Whats going on when I get periodic white exhaust smoke from my '04 Volvo S80 w/turbo?
(2010-05-27 15:42:43) 1. Says: I purchased a 2004 Volvo S80 with a turbo charged engine and approximately 90k miles. Last fall it started emitting white smoke when it was at operating temperature and idling. At acceleration it would blow large amounts of the white smoke through 2nd and 3rd gears then clear up. I asked our Volvo mechanic about it and he advised it was normal. He explained that fuel tends to build up in the turbo when idling and the white smoke was that excess fuel burning off. I expressed my concern and wanted to trade the car in on a model with less miles. He told me that the car, at that point with approx. 100k miles, was just getting broke in. He told me, and I quote him exactly, " ...you have to drive it like your mad at it".About 3 weeks ago I stopped to check the mail before parking the car and while at idle RPM, a squealing noise with a knock behind it started and gradually got faster then suddenly stopped with no adverse reaction to the engine performance. I suspected it coming from the AC/heater blower fan as that seemed the general location from where it came. As a precaution I checked the engine oil and the level was good. Our oil change schedule was every 5k miles and that was due so I planned on making that appointment in the very near future.
Mothers Day, coming home, after pulling a mountain the squealing noise with the knock came back suddenly and gradually quickened in pace. I immediately turned of all AC/fan and it was still there so I knew it wasn't the problem. I checked the gages and temp was perfect, no oil light, and check engine light was on as it had been due to what we were told from a persistent blown bulb indicator. On a downhill grade at this time I shifted into neutral ruling out any transmission issues. While in neutral I feathered the gas and the noise increased or decreased with the engine RPM. I knew then I had to get the car somewhere and shut it down. Less than 2 miles from the house I attempted to limp home. Before I got there the engine was loosing power and the car lost all momentum from power loss and the noise suddenly stopped after an audible pop. The car lost all power and stalled with temp still showing good and no oil light but check engine light was blinking.
I had the car towed to the Volvo shop we bought it from and on Monday was informed the engine had thrown a rod due to low engine oil. When I stopped in to see for myself the car had not been moved. I asked how they knew it had thrown a rod and it was explained that when they started the engine they could hear it. I am now being advised the best course of action is to buy a used engine with 60k miles and have it installed. What is your take on this situation?2. Says: I would agree in part with the other answer regarding the turbo seals causing the smoking.
If your engine is the six cylinder version, I would suspect that your engine failed due to sludge. Common on the 6 cylinders I have seen blown up.
Your car technically did not "throw a rod", it suffered rod and probably main bearing failure from lack of lubrication, most likely resulting from engine sludging. That is the reason the car will start, but knock loudly. The oil pick up gets clogged with sludge and other contaminants, and starves the engine of oil.
The combination of coolant entering the crankcase, along with engine sludging of oil, led to your failure.
It is very common on the six cylinder cars that were no maintained properly. The previous owner(s).3. Says: Get it to a Volvo dealer and quit messing around with someone who doesn't know Volvos. IF the engine threw a rod, they wouldn't have been able to start it. You could have had a turbo seal leaking causing the white smoke, which is an indication of water(cooling system liquid) getting into the exhaust system.could have been a blown head gasket getting water into the cylinders causing the white smoke!
The place where you bought your Volvo apparently is guessing to cover their azz!
Volvo can check their computer codes with the Vadis and get all the codes stored. Volvo does not use OBD I or OBD II coding!
Get it to a Volvo shop or dealer!
Good Luck! Tag: Whats going on when I get periodic white exhaust smoke from my '04 Volvo S80 w/turbo?