Oil Pan Job... How bad?

[adk793]

Yeah, thats the really annoying part of this problem, which is common for these cars. It was the first thing that went wrong on my V70 XC when i got it. Its upsetting that it costs $500 to replace a $50 part. Though i had this done for $450 in San Francisco. I would have a shop do this as you have to jack up the engine, in some cases move the powersteering lines and subframe, etc. Also with a job like the engine, oil pan and sealent, i would leave this up to a mechanic despite the money. Also, are you getting a low oil pressure light? My issue started with the bubbles on the dipstick, and ended with the oil pressure light turning on when the car idles when it was warm, and it got worse and worse, etc. If this happens, shift to neutral and keep it revved up/oil pressure high to avoid permanent engine damage which may eventually occur.

[FlyingVolvo]

My only symptoms for now are the slight lifter noise when starting the car, accompanied by the oil light that will stay on for maybe 1 second, and the oil dipstick bubbles. I know the oil light being on for a second is not too out-of-the-ordinary, but it does it even with the engine hot which bugs me. It has never lit up during normal operation or idling.

I don't understand why the engine needs to be jacked up. I realize the sealant is tricky, but it seems to be rather straightforward. Your post isn't making me happy about it like the others!

[adk793]

Sorry about that! well yeah, thats the truth about it, the engine needs to be jacked up when the oil pan is removed. Also, for this kind of job, only a good mechanic or dealer would seal it to the closest to manufacturer standards, if you get what i mean.
In my chilton's volvo repair manual, here is what it says about removing the oil pan for the 2.4L 5 cyl engines:::
In bold it says, "This procedure is performed with the engine jacked up or removed from the car." Then it says for installation: clean, coat a new oil passage o-rings with engine oul and install them in the block, apply gasket sealant to the engine block, install the oil pan and pan bolts, tighten the pan bolts in a crisscross patern to 12 ft. lbs, install the oil filter.

However for other engines, jacking up the engine is not written, so you may just be out of luck. That is why this job is so costy in labor. It is not too hard to drain the oil and remove the pan then reattach it, but theres a lot of other stuff involved.

[FlyingVolvo]

Well, I'm gonna take a look at it when I get a chance and really try and see where I could run into issues. I'll also wait for others to chime in still. I don't see how jacking up the engine would help at all here, but I know sometimes the XCs are quite different. Thanks for the info though!

[JRL]

I wouldn't.
First I would SEAFOAM the car, then...
Change the oil and add a good additrie such as Lucas engine/valve treatment.

The lack of an oil light at idle suggests that your problem may not be as bad as you think
and going thru all this may not be the answer

[cn90]

$1M question on Anaerobic Gasket, what is the difference between Volvo OEM Gasket ($29) vs "Reinzosil" stuff ($9.95)?

Vovlo OEM stuff:
http://www.ipdusa.com/version.asp?strPa ... &V_ID=9926



"Reinzosil":
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/produc ... rm=1161059

[FlyingVolvo]

I wouldn't.
First I would SEAFOAM the car, then...
Change the oil and add a good additrie such as Lucas engine/valve treatment.

The lack of an oil light at idle suggests that your problem may not be as bad as you think
and going thru all this may not be the answer

Is there any validity then to the "bubbles on the dipstick" claim that some people make?

This car has always been well maintained in respect to oil changes. "Worst" run ever was 7500 on semi-synthetic, but that was a long time ago. The last 30,000 miles or so have been high quality stuff with OEM filter at appropriate intervals. Also, Lucas is nothing special. It's basically just a very heavy weight oil that might help someone who is burning a lot of it. A good oil doesn't need Lucas. All it does is thicken, and if you need that, use a heavier weight (10W-40 or something).

Basically, my whole reasoning behind this, is if this is the o-ring issue in it's early stages, then I'd like to take care of it now before it becomes a real issue. All that is stopping me is the confusion over if it's a much more difficult on a 2000 V70XC than a 2000 V70.

[jblackburn]

I have no idea about the bubbles, the main thing I noticed was the valves making a lot of noise at idling/under 2000 RPM.

I never saw an oil light, I just didn't like the noises it was making.

I can't tell you whether the XC is different from the rest of 'em, though. I wouldn't think so...the oil pan is on the right; the transmission on the left, so nothing else should be in the way.

[FlyingVolvo]

I don't think my car's o-rings are totally shot, but I'm the type of person who likes nailing something like this before it becomes a big problem.

I need to stop being lazy and crawl under the car sometime....

[adk793]

Here's the procedure; if you do a search on this forum and also Volvospeed.com you can get additional information.

Here was my parts list:

• 8648358-3 oil pan o-ring kit $16.52 includes 2 pan-to-block o-rings, the pickup tube o-ring, and the dipstick tube o-ring, plus extras not needed.
• 1366791-0 rectangular o-ring for pan cap w/o oil cooler $5.10.
• 949658-9 oil level sensor o-ring $3.71 '93 models only.
• 1161059-9 liquid gasket material $21.42
• Small roller to apply gasket material
• Permatex spray gasket remover to remove old gasket
• Cable tie to hold power steering line to dipstick tube.
• Oil and filter
• Brake parts cleaner
• New razor blade
• Loctite threadlocker – blue

I have a '93 850 so it's a non-turbo and has an oil level sensor in the front of the pan so many people will skip the oil sensor step and add steps to disconnect the oil cooler lines. Since I didn't have the oil cooler, I figured there was no need to remove the passenger side wheel so I put the car on ramps for the work. I was successful but it may be best to use jack stands. With an oil cooler, the jack stands will be mandatory since you will need to disconnect the lines through the passenger side wheel well.

2. Put it up on the ramps, drained the oil and removed the filter. It drained and cooled overnight to make things easier.

3. Underneath, the pan can fit through the subframe but it's a tight fit. The passenger side overlaps the subframe about an inch and the driver side has the power steering lines running underneath. The only way out will be to tip the pan on the driver side below the transaxle to slide it out from above the subframe on the passenger side.

Here are two of the uncomfortable aspects of the job:
The large tab of metal sticking out from the passenger side of subframe toward the pan will need to be bent downward at about 30-45 degrees. It's a soft metal and won''t crack. The power steering lines will need to be bent over far enough that the pan can drop straight down on the driver side. Taking a prybar to rigid metal lines also was not fun for me – but it worked. The alternative is jacking the engine and removing the subframe.

4. I had put the car on jack stands, so I could pull the passenger front wheel, so I could take the cap off the passenger end of the oil pan, it just might have given me enough room to avoid having to bend the metal tab on the subframe.

5. The oil level sensor is disconnected by squeezing the wire on top of the connector and pulling the connector straight off the sensor. Removing the two 10mm screws allows the sensor to pop straight out of the pan including about 5 inches of float and switch.

6. The oil dipstick tube is removed from underneath by a 12mm socket on many extensions. Cut the tie wrap and pull the tube out the top.

7. Remove all the brackets that hold the power steering lines using a Torx T-25 and 12mm sockets. The difficult one to reach at the very front should be last so you can pull the lines down to unscrew the clamp. Remember to re-install this one first.

8. Use a short bungie cord looped around the driver side frame and hook both ends on the power steering lines. Pry the lines toward the transaxle so the pan has enough room to drop straight down. There are brake lines back there so watch where your pry bar rests.

9. Remove the thirty or so bolts that hold on the pan. I went around and broke them all free and then removed them all but 4 until I was ready to catch the pan. I noticed there were different lengths so I laid out each bolt into roughly the pattern on the pan to keep them straight. What I found is that the lengths are obvious and not easily mixed up. Along the front and back are all short, the driver side is the longest, the passenger side is medium. Note one bolt near the oil filter mount – it was sealed with some RTV. On reassembly this bolt should be sealed again.

10. Remove the last 4 bolts and hit the drain plug with a soft hammer to break the pan free. You've now crossed the point of no return. At this point I found that the power steering lines needed to be moved over even more and the subframe tab needed to be bent to get the pan out.

11. With the pan out you'll see the 2 o-rings on the block on the passenger side. Mine were probably original and green colored – the replacements were black. Two 10mm bolts hold the pickup tube to the block. Have the oil catch pan ready for a couple ounces of oil when you break the seal. My dipstick tube and pickup tube original o-rings were red – the replacements were green.

12. Before you reinstall the pickup tube, clean the block mating surface, with the spray gasket remover. I used a piece of cardboard to minimize overspray around the engine. Wait a few minutes and gently, without scratching, just use the razor blade to gather up the dissolved gasket.

13. Clean the oil pan gasket surface with the same spray and gather technique. One interesting note is how much oil was left after allowing it to drain overnight. You'll see the pan is filled with many horizontal and vertical baffles so you should be aware of particles dropping down into the pan where you can't see them. I ended up washing out the pan with brake parts cleaner and leaving it tipped on end to dry out.

14. Remove and replace the end cap with a new o-ring on the passenger side of the oil pan. Mine had loctite on the 10mm bolts when I removed it so it got new loctite when I reinstalled.

15. Reattach the pickup tube – rub some clean oil on the o-ring before insertion.

16. Practice installing the pan. Find a couple of the right screws, and how you will hold them. Be sure there is enough room to leave the layer of sealant undisturbed. If the rigid plastic vacuum line on the passenger side is in the way, it can be disconnected at the rubber coupling back where the floorpan of the car begins.

17. On the block, the two thin black o-rings can be held in place with little dabs of the liquid gasket (bright neon pink – not what I expected). Be sure the mating surface is clean and dry with no dirt or dried gasket. I found the walls inside the block for cylinder 4 and 5 kept dribbling oil onto the mating face. I had to wipe up into the block cavity to give myself 10 clean minutes. Paint the pan mating surface with the liquid gasket – just a thin even coat.

18. I installed a couple bolts finger tight on opposite corners to hold the pan and then went around and installed them all finger tight. Then I tightened the 2 big 14mm pan-to-trans bolts to be sure the pan was all the way over, and loosened them again. I went around the pan lightly snugging the bolts from the center outward and then final tightening them again in the same order. I tightened the big 14mm bolts and then just checked around the pan in order to verify the 10mm bolts were still all tight. Maybe I'm nuts but I don't want to do this again for a leak. Last, the bolt near the oil filter mount that had RTV, I removed it dipped on some liquid gasket and reinstalled it.

19. Install the oil dipstick tube with a new oiled o-ring. The power steering hoses up top pass between the intake and the dipstick tube.

20. Install the oil level sensor with a new oiled o-ring. It's a tight fit at an awkward angle so you can use the 2 bolts to press it in but be sure you tighten each side a little at a time to press it in evenly. I used loctite on the bolts since they originally had some. The connector just presses on.

21. Remove the bungie cord and reinstall the power steering lines in their brackets. Install the difficult to reach one up front first. Note that the screw can be started a few turns into the nut and the bracket can still be slid onto the metal lines. That will save you trying to fish the nut around back and start the thread. Bend the lines back and tweak them to get all the brackets to bolt up again.

22. Bend the subframe tab back. Watch where you swing that hammer.

23. Put a cable tie around the dipstick tube and power steering rubber line.

24. Tighten the pan drain bolt, install the oil filter, and fill with oil.

25. The car can be started right away since the sealant dries in a few minutes when the parts are put together and no oxygen can reach the sealant.

This is from another post about this issue. The reason for jacking the engine is described in step 3, but i guess you can go around that step.
Hope that helps