2000, S70, Major Oil Leak

Rbaratt · Post by **Rbaratt** » 04 Oct 2014, 06:31

When I arrived home from work and before I shut off the vehicle I noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. The smoke appeared to originate in the turbo area but I could not see the origin of the leak. I checked the oil level and found that I was barely registering any oil on the dipstick. This was a shock because this vehicle has 62,000 miles and has never consumed any oil between oil changes. I had no indication of low oil or loss of oil pressure. I checked my oil light and it is functioning so hopefully no additional damage has occurred internally. With a flashlight I noted a great deal of oil puddled under the passenger side steering rack/axle area.

Last night I lifted the vehicle, figuring that I would see something obvious, but I did not. Most of the oil seemed to be on the passenger side of the engine and probably blew back and puddled under the area of the steering rack. I am wondering if the problem is a cam seal, even though a leak path from that area isn't real obvious either. The oil in this vehicle is very clean which can make it harder to see the leak path. I am going to pull the belt cover this morning and report back. In the meantime if anyone has any suggestions or tips for locating oil leaks I would appreciate hearing from you.

Post by **abscate** » 04 Oct 2014, 06:43

Cam seal or the biscuit style oil cooler, which sits on the passenger side of the engine, towards the firewall. There are also oil lines running to the turbo which have copper orings to seal worth checking.

Rbaratt · Post by **Rbaratt** » 04 Oct 2014, 08:52

I pulled the timing cover and found evidence of oil. At this point I am not sure whether the cam seals or something else could be responsible for this. I have attached a photo that shows oil behind the cam pulleys. I am surprised that the belt doesn't appear to be saturated but there is definitely oil where it should not be. Not sure of my next step, I may try to run the engine and see if that helps me isolate this.

Rbaratt · Post by **Rbaratt** » 04 Oct 2014, 10:42

I believe that my diagnosis has been completed, with the issue being the front intake cam seal. The seal has dislodged itself and is no longer properly seated. Not sure why this would occur. The vehicle has 62k miles and the first timing belt was done at 40k (due to age).

Any suggestions for the easiest and quickest way to get that pulley out of the way to change the seal? Thoughts or concerns regarding the fact that this has occurred would be appreciated.

Rbaratt · Post by **Rbaratt** » 04 Oct 2014, 12:36

I pressed the seal back into place as best I could. I started the car and did the glove test to check the PCV system. PCV system passed the test pulling the glove inward rather that blowing it up. I was curious and called my local dealer for a price to replace the seals. They quoted me $525 for the seals and mentioned that I should change the belt if it was exposed to the oil...revised estimate is $825 (belt, tensioner and seals). Although the belt was not dripping in oil, I am sure that the belt was exposed to the oil. Are the timing belts really that sensitive to a short term oil exposure?

Post by **abscate** » 04 Oct 2014, 13:22

Probably not, but the part is cheap and causes 2000 usd of engine damage if it fails....if you have more than a year on it I would replace it

Post by **rspi** » 04 Oct 2014, 14:34

If oil got on the belt I would replace it. I would also replace the water pump if it is more than 10 years old.

Rbaratt · Post by **Rbaratt** » 04 Oct 2014, 19:00

Thanks to all for your insight. I am going to start ordering the parts. I had decided to do the seals, belt and tensioner, and skip the water pump because the of the low mileage...but I think I will heed Robert's advice and replace the 14 year old pump. I'm not familiar with this style tensioner, I have only done the 850's with the "grenade" pin. Is this style tensioner easier to deal with?