High mileage and oil consumption Volvo V70R, i

[Johnniedarko]

Hi all,

This forum is very knowledgeable. Please help me check if my current oil is the best oil for my 2004 Volvo V70R.

I read a lot of posts on here, and a lot of responses are saying that “best” depends on the conditions, so let me be as complete as possible. Things that I think are notable:

• Oils I put in before are a hodgepodge of whatever 0-30 or 0-40 i could find at a gas station, mostly Shell Helix 0w-30 or Motul (in France).
• Recently switched to Castrol Edge 0w-40 A3-B3.
• This is the performance model with a 2.5L turbo engine with 300 hp and a redline of 7.000rpm.
• I push it hard. At least a couple of full-throttle pulls from 0-80 mph almost every drive. I do drive calmly for 15 mins before doing this.
• The engine has run 300.000 km / 180.000 miles.
• Oil consumption is quite high at 0.6 L per 1000 km or 0.25 gallons per 1000 mile. The highest I’ve recorded was 0.75L per 1000km / 0.31 gallons per 1000 miles. That was during continuous 60-100mph highway driving for 10 hours in the mountains while fully loaded with people and luggage.
• The B2454-T4 engine is known for cracking a specific cylinder wall. The cylinder wall is too thin, and then deforms into an oval, and during in that process, tears open. However, at this mileage, it has probably already grown slowly into its final oval shape and will not tear anymore. This oval shape might also explain the high oil usage. My gut says that whichever oil is best at keeping things coolest (thinnest?) will be best, but a thicker oil might seal better.
• Ambient temperatures will be in between 0C to 30C / 32F to 86F for 95% of the time. The other 5% will be between -15 C to 40 C / 5F to 104F.
• The owner's manual calls for ACEA A3 oil.
• My goal: I do not care about maximum power, or low fuel or oil consumption at all. As for price, all premium type oils cost pretty much the same here. My only interest is keeping the engine running as long as possible. A replacement engine or rebuild costs at least $7k, so whatever I can do to prevent that will be worth it.

Where I live, a lot of the recommended oils on this forum are not easily available. Castrol is recommended by Volvo, and is also widely available, so I’d like to limit my options to Castrol Edge A3. The question is 0w-30, 0w-40, or 5w-40 or something else entirely. All seem to fit my temperature requirements according to the Volvo owner's manual. Of these, only the 0w-40 is easily accessible in A3 form, the ‘unlabeled’ (= C3) of these variants is easily available.

These oils all seem very similar to me. Considering the mileage, use, and oil use of this car, you might be able to recommend one over the other for me, or recommend a different oil brand altogether.

Thanks!

 

[Brian123]

Where do you live at?

 

[pbm]

I'm not a Volvo expert but my b-i-l owned a 2005 that I sometimes maintained.
It used some oil and I was told that the 'oil trap' (I think they called it) tended to gum up with higher mileage and cause oil usage. The 'oil trap' was a PCV system IIRC.
I'd look into that first.

 

[BigCahuna]

Well, it sounds like your basically running a 40 wt oil, and your car likes to eat it. Being you hammer on the engine all the time and you have alot of miles on it, I don't see how running another brand of 40 wt would make a difference. If I were you , I'd run a 20/50 wt and see if the consumption slows down. It won't go away completely, but it should help.,,,

 

[buster]

I think you're using the right oils. You could try a 10w40 or 15w50 M1 to see if that helps curb some of the oil consumption. However, you did state that it's not a concern of yours. I'd keep using what you're using at this point.

 

[doublebase]

That’s a bummer, so you’re basically using a quart every 1,000 miles - and your engine doesn’t really have that many miles on it (180,000) - obviously what you have here is an oil burner, that will always be an oil burner. And worse, an oil burner that doesn’t really have super high mileage on it. Same thing happened to me with a Lexus I owned. I traded it in.

But you should be able to milk this thing along for as long as you want with some care - personally I wouldn’t go out and buy the best oil, I’d buy the thickest, cheapest, oil I could because it’s only going out your tailpipe anyway. And you push the car pretty hard by the sounds of it, I’m not sure how much that is helping , but no matter...I’d buy the cheapest/heaviest oil I could, and keep doing what you’re doing. That’s just my opinion. And I’d keep driving it another 100,000 miles.

I traded mine in because on top of the oil consumption it also had another $3,000 in repairs needed (a brake actuator). It also needed tires, a passenger door mirror, control arms, and many other things that were starting to go. Traded it in with 178,000 miles on it.

 

[Trav]

I would not worry about a qt/1000, most manufacturers claim that is acceptable and will not perform warranty service for a qt or less per 1000. It is cheaper to keep adding oil that doing anything to the engine.

 

[SureshR]

I'm not a Volvo expert but my b-i-l owned a 2005 that I sometimes maintained.
It used some oil and I was told that the 'oil trap' (I think they called it) tended to gum up with higher mileage and cause oil usage. The 'oil trap' was a PCV system IIRC.
I'd look into that first.

100% .. if your engine is burning oil and even has blowby from the dipstick but isn’t excessively smoking, doesn’t judder or have power loss, try cleaning the pcv valve or oil separator. And ensure that you don’t over fill oil.

I had this blowby and oil consumption on a 20k km run diesel engine, cleaning the oil separator sorted it out immediately when everyone was assuring me blowby = a half engine replacement.

 

[Astro14]

So, several questions in this first post.

First - Welcome to BITOG!!

Next - nice car, my 2004 V70R is an M-66 six speed manual. You're clearly a man of refined taste...

See this post:

Wagon superiority thread

Ultimate show of wagon strength!

bobistheoilguy.com

Oil choice - an ACEA A3/B4 in 0W40 would be great. If you're in France, Motul is fine.

Oil consumption -

First, you need to replace the PCV system. All of it. Volvo calls it a "Flame Trap". Replacing it isn't hard, but it will take several hours, as the intake manifold has to come off. You'll need a crowfoot 10mm for the left most intake manifold bolt, and it only needs to be loosened...The heated pipe from the manifold often plugs up - replacement is the only option. Use OEM Volvo parts, don't get URO garbage - Volvo only. Replace everything. Here is an example of a complete kit:

PCV Breather System Kit Builder 2003-2004 C70 S60 V70 XC70 XC90 Turbo 5 Cylinder for Volvo - IPD Kit Builder K21665

>Kitbuilder Ipd Kit Builder Pcv Breather System 2003 2004 C70 S60 V70 Xc70 Xc90 Turbo 5 Cylinderk21665

www.ipdusa.com

Second, you most likely need to drop the oil sump and clean out the PCV passage from the block to the sump. With the sump off, that passage has to be mechanically cleaned - a tool like an old, small screwdriver bent to a 90 degree angle - to scrape out the carbon, and a bronze brush to get the rest of it.

See this post - this is one of my Volvos.

2013 Volvo S80 3.2l, 2000 mi, dealer bulk oil

This is my first UOA with Oil Analyzers. I'm unfamiliar with their online submittal form. They use a lot of terminology that is foreign to me. Such as Component ID, Asset ID, and Baseline Reference. I apparently listed this as a Baseline Reference (which I've since learned is equivalent to a...

bobistheoilguy.com

Here's the thing - that car was NOT using oil - so your car is likely worse. The "flame trap" is a oil separator box. Vapor goes from crankcase vent (which is up high on the block) and liquid oil returns to the sump while vapor goes to the intake manifold to be burned. Under boost, when the manifold is pressurized, the flame trap routes vapor to the intake pipe, just before the turbo inlet. That long pipe is heated, so that the vapors don't condense and plug up the pipe. Works great, until the return passage to the sump gets plugged up, or the long pipe gets plugged up, and the oil sits in the flame trap and liquid oil gets sucked into the intake to be burned...

You need to address the oil consumption, soon, through the above two actions, or the excessive crankcase pressure will blow out a cam seal, and puke out all the oil in a matter of minutes.

 

[pbm]

Here's the thing - that car was NOT using oil - so your car is likely worse. The "flame trap" is a oil separator box. Vapor goes from crankcase vent (which is up high on the block) and liquid oil returns to the sump while vapor goes to the intake manifold to be burned. Under boost, when the manifold is pressurized, the flame trap routes vapor to the intake pipe, just before the turbo inlet. That long pipe is heated, so that the vapors don't condense and plug up the pipe. Works great, until the return passage to the sump gets plugged up, or the long pipe gets plugged up, and the oil sits in the flame trap and liquid oil gets sucked into the intake to be burned...

You need to address the oil consumption, soon, through the above two actions, or the excessive crankcase pressure will blow out a cam seal, and puke out all the oil in a matter of minutes.

Astro: It's funny....when I first responded to this thread (post #3) I called it a 'flame trap' but when I googled it I changed my wording to 'oil trap'. After reading your post I remembered it exactly as you posted. I also recall that it was blamed on Volvo recommending long OCIs (10K) without requiring the use of full synthetic oils....obviously this was later corrected by Volvo.

My b-i-l became a big Volvo fan after I got him a good deal on a well taken care of 1990 (or maybe it was a 1991) 740 Wagon in 2001...it was black and we nicknamed it 'The Hearse'. He bought a used 2005 (or 2006) S60 after that and drove it for years (that's the one that needed the flame trap).
He's now on a 2015 or 2016 Volvo....he won't drive anyting else but unfortunately has to buy 'used' because of his finances and it's hard to know the maintenance history.

 

[Johnniedarko]

Wow, thanks for all the speedy responses!!

Where do you live at?

Ah I forgot that= > The Netherlands / Holland. Castrol and Shell are among the most available brands in the Netherlands.

I mentioned France because that's where I got what I thought was Motul, but I remembered wrong, it was Total Quartz 9000 5w-40 that I got in France. A brand I haven't seen mentioned at all yet on this forum.

I'm not a Volvo expert but my b-i-l owned a 2005 that I sometimes maintained.
It used some oil and I was told that the 'oil trap' (I think they called it) tended to gum up with higher mileage and cause oil usage. The 'oil trap' was a PCV system IIRC.
I'd look into that first.

Good point. I had my Volvo garage check the PCV as it's a known Volvo weak spot, but that was a while ago. I should have that checked again.

Well, it sounds like your basically running a 40 wt oil, and your car likes to eat it. Being you hammer on the engine all the time and you have alot of miles on it, I don't see how running another brand of 40 wt would make a difference. If I were you , I'd run a 20/50 wt and see if the consumption slows down. It won't go away completely, but it should help.,,,

I think you're using the right oils. You could try a 10w40 or 15w50 M1 to see if that helps curb some of the oil consumption. However, you did state that it's not a concern of yours. I'd keep using what you're using at this point.

The hammering definitely doesn't help. I could try driving 1000 miles calmly and see what its lowest consumption is at.

That’s a bummer, so you’re basically using a quart every 1,000 miles - and your engine doesn’t really have that many miles on it (180,000) - obviously what you have here is an oil burner, that will always be an oil burner. And worse, an oil burner that doesn’t really have super high mileage on it. Same thing happened to me with a Lexus I owned. I traded it in.

But you should be able to milk this thing along for as long as you want with some care - personally I wouldn’t go out and buy the best oil, I’d buy the thickest, cheapest, oil I could because it’s only going out your tailpipe anyway. And you push the car pretty hard by the sounds of it, I’m not sure how much that is helping , but no matter...I’d buy the cheapest/heaviest oil I could, and keep doing what you’re doing. That’s just my opinion. And I’d keep driving it another 100,000 miles.

I traded mine in because on top of the oil consumption it also had another $3,000 in repairs needed (a brake actuator). It also needed tires, a passenger door mirror, control arms, and many other things that were starting to go. Traded it in with 178,000 miles on it.

Nice, I love Lexusses (Lexi?). What type was yours?
I was thought about getting the cheapest thickest oil indeed, but as it's a high performance engine (more than 100hp and 100ftlb per liter) I don't want to cause damage. Don't know if the cheapest oils will be up for the task.

I'm definitely not going to sell this one if I don't have to.

I would not worry about a qt/1000, most manufacturers claim that is acceptable and will not perform warranty service for a qt or less per 1000. It is cheaper to keep adding oil that doing anything to the engine.

Really? Sounds like manufacturers not wanting to do any warranty. a qt/1000 seems like a lot to me (although I've accepted it, an engine rebuild is pretty costly).

100% .. if your engine is burning oil and even has blowby from the dipstick but isn’t excessively smoking, doesn’t judder or have power loss, try cleaning the pcv valve or oil separator. And ensure that you don’t over fill oil.

I had this blowby and oil consumption on a 20k km run diesel engine, cleaning the oil separator sorted it out immediately when everyone was assuring me blowby = a half engine replacement.

I have never seen dipstick blowby, nor any of the other issues, but I'll check the PCV.

So, several questions in this first post.

First - Welcome to BITOG!!

Next - nice car, my 2004 V70R is an M-66 six speed manual. You're clearly a man of refined taste...

See this post:

Wagon superiority thread

Ultimate show of wagon strength!

bobistheoilguy.com

Oil choice - an ACEA A3/B4 in 0W40 would be great. If you're in France, Motul is fine.

Oil consumption -

First, you need to replace the PCV system. All of it. Volvo calls it a "Flame Trap". Replacing it isn't hard, but it will take several hours, as the intake manifold has to come off. You'll need a crowfoot 10mm for the left most intake manifold bolt, and it only needs to be loosened...The heated pipe from the manifold often plugs up - replacement is the only option. Use OEM Volvo parts, don't get URO garbage - Volvo only. Replace everything. Here is an example of a complete kit:

PCV Breather System Kit Builder 2003-2004 C70 S60 V70 XC70 XC90 Turbo 5 Cylinder for Volvo - IPD Kit Builder K21665

>Kitbuilder Ipd Kit Builder Pcv Breather System 2003 2004 C70 S60 V70 Xc70 Xc90 Turbo 5 Cylinderk21665

www.ipdusa.com

Second, you most likely need to drop the oil sump and clean out the PCV passage from the block to the sump. With the sump off, that passage has to be mechanically cleaned - a tool like an old, small screwdriver bent to a 90 degree angle - to scrape out the carbon, and a bronze brush to get the rest of it.

See this post - this is one of my Volvos.

2013 Volvo S80 3.2l, 2000 mi, dealer bulk oil

This is my first UOA with Oil Analyzers. I'm unfamiliar with their online submittal form. They use a lot of terminology that is foreign to me. Such as Component ID, Asset ID, and Baseline Reference. I apparently listed this as a Baseline Reference (which I've since learned is equivalent to a...

bobistheoilguy.com

Here's the thing - that car was NOT using oil - so your car is likely worse. The "flame trap" is a oil separator box. Vapor goes from crankcase vent (which is up high on the block) and liquid oil returns to the sump while vapor goes to the intake manifold to be burned. Under boost, when the manifold is pressurized, the flame trap routes vapor to the intake pipe, just before the turbo inlet. That long pipe is heated, so that the vapors don't condense and plug up the pipe. Works great, until the return passage to the sump gets plugged up, or the long pipe gets plugged up, and the oil sits in the flame trap and liquid oil gets sucked into the intake to be burned...

You need to address the oil consumption, soon, through the above two actions, or the excessive crankcase pressure will blow out a cam seal, and puke out all the oil in a matter of minutes.

Thanks for your super detailed response. And right back at you, impressive fleet you have too. How long have you had your R for?

I love these cars. If my girl didn't insist on an automatic I'd love to have the manual, but the auto is good for daily use. They can really do anything, from haul to comfort cruising to even (humble brag) hang with McLarens. This last part is of course an overstatement, but I recently met a guy with a stunning McLaren LT600 and we had a bit of fun. On straights, there's no comparison and in corners even less so of course, but in bumpy corners where he has to be careful, the R (to everyone's surprise) keeps up easily. I could just keep it floored and let the 4C and 4WD sort itself out. At that point, tons of body roll even in 'Advanced', but so much fun.

Regarding the PCV, very clear write-up, thanks! Two questions for clarification: I wonder if the oil usage is from the PCV being clogged or from cylinder 3 being warped and not sealing right. I suppose in the latter case I might be able to see oily smoke from the exhaust, but I don't. But I still want to check that before dropping money on a PCV that might be okay if that's possible.

1st: Can I detach the vapor return hose from the air inlet and route it to a makeshift container, to see how much oil makes in there? Well I guess the question isn't can I, but rather should I.

2: In addition to scraping the sump inlet, is it possible to scrape both lines (long vapor return and the oil sump return) clean with a flexible pipe with a steel brush attached to it? I do have some thin long flexible pipe for pulling electrical wire.

Ok so in summary: get the PCV replaced, and keep using this oil. Castrol Edge 0w-40 A3 has Porsche A40 and MB229.5 like you recommend so in that regard I'm golden.

edit: I added some pics to the wagon thread

 

[pbm]

IIRC the way to check the 'flame trap' for a DIYer is to put a rubber or nitrile glove over the oil fill hole (with the cap removed obviously), start and run the car.... if it sucks the glove inward (creates a vacuum) it would indicate a plugged PCV system.
I could be mistaken on this as it was years ago that I read about it.....maybe Astro could chime in here on the feasability of this and correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[doublebase]

Wow, thanks for all the speedy responses!!

Ah I forgot that= > The Netherlands / Holland. Castrol and Shell are among the most available brands in the Netherlands.

I mentioned France because that's where I got what I thought was Motul, but I remembered wrong, it was Total Quartz 9000 5w-40 that I got in France. A brand I haven't seen mentioned at all yet on this forum.



Good point. I had my Volvo garage check the PCV as it's a known Volvo weak spot, but that was a while ago. I should have that checked again.



The hammering definitely doesn't help. I could try driving 1000 miles calmly and see what its lowest consumption is at.


Nice, I love Lexusses (Lexi?). What type was yours?
I was thought about getting the cheapest thickest oil indeed, but as it's a high performance engine (more than 100hp and 100ftlb per liter) I don't want to cause damage. Don't know if the cheapest oils will be up for the task.

I'm definitely not going to sell this one if I don't have to.


Really? Sounds like manufacturers not wanting to do any warranty. a qt/1000 seems like a lot to me (although I've accepted it, an engine rebuild is pretty costly).


I have never seen dipstick blowby, nor any of the other issues, but I'll check the PCV.

Thanks for your super detailed response. And right back at you, impressive fleet you have too. How long have you had your R for?

I love these cars. If my girl didn't insist on an automatic I'd love to have the manual, but the auto is good for daily use. They can really do anything, from haul to comfort cruising to even (humble brag) hang with McLarens. This last part is of course an overstatement, but I recently met a guy with a stunning McLaren LT600 and we had a bit of fun. On straights, there's no comparison and in corners even less so of course, but in bumpy corners where he has to be careful, the R (to everyone's surprise) keeps up easily. I could just keep it floored and let the 4C and 4WD sort itself out. At that point, tons of body roll even in 'Advanced', but so much fun.

Regarding the PCV, very clear write-up, thanks! Two questions for clarification: I wonder if the oil usage is from the PCV being clogged or from cylinder 3 being warped and not sealing right. I suppose in the latter case I might be able to see oily smoke from the exhaust, but I don't. But I still want to check that before dropping money on a PCV that might be okay if that's possible.

1st: Can I detach the vapor return hose from the air inlet and route it to a makeshift container, to see how much oil makes in there? Well I guess the question isn't can I, but rather should I.

2: In addition to scraping the sump inlet, is it possible to scrape both lines (long vapor return and the oil sump return) clean with a flexible pipe with a steel brush attached to it? I do have some thin long flexible pipe for pulling electrical wire.

Ok so in summary: get the PCV replaced, and keep using this oil. Castrol Edge 0w-40 A3 has Porsche A40 and MB229.5 like you recommend so in that regard I'm golden.

edit: I added some pics to the wagon thread

The Lexus was a LS460, loved that car but I did start to run into some issues with it.

And I don’t think lower priced oils will not be able to perform in a Volvo (high performance engine or not), as long as the oils meet the specifications for that engine. It’s going out the tailpipe anyway - I would try to picture that as dollars going out the tailpipe, because if it’s leaving the engine that fast, essentially that’s what’s happening. IMO.

 

[Astro14]

IIRC the way to check the 'flame trap' for a DIYer is to put a rubber or nitrile glove over the oil fill hole (with the cap removed obviously), start and run the car.... if it sucks the glove inward (creates a vacuum) it would indicate a plugged PCV system.
I could be mistaken on this as it was years ago that I read about it.....maybe Astro could chime in here on the feasability of this and correct me if I'm wrong.

My understanding is the opposite. If the system is plugged, and there is high crank case pressure, then the glove will be filled up.

If the system is working properly, the glove will be sucked in - meaning there is a slight negative crank case pressure, meaning that crank case ventilation is in fact, working, and the fumes are being sucked into the intake manifold.

The problem with the “glove test“ is that it doesn’t check the high pressure circuit where under positive pressure the crank case vapors a routed to the front of the turbo. That’s the long pipe I was talking about that sits inside a heated jacket.

Honestly, there is no way to clean this pipe. It’s flexible, the interior diameter is about 3 mm, and it’s about a meter long, and it is jacketed in a coolant pipe, so,there’s just no good way to get it clean or ensure that it’s clean. The best way is to simply replace it.

Since it will take you a couple of hours, or it will take a shop a couple of hours, to strip off enough parts to even get at that pipe, you’re better off just putting a new part in rather than trying to recondition, or salvage, an old part.

Now, a heavily carboned up oil sump is absolutely worth cleaning. Like the one on the car I linked. The passage in the sump is approximately 10 cm long and it hooks around in a J and there’s another four or 5 cm that goes back up into the sump itself.

The block passage in the picture I linked is about another 10 cm long and it goes up to the very bottom of the oil trap box itself. Really, the best way to do all this is to remove the intake, manifold, and all of the intake piping that goes to the turbo charger, pull that box out and drop the sump.

Once the sump is out and the oil “flame trap“ box is out, then you can examine both the upper passage from the block, and the oil return passage to the sump, from both ends. And ensure that they’re completely clean.

 

[Astro14]

I should add that cylinder liner failures are well known in R circles. You can shim the block to mitigate.

Most of the engines that were blown up were tuned. Running crazy boost. I think stock on an R is about 14 PSI but many tunes run them up to 25+.

This cylinder weakness might be the cause for your consumption, but the most likely cause on a high mileage Volvo of this vintage is the PCV system.

 

[pbm]

My understanding is the opposite. If the system is plugged, and there is high crank case pressure, then the glove will be filled up.

You are right Astro.

 

[Johnniedarko]

Thank you all. I took a look at the system, but it's too much for me to do in a public parking lot (live in an apartment). I made an appointment with a specialist to have the PCV and some other issues checked out.

As for shimming, unfortunately, I won't do that for multiple reasons. First I can't get that done for under 4k, and I just can't justify that cost. 7k if you factor in the additional upgrades that you'd like to do anyways when you have the engine open. Additionally, the '04/05 V70R's with the automatic gearbox (SW55/51) are downtuned anyways. In the first two gears they make 250hp instead of 300hp, and in gear 3 to 5 it does make 300hp, but with only 350Nm torque instead of 400Nm. So it makes the 300hp later. So I'm going to assume that this engine has had a relatively easy life

And then finally, it's the shimming specialist who told me that shimming at 180k miles is probably not going to do much as he expects the cylinder has deformed much already.

I don't know where the limits of the gearbox are, some people have chipped the engine to make its regular unrestricted 300hp / 400Nm and suffered no consequences.

 

[Astro14]

Thank you all. I took a look at the system, but it's too much for me to do in a public parking lot (live in an apartment). I made an appointment with a specialist to have the PCV and some other issues checked out.

As for shimming, unfortunately, I won't do that for multiple reasons. First I can't get that done for under 4k, and I just can't justify that cost. 7k if you factor in the additional upgrades that you'd like to do anyways when you have the engine open. Additionally, the '04/05 V70R's with the automatic gearbox (SW55/51) are downtuned anyways. In the first two gears they make 250hp instead of 300hp, and in gear 3 to 5 it does make 300hp, but with only 350Nm torque instead of 400Nm. So it makes the 300hp later. So I'm going to assume that this engine has had a relatively easy life

And then finally, it's the shimming specialist who told me that shimming at 180k miles is probably not going to do much as he expects the cylinder has deformed much already.

I don't know where the limits of the gearbox are, some people have chipped the engine to make its regular unrestricted 300hp / 400Nm and suffered no consequences.

You’re right about the AW-55 equipped R models being torque (250 ftlbs, not exactly HP, but close enough) limited in 1st and 2nd. The 2006 and up TF-80 models didn’t have that programming. Neither did the manuals, of course. IPD, a US Volvo specialist, has a good discussion on this, including boost levels, in their page selling tunes, here:

Engine ECU Flash Performance Power Upgrade Tune for Motronic 7 Turbo Models 1999-2009 for Volvo - MTE - 115121

>Save on Volvo Genuine, OE, OEM, IPD, Aftermarket auto parts and accessories. Over 60 years of experience.

www.ipdusa.com

I wasn’t suggesting that you needed to shim the block now, just saying that was the fix for a known weakness. My block is not shimmed. I bought the car with 140,000 miles. Manual transmission. It’s been driven and even tracked (the previous owner gave me a picture of the wagon changing a Porsche through a turn on the track) but the oil consumption is zero.

So, it’s not clear that your block is bad. My block is OK, with a stock tune, hard driving, and no torque limiting.

If you’re going to tune the car and add boost, then, yes, you would want to shim the block first. But if you’re considering big tunes, I would go all in and resleeve the block…but again, we don‘t know that your block is bad. That’s a guess. And I dislike guessing.

Right now, your concern is oil consumption. So, let’s skip the block work/discussion for now, and focus on the most likely cause of the oil consumption.

I walked you through the PCV system previously. That should be your focus for now.

What you need is a good shop (were you anywhere near VA, I would recommend, well, me…) to take care of doing the PCV/sump work. Won’t be cheap. But it needs to be done correctly.

You are fortunate in that R models are rare and have a fanatical following. I joined the cult recently.

Try www.Swedespeed.com or other enthusiast forums for shop recommendations in your area. I promise that there are some R owners who have had their cars serviced at good shops and would be willing to help you get yours properly taken care of. Not all R owners do their own maintenance.

For example, if I could find Lars, the mechanic/owner of this 500+ HP 2004 V70R, he would be a great choice in getting the work done…

 

[Johnniedarko]

I walked you through the PCV system previously. That should be your focus for now.

Thanks for all that information guys, time for an update! I had the R majorly serviced a couple of months ago, including the PCV system, by a locally well-regarded Volvo specialist. The PCV was the most clogged he'd ever seen... The glove test wasn't necessary, there was visible smoke coming out of the oil filler hole (when opened)!

The PCV was replaced, and the car filled up with Kroon 5w-40 oil. I use Castrol 5w-40 to top off.
Mixing oil brands isn't ideal but the Castrol is what I have a lot of.

The consumption has roughly halved:
Before PCV replacement: 0.3 L/km when driving calmly, 0.7 L/km when putting the horses to work.
After PCV replacement: 0.1-0.2 L/km, and 0.3-0.5 L/km

After more driving the measurements will be more accurate.

Here's a picture of the happy car.
Btw, one headlight wiper is oriented the wrong way on this pic but that has been fixed.

 

[Astro14]

Love it! What a great-looking car ( and I freely admit my bias in that regard). “Flash Green”. Does it also have the Atacama interior?

Cheers!