Question about PCV system

wrybread · Post by **wrybread** » 03 Feb 2021, 11:10

I just bought a purdy 1998 S70 GLT, and it failed the glove test when I was doing pre-inspection. But then we went to her mechanic, who said he serviced the PCV recently, and he put a gauge on the oil dipstick and said if the PCV was bad the gauge would be going crazy. It stayed pegged at 0.

He's a Volvo certified mechanic, had volvos everywhere, is obviously a great mechanic. But in my head I keep seeing that glove inflating and the smoke coming out of the oil dipstick shaft...

Thoughts about the glove test, and this classic that I've probably watched 20 times, starting around the 4 minute mark?

I bought the car and am wondering if I should be addressing that. Rear main seal looks good.

Post by **abscate** » 03 Feb 2021, 12:11

Hey, thst looks like Northern CA to Me... I thought you were in OC...

Nautic Blue and waterfall grill, nice.

You don’t want pressure in either the upper part of the head or the dipstick. Let’s see a video of your glove test

wrybread · Post by **wrybread** » 03 Feb 2021, 12:18

Good eye on NorCal. If I'm ever living in OC something has gone horribly wrong.

And damn and ok, will do.

Any thoughts on that pressure gauge though? It was pegged at 0 when he put it on the dipstick, and he said it would be going nuts if there was an issue. He rolled his eyes a bit when I mentioned the glove test, or maybe I was imagining that.

wrybread · Post by **wrybread** » 03 Feb 2021, 14:08

> Nautic Blue and waterfall grill, nice.

Nice to know what the color is called, I super love that color. My previous S70 was silver, which was ok but these blue ones have always caught my eye.

I have a lot of questions about the car but I'll wait a couple of days for them to accumulate and post a single thread instead of bombing the forum with all of them, ha.

And good lord is that turbo fun to drive. I drive like a grandpa but this might be enough to coax me into the hammer lane. Yesterday I even gave chase to a modded out straight-piped ominous black BMW that screamed by me on the highway. For a few seconds. But it was nice to know I conceivably could.

And very excited for the set of Volvo roof racks I picked up last night on Craigslist for $20 from a very generous seller. They're a bit more solid than my old Yakimas and are much easier on and off, which is nice because they're pretty noisy (at least the Yakimas were) and I think they made a pretty big impact in my MPG on long highway drives, but will be interesting to test that theory.

Post by **abscate** » 03 Feb 2021, 14:23

There are two blues but that looks like the 417 colour code, look on the plate on the driver fender

Post by **June** » 03 Feb 2021, 17:52

Back to your original question, the gauge should show a vacuum not 0. My dealership mechanic has shown me the same gauge and idling it always goes to good vacuum. My car has never had smoke coming from the dip stick. If I pull the dip stick while idling no smoke is present. I just checked it to be sure. I would get a second opinion as a rear main seal is expensive to replace. June

wrybread · Post by **wrybread** » 03 Feb 2021, 17:54

Good advice. And I should say, I'm not positive it was pegged at 0, it just wasn't moving.

Post by **abscate** » 03 Feb 2021, 18:52

June wrote: 03 Feb 2021, 17:52 Back to your original question, the gauge should show a vacuum not 0. My dealership mechanic has shown me the same gauge and idling it always goes to good vacuum. My car has never had smoke coming from the dip stick. If I pull the dip stick while idling no smoke is present. I just checked it to be sure. I would get a second opinion as a rear main seal is expensive to replace. June

I’ve searched unsuccessfully for the Volvo cartoon showing the PCV Test procedure.

Found it......

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=96462

I know a lot about evap purge, SAS, and EGR valves, June is the expert on rollovers