Huge oil consumption on S40 2.0 (NA)

The 2.0 unit in my S40 has always had a taste for oil, although it seems to be consuming more than ever at the moment. I'd say that a litre per 1000 miles would be an optimistic figure.

My old Clio 16V and now Williams will use about a half to a full litre per 1000 miles, but they're high performance engines and that oil consumption is considered as within normal tolerances.

I know that the S40 normally-aspirated engine is a Renault unit, but it's of a different non-high performance engine series and I'd expect it to use less oil. Am I right? Or does this engine use this much oil?

The engine is on 88k miles, so I'd not expect much engine wear. The car is used for medium-speed commuting and there are no oil leaks/dodgy oil pump.

On the plus side, the S40 showed a poxy noveau-riche Lexus IS200 a clean pair of heels today!

Help appreciated! Thanks.

[fergus]

>> I know that the S40 normally-aspirated engine
>> is a Renault unit ...

Ouch _please_ say this isn't true. When I requested advice on what to get when I needed to replace my car in April this year, answer was "Go for a small Volvo if that size suits you, but avoid Renault power units". This I did, getting confirmation that the April 1998 S40 2.0 purchased was a proper Volvo-powered Volvo. Is this wrong?

Just out of curiosity, why were you told to avoid the Renault power units? When I drove my 440 (1.8 Renault) my dad, a mechanic, told me that the engine was wrong, it wasn't particularly well designed and it wasn't particularly well put together - but for some unknown reason it works, and it lasts - and he hates Renaults!

I think V40's are generally either powered by Renault or Mitubishi (1.8 GDi) units. Not sure what the T4 is, but my 2.0T just happens to have very similar outputs to the Laguna 2.0T and Vel Satis 2.0T cars... Anyone know for sure?

Stu