2001 xc 70 turbo oil return line

bobsnow100 · Post by **bobsnow100** » 02 Feb 2010, 07:25

My 2001 v70 xc awd uses excessive oil. It is not the rear main seal.
It appears to be leaking from the turbo area. Last summer while engaging the turbo, slow response,slow pickup as if not engaging and then it seemed to kick in and then a huge smoke bomb came out of the exhaust. It lasted for about 30 seconds. Thought I blew the engine.
I am guessing the turbo had built up oil inside of it and finally blew open and the built up oil went into the exhaust pipe and that is the reason for the smoke.
I have heard the turbo return line gets clogged not allowing the oil to drain back into the pan.
How do you clean the oil retun line or do you get a new line?
Do you need to remove the turbo from the car?
Anybody else have this issue?
Thanks

rbodor3 · Post by **rbodor3** » 03 Feb 2010, 11:07

which turbo XC70 do you have - the 2.4t or the T5? What mileage do you have on it?

I've never heard of the oil return line getting clogged. The gasket can not seat correctly and drip oil, but no it will not clog and would not enter your exhaust.

Your turbo could be bad and leaking oil terribly, if what you suspect has happened is true then you will need to get your turbo rebuilt.

could be possible you're having excessive ring blow-by and the oil is getting pushed through the PCV system into your intake and into your turbo through the air intake. You can check by removing the Intercooler pipe that goes over the top of the engine (one side clamped to the top of the cold-side turbo, other side to the rubber elbow going to the bottom of the Intercooler) and see if that has oil film/sludge on it. If it does then you're getting excessive oil blow by and it's being pushed into your turbo.

After you confirm you have oil film on the intercooler piping you can do a leakdown test to figure out if it's excessive blow by, and go from there. This would be a fairly expensive build and would require at least a days downtime for your vehicle.

In either scenario I would recommend you promptly clean out the PCV system nipple. Depending on the age/mileage/service of your particular vehicle you may have to replace the entire PCV which is tedious but not too difficult to do yourself with a good tool selection.

bobsnow100 · Post by **bobsnow100** » 03 Feb 2010, 14:09

Thanks, give me some things to check. I do know the black pipe you're talking about has oil residue in it. I don't think I have oil blow because there is no pressure when the oil cap is off or pressure out of the dipstick tube when the engine is running. Sounds like the turbo is bad or maybe the pcv system is clogged.

rbodor3 · Post by **rbodor3** » 03 Feb 2010, 16:55

almost all non-race engine vehicles have piston blow by. The question is how much. Removing the oil cap and dipstick to test for positive pressure from the engine will tell you only the worst-case scenario, and more likely that you have a clogged PCV system. A leakdown test is the only way to really diagnose your piston blow by.