Should I buy it? Topic is solved

RW · Post by RW » 11 May 2005, 14:38

I just looked at a 98 t-5 V70. There was oil in the air tubes by the turbo unit and some oil on the outside of the turbo. To me that means I should not buy this car. Can anyone clue me in? I like the T-5 but do not want to pay for the turbo on top of buying the car. It has 88,000 on the speedometer but by looking at the interior and it looks like whoever had it might of thrashed it.
Anyone have an opinion on buying it they want 10,600 for it.

Or my dad says that a friend of his has an immacculate 1999 XC for 12,000 with 122,000 on it. I did not really want the all wheel drive but I do want a wagon.

Or would I be better off finding one without a turbo?

RW

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 12 May 2005, 06:03

It is completely normal to have oil in the intercooler piping. The PCV system deposits oil vapors directly before the turbo sends the air through the intercooler piping and some of that oil gets caught in the stream; nothing to worry about. It is also normal to have oil on the outside of the turbo. It just happens. It's happened since these cars were new. See if you can get service records for the car. If you can't find proof that the car has been well taken care of, forget about it and wait till you find another one. BTW, '98 is the most reliable year for these cars, much more so than '99. '99 XC will have a lot more problems than the '98 S70.

J_Guynn · Post by **J_Guynn** » 12 May 2005, 07:36

A little over a month ago I bought a 98 V70 T5 from CarMax. It had about 15K miles less on it and I paid $12,000 (but that includes a 30 day warranty).

The interior is in very good shape (not quite perfect but close), and although it's had odd problems (radio wouldn't unlock, hood latch rattles, rear side windows leak in the rain) so far CarMax has taken very good care of me.

You might check out CarMax.com just for grins and see what's in your area.

RW · Post by RW » 12 May 2005, 11:42

They are offering a 30 day warranty and 6 mo on the turbo. I like the car but it has some minor interior blemishes and looks like someone parked by braille buggering up the wheels, mud flap and bumper. Haven't seen anything else within 100 miles of where we live. Will check out CarMax. Thanks for all the input! RW

Mary · Post by **Mary** » 12 May 2005, 21:46

HI,

I'd check the turbo out good or have someone look at it before I'd buy it. I have a '00 XC70 with 79,000 in the shop right now having a new turbo system installed right now. The shop says that oil leaking into the turbo may have caused the problem. I'm not convinced of this since the car had no power and wouldn't shift right after picking it up from the shop. one of the two bearing that holds up the turbine inside the turbine housing was missing. The mechanic seemed to indicate that oil entering the turbo is bad. The job is ~ $1200.00.

Good Luck.

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 13 May 2005, 05:45

Mary wrote:HI,

I'd check the turbo out good or have someone look at it before I'd buy it. I have a '00 XC70 with 79,000 in the shop right now having a new turbo system installed right now. The shop says that oil leaking into the turbo may have caused the problem. I'm not convinced of this since the car had no power and wouldn't shift right after picking it up from the shop. one of the two bearing that holds up the turbine inside the turbine housing was missing. The mechanic seemed to indicate that oil entering the turbo is bad. The job is ~ $1200.00.

Good Luck.

The only times I've ever heard of a turbo going bad on these cars is some of the T5 guys will make their 15G's boost spike to 22 psi or so, eventually resulting in excessive shaft play to the point that the compressor side turbine will start killing itself on the compressor housing. Mary, chances are you're turbo oil return line is leaking and that's what the mechanic is talking about. It takes $5 in parts and half an hour to fix. As for having no power, I bet you have a boost leak (i.e. torn intercooler hose) that can be fixed for less than $75. I have NEVER heard of the 13G turbo going bad at less than 150k miles. Tell them to give you the turbo when they're done "fixing the car" and check to see how much shaft play it has. To be honest, I'm extremely skeptical that the turbo has gone bad on that car. The turbo's on these cars are very reliable as long as you ALWAYS use fully synthetic oil and ALWAYS allow at least 30 seconds of idle time after driving to prevent oil from being coked up in the lines. Even when you don't, they should be good to at least 120k miles or so. Also, turbine shafts don't just go missing. They're big enough that there's no where for it go except out of the exhaust side and believe me , you would hear a helluva noise and see a lot of smoke coming up if that were the case. It sounds to me like some of your shops practices are rather questionable.

RW · Post by RW » 13 May 2005, 10:46

Sean or any of you other wizards,
Which brand of Synthetic Oil do you reccomend? Is any one better then the others. I was thinking of using Amsoil but maybe I would be better served by using Mobil 0ne?

RW

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 13 May 2005, 12:42

RW wrote:Sean or any of you other wizards,
Which brand of Synthetic Oil do you reccomend? Is any one better then the others. I was thinking of using Amsoil but maybe I would be better served by using Mobil 0ne?

RW

Amsoil is very over-hyped in my opinion. Not necessarily a bad oil, just not what it's cracked up to be. Most Volvo owners I know use either Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec. Those are both pretty good oils. One of my favorite, more affordable oils that I've used is Voll Synthese fully synthetic oil. It's the one that's $30.98 at that particular place. Look online and you can find a better deal on it. Motul is also a superb fluid and many consider is the very best, and while it is only marginally better than Mobil 1 and Castrol, some people just insist on the best

.