• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

Oil burner. My 1993 940T has used oil since 29000k miles

K

ktm450

New member
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Cincinnati, ohio
Ok, I bought our 1993 940T with only 29000 miles on it, in 2003. I am convinced that it is a lemon. I have had WAY more problems with this car than all of my 240's put together. Anyway, this car uses about 1.5-2.0 quarts between oil changes, and has since we bought it, which really surprised me since I have never had to add a drop of oil to my 240 non-turbo's between oil changes.

It used to smoke on start up, once every few months, but only on start up, and randomely. I bought a used turbo, after having the original fail, and it never smokes now. The engine is pretty sludged up too, and was when I bought it. At 29000k miles! I have a feeling that the idiot PO didn't change the oil much. I change the oil at 3k religiously. It is always VERY black looking by 1500 miles on the new oil. I have always ran castrol GTX. It does not leak any oil. So, is it the turbo seals, or valve seals? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
 
29000k miles? I believe that is some type of world record.

What is your driving style and habits? Frequent short trips? Maybe the rings are stuck up.
 
I know! I didn't really want a turbo (sorry turbo peeps, was looking for a 240 at the time, but the low miles drew me in!) because of stuff like this. Anyway, the car is not ran hard. Mixed highway-stop and go. I had a high crank pressure condition because of stuck oil rings(took me a while, and a blown rear main to figure this out) but I put an ounce of MMO in each spark plug hole, let it sit overnight, and voila! no more high CC pressure, and it ran like a scalded dog! I have done this again recently as an PM to keep the rings from sticking. I since have figured that this isn't such a great idea, as it dumps oil on the o2 sensor, and cat. Thanks.
 
ktm450 said:
I know! I didn't really want a turbo (sorry turbo peeps, was looking for a 240 at the time, but the low miles drew me in!) because of stuff like this. Anyway, the car is not ran hard. Mixed highway-stop and go. I had a high crank pressure condition because of stuck oil rings(took me a while, and a blown rear main to figure this out) but I put an ounce of MMO in each spark plug hole, let it sit overnight, and voila! no more high CC pressure, and it ran like a scalded dog! I have done this again recently as an PM to keep the rings from sticking. I since have figured that this isn't such a great idea, as it dumps oil on the o2 sensor, and cat. Thanks.
Click to expand...

That would've been my advice to do as well to unstick rings.

Have you done a leakdown test? How many miles are on the engine now? 1.5 to 2 qts is excessive but might actually be within spec. I'd do a leakdown test.
 
There are 141000 miles on it now. I Haven't done a leakdown. I will do that. I check the oil every day.It's a pain in the @$$. The one time that I don't, it will be half a quart low. I have run a few rounds of autorx through it for the sludge issue. I believe that it's a good product but it is still kind of sludged up. I am also running motorkote. Thanks.
 
At the risk of getting flamed....put some Mobil One 15w50 in it. Synethetic does a great job de-sludgeing. Yes, you might get a few oil seepages but it?s slow and steady. Flushes and the like can dislodge larger chunks of sludge that can plug passageways.

Have done this on few vehicles and it does the job.
 
Also, when it’s got enough oil in it and is nice and warm, give her the beans. Don’t drive like a 90 year old who doesn’t pass 50% throttle or 2,500 rpm. I think regular redline pulls are good for freeing things up.

Just as long as everything else is up to the task.
 
Seafoam and mobil one would be my try. Do leak down test befor and after to see it there is improvement my 87 day so long and my daughter had it. The Mobil 15-50 came out in clunks. I put seafoam in drove it about 100 miles drained and filled with Mobil. No issues other than flap trap clogged up. Fixed that and car does not Lowe the oil on 5000 miles change. Now at 387,00 and uses no oil but sitting again because I have too many.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses.
1. I will do the leakdown when I'm over this brutal summer cold/bronchitis? (seafoam help this? hehe)
2. I believe in seafoam and mobile one. I have seafoam in the gas tank, I was always a little leary of running it in the CC. But, I have since changed my mind and will try it. I will probably put it in the last 100 miles (as mentioned). Seems like it would thin the oil?
3. It's not driven too easy, I stand in it occasionally.
4. I meant 29,000 miles. The reason I suspect that it's a lemon is that I have had sooo much trouble with this car. Unlike my 240's that have been rock solid. The original waterpump failed at 50,000! They usually last 100,000. I wish that I had kept a log of all the things that I have done to this car. It would be a book.
5. I just watched the 'ol battleaxe drive down the street, and it was smoking a little. It was cold, and I think this may be the turbo as it doesn't smoke all the time. With the old turbo, it would smoke on start-up once every few months.
 
My impression is that you bought a car that the odometer broke at 29k miles. Then one or more previous owners drove your car for many years. After all that. They fixed the odometer or replaced the cluster and sold it as a low miles lemon to you the unsuspecting buyer.

There is no way at 29k miles you would have the issues you have had if this car was truly a low mileage car.

Turbos are water cooled and even with non synthetic oil they last at least 150k miles. As you note water pumps last over 100k miles. A rear main seal even with non synthetic oil is at least a 150-200k mile seal.

I'm usre if you looked more closely the car it would have given you more clues as to it's real history. The odometers break all the time in these cars and some people take years to get to it or never fix them at all.
 
dl242GT,
I ran a carfax on it and it when I bought it, and it showed one PO. The guy that I bought it from (louisville) bought and sold cars, and had a dealers license. He gave me the PO's phone #, and I called him. He was a jerk, but agreed to answer my questions. He said "why does this a*****e keep giving my # out to people?" He said that he was the original owner, and miles were correct. I know all of this is neither here nor there, and could be lies but, carfax showed one owner, and 29,000 miles.

I think that he didn't change the oil much, or at all, and he said it only made short trips. The car looked brand new, inside and out ( I know a good detail shop can work wonders), engine bay, leather all looked new. Also, the odometer has worked perfect since I got it. Thanks.
 
By the way - unless it is a real oil burner one should stick with a good synthetic - 10W40 would be a good start - using thicker oils is not a good idea, assuming the engine is in good mechanical condition. Perhaps you should do a compression and leak down test to see where it is at as far as compression is concerned. You might have hardened valve stem seals as well which will allow more oil to get into the cylinders. Turbo Volvos do tend to burn some oil between changes, it is not uncommon.


Have you ever had the chance to take the car on a long downhill grade at highway speed, off throttle and then accelerate once on a level stretch? Any obvious clouds of smoke tends to indicate possibly worn rings. Some owners unfortunately abuse their vehicles by not changing the oil soon enough. And short trips are considered " severe service " so not a good combination!


This might help:https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/motor-oil-wear-test-ranking/
 
Last edited:
I installed an open breather filter on the valve cover and a Toyota Supra Twin Turbo PCV valve between the crankcase breather box and the intake manifold on my 88 765 turbo with 310,000 miles. This stopped oil getting into the turbo inlet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top