Turbo/ Engine Failure/ Sludge/ 2001 V70 T5

Discussion in 'Volvo V70' started by Shelby, Jan 15, 2004.

  1. Shelby

    Philip Guest

    How a person will lay out the money to buy such a techically
    sophisticated car yet remain so woefully ignorant of basic maintenance
    is a bit beyond me.

    Do believe everything you read without questioning ulterior motives?

    Does the Volvo service / owner's manual -not- suggest shorter oil
    service intervals when operating under less than laboratory
    conditions? 7,500 miles on most common mineral oils available in the
    US is under optimal operating conditions WITHOUT a turbocharger. Ever
    shop the shelves at an auto parts store and notice some oils carry a
    "turbo" endorsement?

    Do you check your OWN oil for level and color on occasion? Black = no
    good.

    Sadly, I see your experience as the price of your education.

    ~Philip
     
    Philip, Jan 18, 2004
    #21
  2. Shelby

    Pete Guest

    While I agree that one of the most important and first things a new car
    owner should do is thoroughly read the owner's manual and adhere to it,
    I think a Volvo dealer should adhere to it as well. Besides, we do not
    know exactly what is written in this particular manual in regards to oil
    and oil changes - maybe Shelby would like to provide this info so that
    we can settle this once and for all - was the Volvo dealer not following
    the manual, or was the information not even in the manual? In both
    cases - I'd blame Volvo. Not everyone has to be a car mechanic in order
    to drive one.

    That's not quite true. The color of oil is no indication of its state.
    Oil turning dark is just doing its job by suspending tiny dirt particles
    in itself. However, this does not mean it's "no good" anymore. Many
    oils turn dark rather fast (within a couple of thousand miles), but
    their TBN is still relatively high, showing that there is plenty of
    additives left to fight acids and prevent wear. Truthfully, only a used
    oil analysis could determine whether it's time to drain it.
    Interstingly, in her case, an oil analysis after the first 7.5K miles
    would have shown a high level of insolubles giving an indication that
    something is wrong and preventing the disasters that followed. Alas,
    her case is so clear-cut (to me at least), that it doesn't take a rocket
    scientist (nor an oil analysis) to figure out that

    turbo + dino oil for 7.5K miles = big trouble

    But again, not everyone has to know this. And as you well pointed out,
    in this case the learning came at a rather high price. With time, more
    cases like these will surface, and will eventually force some
    dealerships in the US to start using better quality oils with those
    extended drain intervals. For now, extended drain intervals are a
    selling point.

    "One of the selling points during the transaction was the 7,500
    mile recommended oil change intervals for Volvos."

    Now, if the dealership also informed her that you need to use a more
    expensive oil ($5/quart for average fully-synthetic oil vs. $1.50/quart
    for a dino oil), then suddenly it would not be a good selling point, so
    they conveniently forget to mention that part. And for that they should
    have their hands slapped, IMO at least.

    Cheers,

    Pete
     
    Pete, Jan 18, 2004
    #22
  3. Shelby

    Bev A. Kupf Guest

    Not everyone does their own maintenance. I think Shelby acted in
    good faith. She performed owners-manual scheduled maintenance at
    a Volvo _dealer_. I personally think her dealer sucks to have used
    non-synthetic oil on a turbo. I think her dealer sucks to have
    not warned her about the implications of a serious oil-leak from
    the turbo seal.
    Put your statement in any other perspective. The vast majority
    of arteriosclerosis can be avoided if people eat differently.
    Do you view their death as the price of their education? Or
    do you think that they should have been educated about diet
    by their physicians earlier in their lives, especially if such
    education never occurred?
     
    Bev A. Kupf, Jan 18, 2004
    #23
  4. Shelby

    Mike F Guest

    If they're selling a car using maintenance costs that are not actually
    valid, then they are lying. All my manual states (1998 T5) is that
    synthetic oil is stongly recommended. It doesn't say that your engine
    will suffer premature failure if you don't use synthetic oil. Mercedes
    has a class action suit against it in the US now, because their extended
    drain intervals suggested by the hi tech computer is not often enough
    for the cheaper, commonly used oils in North America. Not everybody is
    interested in learning everything about their cars. The original poster
    trusted Volvo's service schedule and the dealer (who took lots of good
    money) to do a job that was, at best, wholly inadequate.

    --
    Mike F.
    Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

    NOTE: new address!!
    Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
    (But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
     
    Mike F, Jan 19, 2004
    #24
  5. Sure synthetic oil is more costly but the bills this poor lady paid out
    prove synthetic is worth it .We have two Turbo Volvos 88 & 90 both run on
    Synthetic oil the 88 had synthetic oil in it always before we brought it
    ..They run like a dream so much so I am off to Sydney and return on Thursday
    morning and all I need to do is check the tyres an such .The 88 has 215k the
    90 has 152k both are sweet engines also I use 98 octane as the 82 litre tank
    takes me to Sydney with reserve at 10.98 klm to the litre Sydney is 840 klm
    ..The thinner synthetic oil flows easy and economy shows together with 98
    octane fuel its a win win situation.I was using Mobil 1 5w\50w but they
    put up the price to @$65 au dollars for 5 litres so I now use and prefer Bp
    5000 @ $39.95 for 4 litres as well its 5 w\ 40 w which flows better and
    cooler .Over here I always carry spare fuel so I don't get caught out at
    some country fuel station where the petrol is suspect .
     
    John Robertson, Jan 20, 2004
    #25
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