1999 V70 Oil trap and major leak

zandrew · Post by **zandrew** » 09 Oct 2014, 12:30

Hi this is my first pot and I am sure I am jumping into the deep end of the pool. This is not my car but my Father In laws and I would like to help to resolve the ongoing issues. I am fairly confident this is a oil trap issue that has mutated into a major leak. My guess is the cam seals due to it location but before diving into I would love to have some other ideas or possible ways to test. The car is 1999 Volvo V70 2.4 turbo AWD with right at 190xxx miles.

He bought this car off a fellow that worked on cars and sadly I believe this was over his head. He would drive the car and everything was fine (minus rear driveshaft but it has been removed). Then literally out of nowhere it sprung a major leak. You can literally see it dripping to the ground and it appears to be on the driver side front corner. It literally let go and lost about 3 quarts in less then 30 minutes. New oil was put into the car and the same issue. I tried putting a balloon over the dip sick filler but it does not blow up. I am guessing that since it has the major leak that it will not due to the leak and it allowing the excess pressure to vent. I pulled the plastic cover off the top of the engine and between the valve cover caps it is full of oil. I cleaned the oil out and now it does not return but it still leaks like Valdez.

Please throw me some assistance, ideas, tidbits, etc that can get him back in his car and enjoying.

zandrew · Post by **zandrew** » 09 Oct 2014, 19:05

The leak is at the rear driver side corner, not the front. I have hecked the turbo itself and there is no leak on or around it. Please guys, really need to resolve this.

The other question to add is does the parts need replaced or can you clean them? Also I believe the car is a 2.5 turbo if it makes a difference. I do know the cars head is very unlike any other car I have ever seen. I have never seen an engine without cam caps or a cam cover in the general sense of cam cover.

Post by **erikv11** » 09 Oct 2014, 21:51

Pop off the cam position sensor (CPS) so you can eyeball the rear cam seal on that exhaust cam. You may need to pull the airbox for easier access but you want to get a look under the CPS, because it sounds like the cam seal is blown out. You can clean up the cam seal well to remove oil from its outer circumference, and clean the metal installation surfaces in the head and cam cover, and put the old one back in for now. But you will want to get new ones, might as well do both rears as those are the easy ones (and most common to pop).

Once you replace/reseat the cam seal, do that glove test again. You have the right idea there. It may be time for a full PCV job (oil trap job), as you suggested in your first post.

Post by **abscate** » 09 Oct 2014, 22:51

Replacing the trap and PCV are a little more complex on a 1999 than earlier models as the trap is coolant water- warmed to keep it from plugging.

The other possibility is a rear main seal has gone which means the transmission has to come out.

Post by **erikv11** » 09 Oct 2014, 23:15

Hmmm, I read it as drivers corner near the firewall, in looking over the OP I see that is probably wrong. So maybe the first order of business should be: "Where does the oil come from?"

One nice thing about checking the cam seals, they are either in or not.

zandrew · Post by **zandrew** » 10 Oct 2014, 10:16

I was wrong its actually a 98 and not a 99. I was thinking cam seals and where the PCV system is clogged it created excess pressure and blew those. I don't think its the main seals since the oil is not coing from that vicinity.

I guess I should start with the cam seals and cleaning out the box and go from there.

Thanks and I will update.

Post by **erikv11** » 10 Oct 2014, 16:59

Don't just clean out the box, the box itself is rarely the problem. Biggest clog problem areas are the hoses and the drain port back into the block.

Post by **mikealder** » 12 Oct 2014, 03:26

Best way I have found for checking the oil drain return port is clear after cleaning it out is to attach a length of 5/8" diameter heater hose to the port in the engine block where the PCV tank connects to and try to blow through the hose.
If you hear bubbling from the oil in the sump all is well and the port is clear, if you can't blow through it the port requires further work to clean it out (the oil drain port is the lower of the two ports on the front face of the engine where the PCV tank connects to ) - Mike