98 V70 non turbo oil leak

Post by **98v70dad** » 18 Dec 2014, 06:09

My car has about 130,000 miles on it. About 3 weeks ago the radiator catistrophically died on me and I replaced it with an OEM radiator from Volvo. The dealer initially ordered me the wrong one so when the right one finally came in he gave me a pretty good deal on it whicjh made me happy!.

Anyhow .... I had no oil leaks before the radiator replacement. Now I have a leak that is really making a mess on my driveway although it is not bad enough to drop the oil level very quickly. I estimate it at about a few table spoons every day. The leak is not coming from either of the two hoses that plug into the radiator. It seems to be dripping off of the side to side frame rail behind the engine (near the firewall). I just started troubleshooting this in the dark this morning. Oil is easy to track in the dark with a flashlight due to the reflection.

I'm wondering if there are any high probability leak location candidates that I should check? The reason I mentioned the radiator is that I had to remove those two hoses from the radiator and pull them back out of the way. I'm wondering if that may have cracked the rubber in the hoses somewhere. I'll look under the hood when I get home, but any ideas on where to focus my search would help me.

The oil leak appearing right after the radiator replacement may just be a coincidence or it may just be the car getting back at me in a passive agressive way. Every time I fix something it runs a week or two without problems and then something else pops up.

Post by **erikv11** » 18 Dec 2014, 07:22

Those two hoses that plug into the radiator are transmission fluid cooler lines, so if the leak comes from those then the fluid will be slightly pinkish, can you tell the color?

The trans cooler lines can leak but that is uncommon except for at the connectors to the radiator. So check them well but I suspect the source is elsewhere, and just showing now by coincidence. Some common things to check are a power steering leak (leak will be worst at the rack, either where the lines plug in or at the boots, and again will be pinkish), rear cam seals (leak will start up high), trans fluid leak at the axle seal (leak will start where the drivers side axle inserts into the trans).

For sure you want to also inspect from under the car, getting it up on ramps is a good way. You may have to clean it up well then check back the next day, there may be oil/fluid everywhere.

Post by **98v70dad** » 18 Dec 2014, 08:48

Well, its an old car that I bought used and I have never changed the tranny fluid. I am planning to do it this Spring. That said, for every other car I have ever changed a radiator in those were transmission lines but the fluid is/was so dark I just figured it was oil. I didn't check it out any further.

The fluid smells like oil but when I swapped out the radiator it really didn't matter what lines I was disturbing. I figured that if the levels of both the oil and tranny fluid were OK when I was done then end of story. I was pretty carefiul and didn't spil more than a few table spoons worth of fluid. BUT then the leaking started and I just assumed those were oil lines. I should have researched that a little better before posting. Thanks for correcting me. That partly explains why my oil level is OK. I usually overfill the oil level (half a quart) a little bit because my daughter drives this car and she never checks it and it burns/leaks just a little bit of oil

I have already checked the tranny line attach points at the radiator and they are dry as a bone all around the location and below and behind it so I concluded that those places aren't leaking.

The wet fluid that I see is on a lateral rail behind the engine. It is actually dripping onto the rail on the passenger side and running downhill (driveway slopes right to left) and falling onto the driveway on the drivers side. I am not super familiar with this car but that is the usual general location of the oil pump on most cars I've owned. This car is due a timing belt change soon and its possible/probable that the car has the original oil pump. So maybe its that ... don't know. From a first look though it appears that the source of the leak is on the passenger side on the back side of the engine area. Leaks are a pain to run down...I've done it many times in the past on cars I've owned over the years

I am going to put it up on ramps Saturday and give it a thorough going over. I just thought it would be good to start out with a bit of a clue.

Post by **cn90** » 18 Dec 2014, 09:28

Post some photos so we can help you...

Post by **98v70dad** » 18 Dec 2014, 10:15

Car is at home. I am at work 50 miles away.

Post by **98v70dad** » 19 Dec 2014, 05:59

erikv11 wrote:Those two hoses that plug into the radiator are transmission fluid cooler lines, so if the leak comes from those then the fluid will be slightly pinkish, can you tell the color?

The trans cooler lines can leak but that is uncommon except for at the connectors to the radiator. So check them well but I suspect the source is elsewhere, and just showing now by coincidence. Some common things to check are a power steering leak (leak will be worst at the rack, either where the lines plug in or at the boots, and again will be pinkish), rear cam seals (leak will start up high), trans fluid leak at the axle seal (leak will start where the drivers side axle inserts into the trans).

For sure you want to also inspect from under the car, getting it up on ramps is a good way. You may have to clean it up well then check back the next day, there may be oil/fluid everywhere.

Last night I got a chance to look under the hood. I noticed that right where the radiator hose connects the engine block (drivers side) is generously covered in what looks and smells and feels like oil. The fluid is on the top side of the hose. The fluid is not coolant or at least I don't think it is. I looked above that location and the first thing I noted is a round black disk with a wire coming out of it that appears to penetrate the engine block so there may an O-ring in that ... don't know. I don't know what that disk is and I couldn't find my haynes manual last night. My Camry had the distributor cap in that same location and it leaked oil like crazy until I changed the O-ring on it. That said I didn't see any tracks of oil around it. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow. Looking at the situation in the daylight may help me trace the location, but any ideas will help. Thanks.

The car needs to have the PCV system redone. Right now I have the dipstick pulled out a bit so that it vents. This is a temporary repair until I have a full day to spend doing that project.

Post by **erikv11** » 19 Dec 2014, 08:08

Yeah, post up a pic is a good idea. You;re on the right track to suspect a clogged PCV is involved, e.g. maybe the rear cam seal (under the distributor cap) is pushed out.

Post by **shaker_chi** » 19 Dec 2014, 12:49

Put some white cardboard under your car next time you park it for the night. That should make it clear if it's an oil or transmission leak.

Post by **98v70dad** » 20 Dec 2014, 08:34

erikv11 wrote:Yeah, post up a pic is a good idea. You;re on the right track to suspect a clogged PCV is involved, e.g. maybe the rear cam seal (under the distributor cap) is pushed out.

I got a chance to look at this closely last evening before it got dark and its pretty obvious that its leaking from both rear cam seals since there is oil coming out of the weep holes of both (one is leaking a little and the other is leaking A LOT).

I'm thinking of replacing these today since it looks like a fairly easy job. To deal with the plugged PCV system my temporary repair plan is to drill a hole in the oil cap and jb weld in a hose barb so I can attach some tubing and a catch bottle somewhere. I will also pull the dipstick a little. This should give me a vent high and low. In a week or two when I get time I'll do a full PCV system replacement.

Do you think this plan will get me through a few weeks?

Post by **cn90** » 20 Dec 2014, 08:47

Yes...

Pull the dipstick up a few mm and leave it there. If the oil leak stops, then you made the diagnosis.

I wrote the DIY for rear cam seals using SKF seal.

Also search for thread with heater hose PCV mod.