Hello All,

Our 99 V-70 now 127K has for a long time had some startup valve train noise, a nasty sounding growl that lasts a couple of seconds. However about 500 miles ago the growl seemed to get worse and it also developed a tick that just wouldn't go away. I'm not sure that the tick occurred at highway speeds but at idle it was always there.

So, I changed the oil (about 2K miles early) and although I'm not a big fan of additives, added a Lucas engine treatment product cause I've had good luck with their steering rack seal sweller on my 240's. Nothing changed, startup was a hellish sounding affair and the tick was still there.

I called my local Volvo guru figuring it's time to make an appointment, but instead and in his usual cantankerous manner quizzed me on what kind of oil I had been using, commenting that he wasn't terribly impressed with synthetic (I've been using Wal-mart Lubritech). Told me to change the oil again, indicating that STP, Lucas or other similar additives undesirably increased the viscosity, and instead use BG MOA with conventional oil. He said he wasn't a big fan of additives, but he's seen some miraculous results with the BG stuff which he thinks among other things cleans some of the gum or varnish deposits.

So, I figured, wth, what did I have to lose. It's amazing, but the startup "growl" and tick are completely gone. Just thought that in the interest of hopefully helping someone else, they can give this car elixir a try.

Marty Wolfson