04 Volvo XC70. 2,500 miles Castrol GTX and Auto RX

[panthermike]

[/quote]
If you care about engine be clean use GC or Mobil1. Basing on my personal experience PP, Quaker State and Valvoline SynPower leave significant varnish. Mobil1 or Royal Purple do not. [/quote]

Huh? Something wrong with your engine? Any of those oils changed at reasonable intervals should keep most engines clean.

 

[Pablo]

Likely a long period with synthetic oil will start the cleaning very slowly as well. Honestly looks like someone pushed the limit with conventional oil.

I would be so tempted if my cap ever looked like that nasty to just clean the thing manually.

IDEAS: Synthetic oil 3-4K, followed by HDEO 2K with MMO for the final 500 miles each change - for the next 30K+. I would take a look at this: Amsoil ACD 10W-30

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
Does Lube Control work well with German Castrol? I don't like switching back and forth all the time bwtween dino and syn.

Also if my PCV system is clogged what damago will it cause? I have been driving it this way for 15,000 miles. Since I cleaned the fill hole and cap about 5,000 miles ago it is still very clean and shows no signs of the crud coming back.


I realize your PCV system has a lot of tubes but it should have a breather line and a vaccuum line for evacuating the crankcase connected to the engine. When the engine's running you should have some vaccuum at the crankcase evacuating line.

 

[timeau]

Originally Posted By: panthermike
Quote:

If you care about engine be clean use GC or Mobil1. Basing on my personal experience PP, Quaker State and Valvoline SynPower leave significant varnish. Mobil1 or Royal Purple do not.


Huh? Something wrong with your engine? Any of those oils changed at reasonable intervals should keep most engines clean.

Huh? We are not talking about my engine. Mine is clean. If you read this thread from the beginning you will definitely change your opinion, especially if we are considering Volvo turbo engine.

 

[volvomix]

If this car is new to you, and it has that mileage, then change out the PCV system. FCP Groton or Darrel Waltrip Volvo can get you the parts fairly cheaply.

Others on here would be surprised to see how intricate that system is. Many tubes, housings, and so on.

Then use ARX with Mobil 5000 oil clean and rinse phase. Then feed it full synthetic (doesn't matter which kind), for 5K OCI's. Good to go.

My caps are spotless after doing that. And I know the internals are as well. Those engines do not sludge. Only if you abuse the OCI cycle and use dino oils. You have to use full synthetics with the turbos.

 

[volvomix]

[/quote]

I checked the PCV system using the glove test. Put a latex glove over the oil fill hole and it sucked it in. I was told that means the PCV system is working. [/quote]

If the cap looks like that the PCV is gummed up badly. Count on it. I would put new plugs in as well. On that car, only use OEM plugs from Groton or Waltrip. It makes a huge difference.

Here is a parts diagram of the 5-cyl Volvo PCV system:


As previously mentioned, having a clogged PCV system will cause oil leaks out of the filler cap (associated with a worn cap gasket), rear main seal leaks ($$$), leaks out of cam gear seals, etc.

In short, replace the PCV system! It's a high mileage maintenance item.

 

[timeau]

Originally Posted By: volvomix
In short, replace the PCV system!

Just curious: what for replace anything beside of PCV valve? I am pretty sure that it is clogged by sludge.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: timeau
Originally Posted By: volvomix
In short, replace the PCV system!

Just curious: what for replace anything beside of PCV valve? I am pretty sure that it is clogged by sludge.


Usually if the valve itself is clogged, the rest of the plumbing ..at least to some degree, has some level of residual build up. It just doesn't stop at the valve. The valve just stopped working because of it.

If it's not too complicated, like on some simpler domestic, you merely spray out the hoses with solvent or something like brake clean ..or you just replace the hose. On some of the Euro's (and an increasing number of domestics) this can be more than just a simple task.