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Foamy Oil on Dipstick 850

posted by  someone claiming to be Nervous Newbie on  Tue Dec 9 07:44 CST 2003 [RELATED]

Hi. I bought my turbo '94 850 wagon this summer with 120,000 miles on it. It has driven just fine so far. I live close enough to work to come home at lunch and I decided to check the oil before heading back to the office (it's just at the 3000 mark). The oil on the dipstick was brown and foamy. Talk about a butt-pucker. I don't know much about cars, but I know that's a bad sign. I twisted off the oil cap and the oil inside was black and beautiful. The coolant was bright green. The car starts up and runs fine.

I have been doing some reading on the board and I know that short distance city driving can lead to condensation. I drive maybe 10 or 12 miles a day, all in town. I would like to take the car out for a nice, long highway ride to see if I can straighten out the mess before I head to the mechanic, but I am nervous that driving in this condition could hurt the car, especially if I'm not just paranoid and there really is a blown head gasket. Anyone have any advice for me?








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    Foamy Oil on Dipstick 850

    posted by  james_a_sousa on  Tue Dec 9 16:48 CST 2003
    Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
    last visit: Thu Oct 23 18:51 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    On our 850s, the condensation seems to be at the top of the dipstick and its tube.

    This steel tube located in front of the engine seems likely to attract condensation because it probably seldom heats up in the winter.

    We have about 4 car-years on our 850s and I have not seen any problems with the oil. I change the oil about every 3333 miles so that the car is in line with the 10,000 mile services. I stretch the interval a bit in the summer if we take a long trip, and shorten it a bit in the winter when we drive less.

    We check the oil level in our bricks weekly, so the dipsticks do not get too cruddy in winter.
    --
    96 855R, 95 855,854, 90 744 Ti - 340,000 Volvo miles put on 7 bricks








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    Foamy Oil on Dipstick 850

    posted by  someone claiming to be stevet5 on  Tue Dec 9 08:24 CST 2003 [RELATED]

    Hi

    Just to let you know I see the same thing on my 94 T5. From what I've heard this is a condensation problem that affects all 850's in the winter.

    Do a search of this board and you'll see numerous owners asking about this issue.







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      Foamy Oil on Dipstick 850

      posted by  someone claiming to be seany on  Tue Dec 9 08:38 CST 2003 [RELATED]

      i would agree, i too have an 850t and this is a usual winter occurence. in fact, i just checked mine today and it's just as you discribed. no worry.








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        Foamy Oil on Dipstick 850

        posted by  someone claiming to be Nervous Newbie on  Tue Dec 9 09:41 CST 2003 [RELATED]

        Thanks for your response. With all this gunk on your dipstick, how do you read the darn thing, anyway? Or do you use the gunk to tell you whether or not you need oil?








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          Foamy Oil on Dipstick 850

          posted by  someone claiming to be seany on  Tue Dec 9 12:25 CST 2003 [RELATED]

          well, the gunk on my dipstick is up near the handle, not down in the pan. it's always clean oil down at the indicator.








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            Foamy Oil on Dipstick 850

            posted by  MadeInJapan on  Tue Dec 9 16:22 CST 2003
            Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
            last visit: Sat Oct 2 06:34 CST 2010
            [RELATED]

            If in doubt and you haven't done an oil change yet, I'd do that first thing. I know that with new oil you'll know exactly where the level is on the dip stick.
            --
            Current owner of a '04 V70 2.5T. Previous owner of a '94 850 Turbo Wagon







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