Gunky Engine Restored!

[sks40]

Back in January I bought an '05 V50 T5 with 28K miles. I got to look the car over before the dealer touched it. One thing that bothered me was the condition of the oil. It was very dark and slightly sludgy. Apparently the car was owned by someone in the military and likely sat a lot. Understandably, oil changes did not seem to be a priority. I almost didn't but bought the car anyway because the engine sounded solid and had fairly low miles.

The dealer did the 30K mile service but the oil, though cleaner, was still very dark. The engine was smooth but I was not impressed with the acceleration for a T5. I also read about crank case breather clog issues with this engine, so I decided to run some Seafoam in the oil. AMAZING, the car suddenly woke up. I could hear the turbo spool up now.

This past weekend, I did an oil change but before I did, and I don't like to do this, I ran a can of CRC engine flush through idling for 5 minutes. I let it drain a good long time and changed the filter. The oil was pitch black. I put 6 quarts of full synthetic 5W30 in the crank case. WOW! now this car is a beast. You can hear the turbo spool quickly and responsively to the throttle.

Given this, is there anything else I should do or watch out for?

Thanks

Stan

[Guest 850T-5]

good job

a lot of people are scared of doing engine flushes but I've done it in all my Volvos shortly after buying.

Seafoam, CRC, Pyroil all works well.

For slower more gradual cleaning I use Marvel Mystery Oil, good and safe to use as long as you don't overdo it of course.

It has quieted lifters, quieted valvetrain, made engines seem slightly smoother and keeps my oil cleaner longer not to mention I'm sure helps bump oil pressure up being it clears the passages.

The safest way to engine flush is the way you did it, maybe pour some seafoam or something in right before an oil change, drive easy to have it changed or change it yourself. then with fresh oil and a filter (cheap oil is fine), do the engine flush, then change out with synthetic and good Volvo/Mann filter. being the right way to do it is just to only let it idle for a 5-8 minutes right before changing, it won't hurt anything.

[theForgottenone]

You should clean TB, AIC and MAF next.

Some people use ATF fluid (1 quart) right before an oil change (100 miles) to clean out the engine oil.

[sks40]

Thanks for the encouragement. After a couple hundred miles on the new oil it is slightly dark. I might thing about another Seafoam treatment closer to the next oil change. I might think about cleaning the MAF, and TB but I can't imagine this car running any better than it does now. But it is a good suggestion.

Stan