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

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by bananarama

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

He was a travelling salesman, so probably did loads of long journeys, as have I.

[Familyman 90]

Originally Posted by bananarama

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

Thsts not necessarily very kind treatment for a motor. That kind of treatment is more likely to lead to bore glazing and a poor piston seal in the cyclinder, particularly on all alloy engine.

Provided the engine is properly warm before doing so then opening up the taps does no harm, and an engine used thus now and again is less likely to have oil consumption issues. This is why big bore motorbikes, which naturally rev a fair bit higher than cars even when being ridden gently, rarely suffer oil consumtion issues.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by Familyman 90

Thsts not necessarily very kind treatment for a motor. That kind of treatment is more likely to lead to bore glazing and a poor piston seal in the cyclinder, particularly on all alloy engine.

Provided the engine is properly warm before doing so then opening up the taps does no harm, and an engine used thus now and again is less likely to have oil consumption issues. This is why big bore motorbikes, which naturally rev a fair bit higher than cars even when being ridden gently, rarely suffer oil consumtion issues.

I suspect that the previous owner would have driven a D2 or D3 if he didn't want power and performance.

I, myself, don't potter around all day on a light throttle for the same reason.

I chose the VEA D4 over the earlier 5-cylinder D4 because of the extra performance that the VEA engine gives. I'd have really enjoyed the sound of the 5-cylinder engine but would have missed the performance. I also avoided the D5 because the newer ones don't have the same sweetness to my ears of the original 163 BHP D5 that I had in my earlier 2003 V70.

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by bananarama

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

It's also unreasonable to expect a modern diesel - built primarily to maximise economy - to consume no engine oil between services. So exactly where would you (subjectively) draw the line where the oil consumption becomes unreasonable? Volvo themselves draw the line at 1L every 1k miles for the early VEA, so where else should we be seeking information upon which to base our figures?

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by Zebster

It's also unreasonable to expect a modern diesel - built primarily to maximise economy - to consume no engine oil between services. So exactly where would you (subjectively) draw the line where the oil consumption becomes unreasonable? Volvo themselves draw the line at 1L every 1k miles for the early VEA, so where else should we be seeking information upon which to base our figures?

The real issue seems to be that the oil control rings weren't the best design, and I'm guessing that what Volvo deems acceptable is partly based upon the cost of not doing so in terms of the consequent recall costs that they have so far managed to avoid in the UK but not in the USA.

Having said that, I also understand that Volvo are not alone in having this issue.

[griston64]

1 litre for every 1k of miles would wipe out any VED saving over a year if you did 12k a year

[bananarama]

Originally Posted by Familyman 90

Thsts not necessarily very kind treatment for a motor. That kind of treatment is more likely to lead to bore glazing and a poor piston seal in the cyclinder, particularly on all alloy engine.

Provided the engine is properly warm before doing so then opening up the taps does no harm, and an engine used thus now and again is less likely to have oil consumption issues. This is why big bore motorbikes, which naturally rev a fair bit higher than cars even when being ridden gently, rarely suffer oil consumtion issues.

I take your point!

Well in that case, I'm out of ideas.

[bananarama]

Originally Posted by Zebster

It's also unreasonable to expect a modern diesel - built primarily to maximise economy - to consume no engine oil between services. So exactly where would you (subjectively) draw the line where the oil consumption becomes unreasonable? Volvo themselves draw the line at 1L every 1k miles for the early VEA, so where else should we be seeking information upon which to base our figures?

It's totally reasonable to expect minimal oil consumption from a modern engine that hasn't been neglected.

If Volvo genuinely though it was normal, they wouldn't have made the 2016(?) modifications to the pistons and rings (I don't know the details of this but someone else mentioned it earlier or on a different thread).

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by bananarama

It's totally reasonable to expect minimal oil consumption from a modern engine that hasn't been neglected.

If Volvo genuinely though it was normal, they wouldn't have made the 2016(?) modifications to the pistons and rings (I don't know the details of this but someone else mentioned it earlier or on a different thread).

But what exactly constitutes 'minimal consumption' in your opinion?
And Volvo specify 1L every 1k miles to be 'Acceptable', not 'normal'.

And we don't even know what's 'typical', as I'm the only one who has so far bothered to respond to the OP's questions with any kind of answers...

[bananarama]

Originally Posted by Zebster

But what exactly constitutes 'minimal consumption' in your opinion?
And Volvo specify 1L every 1k miles to be 'Acceptable', not 'normal'.

amount << (1L per 1k miles) == acceptable

Where does Volvo specify 1L per 1k miles is acceptable?

My reference (and only reference) is our 213k TDI: the main loss is due to engine oil seeping through the turbo bearing. It ends up in the intake system and pools at the intercooler (the lowest point of the intake). It's an insignificant amount, I've never had to top-up (for now).