11 replies to this topic

[EnzoRWD]

I was peaking in my intercooler pipes today, on a mission of figuring out the best way to remove the throttle. the pipe and hose running from the top of the intercooler to the throttle body had a layer of oil on the inside, entirely coating it. not thick or gross, but uniform and fresh-looking. how worried should i be? can i drive it for a few months and then replace the turbo and clean the intercooler + pipes?
-Enzo

[1997850T5R]

I was peaking in my IC pipes today, on a mission of figuring out the best way to remove the throttle. the pipe and hose running from the top of the intercooler to the throttle body had a layer of oil on the inside, entirely coating it. not thick or gross, but uniform and fresh-looking. how worried should i be? can i drive it for a few months and then replace the turbo and clean the IC + pipes?
-Enzo

I hope its not that bad of a problem... Mine has been like that since I got it.

[bloc]

turbos are inevitibly going to puke some oil out of the compressor side seals, and it's very difficult to say how much is OK.

if it's getting to the point that it's killing your front O2 sensor and/or Cat quickly, obviously that'd be a bad thing, though the car would likely be smoking by that point.

it's easier to test the turbo for play than it is to say "X" amount of oil leakage is ok and actually try to measure it.


if you can get to the turbo's inlet, use your fingers to try and see if there's any end to end play in the shaft. (end to end as in, along the axis that the shaft through the wheels runs) if there is -any- play in this direction you need to have it looked at.

side to side play will likely be present and some is ok. oil pressure from the bearings will center this up. its when you can make the compressor or turbine wheel hit their respective housings that you are getting excessive in this area.


how much oil is your car using per change?


at 150k miles my intercooler pipes are getting dirty enough (and enough is leaking past the joints despite way too much torque trying to prevent it) that i'm looking at a turbo rebuild. this is a whole lot cheaper if you catch it before something major goes wrong.

if you are still looking at a rebuild, AVOID TURBOCHARGERS.COM AT ALL COSTS. i can pm details if you want. take my word for it though.

[Gioseppe]

if you are still looking at a rebuild, AVOID TURBOCHARGERS.COM AT ALL COSTS. i can pm details if you want. take my word for it though.

it would help all of us if you wrote a review of them in the dealer section.

and if you are looking to replace/repair a turbo, keep in mind there are always other turbo options besides the stock turbo.

[ericutexas]

Not that much cause for concern, IMO. You don't mention any smoke - I have occasional blue smoke on start-up due to failing turbo seals and the general consensus seems to be that I can get another 10K out of it ... or so. Drive it until the turbo blows up and then upgrade it

Note that a certain amount of oil in intercooler hoses/intercooler is normal - there is a weep hole in the bottom of the intercooler for this purpose. This is mostly because the car has a 'dirty' PCV system - the crankcase fumes (effectively oil) are fed into the intake on the hot side of the intercooler piping - so all of it passes through all of the intercooler hoses on the hot/cold sides, intercooler, etc. and will build up over time ... no big deal.

[1997850T5R]

Not that much cause for concern, IMO. You don't mention any smoke - I have occasional blue smoke on start-up due to failing turbo seals and the general consensus seems to be that I can get another 10K out of it ... or so. Drive it until the turbo blows up and then upgrade it

Note that a certain amount of oil in IC hoses/IC is normal - there is a weep hole in the bottom of the IC for this purpose. This is mostly because the car has a 'dirty' PCV system - the crankcase fumes (effectively oil) are fed into the intake on the hot side of the IC piping - so all of it passes through all of the IC hoses on the hot/cold sides, IC, etc. and will build up over time ... no big deal.

Thats about what i figured, I have no smoke on start up so I decided it was nothing that needed to be addressed right away. But going to a side note here, will the oil hurt my new samco hoses?

[ericutexas]

Thats about what i figured, I have no smoke on start up so I decided it was nothing that needed to be addressed right away. But going to a side note here, will the oil hurt my new samco hoses?

Oil is a petroleum product, and it will break down rubber. Silicone is also broken down by oil, but much less so - you don't need to worry about them anytime in the near future.

[EnzoRWD]

on further inspection, ive decided to run this 15g until it really croaks, then slap a 16T on there. i dont have the fund to properly put up a 16T now.
a new 16t on a stock downpipe + stock exhaust would be silly

[ericutexas]

on further inspection, ive decided to run this 15g until it really croaks, then slap a 16T on there. i dont have the fund to properly put up a 16T now.
a new 16t on a stock downpipe + stock exhaust would be silly

+1 ... my plans exactly.

[prasamin]

a new 16t on a stock downpipe + stock exhaust would be silly

not really considering they put 16t's on cars with stock downpipes and exhausts!

[BeachRat]

I had a similar question on My 95 850T 2 years ago. I noticed oil drips on the driveway. Man was I mad. I asked my wife who'd pulled up in the driveway with a leaky car. She didn't know who it could've been. It turns out, it was mine!

I took it to a local repair shop. He mis-diagnosed as a Turbo going bad. I called the dealer to ask them how likely it was that the Turbo was actually dying.

The serviceman at Tom Wood Volvo in Indianapolis knew instantly what I was talking about. Forgive my memory, it has been 2 years but basically he said something was blocked and some small piece needed replaced. He said he'd personally never seen a Volvo Turbo go bad (although I'm sure one has somewhere)

Anyway, the whole repair was like $186.00 dealer cost. You sound more mechanical than I am so you could probaly fix it for the cost of the part, seems like it was a tube, hose, shield something like that which connects to the Turbo, plus a cleaning.

You might call your local dealer and see if the oil thing rings a bell, otherwise call Tom Wood in Indy.

That would be your turbo oil return line seal. It's an o-ring and a small flange gasket (similar to a throttle body gasket, but obviously smaller). It's about $10 worth of parts, but a bitch to do if you're not somewhat mechanically inclined (or inclined to get dirty ).


As far as coating of your IC tubes, you're fine for now. Smoke and play are the black flags. Try a can of Sea Foam, that will help clear up your intake system a bit. There are how-to's on this board.

NOTE: If you do Sea Foam, the smoke you'll see there is NORMAL!! You'll be scared, but it burns off!