Does of did your VEA diesel engine use a lot of oil?

[Sotosound]

As many members probably know, some Volvo VEA diesels (2-litre 4-cylinder engines fitted to Volvo cars from 2014 onward) use a lot of oil.

My wife's 2015 V60 D3 Geartronic does but my 2014 V70 D4 Geartronic doesn't. My wife's V60 showed the problem almost straight after we purchased it with 98k miles on the clock. My own V70 (without the problem) has 144k miles on the clock.

The problem seems largely limited to VEA engines built before mid-2016, which is when the engine's piston oil control ring design was changed.

I have also seen people put off from buying a VEA-engined Volvo as soon as they get wind of this potential problem.

But just how big or small is the problem?

There are a couple of threads about the issue that have been started by members with the problem, but how many members look at these threads and think "Not a problem that I've experienced."?

This thread is aimed at finding out how many Volvo owners with VEA engines have or haven't experienced the issue.

So, if you own or have owned a Volvo with a VEA diesel engine please can you share a bit of info with us?

1) For all current and former VEA engine owners, what was/is the month and year of registration, and what are or is the exact model and transmission of the vehicle concerned?

2) Have you encountered the oil consumption issue? (Please answer yes or no.)

3) If not then what was or is the mileage on your car?

4) If you have encountered the issue then at what mileage did the issue start?

5) If you have resolved the issue then what was the solution? (Selling the car is a valid response. )

6) If you still have the issue, then what are your plans?

The potential for the problem has made me think about switching to a V70 D5, but the higher VED (my D4 only costs £30/year) and the growing threat of ULEZ charges are making me think again. So I'm sticking with my D4 and if the problem starts to appear then I will probably just buy some oil for topping up.

Many thanks in advance.

[Zebster]

Beyond what level of oil consumption should we consider that the car is suffering from a 'consumption problem'? Unlike my previous high-mileage diesel Honda, I did have to add oil to my Volvo between oil changes (say ~1L every 3k miles) but when I discussed this with the dealer they were clear that even 1L every 1k miles would be considered acceptable.

1) I had a Feb '15 (64 reg) V60 with manual transmission (see signature)

2) Yes

3)

4) I'd say I first noticed it was consuming oil at around 75k miles

5) It never really bothered me. I bought cheap Westway oil from eBay that met the Volvo spec and topped it up when the messages demanded. I carried around 0.5L of the Westway stuff in a 1L container so I could respond quickly and easily to the message even if I was away from home.

6) I have now sold the car (at 93k miles) but not because of the oil consumption. It was a great car and ran really well despite this issue. I would have simply kept adding oil as necessary!

[griston64]

This explanation was in another thread

Your problem isnt the crankcase ventilation, its a symptom of coked up piston rings which creates excessive blowby, hence the oil consumption.
These engines where designed to save the polar bears with low tension piston rings to save 0,1 grams of co2 and too small drain holes in the oil scrape rings which get clogged with burned oil .

[bananarama]

Originally Posted by Zebster

I did have to add oil to my Volvo between oil changes (say ~1L every 3k miles) but when I discussed this with the dealer they were clear that even 1L every 1k miles would be considered acceptable.

That doesn't sound acceptable...

For example, our current car (Golf MK4 1.9L GT TDI PD) has 213k and consumes ~ nothing.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by Zebster

Beyond what level of oil consumption should we consider that the car is suffering from a 'consumption problem'? Unlike my previous high-mileage diesel Honda, I did have to add oil to my Volvo between oil changes (say ~1L every 3k miles) but when I discussed this with the dealer they were clear that even 1L every 1k miles would be considered acceptable.

1) I had a Feb '15 (64 reg) V60 with manual transmission (see signature)

2) Yes

3)

4) I'd say I first noticed it was consuming oil at around 75k miles

5) It never really bothered me. I bought cheap Westway oil from eBay that met the Volvo spec and topped it up when the messages demanded. I carried around 0.5L of the Westway stuff in a 1L container so I could respond quickly and easily to the message even if I was away from home.

6) I have now sold the car (at 93k miles) but not because of the oil consumption. It was a great car and ran really well despite this issue. I would have simply kept adding oil as necessary!

My wife's car uses a litre every thousand miles, which is a lot, especially for a Volvo. I also understand in detail what the cause is but I don't quite understand why my higher mileage V70 doesn't have the problem unless too many short journeys and not enough long ones plays a part in the problem.

The problem is also fixable, but the remedy - a partial engine rebuild -isn't cheap. But, then again, paying the premium for, say, a D5 isn't a simple one-way street,with higher VED and ULEZ rearing their ugly heads.

If only....

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by bananarama

That doesn't sound acceptable...

For example, our current car (Golf MK4 1.9L GT TDI PD) has 213k and consumes ~ nothing.

I guess that's a matter of subjective judgement! Like I said, my old Honda never needed top-ups between services so I know it's possible for diesels to not consume engine oil. But putting in half a litre every now and then was really no big deal for me. And the dealer did not consider it to be a significant problem at the level I experienced.

I'd have been far, far more annoyed to have suffered the issue of RISING sump level which can also be a problem for diesel engines (including the VEA, as reported in other forum threads).

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

My wife's car uses a litre every thousand miles, which is a lot, especially for a Volvo. I also understand in detail what the cause is but I don't quite understand why my higher mileage V70 doesn't have the problem unless too many short journeys and not enough long ones plays a part in the problem.

The problem is also fixable, but the remedy - a partial engine rebuild -isn't cheap. But, then again, paying the premium for, say, a D5 isn't a simple one-way street,with higher VED and ULEZ rearing their ugly heads.

If only....

Not worth spending a ton of cash to avoid the odd top-up IMHO, even at that consumption. I don't suppose the performance or economy is at all affected? I thought the VEA D4 was a great engine and I definitely wouldn't have wanted to swap it for an older D5 model.

I take your point about the inconsistency. Odd that identical engines could age so differently.

[bananarama]

Originally Posted by Zebster

I guess that's a matter of subjective judgement! Like I said, my old Honda never needed top-ups between services so I know it's possible for diesels to not consume engine oil. But putting in half a litre every now and then was really no big deal for me. And the dealer did not consider it to be a significant problem at the level I experienced.

It's not subjective, there's something obviously wrong, despite the dealership telling you otherwise. How can 1L every 1k miles be acceptable?

[bananarama]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

My wife's car uses a litre every thousand miles, which is a lot, especially for a Volvo. I also understand in detail what the cause is but I don't quite understand why my higher mileage V70 doesn't have the problem unless too many short journeys and not enough long ones plays a part in the problem.

Maybe the previous owner(s) had been kind to your V70, no hard accelerations or high revs etc etc?

[griston64]

If it to do with carbon build up on the piston rings and a small oil scrape holes getting clogged you've got to look at what the causes of carbon build up are

The below is an interesting point regarding the newer engines

Surprisingly, newer engines with improved emissions technology are more susceptible to engine issues caused by carbon buildup.