Rear seals leaking: how much pain am I in for?

[taupehat]

Noticed a new puddle of oil under the car and pulled all the crap off the top of the motor. Looks like it's all here:


Actually, looking at the cap told the story even better. This cap is about a month old. Dammit.


The good news is I'm not seeing much oil anywhere else. The front of the engine looks nice, the timing belt is dry (and some kind soul renewed the water pump while also putting day-glo marks on the pullys), the top of the motor only has oil from before I replaced the filler cap.

My questions: are there any "gotchas" to this job? It looks pretty straightforward in the Haynes book and in the motor itself, but as someone who got handed a water pump R&R on an old 760 V6 - as a joke, thanks ex-boss - I've learned never to trust the easy-looking jobs. (If you've never seen the water pump on those, they're right on the front of the motor, four 10mm bolts, couldn't be simpler - until you find the 24-inch pipe welded to the back that goes all the way to the back of the motor. It ended up being easier to take the intake manifold off)

Also, while I'm down in that part of the motor, does anyone have recommendations as to other things I ought to get around to?

[rspi]

Easy.

http://atthetipwebs.com/technologyinstr ... s70glt.htm

[cn90]

You are lucky this is not RMS!

Anyway, Rear Cam seal is very very easy as rspi said above.

Another DIY I wrote last year using SKF Seal 11809.

I bought the SKF 11809 Seals from local SKF dealer (semi-truck parts dealer): $6.50/each = $13.00 total.
NAPA autoparts also sells this SKF 11809 seal for $9.50/each.

Here you go:

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=50752

[abscate]

I would rinse that cap out with degreaser or solvent, dry thoroughly, then dremel the connectors as clean as a whistle and reuse it.

[erikv11]

...
Also, while I'm down in that part of the motor, does anyone have recommendations as to other things I ought to get around to?

Vacuum lines - any rubber lines that are squishy from the oil leak or cracked from being old, etc.
How is the lower radiator hose?

[wheelsup]

My lower radiator hose failed due to oil on it. I was lucky and it did not result in a blown headgasket. Erik's suggestion is a good one.

[taupehat]

Got it done. Thanks greatly to everyone who replied.

It's always nice when a diagnosis proves correct - the intake seal fell out when I removed the cover plate. A few notes on the job:

• It was indeed easy, with one notable exception (see below). I really appreciate the link rspi put up for one reason in particular: I didn't have to guess what size Torx bit to buy.
• The exhaust seal was tight but replaced on general principle. Somewhat horrifyingly, it appears that some sort of shellac was used to hold it in place. Was this a Volvo factory trick, or am I going to be replacing that seal again soon?
• I had to get this done before threatened rain (in June, in California, WTF? I want a refund!) so didn't get a chance to replace any hoses. The radiator hose looks OK - I caught this leak within a week or two so it didn't have a chance to seriously degrade that hose.
• One set of hoses that really wants my attention going forward are the three attached to some sensor that hangs off the air box - what is that thing? Anyhow, those hoses have the consistency of Play Doh.
• They sure crammed a lot of random crap into that small area above the bell housing. Plastic hoses, rubber hoses, wiring bits... it's like Volvo turned that part of the job over to the team that did vacuum hose routing for Dodge back in about 1981 - "just cram it all in there, so long as it don't leak everybody's happy." It's going to take some time to sort through all that mess.
• The word "CODE" is not my friend. Did they really think somebody was going to steal factory cassette players, even back in 1998? "Yo, man, check out my trick double-din VOLVO TAPE PLAYER!" Yeah, right. That and the fact that I am frequently on call and need a hands-free device has just bumped a car stereo replacement to the front of the line on things to do with this car. Ordinarily I take a dim view toward tricking out a beater car with fancy stereo components, but I need something that works.

It looks like I will be doing a PCV overhaul as soon as I can line up some shop space, and my plan will be to renew radiator and vacuum hoses at that time. The car runs well enough for now and it's not showing overpressure - the balloon test on the dipstick tube was good - but it's got 151k on it and is no doubt time. The reason I blew the seal was raw stupidity on my part: I wanted to add some Marvell Miracle Oil to the crankcase and was too lazy to drain some oil out first. Super-dumb, got to spend my Sunday under the hood for that.

[whoa]

I'm not sure I understand why extra oil in the engine would cause a cam seal to blow.

Three-hose dealie = turbo control valve? http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... php?t=6941

Also, any dealer can tell you your radio code. But yeah, bluetooth is nice to have.

[matthew1]

A fresh TCV and vacuum lines will do wonders for boost. I put in a fresh TCV and new, strong Gates vacuum lines a little over two years ago.

[matthew1]

Going to put a fresh CBV on my 15G in the next week or so. I've had the part for a while, it's iPD part# 114437 Heavy Duty Compressor Bypass Valve.



Now is a good time to pick one up, $10 off till next Sunday.