We bought it a little over a year ago with 177k miles. It now has about 190k. Since November, we’ve replaced the radiator, front struts, and distributor. The first two were done at the corner shop, and the distributor at the fancy import shop just yesterday. They did a full inspection. The engine appears to be leaking from multiple locations, but mainly from the cam shaft seal, which is why the distributor needed to be replaced- it was full of oil and water. Leak down test shows 42% leakage into crankcase. Worn rings are creating excessive pressure, forcing oil out the seals. Also, the upper engine mount is broken, and the struts appear to be improperly assembled.
Fancy import place recommends engine replacement to ensure long term performance. Would it be worth just having the rings and seals replaced?
Just talked with the fancy shop- (my wife has been dealing with this because I’m out of town long-term, so the above was based on the written invoice)- basically it’s probably cheaper to replace than repair, at this point. And by cheaper, I mean it’ll only be $3000 instead of $4000.
Those damn seat- warmers. If it hadn’t been december, she might not have noticed, and we would have taken a pass.
My husband has a '96 850GLT wagon (the last model year manufactured in Sweden), and after running the gamut of repairs on it, he recommends taking it to an actual Volvo dealer rather than some import shop. It might not be any cheaper, but it’s more reliable, and he says those Volvo guys really know their stuff.
And based on his experience with this particular car, he thinks the Volvo people would recommend replacing the rings and seals.
We’ve found that anything on the Volvo costs at least $500; a bad chip, $500. A broken screw, $500. Last week, the locking gas cap cover broke, and while the part costs about $1.35, the labor costs, again, about $500. (I may be exaggerating a very little bit, but it’s become a running joke.)
Of course, he also suggested that if you’d bought a heating pad for your wife’s seat, it might have saved you a load of money. Yet he’s married to me, so take that bit of smart-assed advice for what it’s worth.
Volvo’s main plant is at Torslanda, just outside Gothenburg Sweden. They are still building cars there.
Volvo also builds cars in Ghent Belgium, and has for at least 30 years. There is about a 50/50 chance that your 850 was built in Belgium. Same as if you bought an 09.
Anyway getting back to the OP. There is a chance that the rings are stuck. I have seen a few cases as of late where the customer had not been on the ball with their oil changes, and the rings get stuck causing excessive leak down particularly at idle when cold.
Questions:
Did they do the leak down test hot or cold?
Are there any misfire codes recorded in the ECM?
Are there any other codes recorded in the ECM?
What specifically are these codes? They will display as either ECM XXX or PCM XXXX depending on what kind of scan tool they are using. Send me those codes
Ask if they measured the crankcase pressure. If not why not? The oil leaks are probably caused by excessive crank case pressure.
The comment about the distributor being full of water and oil, doesn’t make a lot of sense. There is nothing containing water anywhere near the distributor. Where did the water come from?
While I can’t see your car from here, it sounds to me like you have a plugged oil air separator (sometimes call the oil trap) causing crankcase pressure which in turn causes leaks. ( I would damn near guarantee that this is true) The leak down could be just the rings being stuck, which can sometimes be freed via chemical means without engine disassembly. If it were my car I would be willing to try the chemical route before I tore the engine down.
FWIW the bores on a Volvo are tough as hell, so if a tear down is needed, I would just replace the rings and rod bearings.
A oil trap replacement runs about 3-4 hours labor, plus parts.
Rick
-Former Volvo technical instructor, master tech and current service manager at a Volvo dealer (But hey, what do I know :))
Hey, I’m not the car person here, just going on what husband and Volvo dealer guy tells me, so I’m quite willing to admit that I might, just this once in my life, be wrong. (But don’t tell my husband, or I’ll never live it down!) I will gratefully and happily bow to your expertise in the Volvo world.
And sometime, I would like to know why this one little light comes on at odd times, so I might like to delve into your expertise, again! Thank you for correcting my misinformation.
I can’t say for sure, because husband is asleep and I’m not waking him. But it’s one pesky little light that keeps coming on for no apparent reason. I will get more details tomorrow. And thank you for your help!
A question regarding piston rings: since the advent of chrome-steel alloy piston rings, (ca 1970) it is VERT rare to see worn rings. In most cases, excess crankcase pressure is caused by a stuch PCV valve 9a $3.00 item). I recall Consumers reports doing a engine teardown , on NYC taxicans with 300,000 miles plus-and no wear on the rings!
Question: do you have to pull the engine on a VOLVO, to replace the rings?
Go back and read the quote I was responding to. It said that her '96 was the last model built in Sweden. This is false as I pointed out
If you want to pick when was the last “real” Volvo you can pick many different years
1968 for the last 122
1974 for the last 140
1993 for the last 240
1998 for the last 960/S90
Or you can take my attitude, Volvo still builds Volvos.
Apparently she has added some ring job in a bottle-like product, which has made it run better and less smoky. I’ll post the exact name tomorrow, as she can’t recall it.
Bardahl stop smoke stop leak is the product. Apparently, it’s not working quite as well as she thought- although she was driving faster on Saturday than yesterday, so the smoke is probably just lingering.
The big question is, do we bother with any repairs and just sell it? I’m inclined to think that no one will buy it in it’s current condition, so we may as well give it a good fix and try to get another 50k miles out of it. Herp thinking is that we’ve already put $1500 in before now, and supposedly it still needs a new rack and pinion, and also a heater core. We should cut our losses on it and get a newer car. Again, considering that we can’t afford a higher payment, and that all the big expenses have been done, and the likelihood of getting a car loan, I’m not sure we can make that happen.
Well, Rick’s advice did pretty good for us. Until the head gasket blew (I’m guessing. There is coolant on the dipstick). Probably not worth fixing now.
ETA: Sorry about the presumed head gasket. If the rest of the car’s still in good shape, it may still be worth repairing, vs taking on payments for another vehicle. **Rick **is still the one to ask about that.
Volvo’s main plant is at Torslanda, just outside Gothenburg Sweden. They are still building cars there.