Quick "No oil pressure-stop safely" message, then blank - Mechanic says blown turbo

TJWookiee · Post by **TJWookiee** » 15 Sep 2023, 11:19

I've had a '06 xc70 wagon for about two months and really only had to worry about replacing the brakes, there were no other issues I could see, the car ran great.

I drive short hops to work usually during the week, no long haul trips, but I noticed the info window the other day on my way home flashed a couple of times and turned back off before I could read the message, literally a split-second message that read "No oil pressure - stop safely." I figured, since my '98 wagon used to flash phantom errors, that I'd wait to see whether it came back for more than a blink. Yesterday I saw the message for about two seconds, so I checked the oil when I got to work and there was very little on the stick. I added a quart on my way home (crawling, luckily the Bronx traffic was at a crawl anyhow) and brought the wagon to my local mechanic this morning. He's just told me he thinks the turbo is leaking the oil. I hadn't seen any signs of a leak, nothing in the street where I park, nothing in the spot at work, and nothing I could see in the engine except for a spot about two inches wide that for all I know has been there a while.

So, if it's the turbo and it needs to be replaced, what am I looking at? Is this a reason to dump the car? Is it a simple part swap? I've no idea what to expect and I don't know the mechanic all too well yet.

Post by **xHeart** » 15 Sep 2023, 12:11

Anything can happen, could just be a low battery; more here viewtopic.php?p=632065

Post by **matthew1** » 15 Sep 2023, 12:34

TJWookiee wrote: ↑15 Sep 2023, 11:19
So, if it's the turbo and it needs to be replaced, what am I looking at? Is this a reason to dump the car? Is it a simple part swap? I've no idea what to expect and I don't know the mechanic all too well yet.

Let's determine if it's the turbo first... look for smoke at startup, acceleration, idle. Note the color if there is smoke.

TJWookiee · Post by **TJWookiee** » 15 Sep 2023, 14:07

I haven't seen any smoke whatsoever, not at startup or while driving, or any spots where it leaked. It does legitimately seem to be losing oil somehow, though. There hasn't been a sign of a rough ride until the last couple of days. I thought maybe I had some sludge in the oil pan and I dumped in some high mileage motor treatment yesterday along with a fresh quart of oil.

The battery is an interesting cause, and I have had a couple of occasions where I've charged it, including about when this message began to appear. I'd inadvertently drained the battery while I was monkeying with trying to install a backup camera. That link is for a different issue, is there something I missed on the forum here about a low battery causing oil to burn off?

TJWookiee · Post by **TJWookiee** » 15 Sep 2023, 14:55

I’m headed to mechanic to pick the car up and drive the three or four blocks home, will see what their reasoning is for replacing turbo. Their rough estimate is at least 2000 for parts, but I’m not so sure, especially after having read of misdiagnosis cases here.

TJWookiee · Post by **TJWookiee** » 15 Sep 2023, 16:08

Mechanic says he saw oil on the outside of the turbo and he thinks the seals are failing. Obviously he hasn't taken it down to inspect the seals. If there is oil on the outside, wouldn't that be from the oil feed rather than from inside the turbo?

Post by **scot850** » 15 Sep 2023, 17:24

I don't think this was the right diagnosis. More likely an oil feed pipe or a seal has failed. Seems strange you see no evidence of oil anywhere.

Check your coolant and trans oil for engine oil mixing.

Neil.

Post by **jonesg** » 16 Sep 2023, 05:15

mechanic is wrong,
1. if internal , oil leaks through the cat and makes nice blue smoke.

2. an oil leak at the bottom of the turbo is certainly the turbo drain pipe gasket.

3. oil leak running down from top of turbo is the rubber coupling sleeve/collar that connects turbo high pressure output to the charge air pipe that goes over the top of the engine. could also be copper washers on the banjo bolt oil feed pipe on the top of the turbo .

the likelihood is its #3.
just check the band clamps, if the rubber sleeve has turned mushy order a new one from fcp. looks like this but $120 for oem volvo.
I'd grab one from the salvage yard or try the cheaper blue silicone coupler from IPD.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... ecQAvD_BwE

TJWookiee · Post by **TJWookiee** » 16 Sep 2023, 07:31

At either price, it couldn't hurt to just swap that out and see if that does the trick. My question is whether that's something I can do myself. I found this guide on the IPD site, does this seem accurate? I do not have a garage, no ramps, a modest amount of tools, but this seems pretty straightforward.

https://www.ipdusa.com/Media/5959/Downl ... 0GUIDE.pdf

TJWookiee · Post by **TJWookiee** » 16 Sep 2023, 08:06

Looks like jonesg is on the right track (not that I had a doubt), here's what I found when I looked under hood in daylight just now. Going to order that rubber coupling right now, the one I've got has oil around the top ridge like it's bled out and oil all down the side. Didn't know where to look before, thank you very much for the guidance.