Engine 850: B5204S/2.0/20v: PCV 5/8 Heater host Kinks

[acshortt5]

When I did mine there wasn't a particular reason, the car had got to 100k miles so I did it as preventative maintenance...
The passages in the block were completely clear, probably because I change the oil every year even though I do fairly low mileage with working from home. I used to do around 10k per year up and down motorways all over England until the effects of the 2008 crash caught up with the firm I was working for.

From memory I recall the main pipe from the breather box to the intake was an absolute sod to fit in that it didn't seem to be long enough. The kit was ordered from volvo off the reg plate so should have been correct.
I also used a section of fuel hose to replace the thin crappy elbow that fits on the LHS of the intake manifold.
Also I fitted the updated dipstick/tube while I was at it but the new seal on that wasn't thick enough and leaked so I ended up having to buy another seal and crammed the two together to sort it.

Volvo seem to be hit and miss, on some things they pick up on dodgy stuff and update parts with better bits e.g. the thermostat housing bolts, now high tensile which won't snap the second you try and remove them....
Clearly on the ME7 cars they went with a metal pipe so they know the plastic stuff is junk, just a shame they won't do an improved kit for the earlier cars but the accountants rule nowadays...

[Bob Meadows]

If you are contemplating this job and are uncertain as to the quality of the hose you are purchasing then this is another option:~

A local hydraulics supplier is generally very helpful in selecting the above to the right specification- I've been lucky over the years in so much that the staff have taken an interest in the project & car (not just Volvo)

Some larger shops will also publish catalogues (Tom Parker. Preston is one)
All sorts of jewels are listed ie bends & pipe options----- quite often been sent into their workshop to have pipes made up as you wait and watch! better than the proverbial sweet shop!
Good luck
Regards Bob.

[Derek UK]

Originally Posted by CNGBiFuel

Yup acshortt5, me too. Your words are always on the mark. I suspect, you could never get 'the factory parts PCV' working 'to book' for long, if at all, either.

Rant/ What's frightening is that so much of what we're found reading on here, not just on this subject - so many others - is straight mindless clap-trap. Worse, even after the info is given, many will still push utter tripe. Some of it straight dangerous. Then... get this, others thank them and further perpetuate the misinformation. They'll never need to ration stupidity.\rant.

Jeez. Best shut-up now, else they get upset.

Thanks for the support Grumps. I'm new to V70 ownership and was just reacting to the use of heater hose. I was not aware that Volvo had made such a crap job of selecting the pipe size and material for this application. If this is so critical I would have thought that some enterprising company or individual would have had a batch of pre formed silicone (or whatever material is suitable) hoses and be the go to for what you say is an inevitable replacement. Am I right in saying the Turbo engines get the most benefit from this? If your rings are shot and instantly blowing up rubber gloves perhaps that should be on your short list for fixing, if you can afford it. Yes I know PCV blockages cause the glove to inflate too. I just don't like the copper bend "cure" even though it apparently works.

[CNGBiFuel]

A local hydraulics supplier is generally very helpful in selecting the above to the right specification- I've been lucky over the years in so much that the staff have taken an interest in the project & car (not just Volvo)

Yet again, Uncle Bob has it right. Absolutely correct, your local hydraulics bloke will be able to get hold of all sorts of toys. The catalogues are thicker than Argos from 1982.

Stuff in that industry is never the sort of tosh you find in automotive parts-bins. Their bread and butter is forklifts, cranes, diggers and process hydraulics. Ultra high-pressure etc etc There's no room for cr*p in that market, and whilst much of it can be VERY pricey, the kind of stuff you'd be looking for - a few basic fittings and hose- will be selling for pennies.

Piles of carp everywhere, those places are not Halfords. Time-waste and they'll dismiss you - know what you want, thus go in with some clue, and they'll be happy to see you. Swaglok and Parker will frighten you though, prices are straight daft! However, because much of waht they sell is in hostlie environments:

1) - they're used to dealing in weird threads, and odd applications.
2) - they have to know *exactly* what everything is, and what it's for.

If this is so critical I would have thought that some enterprising company or individual would have had a batch of pre formed silicone (or whatever material is suitable) hoses and be the go to for what you say is an inevitable replacement.

I did mine for £20.With the job done very well for under £25-30 in hose and fittings, and most buyers unable to grasp the idea of something not 'Volvo genuine', this sounds like a witless way to go bust. I shall let others see the business-opportunity...

I digress but it's great to see a true time-served skilled bloke - My local hydraulics bloke (Custom fittings - Queens Rd Watford) has a suoer-power, he spots NPT over BSP or UNF to JIC at ten paces. Christ knows how, yet, not a thread-guage in sight... he can see a 55 or a 60 thread. He just knows. Even his colleagues are mystified, but he can. That old sweat has saved my bacon more than once.

Lest we forget, Nino the guv'nor at HTS Dunstable is always a chuckle. Shall we say, he has an unusual sales technique.... "Oh no... [as he looks at you deflated...]. Not you."

[Derry]

I managed to find the time and took off the manifold for 2nd time but this time to make the 5/8 (16mm) PCV fuel hose modification. Oil trap, still clean from last time. Blew through the lower port (oil return) with 16mm hose and could hear clearly hear air bubbling inside the oil pan but cleaned the port just to make sure. After putting everything back I am getting a lot of smoke coming out of the dipstick. As for the glove test it doesn’t really inflate nor gets sucked just stays.

The modification I made is something similar to what CNGBiFuel suggested; got rid of the flame trap housing, drilled/made the port much wider, used 90 degree copper elbows and routed the vacuum hose from the manifold to the opposite side of the air inlet. <see attachment>

With everything attached I can’t blow through the 5/8 hose unless I have the dipstick out or the oil cap off, would this be normal.

I went back and reattached the flame trap housing, rerouted back the vacuum hose and still same amount of smoke. I don’t see what I missed. Do I need to drive it around for a few hundred miles? oil change? are there any other tests I could do? Apart from the smoke the drives and idles perfectly.

[Bob Meadows]

I don't have a direct answer for the smoking at this stage:~

but if you are sure that all the hoses & associated parts are clear and that the breather hose hasn't kinked somewhere then I would certainly do a filter and oil change (some debris may have been dislodged into the oil pan?)

You can't be that far off getting it right after all the effort- Good Luck
Regards Bob.

[CNGBiFuel]

Agreed, different to mine, and there's no hard and fast rules. As 'a job' it's done well. If all else is correct that will work. This helps a tired engine, when outside the miles the stock PCV was designed to cope with. This trick can't save a basket-case.

[Derry]

Oil and filter change hasn’t helped, still same.

Just some history on this; when I went through it for the very first time it didn’t really need it doing, there was no smoke and glove would get sucked in a bit. I had to put the old ‘brittle’ 3/8” host back on since the heater host wasn’t suitable, but everything was still ok as far as I remember.

With the 5/8 fuel hose and copper 90 degree bends there are no kinks or restriction. At the moment I am driving with the dipstick out a little, but will take the IM off again and see if anything is a miss. Please let me know what I should check when I am down there again.

Quick question, during the oil change, with the sump plug off I could blow through the 5/8 hose without any restriction but with sump plug screwed on (filler cap + dipstick on) I couldn’t blow. Is this normal?

[CNGBiFuel]

Quick question, during the oil change, with the sump plug off I could blow through the 5/8 hose without any restriction but with sump plug screwed on (filler cap + dipstick on) I couldn’t blow. Is this normal?
____________

Sump-plug on or off. The crankcase should be airtight, with the only breather thru' the PCV. You'll be able to blow thru' the the 5.8" hose. With oil in the sump you'll hear oil bubble as you blow. No bubbling and something is wrong. For want of a better description all the casting end of the PCV consists of is a 'saxophone' U-bend. This U bend gets clogged, but reckon you know this by now.

[CNGBiFuel]

Reading my own words back, my reply is ambiguous. With sump-plug off crankcase is not air-tight, thus you are able to blow freely from PCV.