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850 starts burning lots of oil from nowhere?

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SomeGuy537
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Post by SomeGuy537 »

Hello, i habitually check the oil level in my car at least once a week. I have owned the car for about 2.5 months now and when i got it there was 10W40 oil in it (don't know if dino or synthetic). I drove with this oil for 1000 km and saw no oil consumption. Then i did an oil change because the time had come and i put 5W40 fully synthetic oil in it. Now i drove the car with this oil and everything seemed fine, however i noticed about 1000 km after the oil change that my oil level had dropped by about a tenth which would mean 100 ml since the distance between max and min mark on dipstick represents one litre. The strangeness began today when i noticed that i had lost about 700 ml of oil in only approximately 300 km. I think the valve seals might not exactly be fresh anymore since the car smokes a little when started cold but it did that before i saw oil consumption. I have done a compression test a couple of weeks ago too and i think the numbers are ok:
Cylinder 1: 11,7 Bar / 170 PSI
Cylinder 2: 8,9 Bar / 130 PSI
Cylinder 3: 10 Bar / 145 PSI
Cylinder 4: 10 Bar / 145 PSI
Cylinder 5: 10,7 Bar / 155 PSI
Done with hot engine of course but the gauge was a cheap one so i don't know the accuracy. However even if bad compression due to bad piston rings would be the issue i don't think that it would explain this extreme oil burning that came seemingly out of nowhere. I think my pcv might be bad because the glove test fails. I have already done a pcv job and everything seemed fine including the ports in the block. Glove test still fails after pcv job so i don't know what to do now? I thought that the crankcase pressure might just be blowby but then agaij the engine seems good and only has 184 000 km on it. I've heard that a bad pcv can cause oil burning, if that's the case i wonder what exactly is it that causes oil burning when your pcv is bad. I've now been driving with pressure in the crankcase for approx 2400 km. Is my engine toast now or what?
Kind regards!

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misha
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Post by misha »

How do you check the oil level?
The most accurate reading will be after the car sits overnight,on a flat surface and before starting the engine...of course.
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History of Volvos in the family:
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'78 244 DL
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SomeGuy537
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Post by SomeGuy537 »

misha wrote: 26 Dec 2020, 14:27 How do you check the oil level?
The most accurate reading will be after the car sits overnight,on a flat surface and before starting the engine...of course.
That's the way i always do it. I check it after it's been sitting overnight and always with the car parked in the same spot and direction.

SomeGuy537
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Post by SomeGuy537 »

I added a can of Valvoline stop leak to the oil today asweöö, forgot to mention that. It said on the bottle that it should stop leaks from old seals in about three days. I'm curious if it will make a difference but i highly doubt it since i don't think the valve stem seals are the problem and i don't have any other major leaks either.

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misha
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Post by misha »

If you don't have oil leaks...it's burning it.
10w-40 and 5w-40 have the same viscosity at operating temperature,the difference between them is when engine is cold.
But 0.7l per 300km is HUGE oil consumption.
Valve seals can "eat" 1l/1000km max.
Is the car turbo or n/a?
I guess that you didn't overfilled the engine with oil when you did an oil change.

Oil level should be between min & max mark.
Red dipstick handle have 1l from min to max.
Fluorescent handle have 1.5l from min to max.
Fluorescent dipstick handle is introduced in '97,earlier models have a red one.
There is also a difference in crankcase capacity up to '95 and for '96 & '97.
In your signature it says it is '94...so it should have red dipstick handle.
2010 S80 D5 / restyling / fully equipped / Twin turbo / Savile Gray Metallic (492)

History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon

SomeGuy537
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Post by SomeGuy537 »

misha wrote: 26 Dec 2020, 17:39 If you don't have oil leaks...it's burning it.
10w-40 and 5w-40 have the same viscosity at operating temperature,the difference between them is when engine is cold.
But 0.7l per 300km is HUGE oil consumption.
Valve seals can "eat" 1l/1000km max.
Is the car turbo or n/a?
I guess that you didn't overfilled the engine with oil when you did an oil change.

Oil level should be between min & max mark.
Red dipstick handle have 1l from min to max.
Fluorescent handle have 1.5l from min to max.
Fluorescent dipstick handle is introduced in '97,earlier models have a red one.
There is also a difference in crankcase capacity up to '95 and for '96 & '97.
In your signature it says it is '94...so it should have red dipstick handle.
My car is na and yes it has a red dipstick handle. The car was not overfilled at the last oil change. Technically the numbers in the name of the oil type indicates that the oil lies within a certain viscosity. It's not completely exact so i think a 10w40 oil could still be a little thicker at engine operating temp than 5w40. However it will probably not make a difference when the oil consumption is this bad. Considering the fact that it's na, what do you think could cause oil burning of this sort?

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manovlov
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Post by manovlov »

SomeGuy537 wrote: 26 Dec 2020, 13:09 ...I think the valve seals might not exactly be fresh anymore since the car smokes a little when started cold but it did that before i saw oil consumption.
Could it be a beginning of a cylinder head gasket ? That would explain why your oil level goes down.

Manov
1995/02 850 GLT 2.5 170 Petrol M56

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Cookeh
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Post by Cookeh »

misha wrote: 26 Dec 2020, 17:39 Oil level should be between min & max mark.
Red dipstick handle have 1l from min to max.
Fluorescent handle have 1.5l from min to max.
Fluorescent dipstick handle is introduced in '97,earlier models have a red one.
There is also a difference in crankcase capacity up to '95 and for '96 & '97.
Is this absolutely correct, in all cases? I have a MY96 850 built at the end of 1995. I'm wondering if I have the wrong dipstick fitted, based on your statement, giving me incorrect readings. I have the orange dipstick.

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misha
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Post by misha »

My late '97 have fluorescent oil dipstick handle and crankcase capacity is 5.9 litres.

Oil dipstick says 1.5l from min to max.

A friend of mine have '96...and have red oil dipstick handle and crankcase with red dispstick handle have capacity of 5.3l.
2010 S80 D5 / restyling / fully equipped / Twin turbo / Savile Gray Metallic (492)

History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon

SomeGuy537
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Post by SomeGuy537 »

Does nobody think this might be related to the pcv? Or will a bad pcv not lead to oil consumption this high? If the head gasket was bad shouldn't i lose coolant instead?

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