Few things RE 215HP D5 engine

[spottedhaggis]

Hi alll.

I have a 2013 Volvo S80 D5, the 215hp engine). My pipe is made up of 3 parts, a small centre piece seems like a breather pipe connection and a lower and upper piece.

I went through a period of splitting turbo pipes. First one was caused by over boosting when using a chiping box, a mistake I made in purchasing such a piece of rubish, bad bad idea that was, Lesson learned.

I was unable to source the right parts for the pipe so got hold of a cheap one (yet another lesson learned) which we had to cut in the middle to make it fit. A month later the top piece on that one split, and I had to drive from Gloucestershire to Grays in limp mode (sat behind as many lorries as I could find)

So, I managed to source the right pieces, better quality, higher priced, and ordered them. They arrived, and I (for the 3rd time now) went outside in the rain, fitted them, and made sure it was all a perfect fit. Having now done this several times, I feel I am now an expert at fitting this pipe lol.

Thats the history part. Car is fine, but what I notice now is the 5 cylnder thrum sounds a little more exagerated than before, and the engine feels a little lumpy in the morning on first starting it, and generally sounds noiser than it was before all this pipe debarkle. Also when AC is on I hear that whine noise.

Car has done just under 150k. In the last year (2023) its had full service, and engine flush, new timing belt, new aux belt fitted.

To add to this, I had the aux belt fitted 2 years back because it snapped right outside the house, and after this is was all good, then 2023 I got the timing belt done, and the garage decided to chage the aux belt as well, and since then its been a bit noiser when using the AC.

Questions.

1. Can a badly fitted aux belt be the noise issue, or given the mileage could it be the AC clutch?
2. Having had to drive several times with a split turbo pipe, and then having one that has remained good, what damage if any could have happpened to explain the engine lumpy in the morinings, or is this a coincidence.
3. My engine does not have a dipstick,a nd I purchased one of those oil sucking pumps to let me at least suck out the oul regularly to replace it (I am aware dropping is better) but with no dipstick any ideas where I can use this?
4. would it maybe be time to renew the glow plugs, if so is it something a novice could do?

Thanks all in advance for your help

[Andmurph]

I also have the AC whine on my 2010 D5. My specialist says the bearings are gone in the compressor but it works for now. I had it regassed in September and it didn’t help at all.

The lumpy cold and start up noises I resolved with replacement engine mounts. I’ve replaced most of the suspension and engine mounts as much of the rubber had spit or gone brittle. My car is much better now. The manual gear change is still very stiff on cold mornings until it has warmed up but I can live with that for now.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by spottedhaggis

Hi alll.

I have a 2013 Volvo S80 D5, the 215hp engine). My pipe is made up of 3 parts, a small centre piece seems like a breather pipe connection and a lower and upper piece.

I went through a period of splitting turbo pipes. First one was caused by over boosting when using a chiping box, a mistake I made in purchasing such a piece of rubish, bad bad idea that was, Lesson learned.

I was unable to source the right parts for the pipe so got hold of a cheap one (yet another lesson learned) which we had to cut in the middle to make it fit. A month later the top piece on that one split, and I had to drive from Gloucestershire to Grays in limp mode (sat behind as many lorries as I could find)

So, I managed to source the right pieces, better quality, higher priced, and ordered them. They arrived, and I (for the 3rd time now) went outside in the rain, fitted them, and made sure it was all a perfect fit. Having now done this several times, I feel I am now an expert at fitting this pipe lol.

Thats the history part. Car is fine, but what I notice now is the 5 cylnder thrum sounds a little more exagerated than before, and the engine feels a little lumpy in the morning on first starting it, and generally sounds noiser than it was before all this pipe debarkle. Also when AC is on I hear that whine noise.

Car has done just under 150k. In the last year (2023) its had full service, and engine flush, new timing belt, new aux belt fitted.

To add to this, I had the aux belt fitted 2 years back because it snapped right outside the house, and after this is was all good, then 2023 I got the timing belt done, and the garage decided to chage the aux belt as well, and since then its been a bit noiser when using the AC.

Questions.

1. Can a badly fitted aux belt be the noise issue, or given the mileage could it be the AC clutch?
2. Having had to drive several times with a split turbo pipe, and then having one that has remained good, what damage if any could have happpened to explain the engine lumpy in the morinings, or is this a coincidence.
3. My engine does not have a dipstick,a nd I purchased one of those oil sucking pumps to let me at least suck out the oul regularly to replace it (I am aware dropping is better) but with no dipstick any ideas where I can use this?
4. would it maybe be time to renew the glow plugs, if so is it something a novice could do?

Thanks all in advance for your help

The a/c whine is actually really common, especially in these colder temperatures. A badly fitted a/c belt would cause a squeaking noise... its unlikely to be your problem. It could be as simple as the car needing an a/c regas and a top-up of the oil that goes into the compressor, it could be the bearings in the a/c compressor or a bad TCV valve. If the a/c compressor clutch was bad, the a/c would be intermittent or wouldn't work at all... I don't think that's your problem either.

There's also a modified pipe that can be fitted to reduce noise/vibration. Although, in saying that, some people have fitted the new pipe and it only lasted for about six months before the noise returned. Personally, the cheapest route is an a/c regas... I'd try that first. You don't want to go changing an a/c compressor unless absolutely necessary, as they aren't cheap and people have changed the compressor and the noise returned.

I wouldn't be jumping at replacing expensive parts though, simply because from reading, people have already done it and it didn't make a bit of difference or the noise returned in a few months. The whining noise seems to be a common problem with no real solution... its almost a characteristic of the a/c system itself, despite it sounding weird. I've literally learned to live with it, as mine doesn't make the noise all the time and the a/c still works. A regas would be a starting point, not expensive compared to other parts in the system! If you start expensive, i.e. compressor, maybe that's not the problem and it would have been changed for nothing.

As for the engine being lumpy in the morning, I wouldn't expect it to be butter smooth at that 150k either... D5 engines aren't particularly refined anyway and are a bit "lumpy" shall we say (5 cylinder engines have an "imbalance" from the factory and generally, diesels are a bit lumpy compared to petrol's when cold). My guess would be glow plugs or even a dirty EGR valve, or even a fuel filter (did the "full" service include the fuel filter?). Are you using decent branded fuel? I find my car sounds awful using supermarket fuel, but when using branded stuff like Texaco or Shell, it sounds totally different. People say the fuel from supermarkets is the same... its the same fuel from the batching plant, but that's where the similarities end. Branded suppliers add additives to the fuel, supermarkets either don't use any or very little in comparison. In my opinion, you get what you pay for and that's why supermarket fuel is cheaper. Its not the same.

Glow plugs can be changed at home... its not really hard to do. However, you do need an 8mm glow plug socket and it needs to be deep enough to go over the plugs. An ordinary glow plug socket won't do (been there and tried that). It has to be deep with no edges or "lips" inside because edges like most "ordinary" glow plug sockets have will catch the glow plug and that edge won't allow you to properly get the socket over the plug to remove it.

I'd also advise making sure the engine is warm, but be careful because you don't want to burn yourself. When removing the electrical connections going to the glow plugs, don't pull on the wires... they'll snap. Pull on the plastic heads with a pair of grips or something of your choice. Also, make sure the glow plugs themselves are soaked in penetrating fluid to ease removal. They should come out easily, but don't go too mad because they could snap and then that'll be another problem. Go easy removing them, if it doesn't feel right, stop and start again. Same when putting them back in, don't overtighten them. Glow plugs are around £20 each and you need 5 of them. I went for Bosch ones, 4.4 volts.

Here's a video that shows what's involved on a euro 4 D5 (same principle as yours). I found the plastic engine cover needed to be removed, as did the black pipe from the air filter that goes across the engine to the turbo... it just made access to the plugs easier. You can leave the pipe on if you wish, but personally, removing it made it easier to see what I was doing and gave me a better working angle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVPfBgDoY8Y

As for the oil sucking pump... with no dipstick, I'm not sure where you'd put the tube to remove the oil. Draining may be your only option, but maybe someone can clarify that. My car is older, so it still has a physical dipstick.

[GrahamBrown1]

I had the AC noise, was doing my nut in.

Fitted updated pipe- re gassed to the new fill level of 720 grams not the 650 that some databases including the AC machine I was using said it should have. Fill data available on Volvo website.

I also added 100 grams of AC oil as per Volvo spec. Whine sorted for now. Long may it continue.

[apersson850]

These engines do have a dipstick, but it's only intended to be used when manufacturing the engines, so it's small and awkward to access.
Swedish police didn't accept electronic oil level control only, so there's a special dipstick available for anyone, fitted as standard to police cars in Sweden.

The dipstick is on the engine's left side, facing forward when installed in the car.

[spottedhaggis]

Originally Posted by GrahamBrown1

I had the AC noise, was doing my nut in.

Fitted updated pipe- re gassed to the new fill level of 720 grams not the 650 that some databases including the AC machine I was using said it should have. Fill data available on Volvo website.

I also added 100 grams of AC oil as per Volvo spec. Whine sorted for now. Long may it continue.

Can you advise where I would check and if needed top up the AC oil? I think I will try that first, then a regass

But according to the Volvo S80 specifications website, I need only 60 ml PAG SP-A2?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by spottedhaggis

Can you advise where I would check and if needed top up the AC oil? I think I will try that first, then a regass

But according to the Volvo S80 specifications website, I need only 60 ml PAG SP-A2?

You need air conditioning equipment. You can't just check the level of the PAG oil.

To my knowledge (I may be wrong), they hook up the a/c hoses to the high and low pressure ports and then use a machine to measure how much refrigerant is in it. Before re-gassing, the whole system should be evacuated. Then it needs to be and pressurize to check for leaks. If no leaks, then they re-gas the system/add PAG oil.

You can't add PAG oil at home, or check the level. You need equipment to do it, and need to be licensed for environmental reasons.

[green van man]

The dipstick, termed Technicians dip stick, by Volvo is the small yellow thing down on the sump/ engine block joint that you defiantly do not want to be wearing your best shirt on the day you go looking for.



The police spec full sized dipstick is still available in uk, saw an advert for it from a Volvo dealer on eBay, £70 if I recall. I have a full sized dip stick I fitted 10 years ago after ruining a couple of shirts using the technicians dipstick. The electronic one takes 14 to 20 miles to give a reading so is useless when changing oil. You either use the technicians dip stick, measure what came out and put the same back in or make life simple and fit police spec full sized dipstick. Just remember DO NOT fill to the full mark, 3/4 only or you will get engine management lights and oil level high faults. This was Volvos solution to diesel getting into the sump. Don’t stop it happening, make room for it. A very good reason to not run your oil for the 18,000 oil change intervals and use good quality oil.

Just one point if you go the police spec dip stick route, there is a bracket that bolts to a pre tapped hole on the block that holds the tube steady. The bolt that comes in the kit, and the hole are M7, not the most common of tap sizes and you will probably need to run a tap down the hole to clear the threads of accumulated muck. It would make your life much easier if you begged borrowed purchased or stole a set of M7 taps and a tap wrench before starting the job.
Now I think on it, on my engine the hole was pre tapped but it may not be on all engines so you would defiantly need the taps.

Paul.

[Pidgeonpost]

If the M7 bolt hole is already tapped and just needs the threads cleaning out, take another M7 fastener and use a hacksaw to cut slot (maybe ½“/13mm) down its length. Run that down the tapping. Should do the trick if you can't get hold of a tap.

[Auldgit]

Anyone know what the part number is for the replacement dipstick kit??