P2 PCV Replacement - Notes for the Uninitiated (from the recently initiated)

[aewoodhouse]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to call out a few things I encountered during my first P2 PCV replacement. Things that delayed the process by days and challenged my sanity at times. Apologies for any redundance - I did read quite a few threads on the topic and used several youtube videos as reference so hopefully this will save someone the extra aggravation that I encountered. I get that experiences do vary, but some of these things I did not see mentioned in the context of the PCV install. I have done a wide range of repairs/upgrades on my Volvo's over the years including an intercooler swap which I tackled alone last year and this was by far the most tedious.
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TLDR; I bought the basic FCP kit. Suggest also buying the upgraded PCV nipple (part number 30731007) pintle caps for the injectors (for Bosch type 3 injectors), a couple extra crush washers for the banjo bolt, screw type hose clamps and a magnetic pick up snake tool. For the impossible to reach manifold bolt, a 10mm crows foot on a 12" 1/4 extention worked for me (no swivel needed)
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• I am a small in stature female with small hands. Spaces are so horribly tight that this was not a big advantage. Do yourself a favor and remove the large coolant hose to the thermostat and the air filer box for more room.

• The FCP tutorial video on this job mentions replacing the very brittle PCV nipple (more like a straw) with the upgraded version used on the s80 and xc90 (part number 30731007) I'm here to tell you, just buy this part! The chance that this piece of brittle plastic garbage will break during disassembly is high. In my case, not a single dealer had one in stock so the job was stalled by three extra days while I waited for one by mail. (Looking at you FCP - please call this out on your P2 PCV kit product pages if you're going to mention it in the video!)

• Two of the five pintle caps (the little plastic disks that hold the o-rings on the ends of the injectors) broke when I removed my fuel rail. More old brittle plastic. Buy some of these in advance too! They're about 50 cents each or less. This surprise also involved waiting for mail delivery. There are plenty of people out there who encounter the same thing and just reinstall the rail without these caps but when it involves fuel, I'd rather do the job right.

• Regarding the infamous impossible far left manifold bolt: I was able to access it with a 12" long 1/4 socket extension and a 10mm crows foot. No need for a swivel. I realize that it may be rotated ever so slightly beyond the accessible range of the crows foot, in which case the swivel might provide that last bit of needed range but worth trying to get at it without one first IMO.

• The banjo bolt - Oh the banjo bolt. This thing is located on the bottom side of the manifold at a really oddball angle and used to connect the new PCV nipple to the manifold. Problem is, that because the new S80 nipple straw is longer than the original, the parts don't line up quite right so you have to bend the nipple assembly while simultaneously trying to thread the banjo bolt that attaches it to the manifold at an unintuitive angle WITH two copper crush washers. And you have to do this by feel alone. For me, this was worse than the aforementioned manifold bolt as I dropped the crush washers into the engine bay at least half a dozen times and couldn't rely on my magnetic pickup tool to retrieve them. At one point, I wasted more time going to 5 different auto parts stores looking for more washers, but none to be found that were the right size. I ended up finding the ones I'd dropped with a very bright head lamp. I'd suggest buying spare washers. Here again, very little added expense to save a lot of potential aggravation.

Anyway,
To finally get the banjo bolt threaded, I ended up going against all guidance, disconnected both the hose and the other end of the nipple from the PCV box and threading it to the manifold while it was still removed thus allowing a little more room to move. With the new hose clamps in place on the hose and PCV, getting the other end of the nipple and accompanying hose attached to the PCV was tight but doable. NOTE: This is not the prescribed order of reassembly but it worked for me.

• Somewhere it was suggested that the two T30 torx bolts for the thermostat housing be replaced for hex bolts while they're accessible - making future access to thermostat easier. The thing is, the bottom one is barely accessible without removing the power steering pump. These torx heads were fast to strip due to the slightly imperfect angle and I ended up having to unbolt the PS pump (requires removal of the serpentine belt) If I had it to do over, I'd just unbolt the PS pump instead of trying endless variations of tools to get a good hold on the bolt in a nearly impossible to reach location.

• Finally, I will add that the FCP kit comes with the same single use pinch hose clamps that the car was originally equipped with. However, I would highly recommend using the more common screw on clamps as the potential for having to retrace some steps is high if you've never done this job.

• A final postscript: I installed the FCP silicone pipe kit when I did the intercooler last summer. They had since gotten oily. I suggest cleaning the oil off the inner connection surfaces VERY thoroughly or risk the pipe just slipping right off the connection no matter how tight the clamp.
Both the throttle body pipe and boost pipe came undone on me at separate times after reassembly. I suspect this would be less of an issue with the OEM pipes but figured it was worth a mention because you REALLY don't want to have to get back at the throttle body pipe after surviving all of the above.

Cheers and good luck!!