OK, so I was servicing the youngest's 07 Volvo S60 2.5T at the weekend. As with most Euro cars, instead of an metal oil filter it's a plastic canister with an element inside. Once I pulled off the canister and pulled out the filter I emptied the last of the oil from the canister and I noticed some sludge in the bottom. I poured, scrapped it out actually and felt it, it feels like very very powder that's, well, cover in oil. It's not magnetic. Any ideas? While she used to drive it to uni and back most days, since Covid took school online she mainly drives too and from work which is only a mile away, so its all short trips on a cold engine. WTF is this stuff and how freaked out should I be?
Mr_Asa
UberDork
4/8/21 9:36 a.m.
Carbon buildup? Lots and lots of carbon buildup?
Looks like something plastic is getting pulverized or is disintegrating inside the engine...
Doesn't apply to a car, but the closest thing I have seen to that is a motorcycle clutch that someone had adjusted wrong. It slipped constantly and burned up, and since it is a wet clutch, all the clutch material ended up in the oil and it made a sludge like that.
Just looks like carbon-based sludge to me. Combustion byproducts, oil contaminants, burned non-synthetic oil (it's a turbo), whatever. A bit odd to see that much in there, but you may also be the first person to clean it out in 14 years. If you're curious, take a wire coat hanger and probe the bottom of the pan to see if you find more of it in there. Only if it's really heavy would I be concerned about blocking the pick-up.
I like the carbon theory, and that's why I mentioned the short trips from cold being basically all it does. I'll try the wire down the dipstick into the pan later.
Thanks Brain Trust!!
Carbon in the oiling system, wouldn't that indicate some kind of detonation or burning going on? Like a fire in the oil pan? Carbon in the combustion chamber getting pushed past the rings? Just curious how it may have gotten to the filter or if it indicates pending doom.
I see a bat.
Or a dog with a floppy ear.
(no help, I know)
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I see a brooch, a pterodacytl...
Seems to me that car is in desperate need of an Italian tuneup!
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I see a brooch, a pterodacytl...
It looks lie you chose a bad day to quit sniffing carbon deposits from oil filters
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:
Seems to me that car is in desperate need of an Italian tuneup!
Trust me, I've given it a few over the last couple of days. That's the problem with these damn careful kids who drive conservatively. When I was her age there were two throttle positions WOT and closed, but I had 875cc's and 39hp to deal with, so times were different.
For those who were enjoying the Rorschach test element of this thread, may I present 'Bat Oil' a composition in Mobile one and carbon.
You're never too old for finger painting.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
I see a bat.
Or a dog with a floppy ear.
(no help, I know)
I was thinking a chicken body with a ferret head.
In reply to dean1484 :
I can't unsee that now in the original pic. Awesome.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
