A work in progress.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Is your engine also mounted the wrong way, with the heavily shielded exhaust pointing to the front of the car ?

The exhaust is the big silver blob between the turbine and the oil dipstick (from More efficient air intake (1.6HDi) - ideas).
Why is that "backwards"? I thought the exhaust was up front to help keep the engine warm Actually, maybe there's just not enough room behind the engine for the exhaust/catalyst/FAP combo? Or it would make it impossible to access the EGR, glow plugs, etc.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Why is that "backwards"?

I guess I've gotten used to seeing the old Peugeot 306 1.9L DT engine being mounted the other way around.

[Piwoslaw]

For a moment I thought that was a pic of Hägar's engine, and I was like "What did they [Volvo] do to it? It barely looks like a 1.6HDi anymore "

[euromodder]

Bummer.

With the diesel particulate filter regeneration taking place every 200km / 125 miles - i.e. about 3 times too frequently - it's time to determine what's causing it before the car goes in for its scheduled 140.000 km maintenance.

As my EM fuel log shows 5 DPF regenerations on the first long trip after fitting the grille block, it's the first suspect, so I've removed it.
I had already bough a mint, second hand Volvo grille as mine is damaged a bit and the chrome is flaking.

For the time being, coasting (with engine-on) is also suspended.


I'll need to check the oil again tomorrow, on flat ground, but it looks like there's too much oil in the engine as well.
It could be a case of oil thinning because of the DPF regeneration - due to the 5% biodiesel in our diesel.

[euromodder]

Planned mods during the 140 T km maintenance :

- Switch to summer tyres and the heavy but aerodynamic Libra wheels.
- Switch to 0W30 oil again.
- Switch to the lighter transmission oil used in the current Volvo DRIVe models.


If all is well after the maintenance, I'll have it eco-chipped.

[Piwoslaw]

That's one bad DPF you have.
Iirc you've already had it replaced once, so maybe there is something wrong with how the ECU reads its sensors? Is the DPF still on warranty?

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

That's one bad DPF you have.
Iirc you've already had it replaced once, so maybe there is something wrong with how the ECU reads its sensors? Is the DPF still on warranty?

If something is wrong with their work, I expect them to rectify it (as they've done in the past with minor things).

Grille block gone ; no more coasting and it's already been 240km since the last DPF regeneration.
I hope this doesn't mean it's not suited for hypermiling.


Checked the oil cold (as the manual states): too much.
Checked it hot, a couple minutes after shutting down (meaning it'll read low) : still too much.

It's not indicating slightlyover MAX, it's indicating more than the distance between MIN and MAX , over MAX

I'll check it again (cold) tomorrow, and will probably take it to the dealer for a quick oil swap in advance of the scheduled maintenance.
By the looks of it, it's got more than 1L extra oil/BD in there - but normally it takes only 3.7L (about 1 US gallon) of oil.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Grille block gone ; no more coasting and it's already been 240km since the last DPF regeneration.
I hope this doesn't mean it's not suited for hypermiling.

It got up to 267km before starting yet another regeneration.
The next one came only 186 km later.

So, removing the grille block and suspending hypermiling driving techniques seems to have made bugger-all difference to the DPF regeneration frequency.
In some strange way, that's good news

The engine does have too much oil in it, so I'll have it analysed and checked for FAME (biodiesel) - probably by some former colleagues
It'll also give me an idea of the condition of the engine.

More good news is that the fuel consumption didn't rise dramatically by deleting the grille block and reverting to my old driving style.
I have been driving more gently though, as I was probably driving a bit too agressive just to be able to coast more.


I've also found a new route to commute, longer than the old one, but from the split point, it's 3.4 km (a whopping 33 % !) shorter than going the long way all around town, as has been forced upon us by the city council.
It's also on smaller roads, so I don't need to go up to 56mph repeatedly because of the unsynchronized lights.
# of railroad crossings is identical (1), but the # of traffic lights goes up from 1 to 3

[euromodder]

140.000km service done, planned mods done, but not all is well.

It drives well with low fuel consumption and smoother shifting, but the diesel particulate filter is still regenerating itself far too frequently.
As a result, when tested the oil was found to be diluted with 12% fuel

Removing the grille block, and suspending coasting hasn't resulted in a longer distance between DPF regenerations, so I'm ruling these out as a possible cause.
Unfortunately, the dealer hasn't found the cause either, so the issue is now being taken up with Volvo.
I'll keep the grille block off for the time being, in order not to give them an easy scapegoat


In the fuel efficiency department, things seem to be going well though.

Yesterday, I was averaging 4.0 L/100km (58.8 mpg) on the OBC and 4.3 (54.7 mpg) on the Scangauge !

Cruising on the motorway @ 100kph/62mph, I was often getting around 3.1L/100km on the flat stretches - that's nearly 76 mpg !
Even climbing small hills, fuel consumption definitely didn't increase as much as it used to before.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Unfortunately, the dealer hasn't found the cause either, so the issue is now being taken up with Volvo.
I'll keep the grille block off for the time being, in order not to give them an easy scapegoat

Yep - defintely worth keeping on at them.

Is the fuel in oil thing a major issue for a Diesel ? If there is a lot of fuel in the oil do you have another issue, perhaps something worn that shouldn't be ?