hi Scotty,
i love your channel, as a woman, it is nice to learn some little things about cars.
My Volvo xc 60 3.2l AWD 2010 ( i am original owner and love, love ,love this car) now has an exhaust valve problem
at the engine at 184000 km
my dealership told me they did an Engine Pressure test, and found an exhaust valve problem with the no. 4 exhaust valve... i had a problem shuttering engine ,and poor engine performance, as well as a higher oil consumation
what can cause this? i always filled up with Chevron 94 Octane... although not required, it can run on anything 87 Octane and up, city and Highway mix when driving.
I always had it for service at a good dealership, and oil change was always done with full Synthetic.
i guess it`s not Volvo for life anymore:-)
thanks
susan
sorry i meant a exhaust valve problem
Have you already scanned for any DTCs? What are the symptoms which you’re up against?
not sure what a DTCs is... as i say i am a woman, not a tech.
my dealership told me they did an Engine Pressure test, and found an exhaust valve problem with the no. 4 exhaust valve... i had a problem shuttering engine ,and poor engine performance, as well as a higher oil consumation
My apologies. DTC - diagnostic trouble code. An OBD2 scan tool will be able to scan your car’s computer & read any trouble codes which are stored. These trouble codes can point you in the right direction to diagnose the problem.
It all depends on the shops diagnosis and findings. If they performed a compression test and found no compression loss that means valves and piston rings are sealing properly. Then your poor performance, rough idle and oil consumption can be a result of worn valve stem seals and oil seepage into combustion causing the spark plugs to get fouled enough to cause performance issues. Again, if compression results showed good compression then replacing the valve stem seals will most likely correct your issue your issues and like I said earlier replacing all the seals at that point would be the smartest thing to do.
If they found low compression in the affected cylinder then the next step for them to do is a leak down test. A leak down test will determine if the valves or piston rings are not sealing properly depending on how much leak down loss that cylinder has. It requires a special tool the introduces air into the cylinder and if air escapes through you intake then it would mean that your intake valve is not sealing. If air escapes through your exhaust pipe then it would indicate an exhaust valve is not sealing. It is normal for you to get air lost through the piston rings but that when you have to look at your gauges to see how much air is leaking through the piston rings to determine if it’s the piston rings.
If they did perform a leak down and found air leaking through your exhaust then at that point replacing the valve stem seals won’t fix that issue. At that point the best solution would be to remove the cylinder head and do a complete valve job.
If your piston rings are the issue, I hope not, then a complete rebuild or a used engine swap with lower mileage would be other options to consider. Sorry for the long info but it really comes down to what they’re finding are. Hope it makes sense.
i guess i will know more by Monday... the last news i got was the exhaust valve on no.4
they installed a new breather box last year, could this have been the cause for the valve problem?
thank you for your detailed and long reply... but i guess even if it cost me a few bucks it is still better than buying any of the crappy new cars 😕
should i get the coils and spark plugs done as well, while the can is open??
Highly unlikely that a breather box caused an issue with the valve stem leak.
I would definitely due the plugs but not the coils, unless you have a misfire and one of the coils is defective then yes but only replace the bad one don’t need to change all coils. Other than that if there are no issues with the coils just do the plugs.
Oh don’t buy another Volvo again. Specially the late models ones those are just a giant piece if plastic and fiberglass that went through a giant 3D printer lol!
In my honest opinion, I know you love the car, but after the repair is complete I would sell it and at the very least try and get your money back for the repairs and get yourself a Japanese car. If you like smaller SUV look into a Highlander or The Lexus RX models.
once it is fixed i would like to continue driving it as it is a really solid build car, and has no other issues, besides if i put 2000-3000 Dollar in for the repair, should it not get a warranty for like 50.000km on the valve repair?
buying another car i would have to spend at least 10.000 Dollar to get something decent, and then i have no real history who drove it , what Accidents it has been in, changes made to the Odometer....etc.
with this Volvo i at least know, that it has never been in any Accident and has always been maintaned to the best.
S.
Did the dealer give you an invoice with their findings? any compression readings?
no additional info yet, the car is still in the shop, i am really not sure what caused this issue, as it will get very pricey for me and i did always take really good care of the car, had it always serviced on time.
they asked if i want all the valves cleaned and re-sealed while they engine is opened up now, but i told them to give me a quote first, then go from there.
the car is still immaculate inside and out, and i hope to drive it for at least another 5-10 years
i really love this car
the Problem is the exhaust valve on no.4 it is a 6 cylinder, but my question is what can cause this, and how can it be prevented in the future, also, does it make sense, to change all the seals on all the remaining valves?... because they called and asked me if i like to do this... while the engine is now open...i found after some research now, that there was a lawsuit in the US because of the seal failure of the pistons and too much oil seeping into the engine combustion chamber, killing the engine...but not here in Canada
Ok, I think what they found was the exhaust valve stem seal on #4 cyl is bad causing oil seepage into the combustion. Are you getting blue smoke at acceleration from a short stop, like waiting for a red light?
If that is the case then yes do all the seals while they’re in there
Volvo is been having valve stem seal issues for a while now. How often do you change your oil? If your religious about it every 5k miles and you only use synthetic then you did nothing wrong it was just poor design on volvos part. Hopefully the new seals have a longer shelf life.
thank you for your quick reply... i am wondering if it is only the seal, or the whole valve.. no, i do not get blue smoke ..the car is a 2010 model with 184.000km on it ..religiously serviced by the shop oil changes done on time with full Synthetic oil since the beginning... it started with some slight shuttering at highway at about 95km/h (50mph)... and then shuttering again at traffic stop light...no changes while shifting into drive or neutral at stop...is it very pricey to change all seals?
but definitely makes more sense, since i want to drive this SUV for a few more years.
they gave me a new xc40 as replacement... i have to say they are super cheap build very flimsy and that constant beeping for traffic control, and automatic stopping makes me go nuts...i could never drive a car like that..
i really hope that sealing all the valves new is making my engine run smoothly again...
does it also make sense to change the seals on the Pistons?
i read somewhere that Volvo xc60 2010 have a faulty seal on the pistons too , that let`s oil seep into the engine
Susan
Changing the valve seals, and carbon cleaning the heads might help, and wouldn't cost a massive amount (maybe).
But fixing pistons requires rebuilding the engine, which wouldn't be worth it on your vehicle.
Volvo used to be pretty good, but the Chinese bought it in 2010
mine was still made in Belgium(Assembly), under the Ford Company, it was sold to Greely after i bought.
i guess they will be doing a sealing and cleaning of the valves, but the problem was only exhaust no4 valve, but is guess cleaning and sealing all is the best solution
what is an average amount to pay for the new seals on the valves?
i understand i have 4 Valves on each Cylinder...with a 6 Cylinder that makes it to 24 valves..
a rough estimate anyone?... in Canadian or US Dollar Amounts?
putting the seals on isn't what takes time. It doesn't matter if you have 8 valves or 24. What takes the most time is taking everything apart and putting it back together. Sorry I have no experience with Volvo engines. try repairpal.com
ok...i understand that getting to some tricky parts takes time, ... it is now over a week and i still did not get any updates from them ... not sure if they already work on it, or if it is still sitting in the shop with the mechanic..... i educated myself further and found some neat companies out there like Mahle North America, and Supertech performance... they seem to have special manufactured valves that help in cooling the engine down ...pretty crazy stuff....
anyways.... as to the update with the xc40 replacement car... it is really driving me nuts... yesterday on the highway it corrected my steering without me asking for it... just because it has this crazy lane keeping Assistance(LKAS) ... it almost steered me into the Truck on the right side,( was coming a little into my lane) and i needed to pass... so i was getting a little into the HOV lane ( that was free/ no traffic there)
it almost got me into a rear end Accident ,as someone tried to cut in front of me and it started stopping
hard... with the car behind me almost having no chance of stopping.... not sure what all this nonsense is good for...i hope i can get my car back as soon as possible, as i like things simple ...and this xc 40 really scares me
Susan