P80 PCV System Repair on a Volvo 5-cylinder (-1998)

[E Showell]

I've done two of these now in the past month with my brother's assistance. The instructions are very good. Careful about dropping the intake manifold upper bolts -- you'll most likely have to swing the manifold out of the way again to retrieve them, which can add to the length of the repair. With my wife's car we also did the starter while we were in there for accessibility reasons. It's an extra 10 min. and, in my view, worth it as opposed to replacing a starter on its own.

On the whole a very doable DIY repair, if a bit tedious.

[nicopag]

My Volvo drinks 800cc Per. 1000 kms!
No smoke in the exhaust and nor in the top of the engine
I need to do this?
Did you reduce your oil consumption with this work?
My V 70 has 190.000 kms

Thanks

[E Showell]

Not sure oil consumption when down measurably. I'm probably using a quart in 3000 miles, but the passenger compartment doesn't smell like a diesel engine anymore and the top of the engine under the spark plug cover no longer looks like a lake of oil. Also, I am not worried about blowing out the rear main seal or cam seals anymore.

[nzvlnr]

What type of sealant/gasket maker can you use on the intake manifold gasket to keep it on place while you bolt the manifold to the head?

[E Showell]

None needed. It should just stay in place.

[pankajzone]

Very informative. Thanks for posting.
Regards

SEO Freelancer

[E Showell]

I think I put a very thin smear of grease on the gasket to help it stay seated, but I'm not sure since I did two in rapid succession.

[kcjones]

Just finished my PCV job. 8 hours total.

I used the FCP kit. I've noted that there are mixed reviews. Figured I'd give it a go.

My car has 178k. The hoses were about 30% clogged from end to end and brittle as could be. I had smoking dipstick, but no tailpipe evidence. It does sound a bit quieter. Haven't taken it out for a power run yet.

Justin does mention scraping out the passages. A drill with brush sounds good. Between the two ports, one was gunky, and the other had dry flaky oil buildup. I scraped and wiped them both down. I wouldn't go to any extremes to clean them, as they inevitably will become filthy puddles soon enough.

There are two bolts on the bottom of the manifold; one attached to the dipstick, and the mystery bolt. For specification, the bolt is upside down, about dead center of the manifold. It is definitely easier to attack from a standing position, locate with the tips, then wrench away....... Maybe someone with a manifold lying around could post a pic for reference?

Also, the best way to retrieve a torx bit once dropped down the turbo outlet is a shop vac

Justin, I am indebted to you forever. I would never have tried this without the tutorial.

[byeboy]

I just did mine (1997 850R, 164,000 miles) today, using all genuine Volvo Parts (including those freaky Oetiker Clamps, which I kinda like to clamp on, hate to twist off!). I found this original post to be very helpful, and followed it throughout my job. I had a neighbor assisting me who is an out-of-work mechanic...no Volvo experience, but he got to do 90% of the wrenching, with me playing director. I've got a lot of wrenching experience on cars and motorcycles as well, but hardly got my hands dirty on this one!

My take on it is...Read through his original directions a couple times, a few days apart...(rehearsing), while looking at the engine. It all unfolds when you get into it, piece by piece.

I tired pulling the PTC valve first, reasoning that I'd let it soak in a jar of Seafoam as I waded through the main job...but the valve was not too anxious to leave its little nest down there, so I found pulling the intake hose off easier...quite a challenge getting "down to it" to remove the two hoses and the electrical plug (I never did figure out a graceful way to remove the rectangular clips on those plugs...I pried one side off, then the other). The PTC came out of the Intake Hose very easily once it was on the ground.. I found Simple Green to be a good cleaner for my VERY oily hose. After soaking for hours, I expected the PTC to be clean as a whistle, but it was about like it was when I put it in the jar..mine was not at all clogged, and had just some Carbon-type gunk accumulated, but not much. I then suspected that the car had had this done at some time in its 14 year life...too clean. I did see that my PTC has a small "jet" in the small tube that a "LOW E" Guitar string cleaned out fine...I thought I had read somewhere in my searching that someone "had to drill " that little nipple out...might have been that brass "jet" he was encountering..or maybe the non-turbo ones are different???

I did not disconnect anything except the wiring plug at the Idle Air Control Valve because it looked like it would all move with the manifold...which it did.

Other than that, no surprises, just follow the steps, have your tools (not many needed), and it should take about five hours max. I did need a short piece of 5/16 " fuel line for the return line on the Fuel Injection (the old one just crumbled apart when touched), and went to worm gear clamps in a couple places where I could not fit my End Nippers I was using to tighten the Oetikers.
All the hoses were brittle as potato chips, so don't go tugging and prying anything you don't have sitting on your counter...

The Double Hose in the foam sleeve would not "quite" fit..needed another inch..., until we discovered we had routed it wrong in behind the distributor....so carefully note is position back there before removing it..some digital pictures will come in handy.

I am puzzled why the inside of my Oil Trap ports on the engine block was very clear..very little varnishing, no "goop". I was thinking the job had been done at sometime in the past (my girlfriend bought this car 10 years ago from a dealer...it was a lease return, and because of that, had every dealer stamp in the maintenance book), but the dealer would not hand over the detailed maintenance history when she bought it, claiming "privacy" of the original owner was being protected...so I have no idea when it might have been done..she had a lot of work done on the car, but never the oil trap.

And then I rationalized that if the Oil Trap HAD been done, it was long time ago...but my lady friend (who sold me the car a few months back when she bought a new Lexus)had always used Mobil 1, and changed it around the 4,000 mile mark for the65,000 miles that she owned the car...so I am thinking the Mobil 1, with regular changed, may be why the motor is so clean...and because all the hoses and fitting as were so brittle, it was along time ago that it was done, if ever. I may cut the oil trap open in a couple days just to peek inside (I'll post a picture)...and see how freely I can push wire through the longer hoses...but I do not think anything was clogged.

[rspi]

I got through about 6 pages of this thread and can't remember how far I got last time. Let me move on...

Does anyone know how to properly test the PCV system to see if it is in deed clogged/plugged? I have read where people say they put a rubber glove over the oil filler cap or something like that. I also read somewhere once where someone knew how to take a vacuum gauge and connect it somewhere on the system to actually take vacuum readings to know if the system was clogged and building excessive pressure.

I just learned that my ScanGauge II can read/report intake manifold pressure. Can that tell if the system is clogged?