XC70 3.2 - Should I Rule It Out

[dono]

I have a 2004 V70 AWD 2.5T with 245,000 miles on it. Looking for an 04-10 XC70/V70/XC90 to add to the family fleet. I am a Huge fan of the B5254T2 2.5T engine. Its been a marvel of engineering for me (same with the Aisin AW55-50 Transmission).

I have looked at lots of similar models but am also considering a newer 2010 XC70 with the 3.2L engine (141k miles well cared for) - I am skeptical about this particular engine and have almost ruled it out. Should I re-consider or avoid this 3.2L engine? Input appreciated...

[RickHaleParker]

The Volvo 3.2L has a Timing Chain not a Timing Belt. Timing Chain is supposed to be good for the life of the motor, no maintenance interval.

It has a Aisin AW TF-80SC, which is a 6-speed automatic transmission. More get up and go then a 5-speed automatic.

[dono]

The Volvo 3.2L has a Timing Chain not a Timing Belt. Timing Chain is supposed to be good for the life of the motor, no maintenance interval.

It has a Aisin AW TF-80SC, which is a 6-speed automatic transmission. More get up and go then a 5-speed automatic.

Yes I am aware the B6324S engine uses a timing chain. There is some information on the qualities, history and common weaknesses of this engine http://australiancar.reviews/Volvo_SI6_Engine.php One of the concerns was the difficulty/cost of the 150k maintenance viewtopic.php?f=31&p=331442#p331442 however this does not seem that difficult to me.

What I am interested in is site members assessment of the overall quality and reliability of the 3.2 when compared to the 2.5T. Most specifically with regard to Volvo Technical Journal 24643 http://australiancar.reviews/_pdfs/Volv ... 201204.pdf which address excessive oil consumption in these engines.

Thanks

[jimmy57]

If it has the excessive oil consumption issue it will show up by 50 K miles or before. The engine, like almost all others, uses low tension friction reducing rings. Oil sludge from long drain intervals, when the operating conditions don't support long drain, causes oil depositss in ring grooves to bind the rings. That causes the oil consumption issue. FOr some of the engines there was an oil ring change because the oil ring was more prone to sticking and allowing far to much oil to be on cylinder wall. In any case, oil changes at appropriate intervals for use prevents the issue. Oil quaility is another cause as the oil consumption issue was miniscule in other markets outside North America. this was also true for the VW-Audi models with the 2.0T engine. Those had high failure here but very few issues in Europe.
The READ unit bearings (Rear Engine Auxiliary Drive, the gearbox that drives cm chain and the serpentine belt drive) has some issues but it usually will have occurred by 75K miles and is very noticeable on a warmed up engine as a growl at 1700-2000 rpm. All 3.2 and 3.0T have some gear whine with the whine being noticeable for a minute when started at temp below 60F.
These engines are going the distance. An indy shop I have worked with sees many with 200K plus. He uses them as loaner cars when owners don't want to spend high repair bills for a 10-11 year old XC90 or XC70. He buys them and fixes the a/c or whatever and they become loaner cars since he trusts they will give good service. In the Volvo tech community they were initially seen as scary engines. Shifting valve lift, cam drive gearbox, two intake manifold flap motors, etc. but the test of time has been good.
I now have a 2010 XC60 T6 and it has 125K and has no oil leakage or consumption and the engine is noise free.

[dono]

If it has the excessive oil consumption issue it will show up by 50 K miles or before. The engine, like almost all others, uses low tension friction reducing rings. Oil sludge from long drain intervals, when the operating conditions don't support long drain, causes oil depositss in ring grooves to bind the rings. That causes the oil consumption issue. FOr some of the engines there was an oil ring change because the oil ring was more prone to sticking and allowing far to much oil to be on cylinder wall. In any case, oil changes at appropriate intervals for use prevents the issue. Oil quaility is another cause as the oil consumption issue was miniscule in other markets outside North America. this was also true for the VW-Audi models with the 2.0T engine. Those had high failure here but very few issues in Europe.
The READ unit bearings (Rear Engine Auxiliary Drive, the gearbox that drives cm chain and the serpentine belt drive) has some issues but it usually will have occurred by 75K miles and is very noticeable on a warmed up engine as a growl at 1700-2000 rpm. All 3.2 and 3.0T have some gear whine with the whine being noticeable for a minute when started at temp below 60F.
These engines are going the distance. An indy shop I have worked with sees many with 200K plus. He uses them as loaner cars when owners don't want to spend high repair bills for a 10-11 year old XC90 or XC70. He buys them and fixes the a/c or whatever and they become loaner cars since he trusts they will give good service. In the Volvo tech community they were initially seen as scary engines. Shifting valve lift, cam drive gearbox, two intake manifold flap motors, etc. but the test of time has been good.
I now have a 2010 XC60 T6 and it has 125K and has no oil leakage or consumption and the engine is noise free.

jimmy - thank you very much for your in-depth experience and reply! Just what I was hoping for Any other thing to look for buying this 2010 XC70? It has 141k, one owner and has been dealer maintained with what looks like every single regular maintenance service done at the dealer and oil changes at the dealer every 7500 miles.

[Rattnalle]

The only real downside I believe is the questionable performance/economy ratio. It used fuel like a T6 but doesn't pack that much more oomph in the heavier P3 than the considerably more economical P2 2.5T (especially if you stick a software tune on the latter). On this end it never sold well for that reason. On your end fuel is cheap so it might not matter as much.

[jimmy57]

That it has that milage in 9 years would lead me to believe it was no 3 miles at a time school bus. It likely is good. The oil filler grate keeps you seeing a lot but if it has some deposits that is normal but 1/4 inch or more of g=sludge would cause me some pause.

[dono]

Also regarding the 3.2 I read the following at Sweedspeed and it gave me pause:

The bad:
150K mile service is a little ouchy: It involves changing the serpentine belt and all that it touches. INA makes a number of the parts, and they can be had relatively inexpensively from FCP Euro. it does require some special tools to remove the decoupler pulley. These tools can be found as generic decoupler pulley tools. I have these written down somewhere. I'm hoping to do a video/write-up on mine in the next few weeks. While at it, do the thermostat housing at the 150K mile service. This service is probably a budget breaker if you do not DIY.

A set of special tools is needed to manipulate the cams and crankshaft should pretty much *any* engine work be needed. This set of tools is available aftermarket on eBay for $250-ish.

The intake manifold is plastic. There are a number of seals both for the manifold-head junction, as well as for the actuators that modulate the runner lengths. The seals for the latter are NLA from Volvo, but can be had from Land Rover. I'll share these numbers ASAP.

The ugly:

Volvo put the two of the four cat converters in the exhaust manifold. Currently, they are wallet cripplingly expensive.

READ units prior to late 2010 model year have failure issues. The system is splash lubricated, and the bearings can be failure areas. Rebuilds are possible, but expensive (A machine ship really needs to do this work), and special tools are needed to get the READ unit out. Used units are available, and have been used, though VIDA claims that each READ unit is machined to be specific to each engine block. The newer "S5" engines (2011-on) have ball bearings instead of needle bearings in the READ unit. This bearing change seems to be a step in the right direction.

The A/C bracket on earlier B6324S engines needed special tools to realign if removed. This, too, was changed for the S5 version, and no special tools are needed.

[dono]

Here is a very good explanation of the READ unit (Rear Engine Auxiliary Drive), function, problems and repair https://www.scottsautomotivemd.com/volv ... ory-drive/