However I had noticed that during cold starts, the engine would make a high pitched whine/whistle during high idle, which would disappear as soon as the motor dropped down to a normal idle speed.

That high pitched noise is normal on a T6 at startup in cold weather. I believe it has to do with helping the engine get up to temp quicker to reduce emissions. If you suspect PCV issues, you can always check your engine vacuum via the dipstick at idle.

Regardless, it's still good to replace the diaphragm at 100k+. I know some people elect to change the entire assembly because there are other passages on it, but it's nice to have options and good that you changed it. Cheap insurance for something that could cause oil leaks or consumption.

 

Both of my T6's have a wine on start up. The noise is normal and comes from the accessory belt.

Nice write up though.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

Without having actually heard the OPs car startup, i'm not sure you can say it is normal. The high idle and air rushing noise is normal on cold start in order to get the catalytic converter up to temp for emissions reasons.

When your engine suddenly starts making a high pitch whistle during startup at high idle that was never there before, I would not call that normal. Combine that with the fact that the OP's diaphragm was clearly torn and I think it is safe to say there was a problem here and the OP was able to fix it on the cheap.

Thanks for sharing Sumps, my car screamed at me during cold startup this morning and it definitely was not a normal startup noise. Pretty much identical to the symptoms you describe. Rather than spend $200 replacing the entire oil trap, I think I will give this $35 fix a try.

 

Rather than spend $200 replacing the entire oil trap, I think I will give this $35 fix a try.

You should check your crankcase vacuum first then check it after. That'll tell if there was an issue with it.

 

I wish I had taken some video clips of the engine on cold start prior to the replacement of the PCV.. it would have better shown the whistle/whine I was describing before.. Yes, cold starts were always accompanied by a sort of "belt whine", this I was used to, however the "whistle" "whine" I was trying to describe was louder than just the belt whine..
Prior to the PCV change I did take the opportunity to pull the dip stick while the engine was idling.. I was surprised about the amount of vacuum that was present and was accompanied by the sound of air being drawn into the tube .. After the PCV replacement, there was still negative pressure present at the dip stick tube, however it was barely there..

 

Just found this thread while looking into PCV service options. Psyched to see this is available with a replacement cap. For anyone else interested in going this route, this part is available from Rock Auto for under $25.

 

Good to know about this, thanks. I already replaced the entire oil trap on the S80 a couple years ago but will keep this mind for the newer XC60 when needed.

 

I ordered the whole assembly from FCP so it's a lifetime warranty, Just showed up today.

I am curious how to test the vacuum, just a generic gauge shoved into the dipstick?

My old 2011 xc60 had the pcv replaced by the dealer at 47k & 58k miles (prior to me), so even though my 2014 isn't really exhibiting signs, I'm knocking it out around 80k miles

 

Most folks just change the PCV when they hear that telltale whistle so typically don't use a vacuum gauge.

 

Yeah but wouldn't it be cool to actually see the before and after numbers?
Maybe I'll play around in vida, maybe that's a measurable

 

Volvo manometer , pretty expensive though

https://www.volvospecialtools.com/i...ltools.com/index.cfm?event=cart:view&persistId=AA9F2A567E2D4A9BB4620D79A282A180

 

I have a harbor freight gift card lol, one time use right?

 

For those who've done this, is a slight sucking action out of the oil cap normal? (with a new and clean pcv)

Replaced the entire pcv box last night and did a full oil change to get it onto good synthetic oil, didn't really test prior so comparing it is hard, but afterwards if I pull the oil cap while running, there is some suction, but the idle doesn't change and I've never heard chirping.

Some of the perimeter bolts were barely finger tight lol.

Even though I have the lifetime replacement from FCP I may experiment with my old box and just do the diaphragm next time since it'd be even faster.

 

When I removed my oil trap in March 2020 to install my Snabb intake, the inside of mine didn't look nearly as "rusty" or full. Mine was mostly gold, and just had a couple bits of hardened black patches in it.

 

Very easy to do. However I removed the entire cover first, then realized not necessary when replacing the diaphram.

billqueenis - You are right about the "Red" in his cover, looks nasty. My upper engine area was clean with very little hard-black deposits, cleaned.

I did notice an increase in vacuum sounds through the filler cap after the change.

 

Very easy to do. However I removed the entire cover first, then realized not necessary when replacing the diaphram.

billqueenis - You are right about the "Red" in his cover, looks nasty. My upper engine area was clean with very little hard-black deposits, cleaned.

I did notice an increase in vacuum sounds through the filler cap after the change.

I know, right? I don't have the receipts for this one, but I know on my previous 2011 T6 the dealer repeatedly put in conventional oil per the owner's request, even on a motor that had rings replaced at 55k and numerous pcv boxes replaced under warranty.

This car had 78k and I know I drained conventional oil out, unsure of its previous oil life, but this made me think it's due for a few low mile oil changes with syn

 

Easy????? Hell no! After an 90 minutes of standing on the engine, forcing with all my might, hitting with a rubber mallet, hitting with a 3lb maul, tapping with a normal hammer, leveraging with a screw driver and swearing up a storm...... The new cap will not "snap" back on.

And for reference on my mechanical skill: Just finished pulling the engine and transmission, doing a bottom end rebuild and reinstalling on my truck. And it was easy.

You guys tell me: You work for Dorman, right? How on god's green earth did you "easily snap" the plastic cap back on?????

 

Easy????? Hell no! After an 90 minutes of standing on the engine, forcing with all my might, hitting with a rubber mallet, hitting with a 3lb maul, tapping with a normal hammer, leveraging with a screw driver and swearing up a storm...... The new cap will not "snap" back on.

And for reference on my mechanical skill: Just finished pulling the engine and transmission, doing a bottom end rebuild and reinstalling on my truck. And it was easy.

You guys tell me: You work for Dorman, right? How on god's green earth did you "easily snap" the plastic cap back on?????

I had to break the tabs of the old cap to get it off. The new Dorman cap fit, but you have to align it correctly, press it down, then give it a turn. This required the help of an oil filter strap wrench to turn.

Six months later, the oil trap was whistling again. Brought it to an independent Volvo mechanic and had them replace the entire trap cover with the Volvo part. They estimated 2 hours and their newest mechanic took 3.5 hours because of the stupid screws in the back. I read about the trouble with the screws here, so decided to pay the mechanic to swear at it rather than do it myself.

 

120 minute update: Cap busted. Sending it back for a replacement~ so I'm looking forward to swearing up a storm and breaking that one too. Anyone with tips on how to get it back on?

 

3.5 hours because of the screws in the back? I just took the whole oil trap off~ 5 minutes.

Got my replacement part today, and even with the benefit of having the oil trap on my work bench, the part simply doesn't work. Here are the pics: Same size in every dimension inside and out. But I would not press down far enough to engage the tabs. I finally said to hell with it, and glued it on with JB Weld.

Here's some advice: Don't waist your time with this Dorman Diaphragm, especially as preventative maintenance! The $30 "preemptive care" is nothing more than a guarantee to break the $200 OEM part and leave your wallet much worse for the wear.

Pics: Dorman's site says it will fit, and comparing to the original, it looks identical. But about 3 hours of knuckle-busting, climb-on-the-engine-and-swear, rubber mallet, hammer, 3lb maul, remove the whole oil-trap-and-c-clamp the damn thing.... yeah. I call B.S. This easy fix was a waist of time and money.

 

3.5 hours because of the screws in the back? I just took the whole oil trap off~ 5 minutes.

You have a 2010, so maybe different. Like I said, the diaphragm cap had to be aligned then turned. But plenty of posts here say that it doesn't last. So, folks should just replace the trap with the OEM cover.

 

Yeah I did the Dorman a few years ago and it went on pretty easily, so I'm not sure what the deal is on your model. Noticed some oil on there the other day, though, so I decided to finally replace the whole thing. I think that was maybe even easier than the cap itself. Just have to have some universal/angle sockets to get at the back few bolts.

The inside of my old PCV unit was pretty nasty though, which I was surprised about. Always use synthetic oil with regular changes. I have seen other comments here that the buildup is pretty normal though (Tech mentioned it on another thread).

 

A little worried now. Couple of years ago I had PCV issues with my ‘11 S60 T6. bought the Dorman diaphragm kit, took the entire assembly off - a little tricky reaching all the bolts at the back, not really difficult, but tedious and time consuming - came to the conclusion that it probably wasn’t necessary to have gone thru all that, and that just replacing the diaphragm and cover in place would have been better. It solved the issue I was having for many months and thousands of miles, the car is retired now with a cooling system issue that I haven’t had the time or energy to evaluate the worth of attempting a fix on a car pushing close to a quarter million miles.

on a New England road trip last week had some familiar intermittent kettle type noises from the engine bay of my 15 XC60, mostly when accelerating at highway speeds in very cold temperatures. Figured I’d order the diaphragm and swap it out. Worried now that if I do that and can’t get the cover to go back on I’ll be stuck without a vehicle while I wait for a new PCV assembly.

 

Haha, that's my dilemma every time I go to do regular maintenance. Do I replace just the piece that's the problem or the whole assembly so I'm not stuck waiting when things go sideways...

 

I didn't have a problem with the cap when I did it. I think it's something weird going on in that one case with Str5kers.

 

Oh well… so much for easy… managed to crack off a piece of the valve cover while trying to pry off the diaphragm cap :/ - the joys of working with aging plastic on a cold day -

 

Could you take a picture of where it cracked so we know where to be careful?

 

No picture I’m afraid… basically an inch long piece of the ring that the diaphragm sits on came off with the cap… primary cause would be a bit too much brute force and ignorance on my part, contributing factors being the age of the plastic and the cold temperature…

I absolutely had to drive it that evening so after placing an order for a new valve cover for pickup at the dealership I patched it up as best I could with epoxy… seemed ok for a bit, but about 50 miles or so later I got a check engine light… babied it the last ten miles home and pulled the code - a p171 - system too lean - one of the most likely causes would be a vacuum leak, so I considered the case closed.

Was very happy to get a email early next morning telling me my order was ready for pickup - must have been in stock at the dealership… the genuine article, stamped FoMoCo, seems quite expensive for what it is ($177), but at that price it does at least come complete with diaphragm and cover already in place, gasket, the small 45 degree hose that attaches to the air intake already attached and clipped to the cover, and a hose clip to use on the other end…

it’s really not that difficult to swap out - as others have mentioned you do just need an assortment of extensions and universal joints to get at two or three of the T30 fasteners at the back. I had sone it before on my s60 and for this time I picked up a deWalt “Magfix” extra strength magnetic bit holder and a pair of matching T30 bits… took me about 2.5 hours including a lunch and two coffee breaks, and a brief stop to put some neosporin on the scratch on the back of my left hand… only a little blood, no tears, just a couple of curse words… it wasn’t warm enough to sweat…

Put it all back tigether, reset the codes, took it around the block… seemed good. Drove to the car wash a mile or so away, filled up at the gas station next to the car wash and on the way home CEL came back on. P171 again, and a quick read of the fuel trim suggested I still had a vacuum leak, checked all the hoses, made sure all the screws around the valve cover were tight… tried to listen for a leak but I’m too old and went to far too many good concerts as a youngster for that to work. Reset the codes again and went for another test drive… cel back on again within a mile… this was Friday afternoon…

desperately need it back on the road ASAP, don’t have equipment or knowledge for further troubleshooting or financial resources to randomly swap parts until I find the right one, so decide to book it in for a dealership diagnosis, hoping it would be something silly I had missed that they could fix on the spot or at least they could tell me what part needs replacing and I can do it myself. Scheduled an appointment for Saturday late morning in the app… or thought I did… but as I was preparing to leave for the appointment it dawned on me that I hadn’t gotten any confirmation or reminder texts or emails so I gave them a call. Seems I had even messed that up as well… so had to book it in for Monday…

needed to shuffle cars around so pulled the XC60 out of the garage, parked it on the street, put the old S back into the garage, wife’s Honda and my c70 that my daughter allows me to borrow from time to time to their respective driveway spots, and then went to move the XC to a better spot on the street. When I started it up I immediately noticed something missing… no bright yellow light on the dash… drove it round the block, then a five mile circle, then a twenty mile circle including a ten mile highway blast… 50 miles later still no light so today I took it on a 140 mile round trip… running smooth, pulling just fine, consumption seems normal and the light has stayed off

never believed in her before, but apparently I had a visit from the Check Engine Light fairy.

 

Possible, I guess… that said after breaking what I assume was the original, the replacement I bought from my local Volvo dealership was “only” $177 complete including gasket, no shipping because I opted to pick up from the dealer… stamped FoMoCo, unsurprising, like many of the original parts: Volvo was owned by Ford when these cars were made

 

Hey I know this is a cold thread. I replaced my diaphragm today because of an engine code P0420 and had read that a torn diaphragm could be the cause. Took mine off, was torn. Put the new one in and noticed an intermittent whine from the new diaphragm on start up then disappears. Not sure if installed properly. Don't want to take new cap off in fear of breaking it. Just wondering if this whining sound is normal on start up. Negative pressure when removing oil cap but not sure how much is normal. Sound returns when oil cap removed and goes away when replaced. Thanks in advance.

 

Well wouldn't you know, it didn't make that noise on a cold start this morning, and it passed the "glove test" just fine (definitely trying to suck it in).

 

On the T6's, the failure will cause too much vacuum (as opposed to the older style PCV systems which caused an increase in PRESSURE). Just wanted to point that out.