Oil consumption and the dealership diagnostic process

[FireFox31]

Hello, my family member's 2013 XC70 T6 3.0L with 120k miles is losing a quart of oil each month (after unknown amount of miles). It went to my trusted dealership for service. They said the brake booster vacuum pump is leaking, but it's probably burning oil to cause that much loss.

The dealership recommended a procedure to determine the cause of oil loss. It is something like:
Visit 1 - Come in with a "low oil" light on. They add oil. Take the car home.
Visit 2 - Come in on a new work order. They drain the oil, weigh it, and put it back in. Take the car home and drive for 1000 miles.
Visit 3 - Come in. They drain the oil and weigh it. They do a compression test and leak down test. Take the car home. They submit all of these results to Volvo. Volvo reviews the data and determines which engine components have failed.
Visit 4 - Come in. They do the internal engine repair which Volvo recommends to resolve the oil loss.

Has anyone used this procedure? I'm confused as to why Visits 1 and 2 must be separate and didn't understand the service writer's explanation.

The options are to have the dealership do the diag and repair, or try to sell/trade the damaged car to get a newer one. As a long shot, is it reasonably possible to resolve oil consumption doing the work myself before selling the car to get a better price? Thanks.

[Krons]

Not sure why they can't look at the dipstick to measure the oil loss? Makes sense they want to top off to know it was exactly full. Does seem 1 & 2 could be combined.

[pgill]

FIREFOX,

If you review the Technical journal from Volvo that looks at oil consumption you will see how they evaluate the oil consumption.

Let me summarize what I would do if I were your relative

1. Rebuild the Vacuum pump (Volvo has an excellent rebuild kit, I recommend you start there)

2. Evaluate and/or replace the PCV (the source of the consumption could be the PCV and it is relative easy to replace and not very expensive, for me 4 visits to the dealer aren't worth the $100 savings if the PCV is covered by warranty, do you have a PZEV warranty?)

3. The dealership technician should check the sparkplugs for oil deposits and the leak down test, etc. (see the TJ for more information)


Here is the Technical Journal (note: I think that the TJ may have been superseded but the logic of what is causing the oil loss remains the same, if I can find the newer version I will post it here)

https://www.freel2.com/gallery/albums/u ... 281%29.pdf

Here is the updated TJ

Volvo_Technical-Journal-24643_I6-oil-consumption_201204.pdf

(444.09 KiB) Downloaded 711 times

Good luck

Paul

PS The anti-drain valve in the oil filter housing is a known failure on these engines and when it fails the oil that would have been in the oil filter housing will drain into the oil pan. This is a problem because it will make the user think the engine has more oil in it then it actually does. The sensor that tells you LOW OIL won't be fooled by the failed valve because it measure the level with the engine running. This is why Volvo wants to accurately measure the oil consumed and not rely on measuring with the dip stick.

[FireFox31]

2. Evaluate and/or replace the PCV (the source of the consumption could be the PCV and it is relative easy to replace and not very expensive, for me 4 visits to the dealer aren't worth the $100 savings if the PCV is covered by warranty, do you have a PZEV warranty?)

Thank you, this is very helpful. Another Volvo dealership blamed the "oil trap" for consumption, so I take notice when you mention it.

How could a PCV cause that much oil consumption? As I understand on my 2000 V70, the PCV is a simple box which separates oil from vapor, sending oil to the pan and vapor to the air intake. What exactly could I ask the dealership to do to resolve the issue?

I suspect the car is not eligible for the 2013 PZEV warranty. It applies to engine VIN code 94 and the dealership told me this car is code 90. The VIN has 90 in position 4-5 but VIN decoding info I see online says engine type is position 6-7 (like for my 2000).

[pgill]

Let me answer the PCV question. (For the warranty question I will need to look at the emission label for my 2010 S80 and get back to you)

The PCV on the 3.2 and 3.0T is controlled by a diaphragm.

When it is working correctly a very small vacuum is present at idle in the crankcase. If it fails then the full engine vacuum can be applied to the crankcase. If this happens then the oil separator function of the PCV can be over whelmed and oil will be drawn into the intake.

Note: for the turbo the situation is complicated by the fact that under Boost the PCV will need to be diverted to before the turbo. I have this on my AUDI 2.0T and I understand how it works but I don't have a 3.0T Volvo so I can't say exactly how it works.

To check that the PCV is working properly at idle you can do the glove test.

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic37372-15.html

Perform a crankcase ventilation test according to VIDA. Using the tool specified in
VIDA, the gauge will seem “out of range”. Normal PCV vacuum at idle for the Si6 and
Si6T engines is between -0.2 kPa and -1.0 kPa.

If that makes sense to you then no need to read further

For me Inches of Mercury are more familiar units.

At idle a typical engine is around 18 inches of Mercury

Converting 1.0 Kpa to inches of Mercury equals 0.29 inches of Mercury



Hopefully this helps


Maybe this is how you should think about it. At idle the PCV should allow 0.29 inches of Mercury to be applied to the crankcase of the 18 inches of mercury available. This is about 1.5% of the available engine vacuum. If 1.5% becomes 100% then the engine will start consuming a lot of oil.

Good luck

Paul

[FireFox31]

Thanks. The service writer said it couldn't be the PCV, but your explanation suggests that it could be. I'll run a compression test and glove test on the engine. I'll search the forum for the compression test procedure for the P3, though I'm familiar with it for the P80.

Currently, the car needs $3000 of regular maintenance before this oil consumption problem. The dealership estimated pistons and rings may cost $4000 - $5000. It's not worth it to the owner to do all that work at 120k miles. For now, we're not doing any work, seeing if we can trade it in or sell it.

[pgill]

Currently, the car needs $3000 of regular maintenance before this oil consumption problem. The dealership estimated pistons and rings may cost $4000 - $5000. It's not worth it to the owner to do all that work at 120k miles. For now, we're not doing any work, seeing if we can trade it in or sell it.

I bought my 2010 S80 at the end of 2018 so it was 8 years old with 125,000 miles. (almost exactly where the XC60 is right now)

Here is the big caveat I can do the work myself.

My S80 needed maintenance that had been deferred by the previous owner.

Here is what it cost me to fix the thing that were deferred on my S80

$62.53 --- (31401556) --- Booster O-rings
$40.35 --- (DENSO 5344) --- Sparkplugs
$58.28 --- (LR006071) --- Thermostat
$00.66 --- (LR001505) O-ring for 30713530
$24.29 --- (30713530) --- Coolant hose
$68.85 --- (31272677) --- Oil Filter housing
$18.92 --- (LR006076) --- Idler pulley
$18.92 --- (LR006076) --- Tensioner Pulley
$08.97 --- (PK060473 CONTITECH) --- Aux Belt
$112.70 --- (LR021634) --- Motor Mount
$23.24 --- (30680474) --- Torq Mount
$15.76 --- (UD1306) --- Front Brake Pads (Amazon close out price, typical price is ~$75)
$523.23 --- AC repair
$43.37 --- Overdrive pulley ProParts Sweden 28436803
$323 ---- Radiator (Prem Air type)
$281 --- Radiator Fan (Siemens / VDO)
$34.4 --- (31272732-MFG14) BOSCH Fuel Pressure Sending unit
$11.61 --- (31300263) B+ Battery Clamp
$00.00 --- Loaner Battery from the Land Rover (Note: it is slightly too large and the cover only latches on one side)
$156.00 --- Mirror repair
$120.00 --- H8 GTR Ultra LED 2.0 bulbs
$06.00 --- Brake light bulb
$02.05 --- (30658215) Receptacle Housing for the MAF Sensor
$09.43 --- (31214625) Volvo Emblem

TOTAL $2030 spent over the last 3 and a half years


Note I did not replace the PCV on my S80 but I did replace it on my 2008 LR2 with the same engine and it cost slightly over $100 (Get the Volvo part for the 3.0T, aftermarket is not recommended)

Now that I am up to date on the Maintenance for my S80 it should be very economical for the next five or six years possibly longer.

Take a look at the thread that I started for my S80.

viewtopic.php?t=87687

Good luck

Paul

[FireFox31]

Thanks, that's inspiring. This XC70 needs probably $1500 in parts but lots of labor. I've never done internal engine work before (but may need to on my 2000 V70).

We're currently seeing what the car will get for trade in, private sale, and sale to a car lot. KBB values it as $8500 trade-in, $10500 private sale. I'll have to check recent asking prices (AutoTrader) and sales (eBay) for comparison. Subtract the best price we could get from the real world values. Subtract some for wear, subtract my parts cost. That's how much I could make for fixing it. I'll run the numbers and see if it's worth it.

I hate to see a car that's unwell and hate to pawn off the problems on someone else. No, I can't save them all, but I may do this if it's worth it.

[abscate]

You can burn 1 liter in 1500 miles and barely see it coming out of the tailpipe.

Try the overrun test. Descend a grade, a mile or so is great. At the bottom, heavy throttle. If you get a big blue smoke plume it’s usually valve guide seals on Volvo. MyT5 would make the entire road disappear in smoke

Get underneath and check for leaks.

It’s a good time in the nE to start big engine projects