C
Carlos
I bought a 1988 Volvo 740 turbo. I really like the car, but it has a
few issues. And I would really appreciate some insight to know what my
problem is.
The first one is that once in a while it smokes through the tail pipe.
It completely unpredictable when it will happen and it happens for
about a minute. Thick smoke. Once it was kind of dark, lately is
always kind of white. My friend says that it smells funny, it haven't
happen in the last 15 days, and always stops in about a minute and the
engine never has any trouble starting or running, it is annoying
because it is very thick smokes that makes the car looks like it is
burning. I don't know if this may be related but each time the turbo
engages I detect a faint smell in the driving compartment (the turbo
works perfectly). I am not sure but also it seems to me that when
driving in the thruway, my car looses oil, maybe because of the turbo
engaging. I had to add half a quarter of oil after a ~300 miles trip,
while driving in the city I had driven about 500 miles without losing
any oil (I was checking every day, because the seller told me the
front seal in the motor had a leak, I am not sure, or else it only
shows when the turbo engages a lot like in the thruway). I wonder if
the problem is that the turbo is leaking oil somewhere and then it
goes into the tail pipe, but the smoking anyway only happens very
irregularly, sometimes like 2 days in a row (1 minute smoking) then
nothing for 2 or 3 days, then again 15 days later. Everytime just for
about a minute and then stops and the exhaust is transparent regardles
of how I drive (turbo-no turbo). The motor runs well at all times even
when smoking. I wonder if this is something I should worry about. Is
there any place where the antifreeze can reach the turbo or exhaust? I
was wondering about that when my friend told me about the funny smell,
I had never notice any smell (I am not very good smelling stuff).
The second problem, is electrical. After a couple of weeks with the
car the charge in the battery seemed to start dropping and every day
was less. It always started, soon after that, the alternator belt
broke and I replace it so I thought it was maybe the belt, but then
the problem still was there. Now every time I run the car on the
alternator goes to ~14-15V, then when I stop the voltage reads about
12-13V, and after several hours after I return to the car right before
starting the car the voltage is between 10 and 11V. I check with an
A-meter in series with the batery and when the car is off the current
is only 11mA which I think shouldn't discharge the battery. Also, I
when to an Autozone and they check the battery and said that according
to their tester the alternator, battery and diodes where in good shape
(the test was done accelerating to 2000rpm). I anyway changed the
battery for a new one, but it still has the same behavior.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much.
Carlos Henry
few issues. And I would really appreciate some insight to know what my
problem is.
The first one is that once in a while it smokes through the tail pipe.
It completely unpredictable when it will happen and it happens for
about a minute. Thick smoke. Once it was kind of dark, lately is
always kind of white. My friend says that it smells funny, it haven't
happen in the last 15 days, and always stops in about a minute and the
engine never has any trouble starting or running, it is annoying
because it is very thick smokes that makes the car looks like it is
burning. I don't know if this may be related but each time the turbo
engages I detect a faint smell in the driving compartment (the turbo
works perfectly). I am not sure but also it seems to me that when
driving in the thruway, my car looses oil, maybe because of the turbo
engaging. I had to add half a quarter of oil after a ~300 miles trip,
while driving in the city I had driven about 500 miles without losing
any oil (I was checking every day, because the seller told me the
front seal in the motor had a leak, I am not sure, or else it only
shows when the turbo engages a lot like in the thruway). I wonder if
the problem is that the turbo is leaking oil somewhere and then it
goes into the tail pipe, but the smoking anyway only happens very
irregularly, sometimes like 2 days in a row (1 minute smoking) then
nothing for 2 or 3 days, then again 15 days later. Everytime just for
about a minute and then stops and the exhaust is transparent regardles
of how I drive (turbo-no turbo). The motor runs well at all times even
when smoking. I wonder if this is something I should worry about. Is
there any place where the antifreeze can reach the turbo or exhaust? I
was wondering about that when my friend told me about the funny smell,
I had never notice any smell (I am not very good smelling stuff).
The second problem, is electrical. After a couple of weeks with the
car the charge in the battery seemed to start dropping and every day
was less. It always started, soon after that, the alternator belt
broke and I replace it so I thought it was maybe the belt, but then
the problem still was there. Now every time I run the car on the
alternator goes to ~14-15V, then when I stop the voltage reads about
12-13V, and after several hours after I return to the car right before
starting the car the voltage is between 10 and 11V. I check with an
A-meter in series with the batery and when the car is off the current
is only 11mA which I think shouldn't discharge the battery. Also, I
when to an Autozone and they check the battery and said that according
to their tester the alternator, battery and diodes where in good shape
(the test was done accelerating to 2000rpm). I anyway changed the
battery for a new one, but it still has the same behavior.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much.
Carlos Henry