If you have one of those bad Volvo oil leaks where oil is smattered all over the top of the engine in puddlse around the coil packs, and all in and around the timing belt and accessories, then most likely you need to replace the Camshaft seals, and also you most likely have a PCV problem. Cam Seals usually blow because of positive pressure in the upper crank case. This only happens if the PCV air system isn’t working properly. I recommend also checking/replacing your timing belt, crank seal, rear cam seals/covers as well as: Waterpump, pulleys, accessories and serpentine belt as these parts will all be accessed throughout this process.
Related topics for this post are:
replacing the TIMING BELT,
Replacing the WATER PUMP, Replacing the Timing Belt Tensioner,
Serbicing/Replacing the air/PCV System, breather box( oil trap )
Replacing the Intake Manifold gasket,
Replacing fuel line and injector o rings,
Inspecting Cam Sensor,
Replacing rear camshaft bore (a cover for the front rear cam shaft),
Inspecting Replacing the Serpentine Belt and pulleys.
My main focus is on the FRONT CAMSHAFT SEALS under the timing belt and pulleys, so the above list is all just recommended to at least inspect. I replaced most of the above, but that choice is up to you. If you have blown Cam Seals you will have to find the problem in the PCV system, otherwise nothing else beside new seals will need to be replaced unless you want to use the opportunity.
If you're going to be inspecting/replacing your Cam Seals/Timing Belt etc, you'll want to prepare the proper set of tools and at least a minimum of a couple days for the project (unless you're a speedy pro and have helping hands) because you're going to want to clean and inspect each part as you go through it, especially if the parts are saturated in oil. I took about two weeks on this job because I had to eek through the process for the first time, and I had to order the special cam stabilizing tool, as well as all the various parts I decoded to replace as the process unfolded. On my last day of re-assembly where I had everything apart, and all parts in hand, it took me a full 8 hours to put it all back together thoroughly. That’s just an estimate so you book yourself enough time to do the job with realistic patience.
Tools: You will need a special cam stabilizing tool (see picture) to hold the camshafts from the rear in order to remove the timing belt and be sure to not loose position.
The Cam stabilizing tool is important when removing the cam sprocket/Pulleys, because they are on tight, and you don't want to jar or jimmy rig them as you remove them.
You will need a variety of socket sizes, but mostly you'll be dealing with 10mm, 12mm, the ocassional 13mm, 14mm, 17mm, 19mm (lug nuts), 30mm, and a few different sizes of TORX (star shape) bolt/screws: the inner front cam sprocket has a 47-50ish size torx I think, so you'll want a whole set with a larger one on at least a 3/8 break bar to get it loose. You’ll need a flathead screwdriver and or 6mm, 7mm, 8mm sockets on a ¼ extension of a few of the hose clamps because some are in tight odd places.
Process:
Start by disconnecting battery in the trunk.
Begin the repair prep hereafter by jacking up the car, and taking off the front passenger side wheel.
Once the wheel is off, there is a metal plate attatched by two plastic 10mm nuts. Under that you can pull away the wheel well plastic and curl it out of the way around the other side of the brake rotor etc. This will reveal and opening where you can access the harmonic balancer, crank pulley, and also parts of the timing system like the timing belt tensioner and the water pump.
After getting the access window opened behind the passenger side front wheel, you'll want to start to remove the coolant reservoir hoses, and reservoir (expect spillage and prepare for that.) Once the coolant reservoir is removed, the power steering reservoir will be loose. This and the computer box below it will need to be pulled up and bungee corded out of the way. You might have to move them back and forth a few times. Make sure your power steering hoses have good clamps and you shouldn't leak too much through the process of these repairs.
At this point you can access better the whole timing cover and serpentine belt area. I suggest removing the serpentine belt, by identifying the tensioner pulley, and with a 13mm stable wrench pulley it until you can slide the serpentine belt off, and remove it out of the way. Be sure to make a drawing of the serpentine belt pathway, so you don't have to dig through a google image search later when you need to re-attach the serpentine belt on re-assembly
Next remove all the air hoses and turbo hoses on the top of the engine and set them aside. Here you might use a flathead screwdriver to looses the turbo hose clamps, or a 7mm socket. Some of mine were 6mm clamps too, just an FYI. I had an assorment of clamps on this used vehicle, probably as the years went by and different mechanics serviced the vehicle from the past owner. I went ahead and replaced a bunch of these clamps. Its recommended to replace all your hose clamps if you can, because the old ones get greasy, oily, dirty, and will slip when you try to tighten them. Sometimes a leaking hose is only a faulty old clamp!
Next remove Air-Filter Box with filter, and intake plastic tube hose, and detatch electrical. Unbolt the other computer box on driver’s side that was right behind air filter box, to give you more access to the rear cam covers.
Opening up rear Cam Covers (engine, driver’s side):
Take pictures of the air lines and electrical lines going around this side of the engine (driver’s side) and disconnect the air line going by the rear cam cover closest to the cabin. There are a few bolts that hold up the electrical routes going around the engine. Be sure to note these and remove these bolts in order to free up the electrical and all the PCV air lines that you will need to move out of the way, and/or inspect or replace.
There are two cam covers in the rear. The one closest to the cabin of the vehicle protrudes and is metalic, which actually houses the cam position sensor and the senor’s counterpart, a notched piece of metal that the sensor uses, as it spins on the cam. This cover is easy to remove, with two 10mm bolts top and bottom. You can leave the cam sensor in this cover and just lean them aside. One of the cam cover bolts here has a grounding wire on it, which I just swung up onto the chassis and left intact to the side. Once this cover is removed, use a medium depth 10mm socket to looses and pull out the bolt and the cam spinner piece (see picture).
This completes prep for this one cam. Also, you’ll probably want to remove the plastic cover over the coil packs at this point, and the top and front of the timing cover.
Front Cam Cover Removal/Cam Bore (toward front of vehicle, engine rear: driver’s side):
This second forward cam seal just looks like a plastic plug, but its actually a rubberized plastic with a metal structure. Its mostly metal, and mine wasn’t easy to get out. It wasn’t hard, but I had to really pry it, and I scarred the surrounding metal a bit, ruined the plug/bore, and had to buy a replacement. I doubt many people will be able to pry this out without some damage to it. So be prepared to buy a new one. I bought mine at the dealer for $14.10 after tax, which was about the same as eBay. This bore plug is all that’s in front of the cam on this side, so once this one is out, you’ll almost be ready to attach the cam stabilizing tool. (see photo)
You’ll need to get your engine cranked over to line up with the timing marks on your cam sprokets and timing cover so that your cams notches (on the back side) are aligned parallel.
Before attaching your cam tool, go to front side of engine, and with the timing cover off, look at the cam sprockets and notice the little marked lines on each sproket/pulley. Crank the engine until the cam marks are pointing upwards together(note: crank CLOCKWISE and ONLY CLOCKWISE with this engine! A little back is okay, but generally since this is an interference engine the official warning is DO NOT crank this engine backwards or counter clockwise at all.) Place the top timing cover back on (if you removed it) because the top timing cover has marks on it also, and you’ll want to align the cam marks to the timing cover marks (see photo).
The Crank Pulley also has an alignment guide but its not on the pully itself; this guiding part is just above the crank pully. The crank pulley itself has a “line” that alignes to this crank guide line, but its not terribly obvious (see photo). I marked the actual pully to the mark just to be sure, and then I marked the timing belt underneath the pulley with red paint and on both side of the pulley lips, so that when I put in the new belt with the same marks I could be sure it was in the exact same place. Make sure this crank position is aligned as well as the cam marks. Because the crank and cams spin a 1 to 2 ratio to each other. Once these are aligned and the timing belt is painted up, continue to attach the cam stabilizing tool.
Attatch cam stabilizing tool. I had to add a couple washers to each side because the bolts that came with my kit were a bit too long. The alan key bolt in the center of the tool is useful because it allows the tools to bow slightly, as your cams can be tuned in a certain way so that they are not absolutely evenly aligned. Do not worry if your cams notches aren’t exactly straight across. Mine weren’t. That’s what the middle bolt in this tool is good for. Loosen the tool’s middle bolt so that the two sides of this tool is a bit floppy; slide the tool notches into the cam notches, and let the tool bow. Tighten the bolts with the tool into the cams; then tighten the tool’s center bolt to completely stabilize the tool and cams as they sit.
After all this, you are free to remove the old timing belt. However, this engine’s set up isn’t the most straight forward at all, and I suggest you mark the timing belt and sprocket/pulleys with paint. When I bought a new belt for this 99’ S80 T6 it DID NOT COME PRE-MARKED as some vehicles do. I was sure to mark the old belt, keep it in tact (so no cutting) and then match up the new belt and mark the new belt the exact same. (see photo)
Marking the new belt made installation easier. I’m not sure how you’d do it otherwise honestly.
Removing timing belt:
I loosened the bolts on the tensioner to start the removal of the timing belt. Since it’s a hydralic tensioner removal was easy and slow. Tension would just slowly release, and by the time I got both bolts loose and out, the tension was fully erect and the item just came right down and out. By the way, I added a couple pictures here about how to re-use the tensioner so you don’t have to waste your money on a costly Timing Kit, or a single tensioner for $60+ if you can even find one solo.
All I did to re-use the tensioner was to set the tensioner into a bench press with a piece of metal on the tensioner-ram side, so that as you tightened the bench press (slowly, giving time between cranks for the tensioner-ram to go back into its turtle shell)… eventually you will be able to recompress the ram and have the ability to slide a pin back into the holes (as you can see in my photo I used a finish nail.)
Once you have the tensioner removed, you will be able to easily remove the timing belt. Be sure not to move the crank pulley (which isn’t hard, is pretty solid without wrenching it).
Note: When you remove tension from the timing belt, and the belt is removed one of the cam shafts will move slightly. This is normal. It scared me at first, as I wasn’t expecting it. I thought “what is going on? What did I break? I thought I had the camshafts secured with the cam tool!”
The Camshaft sprocket closest to the cabin has some kind of springing tension. When you go to remove the center bolt with your Torx socket, you will notice it spin backwards with you for about 15 to 20 degrees. Do not be alarmed, and continue to remove the outter bolt, Just be sure to mark the second position of this sprocket gear on the timing cover. Do this before removing the inner torx bolt and pulling off the sprocket/pulley. This way you can re-attach this pulley exactly where it came off, with the spring tension right, so that it can go back on the same-reverse way.
The second cam pulley (toward the vehicle’s front) is simple, as you just remove the four bolts holding it onto the cam spline. But note that each bolt hole has a larger-than-bolt-size entry port and is adjustable. So use paint to circle each bolt, and let it dry before removing. This way you can see the silloutette cirlce of where the bolt was, in order to re-attach each bolt in the same position.
Once you have these two Cam Sprocket/Pulleys off, you can easily see the Cam Seals, and if you had this oil leak problem as mentioned by the symptoms, you should see both Cam Seals already popping out of their positions. Mine were almost falling out.
It was therefore very easy to pry them out with a screwdriver, but I didn’t pry at all. It was more like a simple jostle and they slid right off.
Installing new cam seals: Tap in seals gently and evenly. (See Photos)
Instead of finding something to match the cam seal size (as suggested on most repair instructions), I used the old seals right on top of the new seals, and tapped them in this way. This process can be slow going in order to tap them in evenly, but well worth it. You want your new seals to sit comfortably for a long life! At this point you can inspect your old seals. If for some reason you know that your problem is strictly a PCV issue and your seals are still good, one way to tell is that the seals should have a substantial ribbing around the edge, like a belt, and when the seals get old, those ribbed lines will wear down and flatten. Seals are only like $10 each online so I recommend if you’ve come this far, replace them. Lightly coated gear oil around the edges is a good prep to sliding them in. In a normally ventilated engine with a good PCV system, the normal pressure and function of your camshafts will never blow out a seal. In the worst a seal with only slowly leak a dribble of oil if its old.
Once your cam seals are installed, now is a good time to change the water pump, or even re-seal and inspect a water pump that’s at half life. (see photo) the water pump has a pulley in the timing belt system, and is directly under the cabin side camshaft. A few bolts removed and some fresh gasket seal goop is worthy of the extra time to invest.
Now is also a good time to inspect the crankshaft seal. I removed my crankshaft pulley with a bolt/balancer puller kit. Once the pulley front is off you can peer behind the sprocket to see the seal. Mine was good so I left it as it was.
Re-install Timing Belt:
Once you are ready to place timing belt back on, be sure you have your cam gear pulleys re-attached properly. Align the cabin side cam pulley to its spring tensed release position, and crank on the torx bolt clockwise to line in back to the original timing mark on the timing cover, while you slide the timing belt into place as its marked. Slowly get the timing belt to line back up to the notches around the crankshaft pully down below, and the camshaft pulleys up above FIRST. I started with the crank teeth, and then the cam teeth, while turning the spring loaded inner cam last to line in back up and its teeth into the belt. From there I slid the timing belt back onto the water pump, and then installed the hydralic timing tensioner. Be sure to double and triple check all the timing marks and the teeth to be sure its all back in place before releasing the tensioner pin and securing the belt tension back to normal.
From here re-installation is the reverse order of everything you took apart. But I highly recommend you going through the PCV system if you did have a blown cam seal. Because that’s where the problem most likely originated. In my vehicle, I came to find that the PCV system was installed incorrectly (which was part of the reason I picked up this purchase)
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History on my 1999 S80 T6, 151k: I bought this one cheap because the oil leak was paramount and the seller didn’t want to pay to have it fixed, nor take the time to figure it out. His story was that there was a slight front end damage that he fixed, but after that the oil leak occurred.
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Turned out that whomever took apart the engine parts near the front (namely, the intake manifold and all the PCV hoses) they didn’t put it back together right. Two of the main PCV lines coming from the breather box, to the manifold and around to the crankcase on the driver’s side, had been switched. One was where the other was supposed to be.
I’m writing about the details of the PCV and oil trap/breather box because according to many posts and forums, these oil traps get clogged, and other parts of this system need replacing. So I think it sworth covering in detail here, because the disassembly and installation is not obvious and straightforward, from fragile lines, expensive replacement parts, and upside down bolts in weird configurations; you deserve a review here before you jump in there.
In order to get to the OIL TRAP (breather box), you have to remove the fuel injector rail, injectors, and intake manifold in the front of the engine facing the radiator. This whole process is not too hard, but you will benefit from the following tips and pictures. Beside the oil trap box, the PCV system consists of a bundle of air/oil lines going from said box; attached to the intake manifold’s belly, and around to connect again to the engine in two other places. I bought a new kit from IPD (who were very helpful and gave me THE BEST PRICE around by the way! All genuine Volvo Parts.) The kit came with 6 o rings for the fuel injectors (which I didn’t use), one gasket ring for the main fuel line into the injector rail (I didn’t use this either as mine was good), a new intake manifold gasket, a new oil trap breather box with green rubber ring gasket for in to engine port, a new metal ringed engine port plug liner, a new box to engine hose, a new big line main PCV line with three hoses, and four metal/rubber washer for the open hole bolts that attach the big three-way line to the manifold’s belly and the other side of engine. The kit also came with an array of ring clamps. (See Photo) This photo is the old PCV system, but you get the idea.
To remove fuel rail:
Remove fuel rail cover plate (2x 10mm bolts). Detach electronic plugs connected to fuel injectors and bag the metal clips for safe keeping. Unscrew little fuel rail pressure cap and use screwdriver and small cup to release fuel pressure (if any, as there wasn’t much on mine so don’t be alarmed.) Remove fuel rail to manifold screws (2) and pull injectors with rail up and out of injector holes in manifold.
Next you will have to unscrew the screws holding the injectors stable, but also to get the fuel line out of the rail. Once you have this secondary rail brace slid down and unscrewed you can pop out the main fuel line from the rail, and set the rail aside.
With the fuel rail set aside you can start to inspect removal of the intake manifold.
Removing the Intake Manifold:
Accessing and locating the Intake Manifold Bolts is faily straightforward, as these are 10mm bolts, easily seen. The two on the bottom in the middle are “guide bolts” and can be loosened only half way, as the manifold just sits on them; They aren’t in full holes. The manifold bolt on the left side of the intake manifold is the trickiest, because it’s a very tight space, and at a slight angle from your access. You may want a toggle end and an extension, as small as possible.
But before you remove the Intake Manifold you need to unscrew multiple connecting hoses and the oil dipstick. The oil dipstick is attach to the Intake Manifold on the forward left. Its an upside down bolt. You can find it easily. It’s a 12mm.
The breather box/oil trap upper hose is connected to the PCV line which is bolted to the underbelly of the Intake Manifold. WARNING, if you don’t remove this breather box clamp you can easily break the PCV hose which alone costs $200+… so remove the breather box hose clamp with care first! Note: this is the hardest part to get to. You’ll most likely have to remove and install this clamp with a ¼” socket and swivel head on an extension. But depending upon who installed it last, and how its positioned, it can be tricky. I broke my PCV hose getting this out, and I don’t want this to happen to you. Be sure you remove the oil trap/breather box top hose clamp first, then lift the manifold up.
Once the manifold is lifted up (see photo) you can remove the PCV hose assembly. I propped by Manifold up with a piece of bamboo. You can let it sit propped up like this for the rest of the inspection/repair.
I installed a whole new PCV system, so I’ll take you through that process here.
The bolt that holds the PCV hose assembly to the Manifold underbelly is 17mm, and is a hollowed bolt with a passageway. The passageway hole should line up with the air line pathway on re-installation, so pay attention to how this bolt is when you start to remove it. This may be where a problem exists. I found a bunch of oil backed up at this section, because the previous mechanic installed it wrong. Be sure there is a washer on each side of the bolt and not two on one side.
Once you remove the one side of the PCV assembly hoses, follow the lines around to the other side of the engine. One of the three lines went to the turbo assembly up top and will already be floating free. But the other two are connected. One is connected to the driver’s side of engine below and between the rear cam covers. My lines were switched (I don’t know what fool did that last assembly) but if you buy a new kit, you’ll see that one line has a rounded head, where another hollowed bolt and washers is to go. The other hose attaches to a metal welded line that pops off another line that goes around the back of the engine and up to feed the turbo system I believe. That line just attached like a regular air hose with a metal ring clamp.
After removing all lines on the PCV Hose assembly, you can pull that out from under the Intake Manifold and out of the way.
Next to remove the oil trap/breather box, you must actually remove the alternator and the AC clutch from its housing bracket. You must also remove all bolts from the accessory housing bracket in order to get to the oil trap box’s left bolt. Its ridiculous I know. I was cussing a lot when I realized I had to remove all these things just to get to one bolt, but its true, you’ll see for yourself.
You don’t’ need to disassemble any of the power steering. Only one of the alternator bolts attaches to the power steering metal frame. But the lower Alternator bolts are designed into the AC bolts, The same bolts hold both in, and are framed by the metal supporting plate behind them.
So you have to remove all the bolts of the metal housing plate which the AC and ALT attach to.
Start by removing the upper AC bolts (which are also the Alternator bolts, he he), then remove the upper alternator bolt. Detach Alternator Electronics, pull away from assembly, and set Alternator aside.
Remove all AC Clutch/pump assembly bolts, but leave all lines and electronics intact; and let lay against whatever
Working around the loose AC assembly, remove all bolts from the metal housing bracket that theAC and ALT were attached to, and which hides the one Oil Trap Box bolt that you need to get to. I removed all bolts but the lower right bolt, which I just loosened. That way I could just twist and lean the bracket out of the way and leave it in place (see photo)
Removing Air breather Box/Oil Trap:
As you can see, the oil trap box has a couple bolts, 10mm, easy to access NOW, and one hose moving down to the right side of the engine block. Loosen any remaing clamps, and the bolts and pop the box right off. Clean the port holes of the engine block as good as possible, and inspect breather box for build up.
This completes the PCV system inspection. I recommend installing a new PCV system if you’re unsure about any portion of this system. My system was good, but I had to replace the whole kit because I broke pieces taking it out. My problem was that it had been installed wrong. So take note of that if you bring your car home from a shop and all of a sudden you have a major oil leak! Hmmm. The important things to note are condition of breather box buildup/air flow, the hollow bolts and proper washer placement, and correct installation of each hose to its proper location.
Re-assemble in reverse order, and be very careful not to drop any manifold bolts on the install! Use something stick on the bolt head so you don’t drop it back down behind the oil trap.
I hope this not so brief write up helps a few people to either prepare well, or to understand their own car’s anomalies. Feel free to write, respond, ask questions. I’m always happy to banter and exchange.
Be very sure, to correctly install all the air hoses on this vehicle when completely finished. I didn’t tighten a clamp good enough on my main air hose, and this car definitely sucks up the air to work properly.
Otherwise, if you have the cam stabilizer tool, and are tedious about your notes and timing marks, anyone can complete this job with success! I’m not a professionally trained mechanic, and I figured this job out in my own slow time, and the car is back together, successfully test driven and happen again with $550 worth of new parts! LOL. Fun times.
-Zachary 5-2-1013
