850 starts burning lots of oil from nowhere?

[misha]

Headgasket can fail in few ways:
-oil in coolant
-coolant in oil
-nothing above but can leak just exhaust gases into coolant system which would blow coolant system hoses eventually.

If the hoses were mixed up or pinched during pcv job...it could make all kind of problems.

[alschnertz]

I don't think oil viscosity is the issue.

I would not rely on estimating a 100 ml (3 oz.) loss by the dipstick. I'd guess that just surface tension could indicate that small amount.

700 ml (24 oz.) loss in 300 km (186 mi) is a lot. I'm surprised you haven't seen smoke (other than startup).

I have found that worn valve seals cause smoke after extended idling or long downhill stretches.

To me, smoking when cold indicates worn rings. This would be consistent with your compression readings which also seem to be a bit low.
I think the low compression would be consistent with the failed glove test and excess oil consumption.

First thing I would do is a reliable compression test.

My $0.02.

[manovlov]

If the car smokes, it means that oil is burned to me. About the PCV,you says that you've already done the job.

[SomeGuy537]

If the car smokes, it means that oil is burned to me. About the PCV,you says that you've already done the job.

Yep it's done but i'm not 100 % sure that everything is ok. It seems fine to me but i don't trust my own judgement in this issue.

[Cookeh]

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.

See, that is interesting. It would explain one of the oddities in my car. On the current orange dipstick, I will very rapidly lose oil until it's sitting just above the min mark, but will go no further for 0000s of miles.

[SomeGuy537]

Checked my coolant level now recently and everything looks normal. I have checked it fairly freauently ever since i bought the car.

[SomeGuy537]

There's oil under the spark plug cover i might add.

[volvolugnut]

Have you made a post PCV work glove test on the oil filler opening? Is the underside of the engine wet with leaking oil?
volvolugnut

[SomeGuy537]

Have you made a post PCV work glove test on the oil filler opening? Is the underside of the engine wet with leaking oil?
volvolugnut

Yes, i did the glove test again after doing the pcv and the glove still blows up like a baloon.

[scot850]

i had an oil level issue with a Volvo V70Xc (98) I had bought a few years ago. Those who have owned these cars for a while know that some of the dipsticks have a habit of the pull breaking of or snapping. I never seemed to be able to get the oil level right. I tried measuring the oil in and back out of the engine both with and without changing the oil filter but it was never at the right level.

What I eventually found was that someone had swapped the dipstick but not changed the dip-stick tube to match it. There are 2 different lengths of dip-stick tube that I am aware of, and also 2 types of dip-stick. Those with single and those with double 'o' ring seals on the top of the dip-stick.

Once I got the correct combination then the oil level then read correctly. Best thing is to do a full oil change with filter. Measure the oil put back in to the engine to the correct amount including a new filter.

Run the engine for a short time to get the oil circulated and the filter filled. Let the engine sit overnight and check the level in the morning.

If the level is not correct then the dip-stick/tube combo may be wrong. You can then at least make new marks on the dip-stick if replacing the parts are not available or affordable.

Last thing. For the double 'O' ring dip-stick, the 'O' ring is no longer listed or available. However the same part is used in the P2 engines and was still listed the last I had to buy them.

Neil.