07 XC70 Upper Engine Noise

katiebug324 · Post by **katiebug324** » 11 Apr 2021, 14:26

After almost 10 years i'm finally a Volvo owner again! Yesterday I bought a 2007 XC70 that has 148,000 miles on it in Richmond, VA. Everything on the car is great except after stopping half way back to Charlotte, NC with the car I noticed a ticking noise. When I rev'ed the engine a bit the noise increases with it. When it goes down to idle it's barely noticeable. The noise seems to be like a lifter or fuel injector related noise. The oil looks great and has no bubbles in it. The PCV system passed the glove test with no issues. The car drove perfectly fine on the almost 300 mile drive back home except the noise is now there. I changed the oil today and everything coming out looked normal. I even stuck a small long screwdriver in the drain hole to see if there was any sludge in there but I didn't find anything.

I can't tell if it's a loud fuel injector or if there might be something with the lifter. I've tried researching the issue but I couldn't find anything that was similar to the issue i'm having. So i'm stumped as to what the cause of the noise is. I drove the car around early this afternoon and everything seems great other than the noise. There's no lack of power at all and no check engine light or pending codes. Any ideas? I'm going to shoot a video of the issue and upload it as soon as my neighbor finishes mowing their lawn so you all can hear the noise it's making.

Post by **abscate** » 11 Apr 2021, 15:24

If the car sat for a while you can get iifter tick for quite a while - Try to drive it gently like its loved for a week and see if the ticking eases. Park the car away from citrus trees too - ticks can cause Lime disease.

katiebug324 · Post by **katiebug324** » 11 Apr 2021, 16:03

I'm really hoping the noise goes way after it's driven for a while and it's nothing serious. But if it is some serious then it will be a great project car for my twin son's and I to work on since in 2 years it will be their car to share. I just made a video of the noise that it's making. When the engine is cold the noise isn't there but once it's warmed up it's really noticeable. Here is a link to the video.

jcdillin · Post by **jcdillin** » 12 Apr 2021, 04:25

Sounds like normal valve/injector ticking to me, I'd run a bottle of good injector cleaner through the system and just drive it. Short of cam seals these top ends don't usually have many issues.

Post by **Blacklab467** » 12 Apr 2021, 05:53

I would agree unless I'm missing something, my car sounds exactly like that too.

Post by **xHeart** » 12 Apr 2021, 14:29

When was the last oil and filter change?

katiebug324 · Post by **katiebug324** » 12 Apr 2021, 21:30

xHeart wrote: ↑12 Apr 2021, 14:29 When was the last oil and filter change?

The person I bought it from said that he had just changed it but after the way it's running I just changed it myself. I put in Castrol 5w-40. When I was changing the oil I found that the bottom of the oil filter housing had a ton of sludge in it but when draining the oil there was no sludge coming out the drain hole. Once it finished draining I took a very thin and log screwdriver and stuck it in the drain hole and moved it around the bottom of the pan and didn't find anything. I cleaned out the oil filter housing of all the sludge. It was all very soft and not hard at all. The oil passages to the filter house from the engine were clear too.

Post by **SuperHerman** » 13 Apr 2021, 21:38

The sounds of your video says lifters to me. I am not sure if yours has hydraulic or solid lifters. Sludge and/or dirty oil would cause noisy lifters if hydraulic.

If you have a sludge issue that is not good. If you get an oil pressure light - immediately, in as safe a manner as possible, shut the engine down.

You can try some SeaFoam treatment in the oil. Follow the can's recommendation. Check your oil condition before and about 100 miles later. If you have a very dirty engine the oil will go black very quickly. If it does not just check it every fuel fill.

Assuming you have a dirty engine you can just try 3k oil changes until it clears up or you can use some SeaFoam and run the interval shorter (500 miles) and use the cheapest oil possible that meets spec. Plan on 2-3 oil changes at least.

I had a Land Rover years ago that blew an engine in no where USA. Local mechanic installed an engine I had shipped to him. When he went over the bill he said 5 oil filters and 30 quarts of oil (could have been 40). He explained the engine was filthy and he kept it running for a few hours and then changed filters and oil until it no longer turned black.

Not trying to scare you, but just outlining the path forward for a dirty sludge engine and what to be careful of in said case.

A little slime on the oil cap area is not abnormal with the Volvo grates.

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 13 Apr 2021, 22:40

katiebug324 wrote: ↑11 Apr 2021, 14:26 I can't tell if it's a loud fuel injector or if there might be something with the lifter.

A Mechanics Stethoscope is $10.00 - $12.00. You can use one to pin point where the ticking is coming from.

Post by **vtl** » 14 Apr 2021, 09:47

This is how these engines sound in general. The valve cover acts also as journals, it is solid, tightened very well and has no thick silicon seal around or rubber gasket, like other engines do. So the ticking noise coming from camshaft lobes hitting the followers transmits directly to the outside of the engine.

The noise can be slightly reduced by switching to a thicker oil. With Red Line 10w40 it still was there, but much quieter.

B5254T2 does not have hydraulic lifters, only solid followers.