New to Volvo - - Massive Oil Loss

[chrism]

Greetings, F250.

Back when I did the PCV service on my wife's S80 (also 2.5T) I found the main culprit to be part #13 in this IPB:

http://www.volvopartswebstore.com/showA ... evel=11156

It's job is two-fold, providing a vacuum source for the PCV system, and also to deliver hot coolant to a "warming" tube running parallel with the large vacuum tube around to the back side of the engine.

In my case the hard plastic vacuum tube portion of part #13 became clogged and was impossible to clean out due to being old and brittle - I broke it trying to clean it out. I toyed with the idea of using a piece of generic vacuum hose the repair it but decided against that. This part is about $40 from Volvo.

The rest of the system seemed wide open and in good shape so I didn't replace the big expensive part #8. Hose #6 had ruptured some time earlier so I had already replaced it with the updated/improved design from Volvo. Check it out and make sure it's not split open just above the breather box. Also, I flushed out the box with carb cleaner. You'll also want to blow air into the crankcase through the two ports that parts #2 and #4 connect, with the oil filler cap off, just to be sure they aren't obstructed. If they are free-flowing then I don't see any reason to drop the sump - just my opinion here.

The toughest part of the job will be accessing the last manifold bolt which is partially hidden be the thermostat housing. If I ever have to do this job again I may explore the possibility of replacing that bolt with a torx head just to make it easier to get a tool on it.

Good luck!

[sleddriver]

While I don't have it, I do see where Red/Green color blindness would make green difficult to discern.

I don't think I've ever seen E85 where I live. Wish I could even buy 100% gas!

Glad to hear he owned up & pitched in to remedy his mistake. Sounds like you all had a good father/son building experience and he learned a valuable lesson. Cheers!

[F250]

UPDATE... running for two days with the dipstick slipped up for engine venting, and the oil level has not changed at all.

Parts and tools arriving now.. camshaft/crankshaft R&R kit and the cam locking master kit is are both in hand (the neighbor's cam lock tool would not work well with the dual VVT cams because it locked both cams simultaneously with no way to be working on one while the other remained locked down). Both the tune-up package (Vovlo plugs, engine 7 cabin air filters, and fuel filter) and the timing & water pump kit arrived yesterday afternoon. More parts coming today and tomorrow.


I have also realized that I neglected to plan for having the oil pan gasket and o-ring seal kit on hand. Looks like it's going to be a local stealership purchase. Oh well, I'll probably go ahead and get a few extra copper crush washers for the PCV banjo bolt in case I lose one or more during the re-install effort. To avoid losing little items like that, though, I will often use a tiny dab of either high-tack grease or thin skin of high-temp RTV as a temporary "glue" so they don't drop into Never Never Land.

[F250]

UPDATE:
Made some decent progress this weekend, but I may also have screwed up the timing. I forgot to mark the intake camshaft before removing the pulley, but I did notice the approximate location of the marks before removal. Hoping I got it back in the right spot, or maybe off by only one tooth, two at worst. I DID manage to mark the exhaust cam before replacing its seal.

Observations...
1- The rear cam seals are dry with the slight hint of oily residue, but I honestly believe that all cam from the top of the cam cover and simply weeped into the opening around the cam positioner. I'm inclined to think they're really OK, but I have the new seals and ill replace them anyway just to KNOW.
2- The exhaust cam seal/pulley had the most oil loss indicated.
3- Both cam pulley's have some in/out play, only 1.5-2.2 mm at most. There is NO radial play whatsoever.
4- The timing belt, water pump, tensioner, and idler all seemed to be in good condition. The belt is just beginning to show tiny indications of surface cracking on the outside, but all the cogs and the inner surface looked virtually new. I am suspecting that this work actually was done at the correct interval, but I'm replacing all those components regardless just so I KNOW that I know.
5- The oil drain port from the PCV oil trap into the block was not completely plugged in the top side horizontal section, but I cleaned out what I could find, and will verify and clean out the bottom side of the port routing when I drop the pan later this week.
6- The intake manifold and TB are thoroughly cleaned and ready to go back in. There was a good bit of varnish and carbon buildup inside the TB, but that would be normal for 166K miles, and it was still working well before all of this anyway. Regardless, they are both back to a very clean condition.
7- The seal on the oil fill cap was hard and obviously leaking by as there was a lot of oil pooled in the crevices on top of the cam cover which had also weeped down both ends of the engine.
8- It really sucks to have a non-serviceable thermostat "assembly" when we all know good and well that the stat and internal gasket CAN BE economically replaceable parts. Regardless, there is enough corrosion residue showing on the stat where I'm going to replace the unit altogether. Although I can theoretically convert back to the earlier version which has the serviceable internals, and would do so if it were MY car, I'm not going to toss that variable into my daughter's situation for her to have to keep up with.

Questions...
1. Is the above described in/out bushing play in the camshaft pulleys a problem, or is this normal? Again, there is no radial play at all. Those pulleys are NOT cheap (~$270 each), and I really would like to avoid pushing that additional expense to my daughter if I can, but I also don't want to leave her with a liability.
2. BIG ONE... since I still have the intake manifold off, and believe I have the exhaust cam pulley set in the correct position, can I confirm TDC on the intake pulley by using the intake valve positions as guideline? If so, how do I do this? Obviously, I would rather not play the trial and error routine when I start the engine back up, but since I am going to be waiting a couple days for the new t-stat and getting the pan dropped and cleaned out, I have the luxury of some time to work this out while it's all still open.

[abscate]

I'll let the P2 experts chime in on the pulley play, but one thing to note

These marks are not TDC marks. They are marks to ensure cam clearance. We have had a couple of people mess up badly confusing this.

[F250]

Thanks for that clarification. I only referred to them as TDC out of ignorance and in effort to use some sort of reference.

I've read elsewhere of another guy's experience with the hub play, and when he replaced his exhaust hub it had 4-5mm of axial play which is at more than twice what I have. I've also been finding that the need for hub replacement on these dual vvt cams is not that uncommon at higher mileages, and it seems that the exhaust hub is the one which wears the fastest.

I've got to pull the trigger on getting parts today if I'm going to be able to finish the job this coming weekend. I'm inclined at this point to replace the exhaust hub and do a "wait and see" on the intake hub, but I sure would appreciate some input from the experts on this issue.

[F250]

Since I'm running out of shipping days, I went ahead and ordered the two hubs from Tasca so I can have them in time to complete the work this weekend.

In the meantime, I would still like to hear if someone more knowledgeable than myself feels that I'm overreacting and being too cautious because I can always just return the parts.

[F250]

No additional insights, thoughts, or suggestions on my two issues?

I still need to get my timing set since I hastily removed the intake cam before marking it. My new cam hubs should arrive today, and I'll be taking tomorrow off to try to get this group of tasks completed so I can move on to other home projects with the wife.

[sleddriver]

I have read your updates, however I don't have any practical advice for you. The Sled is about 10yrs older than the S60 and has no VVT. I've never pulled the pulleys myself.

As previously stated the timing marks are NOT to be confused with TDC.

[abscate]

Ive got a howling (slight) Exhaust VVT hub that has been growling for about 15k now. No plans to replace.