98V70 NA low oil pressure follow up

Post by **98v70dad** » 15 Dec 2017, 14:26

I had a low oil pressure incident a week ago and its taken me a week to get around to investigating. The only external issue I could find was a leak from the seal area on the oil filter on the aft side of the filter. The oil level was full and still was when I drained it.

So today I had planned to do an oil change on the volvo and see what I could learn from it. I drained the oil and there was nothing in particular concerning as it drained. There was one little blip as it was draining - maybe a clump of sludge.

Then I took the filter off. Two of the 4 holes on top of the filter were blocked by hunks of aluminum. There are crack faces on the aluminum that are oxidized meaning that the cracks had been growing for quite a while. Only half a mm of the crack face was shiny indicating the last little bit of metal that hung on when it failed.

So, something cut loose internally and I suspect the oil pump impeller. I would appreciate any comments or theories on what failed. The failed parts were in the space between the top of the oil filter and the engine block.. I attached a photo of what I found. I may dissect the oil filter tomorrow and see if it contains any more shrapnel. I let the filter drain today and after getting myself cleaned up didn't want to go back to handling the oily mess.

The 0.5 inch dimension is approximate - I didn't measure it. The thickness is about 0.125. Apparently part of my post got cut off. I'm appealing to anyone who can give me some insight on what might have happened and what to do next. All comments are appreciated.

Post by **theWIFES_S70** » 15 Dec 2017, 17:10

Found this image of some oil pump gears... certainly looks like it could belong here.

What a crazy failure...

Post by **June** » 15 Dec 2017, 17:21

What weight and type (synthetic, conventional) oil have you been using? Just curiosity on my part. June

Post by **98v70dad** » 15 Dec 2017, 17:33

June wrote: ↑15 Dec 2017, 17:21 What weight and type (synthetic, conventional) oil have you been using? Just curiosity on my part. June

10W40 synthetic for the past two years. 10W30 as recommended for the previous 8. No idea what the previous owners ran for the first 10 years.

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 15 Dec 2017, 17:40

theWIFES_S70 wrote: ↑15 Dec 2017, 17:10 Found this image of some oil pump gears... certainly looks like it could belong here.

What a crazy failure...

I don't believe those chunks would make it that far if they were from the oil pump but someone that has had that issue can likely confirm/deny that theory with actual experience.

I'd drop the pan at this point before doing any additional work. Check the pickup tube screen - you may have more momentos waiting.

Post by **98v70dad** » 15 Dec 2017, 17:43

theWIFES_S70 wrote: ↑15 Dec 2017, 17:10 Found this image of some oil pump gears... certainly looks like it could belong here.

What a crazy failure...

Yeah, could be. I'm hoping I can get some direction from people who know more than me. So far not much. Yours is the first helpful post I've gotten. I'd like to keep the volvo chugging along. Without help I'll have to sell it for scrap since I dont have time to screw around trying things and hoping.

Post by **98v70dad** » 15 Dec 2017, 17:47

wizechatmgr wrote: ↑15 Dec 2017, 17:40
theWIFES_S70 wrote: ↑15 Dec 2017, 17:10 Found this image of some oil pump gears... certainly looks like it could belong here.

What a crazy failure...
I don't believe those chunks would make it that far if they were from the oil pump but someone that has had that issue can likely confirm/deny that theory with actual experience.

I'd drop the pan at this point before doing any additional work. Check the pickup tube screen - you may have more momentos waiting.

Those chunks would have never made it through the pickup screen. I'm hoping that someone will post some information about the direction of oil flow - that would help me diagnose the source of the problem.

Post by **cn90** » 15 Dec 2017, 18:19

- What is the BRAND of the oil filter that you removed?

- Is the oil pressure OK now?

- How does the engine sound now?

These Volvo 5-cyl oil pumps last a long time...up to 400K or 500K.

Post by **98v70dad** » 15 Dec 2017, 18:41

cn90 wrote: ↑15 Dec 2017, 18:19 - What is the BRAND of the oil filter that you removed?

- Is the oil pressure OK now?

- How does the engine sound now?

These Volvo 5-cyl oil pumps last a long time...up to 400K or 500K.

Mahle oil filter. I didn't finish doing the oil change so I dont know how it sounds now. The car was towed home a week ago after the low oil pressure light came on. I tried to start it last Saturday and the metal crunching sound influenced me to turn it off after about 15 seconds. Something is seriously wrong...the big metal hunks didn't come out of nowhere. Could use some help figuring it out.

Post by **cn90** » 15 Dec 2017, 18:47

You might want to cut open the old oil filter to see if it is missing some parts?