Hi all,

I have a 98 S70 turbo with 200,000 miles. It's been a daily driver and runs great; it gets about 28 mpg. I love the car. I had the oil lines to the turbo replaced in February--it was leaking badly. I noticed it was smoking about a week/10 days before the shop fixed this; it was really, really oily underneath, and my husband and mechanic told me to keep an eye on the oil til the hoses came in, and it was likely that the smoking was just the oil underneath burning off.

After replacing the oil lines, I drove it 50 miles to work and back home, and the oil pressure light came on as I left the highway; when my husband checked, I was 4 quarts low (the mechanic had refilled it after replacing the lines, and husband had checked before I went to work and it was full). I immediately took it back to the shop--the guys looked at it and couldn't find any leaks, but when they added oil and drove it, it again smoked like crazy, basically just blowing oil out the tailpipe.

They told me the turbo is blown, but I've had a blown turbo in another Volvo and know what that's like: lots of smoke, AND no power/runs rough. This one blows the oil through but runs like a champ. (Of course, these same guys at the shop told me a turbo couldn't be rebuilt and I'd need one from Volvo for $1200, so that was another alarm bell for me.)

In reading everything I can pull up online, I'm thinking it's more likely a PCV replacement rather than the turbo. Does this sound right? I've had the car since 60,000 and haven't replaced the PCV stuff, so I'm presuming it's due, and it seems to fit the symptoms. Mainly, I just need to get this thing back on the road, and the PCV should probably be replaced just as routine maintenance anyway, right?

So, my real questions: is the PCV kit/replacement likely to fix the problem? and, What else needs to be done after replacing the PCV (i.e., is there going to be oil "stuck"/pooled someplace, and will it need to be cleaned out? How do I do this?)?

I'm thinking, even if the seals in the turbo are bad and do need replaced, the PCV needs to be done anyway so might as well do it now, right? And how will I know if I need to go ahead and then replace those seals? As I said, the car has great power and runs just fine--aside from fogging for mosquitoes!

I really love the car, and it's in great shape in terms of the engine (at least to this point) and body, so I really hope the PCV replacement for about $150 parts and an afternoon's labor from my husband and his buddy will take care of it. ALSO: any links to clear documentation/diagrams/pictures for replacing this? As I understand, it's not a hard job, just a lot of stuff to R&R, but photos etc. will make the job an easier "sell" for me, too!

Thanks for any information, ideas, etc. anyone can share.
Edit/Delete Message

You are correct, the PCV system does need a re-do. BUT, having high crank pressure should not cause a lot of smoke coming out of the exhaust. I don't have a good picture of the color of the smoke coming out of the exhaust. If it is white, then it is the inner turbo seal that gave way and oil is pouring into your exhaust and there should be a nice cloud!

To check the turbo, remove the intake pipe from the air cleaner to the turbo. Then feel the center of the turbo blade with a finger, there should not be any wobbling - if there is, find a 'new' turbo because a rebuild will not work. There are plenty of junk yards to get them from. Use lots of PBBlaster when you take yours out.

The PCV plumbing requires the removal of the intake manifold. Figure at least 5 hours of DIY time. You will also have to remove the air intake hose to the turbo so you can clean out the PTC nipple - it will be clogged with hard crusty gunk.

I will send you an email for replacing the knock sensors, which is in the same area and same amount of work.

Klaus
--
My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic