98 V70XC - Oil cooler line loose - SOLVED

mindshadow · Post by **mindshadow** » 24 Mar 2014, 07:40

Hey guys. My car did its semi-annual "Let's dump all of the oil in me!" thing last week, and I've been letting it sit while I pout. Turns out that the oil cooler line going into the radiator is loose - real loose. I could move the bolt by hand. So that's good news, because I was convinced that I had blew a cam seal. I hand-tightened it but could not find a wrench or pair of pliers to save my life yesterday, and decided I'd rather grill than make a trip to Harbor Freight.

So my question is pretty simple: Should I be fine to tighten it up real good and call it a day, or is there anything special that needs to be done? Also, is it like the radiator drain plug, in that I need to be real ginger while tightening it, or am I clear to tighten it until it won't turn anymore?

Thanks!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 24 Mar 2014, 11:38

Which bolt are you asking about? The lines at the radiator are a quick connect that is held in place with a spring clip. It is normal for the lines to rotate in the socket.

The only other bolts involved are on the mounting bracket which is located behind the AC compressor and at the oil thermostat which is below the harmonic balancer.

The bolt for the clip that holds the lines in the end of the oil thermostat is a bit of a bear to get a good angle on to tighten it up but those lines shouldn't leak unless the lines are ready to fall out.

Elaborate a bit more.

...Lee

mindshadow · Post by **mindshadow** » 24 Mar 2014, 12:14

It's on the radiator. It definitely is a nut or something that can be tightened and loosened, and it's definitely leaking and I can see about half an inch of threading where it can be tightened.

It's like this, except that the spring clip thing isn't all the way up against the radiator. It must be a part on the radiator side that came loose? You can barely make out that the part right against the radiator is a nut that can be tightened/loosened in that photo. That's what's loose.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 24 Mar 2014, 13:34

On the OEM version of the radiator the oil line socket threads onto the oil cooler and it is very unusual for that socket to come loose. When it starts to get loose the usual result would be a coolant leak rather than an oil leak, at least at first. If the socket has come loose I would gob some RTV at the base of the threads and then tighten it down to a point where it bottoms out snug on the radiator tank. Don't go nuts with torque since the plastic radiator tanks are fairly fragile.

Some of the aftermarket radiators I have used have a slightly different oil cooler line socket setup but on all of them there is at least a nut that secures and seals the cooler at the point where it leaves the radiator tank.

In either case, the socket shouldn't be loose on the threads.

...Lee

mindshadow · Post by **mindshadow** » 24 Mar 2014, 13:47

Right. I'll try to get a picture when I get home, but there are like two nuts - one built into the radiator, which are the threads I'm seeing, and the part that screws over it that the spring clip is connected to. My concern was mostly with over-torquing it, but also I'm not so keen with oil coming out. I have a bit of plumber's silicone somewhere, wonder if it would be detrimental for me to put that on there before tightening things up.

At least it wasn't a cam seal though. The way the oil shot out, I was pretty confident that the cam seal had come loose. In that case it was going to be RIP old friend.

Post by **cn90** » 25 Mar 2014, 08:37

In my 1998 S70 GLT, the oil cooler line uses a clip, which has a THICK and THIN side (very subtle, you have to look closely to see the difference).

The bottom line:
- THICK side goes to rad
- Use a screw-type clamp to snug it in place

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... hp?t=55794

mindshadow · Post by **mindshadow** » 25 Mar 2014, 09:01

Problem solved. I just tightened it up and gave the wagon an oil change with 10w-40. So far so good.