Mark: Hi, it's Mark Bossert. I'm here with Bernie Pawlik. Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver. Vancouver's best auto service experience. 25 times the best in Vancouver as voted by their customers. And we're talking cars. How are you doing Bernie?
Bernie: Doing well.
Mark: So today's victim is a 2017 V90 Volvo Cross Country. What was going on with this vehicle?
Bernie: So the vehicle came to our shop for a maintenance service and there was a complaint of a check engine light on. I believe the owner, possibly had the vehicle scanned because he seemed to think one of the oxygen sensors needed to be replaced. So we did our A level maintenance service, which is an oil change and a basic inspection along with a diagnostic to verify his check engine light concern.
Mark: Okay. And what did you find?
Bernie: Well, there was several codes that we retrieved out of the vehicle computer. Three were for the, it's called bank one, B1S2 oxygen sensor, which is bank one sensor two, which is the rear oxygen sensor. So there's a front oxygen sensor, which goes ahead of the catalytic converter.
And then a rear one that goes behind the catalytic converter. And that rear sensor tells the computer is the catalytic converter functioning properly or not. Verifies the function and can adjust fuel trim based on how that sensor is working. There was also an engine misfire code, but we didn't figure that was really relevant at the moment.
Sometimes the vehicle will pick up a little fault and cause a code and might not be relevant. It seemed like the engine was running fine. So we have seen that code and cleared it and you know, something comes back and runs rough. At least we know there's a, an issue in that area.
Mark: So you discover that later on, once you road test the vehicle, after you've repaired it.
Bernie: Yeah, I mean, it ran fine after the repair, so there was really no issue there, and there was no complaint of an engine misfire, it was really just that the check engine light had been on.
Mark: Was there anything else that was indicated in the computer, or that you found?
Bernie: No, that was it, basically but there was several codes related to that sensor, so a lot of times if there's a circuit issue, it'll cause another code because it's not sending the right signal to the computer. So, you know, again, in our diagnostic, it's a matter of interpreting which is the most important code, and which most important bit of information.
Mark: So there's our vehicle. What kind of mileage did it have?
Bernie: Oh, 115,000 kilometres. Yeah. So nice shape. I mean, a beautiful vehicle. I'm always amazed with you know, this is actually true of all newer cars, they just get nicer and nicer every year. The way that the body fits together, the sleekness, the electronics, the seats. Especially Volvos, they've all been nice cars, but they just keep getting more and more sophisticated and better.
Mark: And what's unique about this vehicle?
Bernie: Well, what I think is unique about this vehicle, it's got a two litre four cylinder engine, but it's a supercharged and turbocharged engine. So they're getting the absolute maximum efficiency out of, you know, with an engine add ons to, you know, out of the four cylinder engine. I think it's specs like 316 horsepower, something on this particular model, which is an astounding amount of power for a little four cylinder.
Mark: So there's our engine bay.
Bernie: There's our engine bay covered up. So yeah, not much to see other than a plastic shield. But the engine's underneath. At the back of the engine compartment behind that cover at the very sort of rear, just before the firewall. Yeah. Right where you're moving your pointer. That's where the supercharger is located.
So that sits back there. And then the turbocharger, the exhaust side is underneath that. So it sits basically under that area.
Mark: What do we have here?
Bernie: We have an old and new oxygen sensor. So you can kind of guess which is the old one. It looks a little dirtier and hotter, hotter. Yeah, it's seen some heat and some life than the new one. So there's a, there's a photo of our oxygen sensor we replaced. So on this particular engine, there's two of them. We actually did recommend to the owner to change them both because a lot of times when one fails, the other one may be nearby, but the owner opted to just do the one sensor at the time, which is fair enough. And you know, if the second one fails, you can always get back in there. It's not like you're actually in there and there's a lot of extra money savings to do it at the same time.
Mark: What's the simple story behind an oxygen sensor? What does it do?
Bernie: So basically what it does is it measures the oxygen content in the exhaust. And by knowing the oxygen content, it can tell the air fuel ratio of the exhaust. So for the front sensor, for instance, it wants to keep the air fuel mixture at a certain percentage, sends a signal back to the computer. The computer can make adjustments for that. Then the oxygen sensor rereads. This is all happening like in, you know fractions of a second, computer makes readjustments.
As I mentioned, like on the rear side, it does the same thing. It measures oxygen in the exhaust system, but by measuring that oxygen, it can tell whether the catalytic converter is doing its job efficiently or not. From there you know, it's either an indicator that, hey, the catalytic converter is failed or it can readjust the fuel trim based on how the catalytic converter's operating.
So, you know, in the olden days, and we're going back, like, two, three decades, I guess when they started putting in rear oxygen sensors, they weren't so sophisticated in terms of adjusting fuel trim. But on a modern engine they'll adjust the fuel trim to maximize everything.
Mark: So when we're talking about maximizing, it's maximizing the fuel economy, or limiting the amount of emissions and also increasing the power of output of the vehicle.
Bernie: Yeah, it's taking all three of those things into account. But ultimately, you know, the whole thing of the check engine light system on cars is it's basically a self monitoring emission system. A lot of times you may have a fault with an engine and if it doesn't actually affect your exhaust emissions, it won't actually turn your check engine light on. I mean, a lot of times it will, but most of the time that's the primary function of a check engine light, even though we think it's there for performance diagnosis.
Mark: Yeah. So what's happening here?
Bernie: Yeah. So this is the front torque engine mount. And this is something that we found when we were doing our inspection with the maintenance service. At the top of the arrow, you can see a bit of a tear in the rubber there, that mount was broken and we replaced that as well. So it's a transverse mounted engine. So there's a lot of back and forth flop, a lot of torque, you know, twisting. And this takes up a lot of the brunt of that movement. So over time this mount tears, it's a pretty robust mount actually but it's ripped and torn. So we replaced it.
Mark: 320 horsepower has effects on engine mounts.
Bernie: Yes, it does. And as I said, this is quite robust. Volvo has been doing transverse mounted engines for a long time. So they have some version of this on all of their front wheel slash all wheel drive version cars.
Mark: Is this an all wheel drive?
Bernie: It is, yeah. Cross Country's are all wheel drive.
Mark: Anything else that was unique about this vehicle and the repair?
Bernie: No, I think that's pretty much it. Nice car, you know, overall.
Mark: Yeah. So how are Volvo's for reliability?
Bernie: Well, generally, they're pretty good. I mean, they're a more complex car than some, but yeah they're generally a pretty good, reliable car. They're more complex. There's more things that go wrong, but they still tend to last a long time. Like Volvo's are traditionally known for. So I think, you know, they're very, very well built cars. They're good. You know, one thing about this car, I will say having a turbocharger and a supercharger is, you know, the potential for exceptionally expensive repairs is there because a turbocharger alone is an expensive item and a supercharger is a very expensive item too. So superchargers don't fail very often. I can't remember the last time we replaced one.
Mark: Other than nose cones.
Bernie: Yeah, other than nose cones, which is a kind of accessory to the supercharger, but not a cheap repair, but much cheaper than the actual supercharger itself. So they do tend to last quite a long time.
Mark: There you go. If you're looking for service for your Volvo in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the guys to see are Pawlik Automotive. You can book your appointment online at pawlikautomotive.com. Or you can call them at (604) 327-7112 to book your appointment. You have to book ahead. They're always busy. Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver. Thanks so much for watching and listening. Thanks, Bernie.
Bernie: Thank you, Mark. Thanks for watching.
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