1998 V70 T5, Check engine light is on with no codes

[Ozark Lee]

Although I think it is possible to replace the lines without removing the thermostat I wind up removing it anyway. The way the lower, metal portions, of the lines snakes around stuff it makes it very difficult to insert the lines in the sockets without the thermostat being free to articulate along with the lines to get everything lined up. The lines have to be perfectly aligned to slide into the sockets on the thermostat.

I have a spare rectangular O ring seal around anytime I mess with the thermostat but I haven't had good luck trying to replace it. The sealing channel in the thermostat isn't really rectangular like the replacement rubber seal and it loops around the bolt holes. The replacement seal really wants to retain its original shape and it tries top pop out of the groove as you are re-installing the thermostat. Thus far I have been lucky and I have been able to reuse the old seal with no leaks as a result.

The radiator end is easy. Just cut the zip tie and then pry of the retainer collar. I use snap ring pliers to spread the collar and slide it off of the back. Although it isn't that obvious there is a front and a back on the collar so note the subtle differences in the size of the grooves and their distance from the end as you remove the collar. Once the collar is off the line just effortlessly slides out of its socket on the radiator.

From the factory they just rely on the collar holding its shape to remain secure. I always put on either a zip tie or a hose clamp to make sure it stays in place.

...Lee

[shawnmacananny]

I'll be replacing the oil lines this weekend hopefully, thank you for the pointers! I just pulled the car back into the garage, it appears both oil lines are leaking. I'm positive they are leaking. I did notice the oil leak is still at the back of the motor, its definitely not coming from the 3 plates i replaced the gaskets on, i cant tell if its coming from the oil return line, i wouldnt expect that much oil to be coming from there especially with all that horrible three bond around it haha. There is oil on the bottom of the exhaust manifold too, like it was sprayed up there, i dont see the turn return line having enough force to spray oil up that high, what else could be causin that? I am going to replace the oil return line seal this weekend as well. I only used the 3 bond temporarily to see if it would help seal it at all.

[shawnmacananny]

Maybe it is the rear camshaft seal? I will pull it apart and look at it, i dont think its the rear main only because the flexplate is dry and the oil isnt coming out of the weep hole. Its around the hold but not coming from it. it looks much worse since i sprayed the turbo line down with kano for later removal, I will look to wash all of this down once i get done with the work this weekend. When i took the engine apart the rear cam seal was unseated, so it's been a pretty heavy leak as long as whoever owned it before drove the car, i would think the cam seal popping out hopefully protected the rear main.

[Ozark Lee]

The oil return line is the "usual suspect" in that area but from your pictures I'm not so sure. The upper gasket at the flange on the turbo generally leaks first the O ring at the socket on the block is always replaced along with it. I'm not sure where that oil is coming from since it really hasn't collected and formed the typical drop on the bottom of the cold side of the turbo housing. The lack of the droplet almost suggests that the oil was coming from below rather than from above but it really doesn't look like it came from the return line O ring.

It may be one of those things where you just have to slay one dragon at a time until you kill the whole flight.

...Lee

[shawnmacananny]

There was some play in the tube going in to the block before i tried to seal it, is it a submerged conection inside though? I wouldnt think that much oil could come out. I did push back on that turbo pretty hard to get the exhaust manifold out, so i wouldnt be surprised if it damaged it.

I will get the new oil return line gaskets on, new oil cooler lines, new dipstick/tube/oring, and check the rear cam seal, then i'll wash it all down with some engine degreaser and see what is still leaking. I dont think its the transmission, its definitely brown oil, the trans fluid is still mostly red. I'll eventually be changing that out a few times to try to clean it up some but its not brown or anything.

[Ozark Lee]

There is a fair amount of slop in the bottom oil return line connection but the O ring is a wide ring rather than a standard O ring. It surprised me the first time I replaced one at how it never felt like a real positive connection where you could "feel" the seal.

...Lee

[shawnmacananny]

I got everything finished up tonight, took about 4-5 hours to replace both oil cooler lines, the dipstick, the turbo return line, and the passenger side lower control arm (bushings were bad). I gotta say that little bolt for the oil cooler lines was such a pain haha. I got the brackets together (the Doorman lines have two brackets throguh the same bolt) had to take it back off and grind the corner off to clear the arlernater, then the hoses required some finesse to fit into the oil thermostat with it removed so i left the brack bolt loose. Once i got them in and bolted the thermostat to the block i went to tighten it down and realized i must have grabbed the wrong bolt some how, it was just one size smaller so it wouldnt tighten down. I just left it, it doesnt look like those lines are going anywhere, its holding them tight for now. I made sure the thermostat was as spotless as possible and electrical taped caps over lines to fish them around. I also hose clamped the clips as suggested.

When i removed the turbo return line, half of the pan o-ring was missing, you can see by where the threebond 1184 seeped through. There was no gasket at all between the oil return line and the turbo. Is that normal form the factory? This car has 240k miles, maybe someone has replaced the turbo since then and forgot to put it back in? I ued some threebond to attach the gasket to the oil return line, and some more to attach the o-ring to the oil thermostat. I drove it around for about 20 minutes. There was no oil at the font of the car, and the oil pan was dry. I didnt jack it back up to look at it yet, but i am hopeful. Before oil was puddling at th front just idling.

I also pulled the cam sensor cover just to check, it was dry inside and the seal appeared to still be seated. There also may be a small trans leak, i saw a drop of red fluid on the bottom of the casing, but ill worry about that later. I need a somewhat warmer day to get the car up on ramps and pressure wash off the undercarriage, there was oil all over the catyalitic converter, and the muffler. There sounds like there is a small exhaust leak around the cat too, luckily i see there is a replacement one from turbo back from magnaflow for like $450, so thats good news. Anyone ever used that one? I guess the next step will be running this through inspection and putting some miles on it before dumping any more money in to it.

Would you recommendi replace all of the injectors and 2 sensors with new? I really dont want this car to burn another valve. I would say it runs perfect, but is it something i should do just to be safe?

[shawnmacananny]

thanks again for all of the help. I took it through inspection today. It passed with no issues. After i had recently disconnected the battery, i let the car idle for an hour, and drove 17 miles there, all but the o2 sensor rediness tests had completed but i could have two incomplete to pass. No new oil leaks that i can see, but i did find the transmission overfilled by about an inch. I'm going to drain it all out and refill it with new fluid the next time i get a chance. It shifts fine even under full throttle. No hesitation and very solid shifts.