Okay, third one this year...motor job on a 99 S70. Not one of my regular customers, someone who got peeved at the dealer when their motor lost a cylinder.

Here's the deal...

Volvo Service Intervals were once oil changes every 3,000 miles on a turbo engine, and every 5,000 on a normally aspirated one. Later, with the addition of intercoolers and water cooled turbos, it became 5,000 and 5,000. I informed my turbo customers of what the intervals once were, and allowed them to make their own decisions. Now Volvo has decided that 7500 mile oil changes are just fine, and they put this funky screen in so that you can't truly see the cams. When some new customers starting bringing their fresh out of warranty cars to my shop (for some reason people still believe that they HAVE to stay at the dealer until the warranty is up) the disgusting stuff dripping out after pulling the drain plug was well on it's way to becoming tar. I've seen so much sludge in the newer motors that I started questioning whether Volvo was using the same oil pump that Toyota was in all of those Sienna vans. If you want the longevity Volvo is known for, stick with the service schedule that enabled Volvo to earn that reputation. At least do your oil changes every 5,000 miles.

Next, and then I won't preach anymore...this timing belt interval of 105K...I don't buy it...I'm seeing fissures in the timing belts at 80K, and today I saw hairline CRACKS in one with 92K. Sure, this belt may make it to 105K, but would you want to chance it? Unless you feel some overwhelming need to gild the pockets of your technician (who most likely rather be doing services and probably even an evaporator) at least have that belt peeked at every 5k starting around 80K.

Okay, I'm done.

Chris

hello,
i work in the uk for a busy volvo dealership,over here the service intervals are at 12,000 miles. i have never seen any engine faluires that were directly caused by engine oil problems. we use a semi synthetic oil and many of our customers that do a high milage often go beyond their distance interval and yet their oil is still perfectly fluid (though admittdly dirty) and no signs of the sludge you describe.i believe that 5000 miles is a bit overkill however there is certanly no harm in changing it sooner,also the if you stick to what volvo say is the correct interval then all should be fine,if it wasen't there would be a massive warrenty situation on volvo's hands,and this has not happened.
also your point about how service intervals have increased over the years is in line with the better quality fuels,oils,and the improvements in engine development and machining tolerences that allow these longer intervals to be safely run.all manufacuters now run longer intervals than they used to,its just another part of motorcar development and the idea of less maintainence is a sellling point of any new car.
now your points about cambelts is true but what you havent mentioned is that belts are not only changed at a distance interval but also at a time interval or whichever occurs first. in large cities it is not uncommon for cars that spend a lot of time in traffic idling away but not doing any actual miles to have very poor looking belts even though thay may be some distance off their cambelt service. (which by the way is normally 80,000 miles over here depending on model) that is why we have a time interval to catch up with these vehicles.again volvo would not make these service intervals so long if they didnt think the cars could make them or again they would have major warrenty and customer goodwill situations on there hands (remember companies such as volvo spend millions on this sort of research and development so they should know.)
cambelt life is also a tricky issue as there are other factors that could have shortened the life of the belts on the cars you described such as oil leaks onto the belts,or high ambient temps,incorrect installation etc...
however i do aggree with you that it never hurts to change the belt sooner,(especially on older or higher milage cars).
i know this is a long reply but i felt that there needed to be a another side to this debate in volvo's defense.

steve.

I love Volvos, and in fact, have defended Volvo. Perhaps it is just the local dealer and the oil they use...perhaps because we are in Florida where the road temperatures are very high, it affects the "longevity" of the oil...perhaps because some of the customers eeked past the 7500 mile mark before getting the oil changed...perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...all I know is all the perhaps have added up to quite a few sludged up motors.

All I know, is that here, in Florida, the light pressure turbo cars should have oil changes more than once every 7500 miles. We use a Mobile 10W30 synthetic blend; we recommend oil changes every 5000, and I can say with assurance that the view in the cam cover on the cars that have been serviced here since they were new differs greatly from the ones serviced at the dealer. Being anal has its strong points.

I know the motors are balanced better, I know the oils are supposed be be cleaner, I haven't read anywhere that the filters have gotten better, nor do I know of any timing belt on an interference engine that can be installed incorrectly without immediate repercussions. One of the motor jobs was requested by the customer because of the sludge in the motor, not because of any internal failure. The turbo had been killed, but I think we could have saved the motor.

On the timing belt...what is the time interval in the UK?

Chris

hi Chris,
for someone who has "defended" volvo you certainly dont seem to have much faith in their service schedules or you would not have titled your thread as such.
i cant comment on the vehicles you have seen come out of your local dealer as "serviced",maybe they are not using the correct grade of oil or maybe those cars had other problems such as head gasket leakage.i guess the high temperatures you have over there could be the reason for the shorter service interval compared to ours in the uk.however i have worked on police V70's that have gotten so hot due to hard driving that the plastic coil and injector covers have melted and these cars despite many of them doing 300k miles or over dont have any oil sludge problems.
as far as cambelt installation goes premature failure can easily be caused by incorrect tension of mechanical cambelt tensioners,or in some cases forgetting to put the plastic distance piece in the hyraulic tensioner in some circumstance (car left in gear on a hill etc..).i have even seen belts fail due to damage done to the pulleys in the act of removing the belt or damper by using a pry bar on the pulley/damper itself.
as far as cambelt interval goes models up to 99my are serviced every 12 months or 10k miles and cambelt is done at 80k or 8 years,models 2000my on are generally done at 12k or 12 months and cambelt is done at 96k or 8 years. (i say generally as it changes slightly on year and model e.g. gdi and tdi engines) this is done off the top of my head i will check it tomorow.

steve.

Chris,

you left the owner/driver out of the equation and his driving style.

In Europe the rec oil change is 10k miles, and I haven't read about a ton of engine failures in europe with the 10k interval.

I believe the oil change every 3k is overkill(unless your car is a taxi)thanks to our friendly oil industry.

I believe that for most of us, 5k to 7.5k miles is the adequate interval, changing at 5k if you do a lot of stop and go driving.

Otherwise, don't fret it, just think of it as more work for your shop.

Cheers
--
'88 240, '92 745, '98 v70 John, Tampa Bay

but I don't want more work...

agree with oil changes, they should be @5000km (3500miles)
what is your opinion about time intervals for other fluids: brake, transmission, coolant....other items like s-plugs, throttle cleaning, brake inspection (cleaning, greasing components)..........can 02 sensor be cleaned ?

....like Honda does. Which should apply to almost everyone living under most normal climate and traffic conditions.

I've been doing 5,000 mile oil changes on the Volvo for the last 140,000 miles with Mobil 1 and the car still doesn't use any oil!

I've been doing exactly the same thing with my wife's Odyssey. (Honda specifies 7,500 mile oil changes under "normal" conditions, but 3,750 for "severe duty", say, if used as a taxicab (!). Since I'll remember "5000" and not "3750" I thought 5,000 miles with synthetic oil made more sense.)

My new Acura specifies "normal" 10,000 mile oil changes and 20,000 mile filter changes. Can you guess what I'm doing? (The Acura uses a timing chain and you can access the AC evaporator and heater blower and core without taking the entire car apart. Believe me, I checked first!)

-Punx

>Okay, I'm done
Glad you got that out of you :-)

And I agree. Dealer service is getting skimpier. But people think they cant go anywhere else even though they probably get better service.

Another thing about the service intervals is that the car makers want to score good in the "total cost of ownership" list.