1995 850 NA smoking badly from dipstick tube

[matt122s]

Hi All,
I don't think I made it clear the amount of smoke it is pushing out of the oil dipstick tube, it's not just wafting out. It looks like the exhaust stack of a diesel tractor trailer truck that was just started on a cold morning and it doesn't die down. Smoke billows out from under the hood when I drive and come to a stop light, as soon as I take off the smoke stops. As I said I have a 4' section of heater hose hooked up to the oil dipstick tube and the other end in an antifreeze container to catch any oil that comes out.
It has new valve seals as I had the head serviced at a machine shop when it was off, so I don't think it is valve seals.
It has all new PCV components and I checked the hose routing, they are correct, I removed the screen from the elbow at the air snorkel/throttle body. The oil pan was dropped and cleaned as well as the passages in the block.
I've gone over all of the DIY for PCV and I'm considering the 5/8 heater hose conversion or the modified oil filler cap on my car.
I just thought I'd check and see if there was anything else that might have caused it such as putting the incorrect head on.
Like I said it runs strong and Idles evenly, it gets up and goes on the highway and seems to shift great.
Thanks again, I'll check compression and go from there.
Matt

[matt122s]

I don't know the mileage, odometer stopped at 94,000. I don't know the maintenance history of the car so it might be worn rings. I hope not.
Thanks again,
Matt

[erikv11]

Good call on the flame trap, if the disc is still in there then just throw it away.

On the plus side worn rings is unlikely at all with these engines, at 92k it is extremely unlikely ... no harm at all in checking compression but you are probably correct that something else is going on. Plugged or mis-installed hose or component is 100x more likely.

[matt122s]

Well I did the compression test and it isn't pretty. I got the engine up to normal operating temperature, removed all the spark plugs, and held the throttle wide open ...

Cylinders: 1) 90 lbs. 2) 90 lbs. 3) 100 lbs. 4) 90 lbs. 5) 140 lbs.

I put a teaspoon of oil in each cylinder as per the Haynes repair manual and ran the test again...

Cylinders: 1) 150 lbs. 2) 120 lbs. 3) 125 lbs. 4) 120 lbs. 5) 168 lbs.

Even with all the plugs removed I noticed smoke coming from the dipstick tube as I was cranking the engine to perform the test.
When I was letting the car get up to operating temperature I noticed that if I put my finger over the dipstick tube and sealed it off smoke would start coming out from where the PCV hose enters the air intake snorkel.
I've decided to bite the bullet and perform an engine swap this weekend. I've done them on other cars over the years but they've all been RWD. It's not my daily driver yet, so if I get into trouble I'll be OK if it runs a little long time-wise. There are a fair amount of used 850 non turbo engines in the local wrecking yards. They seem reasonably priced anywhere from $200.00 to $600.00 with mileages in the 119k to 160k range. I thought I'd remove the engine and transmission out of my car as 1 unit and split it once it's sitting on blocks. I'll do the rear main seal, front crank seal, and all 4 cam seals. I'll drop the oil pan and make sure it's clean and rod the oil galley if needed. I'll transfer all the new timing components, water-pump, and PCV bits and pieces that I just installed on the engine that are in the car now. I'll make sure the PCV channels from the flame trap on the block are clear . Change all radiator hoses, motor mounts, axle seals.

Can anyone think of anything else to change or look out for while I have the engine out and apart? +

Also my 850 doesn't have an air pump, I was wondering if I could use an engine from an 850 that does have an air pump? Is the difference with or without an air pump simply dealt with by using the manifold from the original engine?

Would a turbo engine work if I swapped exhaust manifolds or would I run into compression issues?

It's a lot of questions but I really appreciate all your help.
Thanks, Matt

[abscate]

Matt...if you have the gumption to tackle this Volvo is going to work out great for you.

It's like driving a Benz at 1/10 the cost.

You will do great. Give some of the gurus a chance to chime in on the engine swap and for anything I have missed.

[cn90]

Matt,

I think your rings are worn. How many miles on that engine?

[erikv11]

OK I see I misread the odometer. Does your car have OBD1 box under the hood? If so, you can easily check the actual mileage that way. If the mileage is low then I am still in disbelief and hesitant to agree with the idea of a swap but I guess it could be so if the true mileage is up near 150k.

Your plan is spot on for a swap. When you drop the pan be sure to get the oil pump pickup tube seals, I think there are three o-ring seals involved for an NA. Buy these from Volvo. I would also buy the rear main seal from Volvo, I have never bothered to do the front crank seal but it is up to you. Oh, for sure do the front trans seal while they are apart, that is the only part that struck me as "missing" from your list. On cam seals only buy Corteco or SKF. Sometimes Elring will box up Corteco brand seals but other times the Elring seals are utter crap.

Air pump is completely external, doesn't matter one bit. If your car has EGR then you are stuck with that unless you get a donor engine/manifold and then ECU that was non-EGR. Turbo engine is a no go.

[matt122s]

Thanks abscate, I really do like Volvo's. My first few cars were all 122's and 140's in various forms. By the time I owned them they were already 20+ years old so I always had plenty of repairs/ maintenance to keep me busy. I just need to get psyched up to do this. It seems these days I don't have as much free time to spare.

Hi cn90, I bought it in January as a non-runner, it had overheated. The odometer says I think around 134k. I think that's when it stopped working, lol. Must have another 60 to 70k on it. The oil has been changed 2x since the head was replaced less than 100 miles ago and it's already almost black.

[matt122s]

Hi erikv11 Great idea for the trans input seal, I'll make sure I do that. I'll pay attention to the cam seal brand as well. As far as EGR is concerned, do I either have an air pump or an EGR valve? I know what an EGR valve look like and I don't see one. I do see some sort of valve/vacuum attachment under the throttle body. Is this where the EGR valve would be?
Thanks again, Matt

[erikv11]

That's the EGR valve location, under the throttle body.

http://volvospeed.com/volvo_repairs_how ... n_egr.html
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=19549

In 1995 no air pumps at all, some with EGR and some without.
http://new.volvocars.com/ownersdocs/199 ... n1995.html