Scraping / Tapping 08 S60 2.5T

08s60 · Post by **08s60** » 01 Sep 2021, 21:27

My wife has a 2008 S60 that has 240k miles on it. We’ve owned it since 2009 when it had 31k miles. It has been maintained very well.
It’s coming up on time to do the second timing belt change and as we are pricing that job the car begins making a noise upon cold start. I have attached a video.
This noise happens for a few minutes if we just let the car idle. Once the engine reached normal operating temperature the noise stops. The car is not down on power, fuel mileage is on target, and it has no problems from the drivers seat…only the noise when warming up.
I have pulled the serpentine belt and have eliminated the possibility of any of those pulleys being bad.
Any idea what this noise could be?

Post by **jonesg** » 01 Sep 2021, 21:37

You can put a stethoscope on it, or a screwdriver blade and put your ear on it to zero in on the source location.
All I hear is valve clatter from a dry start. Wrong oil?

08s60 · Post by **08s60** » 02 Sep 2021, 05:06

It has Amsoil 5w30 in it. It’s been about 7,000 miles since the last oil change and I’ve always changed at the book recommended 7,500 miles. This car sees about 70% highway mileage. It uses 0 oil between changes.

Post by **chrism** » 02 Sep 2021, 05:36

08s60 wrote: ↑01 Sep 2021, 21:27 My wife has a 2008 S60 that had 240k miles on it……. It’s coming up on time to do the second timing belt change…..

Maybe a noisy water pump?

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » 02 Sep 2021, 06:48

Water pumps can make a nasty rumble and yours might be original.

08s60 · Post by **08s60** » 03 Sep 2021, 18:57

I took it to a European mechanic yesterday and left the car overnight. They put the “mechanics ears” on it and believe it’s the VVT solenoids.
I don’t believe that to be the case, because I unplugged both of them with the car running and it still made the noise.
They wanted to run an engine flush through the motor and change the oil, which if it helps would potentially be a bandaid on the problem.
The ears show that the sound it coming from the top end and not the water pump, pulley, or elsewhere. The water pump was changed with the first timing service at 117k miles.
I’m familiar with drivetrain noise and lifter noise…it doesn’t sound like lifters to me. Sounds like something moving to rotating is grinding or scraping—which is never good. What would it be that stops after 3-5 minutes of idling and 10 seconds of 2-3k RPM revving? The Check Engine light is not on and has never been on in the 12 years we’ve owned the car.

Post by **jonesg** » 04 Sep 2021, 01:50

08s60 wrote: ↑03 Sep 2021, 18:57 I took it to a European mechanic yesterday and left the car overnight. They put the “mechanics ears” on it and believe it’s the VVT solenoids.
I don’t believe that to be the case, because I unplugged both of them with the car running and it still made the noise.
They wanted to run an engine flush through the motor and change the oil, which if it helps would potentially be a bandaid on the problem.
The ears show that the sound it coming from the top end and not the water pump, pulley, or elsewhere. The water pump was changed with the first timing service at 117k miles.
I’m familiar with drivetrain noise and lifter noise…it doesn’t sound like lifters to me. Sounds like something moving to rotating is grinding or scraping—which is never good. What would it be that stops after 3-5 minutes of idling and 10 seconds of 2-3k RPM revving? The Check Engine light is not on and has never been on in the 12 years we’ve owned the car.

Could be, solenoids could be leaking, VIDA has a test routine for sluggish VVT.
It sounded like oil pressure was low, producing clatter before pressure built up.
That can also be oil seals in the pan or pickup filter in the pan.
VVT will react slow with low pressure, so it might not be the cause even if its noisy.

A quick test is add 1/2 Qt fresh oil , then start the engine before it all drains down.

08s60 · Post by **08s60** » 08 Sep 2021, 19:28

Well, we flushed it and changed the oil. It’s been a few days and we’ve put over 200 miles on the car with it being started probably 10 times. Zero noise.
I guess it does have sludge in it. I’ve changed the oil every 7,500 miles since we bought it with 31,000 on it…now it has 240k. It’s only had Castrol Edge and Amsoil OE in it over that time. Normally with a Purolator or K&N filter.
I guess 7,500 miles is too long, even though that’s what Volvo calls for.
Here’s a Blackstone oil analysis performed about 3 years and 45k miles ago with some history of others done years prior. I’m more than a little surprised.

I have to admit, I’m concerned about sludge being dislodged and getting into the turbo lines. This car has never had the oil pressure light on when running and the glove doesn’t inflate.

Post by **jonesg** » 09 Sep 2021, 05:27

mine does the same, its telling me to change the oil.
If the crankcase produces good vacuum then Vida suggests the oil feed line, pickup in sump or O rings.
I blew the turbo 3 years ago, its not an expensive repair if you get a pre balanced core from the UK via ebay, less than $200.

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » 09 Sep 2021, 05:52

Just curious as to what you flushed the engine with? I also use Blackstone Labs to check the health of an engine.