Oil Leak Location? Rear Main Seal? Oil Cooler?

[wheelsup]

Bad and worse news. The dipstick tube has a considerable amount of smoke coming out of it AND I have water/moisture in the oil, dipstick looked like thick cappuccino. I will post a short video later. I think I am screwed, expecting the worse.

You're fine it's not a HG. The condensation builds up on the dipstick and the cooler temps are turning it to water mixing with the oil. Not a big deal.

Ultimately you have positive pressure. After doing a PCV replacement I couldn't relieve my pressure. Instead I took the dipstick off and run a radiator hose from the dipstick to underneath the car. This allows the excess pressure to vent and significantly reduces the oil "consumption" (really blow out). Older cars used to do this but the EPA mandated you burn it so hence why the PCV was created in the first place. Volvo just over engineered it. Way over engineered it. But we're stuck with it. Instead of a quart every 1000 miles with a blown RMS I use a quart every 5000 miles or so. Been this way since 60,000 miles or so. Oil is cheap.

[boosted5cyl]

If you've cleaned/replaced everything in the PCV system, next you need to look at blowby past the piston rings. Leakdown test is a good method. Often the ring packs get a little varnished/coked up and they just need an AutoRX treatment or similar to free them again.

[kickin_it]

I guess first thing is to wash the undercarriage and try to locate leaks and work from there. The PCV system will need to be cleaned at some point due to the fact I have a considerable amount of pressure coming through the dipstick tube. I will try to post a small video of it.

If you listen, you can hear the AC kicking on and off due to the lack of freon in the system.
(Sorry, couldn't figure out how to embed the video into the post. Damn newbie)

[kickin_it]

Anyone have any opinions on the video I posted above? Definitely a dirty PCV system?

[jblackburn]

Yes.

[kickin_it]

Haven't found the exact location of the leaks due to blowing a head gasket. Will post pictures when I have the underbody cleaned up, and ask a few more questions.

[JDS60R]

Yes- your flame trap or oil recovery box is plugged

[rspi]

Notice to all 850/S70/V70 owners. If you do not know the history of your PCV system, replace it. Checking for the smoking dipstick is a good method of checking it, however, mine did NOT smoke and was clogged pretty good. My EGR was clogged and the lower port on my block was 80% clogged. Replace the system ASAP. It is as important as replacing your timing belt.

As for your oil leaks, yes the clogged PCV system is likely the root cause of the leaks and the longer you wait to replace the PCV system the more damage you will likely cause. When you do the PCV system, make sure you read totally though the instructions before you do it try to make sure you clean out the ports real good.

It can be hard to track down leaks. As others have suggested, clean off the motor, put it on ramps and wipe everything down. Take a short drive and put it back on ramps to try to find the leak. If you can't see it, drive some more. A leaking cam seal can have oil trailing all over the motor compartment. The trick is to find the leak before it gets blown all over the place. You could have a steering rack leak. I would suggest that you NOT fix any leaks until you do the PCV system.

[kickin_it]

Good idea rspi, thanks for the help. Unfortunately I believe I am suffering from a head gasket leak now and its hard to drive more than 10-15 minutes. Hopefully enough time to clean and locate leaks.

[whoa]

Why head gasket leak? BTW, a rear main seal leak will get all over the engine, including up by the turbo. There is a window hole in the bell housing back near the passenger axle. The oil gets on the flex plate, which flings it out the hole onto the axle, which flings it up onto the engine. I had oil everywhere and assumed it was something high up like a head gasket, so I had the engine steam-cleaned and was amazed to see that it was all from the rms. Still haven't fixed it, though .