Oil and Weird powder on Valve Cover

Srini850 · Post by **Srini850** » 21 Apr 2011, 16:45

Hi,

I recently purchased a 1997 Volvo 850R Wagon. The car has 171K miles on it. The car was not in the best condition when I bought it so I was planning on replacing things to get it to Stage 0. It's just been a little too cold to work on it

Well, last night as I was pulling into a parking space at my apartment the car stuttered a little and the RPM dropped to about 500 or so then climbed back up to normal idle. I had to back up the car to try to straighten my parking. When I put it in reverse and gave it a little gas the RPMs dropped again and this time the car stalled.

I tried cranking 3 times and it wouldn't fire up. Then about 5 minutes later when my friend and I tried starting it, the car stumbled to a start after 2 tries but it quickly died again (within 5 seconds). We listened for the fuel pump and that seems to be working.

This morning I took off the spark plug cover and found pools of oil on it. There was also some weird white powder that looks like corrosion on one of the spark plug boots. I have attached a picture.

I am almost certain that the spark plugs are fouled. I haven't taken them out since I want to clean up the cover first so I don't get any of that dirt in the motor. Is the pool of oil caused by a bad PCV? And what is that white stuff on the spark plug boot?

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks the help,

Vishnu

Post by **precopster** » 21 Apr 2011, 16:59

White powder is aluminium corrosion. Quite common if someone has washed the engine without removing the cover. Sand the corrosion out as best you can. Spray it occasionally with WD40. By the way cold climates will attract this corrosion, too.

Use compressed air to clear the powder and dirt before removing the plugs or just clean everything really well with rags.

To check fuel pressure press the shraeder valve at the end of the fuel rail when the engine dies. It should squirt out. If not you either have a faulty fuel relay or faulty pump.

The 42 bolts holding the cam cover on could probably use a re-torque but be careful to tighten no more than 7Nm.

Replace your oil cap seal ( a 70cent item) as this is a common cause of pooling oil in the spark plug area.

To test the PCV system you'll need to run the motor at idle for afew minutes then pull the dipstick to check for excess pressure coming out of the dipstick hole.

Srini850 · Post by **Srini850** » 21 Apr 2011, 17:58

Thank you very much for the quick reply!

I'm cleaning up the cover now. I have rags in there to soak up the oil for the time being. Then once my new plugs come in, I'm going to clean everything up before I even take out the old ones. I decided to do a full tune up on the car so I've got plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor, oil cap seal, and pcv on the way.

So after I clean and replace all of that I should be good to go right?

I want to check the fuel schrader valve. The only problem is the car won't really fire up. Should I just keep trying until it barely starts again? Or just wait until I put in the new parts?

Thanks again for the help

Post by **precopster** » 21 Apr 2011, 18:19

Check the valve after cycling the ignition on and off. There should be enough pressure to squirt some fuel out.

NEVER test the shraeder valve with the engine running.

Srini850 · Post by **Srini850** » 21 Apr 2011, 18:55

Gotcha. Thanks

Srini850 · Post by **Srini850** » 23 Apr 2011, 15:55

Sorry I haven't given an update about the fuel. It has rained here for the past 2 days so I couldn't check it.

Anyway, I checked the fuel with the schrader valve. I let the fuel pump prime for about 20 seconds in position II then shut it off to check the valve. When I pressed on the valve, it immediately shot a pretty good amount of fuel. So I guess my fuel system is okay.

I'm just waiting on my tune up parts. I'll clean everything up and install the parts. Hopefully she'll fire up after that.

Post by **precopster** » 23 Apr 2011, 16:47

The ignition can be on or off as long as the motor isn't running. The fuel pump switches off after two seconds if the ECU doesn't get a signal from the cam or crank sensor.

Looks as though the items may bring it to life, fingers crossed. If not keep us posted as there may be some more diagnostics to do.

Srini850 · Post by **Srini850** » 23 Apr 2011, 23:20

Will do! Thanks again for the help.

VolvoTurbo850 · Post by **VolvoTurbo850** » 24 Apr 2011, 07:18

I read somewhere that you can use aluminum foil (wrapped in a ball) to rub the valve cover on these things as a cheap and not damaging way to shine them up. One has to first remove the excess oil and dirt before attempting.

I tried it and it works.

Srini850 · Post by **Srini850** » 24 Apr 2011, 15:50

Oh really? I'll have to try it. I'm all for getting that thing shining again. It just looks disgusting now