2015 V60 Drive-E with bad pistons/rings

20407 Views 141 Replies 25 Participants Last post by MyVolvoS60, 5 mo ago

orduck

Discussion Starter · Sep 30, 2018 (Edited)

It's official. You can add our V60 to the is list. After a hand full of visits to our local dealer, some failed attempts at fixes (second round of new plugs in less than a year, combustion chamber clean, new breather box), and an oil consumption test resulting in over a 1qt loss in in under 500 miles, the service techs and Volvo are recommending replacing the pistons. Unfortunately for me, we are out of warranty at 60k+. We are waiting to hear back this week if Volvo is going to help out with some good will, fingers crossed.

I'm mostly frustrated that I didn't come across this forum a year earlier when we first really started to notice the oil consumption between our 40k service and the first time we brought it in due to a cylinder misfire at 55k, at our neighborhood shop.

To date we have not personally spoken to VCNA. The dealer service has been pretty good, assuming they are actually honest people and you can believe what they are saying to you. They have been communicating with Volvo all along so I have not seen the need to go that rout. The question is whether or not talking to VCNA directly, before even having an answer, is a good idea?

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Dyno

· #12 · Jan 7, 2019

In these cases, it seems to go like this... First, your dealer has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the rings are stuck ("probably" doesn't cut it). This may take some investiment on your part (try a breather box, maybe have the head pulled). If this is done and your dealer (not you, not an indie) determines that the pistons and rings need to be replaced AND your engine is in the pproper serial number range, you are in a good position to request some good will assistance from the factory.

Skip any of these steps and do not pass Go. Go directly to jail (or at least to a loan officer).

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Dyno

· #37 · Jan 10, 2019

It's hard to tell without all of the correspondence, but it sounds to me like they are pushing back because you have not definitively identified piston/rings as the failure. They are not going to buy you pistons and rings without assurances that it is required.

The next move is yours. If you don't make a move (i.e., don't invest in a breather box), then nobody moves, and you lose. If you invest that $500 and it fixes the car, you win. If you invest the $500 and it doesn't fix the car, there is still a chance you can win by getting good will.

I seems clear to me.

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Dyno

· #42 · Jan 10, 2019 (Edited)

meade18 said:
I have never asked for goodwill. I have a warranty that I am hoping will cover defective piston rings. I just wanted Volvo to admit that a breather box can't be the cause of burning ~6 qts of oil the past ~2,500 miles and go ahead and admit I need new rings. I just wanted someone to act like a real mechanic and not just follow a checklist like a level 1 help desk worker.

The ironic part is that at the top of every Technical Journal (Volvo's version of a service bulletin) is a slogan:

"Right first time in time"

I'm about to bet $500 that they won't live up to it. And if I'm right, I won't win anything.

1. Volvo is NOT going to admit it can't be the breather box because it CAN
2. Real mechanics are REQUIRED to follow certain checklists. This is a key component to quality control.

Example about the checklist thing... I can imagine a mechanic (or anyone, really) saying "NAH, It ain't the breather box" and then launching into $5000 of unnecessary repairs. Oops. Sorry that it didn't work Mr. Customer, but you authorized the work, so...

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Dyno

· #94 · Mar 14, 2019

bobblehead said:
Interesting, I have a 2017 Ford Escape. It's a turbo and there are issues w/ the valves that they tend to get dirty, even using top tier gas. The going thought on there was that it needed to be driven hard every so often so that some of that got burned off Now I hear that this vehicle can needs to be driven hard enough sometimes. As someone who often drives easy to maximize MPG, makes me wonder if I should throw that out the window. And also if I should down shift and run it at high RPMs up the 2 or 3 mile stretch up the mountain (hill by some parts of the country's standards) once in awhile.

I'm guessing that your engine is direct-injected. Intake valve deposits are common with these types of engines because there is no fuel in the intake air charge to wash the valve stems clean. If it gets bad enough, you'll get a misfire code and have to take it to the dealer to get the valves cleaned. Not the end of the world.

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Dyno

· #97 · Mar 14, 2019

volvjoe said:
so cutting it short for the average users.. do we need to drive those Drive-E S60s engines harder better for the pistons or easy so we don't damage the pistons rings?artywave:

I doubt that driving it one way or another would have any significant effect. Maybe that's bad news from your perspective

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Dyno

· #107 · Jul 23, 2020 (Edited)

wildcard442 said:
I go through about 3 quarts of oil per 10000 miles, so it's not terrible. It has 116,500 miles on it.

In my opinion, 3300 miles per quart is pretty reasonable for an engine with that many miles on it. If it were my car, I would not invest thousands of dollars on a ring job. I would simply remain vigilant on the oil level (sounds like you are) and drive it until the wheels fall off.

PS I am following my own advice for my 180k-mile GTI, which uses a quart per thousand miles.

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Dyno

· #125 · Jul 27, 2020

MyVolvoS60 said:
Not sure this is accurate but...Google seems to say the engine holds 5.7 Quarts? Meaning he's burning 3 quarts every 5,250 miles! A little over half before his 10K changes! So if he waited until 10K engine would almost be bone dry.

https://www.noln.net/articles/966-tech-spec-2015-volvo-s60

Motor Oil: SAE 5W-30 Full synthetic meeting the minimum ACEA A5/B5 specifications; SAE 0W-30 is recommended for extreme driving conditions; capacity is 5.7 quarts (5.4 liters) for four-cylinder engines, 5.8 quarts (5.5 liters) for five-cylinder engines and 7.18 quarts (6.8 liters) for six-cylinder engines

OP said he uses about 3 quarts per 10,000 miles. 10,000 divided by 3 = 3,333 miles per quart.

It would be very unwise to never check oil level between services, especially if you know you have an oil consumption issue. My Dad told me to check at every fillup. Now, I don't do that on my current Volvo, but I definitely would if I had an oil consumption problem. Oil is cheap. Engine rebuilds are not.

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Dyno

· #129 · Jul 27, 2020

MyVolvoS60 said:
10 divided by 5.7 = 1,754

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Dyno

· #132 · Jul 27, 2020

Many of my cars have gone "tink...........tink..........ta-tink" after I've pulled into the garage and turned off the engine. It's just the exhaust system cooling and contracting.

If that's what you are hearing, it is normal.

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