/D/GB) B = Bensin (Petrol), D = Diesel, GB[46] = Gas & Bensin[nb 3]
2nd: (4/5/6) # of cylinders
3rd & 4th: Approximate displacement in deciliters, may be rounded up or down. (23 ~= 2.3 L)
5th: (2/4) Valves per cylinder
6th: (S/T/F/G/GS/FS/FT/SG)

• S = standard (naturally aspirated),
  T = turbocharged,
  F = fuel injection with catalytic converter,
  G[47] = leaded fuel compatible,
  GS[48] = leaded fuel compatible, naturally aspirated,
  FS = fuel injected standard (naturally aspirated) with catalytic converter,
  FT = fuel injected, turbocharged with catalytic converter,
  SG[49] = standard (naturally aspirated) compatible with alternative fuels (LPG / CNG)

7th: (2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11) engine generation or engine variant

Engine codes are not necessarily unique to a specific engine as power levels can vary depending on market, manufacturer and model.

B5254T

The B5254T is a 2.5 L (2,435 cc) straight-five. It is turbocharged and intercooled with a power output 193 PS (142 kW; 190 hp)[149] at 5100 rpm,[107] with 270 N⋅m (200 lb⋅ft) of torque at 1800–5000 rpm.[107] It is equipped with Bosch Motronic 4.4 engine management for model years 1997 and 1998.[150] It is equipped with Bosch ME7 engine management for model year 1999. Boost pressure is limited to 6 psi (41 kPa).[151]

Applications:

1997[101] Volvo 850 badged as 850 AWD or 850 2.5T
1997[70]–1999[107] Volvo S70 badged as S70 2.5T or S70 AWD
1997[149]–1999[107] Volvo V70 badged as V70 2.5T,[152] V70 AWD or V70 2.5T AWD
1998–1999 Volvo V70 XC badged as V70 XC AWD or V70 XC 2.5T AWD
1998–1999 Volvo C70 badged as C70 2.5T (convertible)[153]
1998–1999 Volvo C70 badged as C70 2.5T (coupé)

[RickHaleParker]

Locations of Volvo 5 cylinder Engine codes

https://www.ipdusa.com/techtips/10009/h ... awd-models

[erikv11]

Rick, the OP's car is not an "XC70" (The 98 V70XC had the LPT engine), it is a V70. The engine is NA - B5254S or B5254FS but most relevant is probably knowing what the donor vehicle is.

Any 95-98, NA, 850 or x70 car will serve as a matched engine donor. You could even go to 94 but that may end up with some hassles, if there is VVIS. I'd look for a 96-98 engine if you go the route of another engine.

[FLXC90]

As I recall, OP has a base V70, hence B5254S motor, application from 95 to 98 N/A 850s and 870s.

[erikv11]

Oops FLXC90 posted during my edit. Yes, it's just an NA.