What is this loose plastic connector near the oil fill cap?
 

Hey there

Yesturday I had the bonnet open on my XC90 D5 2013. Upon turning the engine off after having it run for a few seconds I noticed a little metal arm next to the top of the engine block moving backwards and forwards for a few seconds before stopping.

Connected to the metal arm was a plastic 'bar' (red arrow in attached pic), but the other end of the bar wasn't attached to anything!

After a bit of looking around I noticed a 'nub' under the oil fill hole (blue arrow) that was movable and looks like it should be connected to the other end of the plastic bar. I re-attached the bar.

So I'm curious as to what these components are and what they do... and most importantly, if any damage could of occurred without the bar being disconnected at both ends.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

It's the swirl arm and links the swirl flaps to the actuator. If you search the forum for 'Swirl Arm' or 'Swirl arm repair' you'll find more information. In fact there's so much information you may wish you'd never asked!

It's an incredibly common problem with the D5 and there are many suggestions on how to deal with it from the very sophisticated to the crude.

For myself, I bought a new swirl arm and the Volvo modification kit which consists of a thing like a nail with a large head and a push-on circlip type thingy which is supposed to stop the swirl arm coming off the ball joint that operates the swirl flaps. Total cost around £10. So far it's worked.

Hope this is of some help

Martin

2008 V70 2.4D 117,000 miles

Thanks Martin.

Really helpful reply.

I'm going to do a bit of digging as per your suggestion.

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=92301

This thread may be a good place to start

Martin

A goldmine
 

That is indeed a goldmine of information.

Thanks again.

My XC90 Swirl Arm Experience
 

Hello fellow Volvo-philes,
I hope this post helps others who experience swirl arm issues. Mine started on my regular drive to work in my 2007 185 D5 Auto 126K+ on the clock. I rarely exceed 3000RPM as I'm an easy-going kinda guy! About 2 weeks ago, when accelerating out of a round-about, I was forced to effect a quick shift-down and acceleration manoeuvre, and consciously noted the rev counter at about the 3500rpm mark. Lo and behold, the "Engine System Service Required" message popped up. I spoke to my Volvo Indy (Letchworth IVS) who advised that it's not that big of an issue, as I'd just gotten it serviced.
Thanks to this wonderful forum, I purchased a replacement swirl arm. In the interim 10 day period while waiting for it to arrive, I covered almost 500mi without any issues. I did note however that the car was not its 'usual self' when attempting quick acceleration.
With new arm fitted, I took it for a test drive (8mi round trip with highway driving for high revs) and did note improvement in acceleration responsiveness. Arm is still attached but will keep an eye and keep you guys posted.
I think I'll stick to sub-3K rpm for now!