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Originally Posted by Kimberley Smith
Thank you all for your comments. I now have an update, although not a happy one.
At the weekend I replaced the spark plugs. The old ones looked really weird; a hard white deposit. I fully expected a wet dirty burnt oil appearance. I wonder if this meant that the EGR valve had not been working and hence the combustion chambers were too hot??? I also blanked off the EGR valve at the suggestion of a retired garage owner. I rechecked the cylinder compressions; still all looking good, ranging from 185 to 195 cold and 175 to 190 hot.
Today I returned to the MoT man (they are also Volvo specialists). He repeated the emissions check and it failed as before. He then did a diagnostics check; no faults showing. As before, the CO and HC readings rose dramatically as the temperature increased. On the final emissions check he took a video of the rear of the car; as the engine heated up the exhaust output went from nothing visible to a huge cloud of smoke....however the smoke is white not black. I would like to think that "Welton" is correct in suggesting that it is not oil burning, however the water level does not change but it takes possibly a gallon of oil between 10k changes.
I have spent the evening pondering what to do next. Scrap it? Strip the engine and replace piston rings? Buy a replacement engine? I wish I had kept my V40, or my 480, or my 940, or my 440, or my 240!!!!
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This is a long-overdue update on my V50 (2006 1.8 petrol) emissions problem. Having wasted money having a Volvo specialist run their diagnostics I took it elsewhere for a second opinion on the emissions. We watched as it warmed up and proceeded to produce huge clouds of smoke from the exhaust. Without hesitation they said "piston rings".
I decided against buying a replacement engine or paying £2,000 to have the existing one rebuilt and eventually decided to tackle the strip-down and rebuild myself. I have done just about every job on cars in my time but at my great age was doubting my ability to tackle this one! Anyway; stripped it in situ, not the easiest of jobs, access is a challenge. All four oil control rings were stuck in place; effectively flush with the wall of the piston! They were stuck so firmly that I do not think that any amount of soaking in whatever fluid would have freed them. I replaced the rings and big end shells and tidied the head (new valve stem seals). All back together eventually. Sailed through the MoT emissions test. Has now done over 3,000 miles so I am starting to gain confidence that I did a reasonable job. Oil consumption has dropped to near zero. Cost of parts; around £250.