Swirl flaps, worth fixing?

[RogerTo]

A bit of advice, if you would be so kind, on whether it would pay off to fix this?

XC70 2008. Engine system-service required message came on this week. Took it to a garage - they read a code P2015, and on investigation found that
a) the swirl flap arm was disconnected, and
b) the swirl flaps were stiff to move, surmising that they were possibly coked up.

They suggested that the arm had been disconnected for a while.

Cleared code and fault message hasn’t recurred.

So is there any evidence to suggest that it will be worth spending a few hundred to get this cleaned up and reconnected? Looking at forum it seems to be £3-600. Car seems to be running ok, passed MOT recently no probs (emissions figure was 0.44 as I recall). Av mpg (town and country driving) is 28.

[Semnoz]

One reason to get this fixed would be if the swirl flaps are stuck in a position that compromises performance or fuel economy. I recall being told (by my Volvo indie I think) that if they're in the open position, that means the car drives normally most of the time, but performance/economy wouldn't be as good at low speed, e.g. in traffic.

So if you can find out whether they're stuck in the open position, that might help you decide to part with the money. If you can move the control arm back and forth and it doesn't feel like there's much play, you could at least leave the throttle in the open position.

If you check the photos in my article (and one of the videos I link to), you should be able to figure out what position the control arm should be in to have the flaps fully open. This is all assuming, of course, that the control arm is still secure attached to the swirl throttle shaft (on mine it had a fair bit of play so the flaps would never have been fully open of fully closed, because the motor would have set it's open and closed positions based on the stop points on the control arm.

Hope this makes sense. To clarify, when I say 'throttle' I mean the following part:



And when I say 'control arm' I mean the part attached to the LHS of the throttle's main shaft that's being held in the chap's fingers in the photo. I'm not talking about the link arm that goes between motor and control arm (as that's not relevant here).

[Semnoz]

Forgot to add, in my experience it did make the engine smoother, especially at low speeds (as the flaps were now closing). I'd like to say it also improved economy, but I don't want to make false claims. I have since been getting improved fuel economy, but I switched to only using Shell V-Power diesel after all the cleaning work, and that might be contributing to improved performance as well. And my thorough cleaning of the EGR valve and inlet manifold might have helped too - neither of which will probably be done by a garage as it's horrible work.

[RogerTo]

Thanks, I’d looked at your thread when I heard from the garage and no way will I do it myself what with having to take off the fuel pipes etc. A question - are the parts for cleaning easier to access than the swirl flaps?

[Semnoz]

Originally Posted by RogerTo

Thanks, I’d looked at your thread when I heard from the garage and no way will I do it myself what with having to take off the fuel pipes etc. A question - are the parts for cleaning easier to access than the swirl flaps?

I'm not sure I follow the question, because to clean the inlet manifold (the large black plastic camshaft-cover) and air-intakes on the cylinder head you need to remove the camshaft-cover, which requires fuel-pipe/injector removal. To be able to clean these parts, you need to fully dismantle everything, and therefore you might as well renew the swirl throttle assembly at the same time (the kit is £150).

The only part I cleaned that didn't require removal of the above was the EGR valve. It is probabably worth cleaning the EGR valve on it's own - it can't do any harm. I suspect that if your swirl flaps are gunged up, the EGR valve will be too.

[RogerTo]

Thanks for that explanation, clears it up for me. I’ll see what I get from my TerraClean thread.

[Parkl]

Hi gents.

I've did all the procedure, disconnected battery, new swirl flaps, Egr and throttle body cleaning, new valve cover gasket, changed new injector cooper washers.....etc

Now Volvo (Xc90 D5 185HP) doesnt start...just cranks....is there some air trapped?

Thx in advance!

[MissSpentYouth]

Hi Parkl,

I do these swirl flaps all the time and you have to be really careful not to drop any carbon deposits down the inlet manifold when you take the old flaps out.

It is very tempting to clean all the carbon deposits off around were the flaps sit but in doing so it is very easy to let bits drop down the intake. I image this is what you have done ....

Anyway these bits land up getting squished onto the valve seats and in effect they prevent a good gas tight seal and you cant generate good enough compression to start the engine it just turns over and over.

You will need to charge up your battery overnight and also get another car to jump start along side and any other jump packs you can lay your hands on as you want to get a good cranking speed

Eventually you will start to get it firing on one cylinder and then it will start up shortly afterwards.

Don't burn out your starter in the process if it wont start after a few minutes then let the starter cool for a half hour before trying again.

[MissSpentYouth]

If that doesn't work then try a very small amount of easy start down the side of the intake manifold inlet, where that rubber joint is undo the jubilee clip and push a screw driver down the side to make a gap to squirt down.

Only use a very small amount the D5 really doesn't like easy start and will sound awful. But it might help to clear those valve seats.

[calama]

Hi - I am replacing my swirl flaps now...so would you suggest I don't try and remove any gunk from the inlet ports? being a clean freak I can't resist making everything shiny now I have made the effort to remove everthing. thanks