Turbo Help!

[abscate]

If it’s spitting oil it’s pcv, not turbo. Turbo will burn oil if blown.

There are lots of reasons ME7 will inhibit boost, so investigate that before firing the “ parts cannon’

[KKiwi]

I'm looking for a new pcv valve and the only thing that's popping up is an oil separator? I've never even heard of that, but I found this kit on RockAuto for it. Should I get the whole thing with all the hoses to make sure I cover everything?

[erikv11]

Correct there is no PCV valve. The "PCV system" on these cars consists of hoses to recirculate oily fumes, and an oil trap (separator) to catch the oil and drain it back to the sump.

There's a billion threads on here about how to service the PCV system, essentially you need to replace all or most parts in that RockAuto kit, but if you buy a cheap kit from RockAuto the low quality rubber will turn to mush in about 14 months and you will be back to square one. Due to the work involved don't cheap out on the hoses. You can buy Volvo branded ($$$) or another option is read the DIYs here at MVS using generic fuel line or other oil resistant rubber for the longer/expensive hose, then buy Volvo on the short hoses. Don't use generic heater hose it won't last. The oil trap itself you can almost always just clean out, but sometimes it is too full of gunk.

Maybe do a "glove test" and if that points to bad PCV, start by doing a PCV job. It is super common for these cars to have a blocked PCV at this age. Gradually eliminate oil leaks and see where they come from. Maybe the turbo drain return line is leaking. The TD-04L turbos are indeed super hardy, could be the problem but less likely.

[KKiwi]

So I finally got a chance to do a glove test on my engine and it isn't inflating the glove (meaning it passes, correct?), so I don't believe the pcv system if bad on my car. It does act as if it has a small vacuum leak though, so I'm gonna take it to a shop and hook it up to a smoke machine so I can find where the leak is coming from. Maybe that'll fix things, cause I was dead set it was the pcv system. I have poor fuel economy, a cylinder 4 misfire (checked the coil, replaced the spark plug, great compression, checked injector, has spark), and a rough idle. So I'm once again at a loss

[scot850]

Did you try swapping the coil with another one to eliminate the coil as an issue?

Neil.

[KKiwi]

Yes. I swapped coils, I swapped injectors, put new spark plugs in, replaced the air filter, watched the spark plug spark, and the compression is 155psi on all 5 cylinders

[erikv11]

Yes that's good news on the PCV! Dipstick was plugged in at the time and seals properly I hope. You don't want crankcase pressure escaping somewhere else during the test.

... My ecu is also only showing under 1psi max boost when I drive, which is way low, ...

Hey where are you getting this readout, is it reliable? WIthout a gauge or a good app it is hard to know boost.

My 95 drips oil very slowly from the bottom of the turbo and a couple years ago I just stopped chasing it. Not enough to stain the driveway but if you look up from underneath you can see it. Just meaning to say, small oil leaks are common on these cars.

The rough idle and misfire is a pain, I agree you want to sort that out next. One comment to consider is that the ECU doesn't always pinpoint the cylinder correctly. Check all the vacuum lines including the vac line plumbing for the turbo and TCV.

I don't know the symptoms for electronic throttle body problems, haven't had to deal with that yet.

[KKiwi]

I use torque pro for boost checking, but I wanna hook a physical gauge up just in case. But I know torque pro can be pretty dang accurate if it's set up correctly with the vehicle profile, which I've done

My turbo has that same kind of leak on it, but that isn't what worries me. I recently replaced the upper charge hose and there was oil all over inside the old hose and intercooler which is what caused me to think the seals were blown, but I'm hoping it would still be linked to the current vacuum leak instead of a bad turbo.

I'm hoping I'll be able to pinpoint any and all vacuum leaks once I hook my car up to the smoke machine. What do you mean the TCV? I've never heard of that and I'm not seeing anything online explaining what a TCV is

[erikv11]

Sure, torque pro may be good, I'm not sure I haven't used it.

Also hear you on the oil. Very common for those lines to be oily, even with properly functioning PCV. Unless it is spewing, burning or using excess oil of course, that would be extreme. Again just for reference, my P80 cars use almost no oil between changes, unlike my P2 cars. The intercooler has a weep hole for the oil that is anticipated to accumulate in there, but it should not weep much. Hope you track it down, but still very unlikely it is turbo seals.

TCV or Turbo Control Valve, also referred to as BCS or Boost Control Solenoid. I've seen vendor sites call it Boost Pressure Solenoid Valve etc. All different names for the same part.