1997 850 Problems after Change to Synthetic Oil

[plumsmooth]

Quick update after the cam seal finally leaked a bit of oil Mechanic has identified the problem.
We'll, sure, with a little help here and a trail of oil I identified it before him.

And this after a 362 dollar tune-up and I just had one [by him] two years ago at most but he doesn't keep records.

I might be digressing this thread a little by asking for an opinion on this but this whole thing has caused be a bit of stress, ironically mostly due to my inability to communicate with this guy.

Anyway he said the seal [he is still calling it a distributor seal] was dislodged and he glued it back in place. I didn't think those seals were held in with glue? And he said he switched me back to Dino for no extra charge.

I am going to ask him to split it with me I can not fathom spending almost 400 dollars to chase a trail of water 3 more screws past the rotor?

Surely this is a case of poor diagnostics?
I mean the water wasn't coming from the atmosphere.

Not to mention he sent me home and said i could drive local well luckily I didn't because I would have been on the side of the road.

When I got to the shop he had decided to move on to replacing a t-rod and a bearing on the front right.
But he never called to discuss moving on to those things maybe he thinks I have an endless supply of money...

This will probably be the last time I work with him because certainly he is going to get very angry when I suggest we split this one down the middle...

362 dollars to glue a cam seal back in place -- not even replaced for the 10 dollar price tag?

This whole thing just isn't sitting right and making me very angry...

[abscate]

This is a relationship you just need to end by never, ever going back.

To quote the infamous line..

"For 20 bucks, he is out of your life forever...."

Have you looked at the options in the Mechanics Forum ?? There has to be a funky Volvo mechanic up in Burlington..or 10....

[cn90]

All engine oil seals work by "press-fit", in other words, the OUTER diameter of the seal is a tiny bit bigger than the engine bore hole. The seal is installed by an adapter (or socket) and pressed in.

No glue ever (I might be wrong).

Time to switch mechanic. Better yet, learn how to fix car. It is never too late to learn a new skill, whether one learns to play piano, guitar or fix cars, even when one is 65 years old.

[plumsmooth]

For some reason I read these cam seal can come out with the tip of a screwdriver and back in by hand.

I think the smart thing would be to order 2 oem seals right away.

Honestly when I inspected the Volvo the other morning after small puddle of oil formed underneath rear seal area, there seemed to also be a little fresh oil on the cam sensor covering the other rear cam seal.

I think this might be a good starter job for me [unless his gluing solves the problem].

I think one of the cam seals may take a little longer but both can be dome at the same time in under 2 hours.

So I can figure out what tools I need and wait for a day above freezing.

I have officially decided to quip myself with the basic tool set for working on this 850, and since it looks as though I am going to end up with my Aunt's V70 this summer, I am hoping that tool set will apply {that is they didn't switch over out of metric when Ford bought Volvo}

[mika]

A basic metric set is all you need to start. Then as you work on stuff you figure out what you need to pick up as the need arises.

[E Showell]

To quote Monty Python & the Holy Grail -- "Run Away, run away . . . ." from your current "mechanic."

[precopster]

The "glue" is going to work however it will haunt the next mechanic when a new seal is fitted and he/she will curse at it. If it's silicon sealer it will be easier to remove however many mechanics swear by a brown smelly sealer that sticks to everything and requires much time to remove.

The fact it popped is some evidence toward having PCV pressure. Now you can test it yourself.

[plumsmooth]

I got my car back mechanic would budge much on the tune-up he said I needed most of that stuff and said that in terms of diagnostics that If a mechanic goes from a-d to finally figure out a problem, that he doesn't go back and remove the fixes he tried to get to that point.

He say however that there are other reasons a distributor cap would accumulate water through.

To me I can not help but wonder where else water would come from but further down the line, under the rotor and into the seal...

Currently my Volvo is smoking at the other rear cam seal, there is fresh oil there, and I think that one might be leaking too. I can not believe he didn't notice that...

He is however in complete denial that this change to SYNTHETIC could have anything to do with seals mysteriously leaking and moving...

Are there respective names to differentiate between the two rear cam seals?

Although he told never to come there again after I asked him to consider adjusting my bill based on misdiagnosing, after I payed him another 100 toward the 175 front suspension work, he was on better terms with me and told me to come back if things are not right...

I am going to show him tomorrow the oil on the cam sensor.
Unless it spurted over from the adjacent cam seal under the distributor cap then I also have another Cam Seal Leak.

It is also clearly smoking at dipstick and tomorrow I will perform Latex Glove Engine fill port PCV test to decide whether I need to immediately think about this part of the equation...

Honestly the most draining part of this is dealing with this angry male ego energy.
I have purged a few angry male friends from my life and this guy reminds me of the worst part of my dad.

I want everyone to know that sharing here on this forum has been a form of greatly needed therapy to get through this situation and to start my transition into Volvo Auto Mechanic.

I want to do this other cam seal myself; seems he could have done it at the same time if he had any sense. Before I beg for a how to I will search the forum and check my Haynes Manual!

Do I call them left and right rear cam seals?

[FLXC90]

Grasshopper, you are ready! the two rear cam seals are identical. Look for the tutorial, use a small sheet-metal or self-tapping screw, method is in several threads. The plate that holds the Cam Position Sensor on the rear cam installs only one way, if you install it 180 degrees off, you CAN force it on, but it will take work, installed correctly it will fit right in. Use nail polish or a permanent marker or something to make alignment marks during disassembly. Follow the step-by-steps, and you'll be happy.

After that, you will have the confidence to do the PCV yourself. In the meantime, keep your dipstick up and wrapped.

Good luck, we're always open!

[plumsmooth]

You guys are too nice and I am going to simply start by ordering a pair or OEM Volvo rear cam seals then survey my current tool selection and maybe decide on a set if needed, or better yet a few individual sockets I can drive to get with my Smoking dipstick lol ...

I am going to read the tutorial carefully the main thing for me with a bit of ADD is putting stuff back together after I got distracted on the relatively nice 32 degree day we occasionally have here in the Winter.

When I'm doing my Cam Sensor Rear Cam Seal [that's what I am calling that one for now] I may call my mechanic and ask him if would like a quick tutorial for free...!

I might, just to be fair to his glueing, give his reinstalled distributor cap seal [other cam seal] as he calls it, a chance.

Being chemically sensitive, I would prefer not to breath in oil fumes cause I do not like them...

BTW, what is the rag for on the dipstick -- to stop the fumes from rising up? and entering interior?
To keep the Dipstick in place...

My dipstick is stable and non moving an inch up...

I'm the kind of maniac that's going to get so into this shit that when I get my Aunt's V70 I am going to replace my 850's RMS just for fun one weekend.

BTW is there any way to open up a hole in the cabin to fix rms?

I mean like one of those metal cutting torches I forget what they are called. [edit Plasma cutters ah ha]

How could any manufacturer leave a need-to-be replaceable seal at 10 hours plus of work.
How about a port to access RMS...