Turbo blown '06 XC70

[VolvofanXC70]

The turbocharger failed on a friend's '06 XC70 with 115K. The car was driven maybe 30 miles before being diagnosed by a foreign car shop. A warning light was on - no oil - but when I checked the dipstick it was full? The mechanic says it had no oil, needs a catalytic converter and oxygen sensors. Would an OEM equivalent converter work? Is it mandatory to replace the converter? When the turbo goes and I've read that's not common, what other parts are typically replaced? I'm thinking the mechanic is padding the repair or throwing parts at it before actually knowing they failed. The turbo is definitely blown.

[BlackBart]

A lot of knowledgeable people will soon chime in here, but the first thing is the symptoms sound a bit confusing.

1. It ran out of oil and then was driven 30 miles, even with the warning?
2. It had oil but it didn't have oil? Who is right?
3. If it ran out of oil, the turbo is the least of his problems.
4. 115k is very low mileage for a turbo failure - unless it ran out of oil.
5. Turbo failure and cat and Ox sensors are sort of unrelated - unless it dumped a gallon of oil through the turbo seals and contaminated the cat. Could also gum up the O2 sensors.
6. There are many aftermarket cats that will work.
7. A cat is necessary for pollution reasons, legal reasons, and if there is an O2 sensor both upstream and downstream from it, the computer will be buffudled by the incorrect readings and will be unable to set the fuel mixture.
8. Turbo-related parts? Seals, oil supply line (was that coked up and clogged, hence the failure?), coolant supply lines, vacuum lines while it's apart, intercooler hoses...etc

[jonesg]

it starved for oil, not hard to do. i managed to do that without assistance. my turbo shaft snapped.
wrong oil, dirty oil, sludge, that killed mine. once the shaft broke , oil and coolant blew into the cat.

good news is you can replace just the turbo center cartridge for $200. DIY.
it includes the center section with all the bearings, shaft , turbine and compressor , all assembled and balanced to 140K rpm.

you don't know if it needs a new cat yet. mine didn't.
after fixing the turbo run a jug of cataclean through the system.

if you opt to replace the whole turbo its a much more invasive job, angle gear comes out along with pass side drive shaft and thats an additional 6 hr labor.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256559293378?c ... xEQAvD_BwE

[VolvofanXC70]

Agreed 110k is low mileage for the failure. The car was maintained with oil changes. I was driving the car when the turbo blew. Loss of power, tons of white, sweet smoke and the check oil warning. I stopped at parking lot, shut the engine down and checked the oil. Level was full. Drove the car another 10 miles locally and engine sounded ok but smoke continued. I puzzled that the shop said there was no oil. I do hear a rattling sound with the engine running parked. Could that be the turbo? I do think the shop got the turbo diagnosis correct.

The shop said the drive shaft needs to be replaced. Are they known to go on the XC70's with only 110K? Wouldn't I hear the CV joint knocking?

Can the car be driven 10-15 miles with the turbo not functioning assuming the engine has oil to get it to my garage? Are there any videos or guides for the center cartridge?

[cn90]

Likely oil pan O-rings issue.
Info in forum.

PS: the giveaway is: dipstick is full but low oil pressure light is on.

Find a shop that knows Volvo.

[jonesg]

rattling is the turbo shaft, probably snapped.
The turbo cartridge is only held in the turbo housing with one spring clip.

[dikidera]

I can chime in on the cat part. I had an issue where massive amounts of oil entered my catalytic converters(I had two) and I mean a lot. To this day the car has the P0420 codes(Power Deterioration). It has been over a year running this way, but my observation is that the the colors of the spark plugs is white, so are the oxygen sensors possibly indicating a lean mixture, whereas its supposed to be stoich 14.7. So it is quite possible that the cats need replacement and so do the oxygen sensors.