PCV system clogged XC70 2005 AWD-turbo 107k

adrian22 · Post by **adrian22** » 11 Jul 2016, 21:08

I just got a new 2005 XC70 AWD with 107k miles
Car drives nice no oil drips or loss. Turbo ok
I noticed some light smoke coming out of the oil dipstick and I did the rubber Glove Test to reveal a plugged PCV system.
The glove was inflated slowly meaning the system is clogged. Is this normal for this age/miles?
Question is what can happen if I ignore it and continue driving it?
and
how much will cost to have it cleaned (no dealer mechanic)?

Post by **tryingbe** » 11 Jul 2016, 22:07

Oil can leak from cam shaft seals, front main seal or rear main seal. Better fix it sooner rather than later.

Post by **chrism** » 11 Jul 2016, 22:41

In the mean time leave the dip stick pulled up a bit to provide some extra venting.

adrian22 · Post by **adrian22** » 11 Jul 2016, 22:47

I am confused ....If the PCV system is so important and needs service now being clogged why there is no warning lights on the dashboard?
Is Check engine warning responsible to PCV system too? My car Check engine is not on meaning the PCV is not critical yet?
My car has warning lights for any minor things but not for a PCV clogged system? Should I wait until I got check engine light?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 11 Jul 2016, 23:05

Do no wait- your Check Engine Light will eventually come on for a "symptom" of the PCV system failure. So many people are clueless about this and never service it because their car doesn't tell them to...then one day they have a huge leak. The rear main seal, when it leaks requires the engine and transmission to be separated to fix...I believe the dealers love the fact that Volvo didn't attach to its system a way to monitor and give the customer a head's up.

Post by **abscate** » 12 Jul 2016, 04:44

You might have to drop the pan and clean out the block ports , too. the P2 models clog a lot less than the P80 models as the system is warmed by hot engine coolant. Usually a clogged P2 has been neglected oil change interval.

Post by **oragex** » 12 Jul 2016, 05:44

A little smoke out of the dipstick is normal, inflating glove is not. You may have a clogged PCV box, hopefully the lower port is not clogged yet (or, as above, you will have to drop the oil pan). So hopefully just an intake manifold job. You can't wait or the engine seals will follow and that's more trouble.

Only short distances driving will cause this to clog even before 100K miles. The check engine is related with fuel mixture burning.

Post by **chrism** » 12 Jul 2016, 11:32

In the future, synthetic oil can be beneficial in helping to avoid the premature accumulation of gunky build-up in the PCV system. Unfortunately that doesn't help much for your current situation.

For what it's worth, when I did a PCV service on my wife's S80 2.5T, I found part #13 in the linked parts list below to be the primary culprit - a completely plugged hard plastic vacuum line which I couldn't get cleaned out without breaking it. They get quite brittle with age and heat exposure. About $30-40 at the dealer.

http://www.volvopartswebstore.com/showA ... evel=24650

Of course that's not to say you don't need to make sure the breather box and all associated plumbing and ports are clear of restrictions.

adrian22 · Post by **adrian22** » 12 Jul 2016, 11:40

Is the synthetic oil is preventing the PCV system clogging?
I been running on it for the last 50k and still clogged
Maybe what the call full synthetic is not so true...

Post by **oragex** » 12 Jul 2016, 13:46

No one can say for sure that synthetic oil will prevent 100% from clogging. I read a post from a Volvo owner who indicated he had the car from new, and replaced the oil @3000 miles interval with mineral, he still got the PCV clogged. The system design was inadequate, and interestingly very recently a newly designed PCV system installed on Bmw and Audi also failed at very low miles (between 15K and 30K miles) causing piston damage (this won't happen in old Volvo fortunately). I had this on a 2011 Audi using only synthetic oil, had the PCV replaced at 20K miles if I remember well. So when this system has a poor design, there is not much we can do.

Someone also replaced one of the PCV pipes with a larger diameter on an older PCV design, whether this is a fix is still to be confirmed
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=53448