oil leak S60 NA right side not cam seal

ashgoldS60 · Post by **ashgoldS60** » 22 Feb 2018, 16:32

I have a very small leak which drips on the plastic guard (right side) near crank pulley. I have removed timing belt cover and nothing is wet as far as belt or cam sprockets. It may be the interface of the head with block right at the right rear corner. To avoid making a mess of the undercarriage I simply tie wrapped a catch rag to the area behind the right center motor mount. Takes a couple of weeks before the rag is saturated.
Was their a problem with sealing the block/head/camcover sandwhich?

This car was clean until 110k and this is first leak in engine bay. I have repaired all the usual things(and everyone who has one knows the list is long) but I'm probably not going to bother with this one.

Post by **vtl** » 23 Feb 2018, 05:07

Did you ever check crankcase pressure? A glove over oil filler tube.

ashgoldS60 · Post by **ashgoldS60** » 23 Feb 2018, 09:27

One of the first checks I did showed crankcase pressure is negative. I have checked the oil filler port and it draws INTO engine. car has always had oil changes at 5k intervals with full synthetic. It's is not a PCV issue.

Post by **jonesg** » 23 Feb 2018, 14:40

ashgoldS60 wrote: 22 Feb 2018, 16:32 I have a very small leak which drips on the plastic guard (right side) near crank pulley. I have removed timing belt cover and nothing is wet as far as belt or cam sprockets. It may be the interface of the head with block right at the right rear corner. To avoid making a mess of the undercarriage I simply tie wrapped a catch rag to the area behind the right center motor mount. Takes a couple of weeks before the rag is saturated.
Was their a problem with sealing the block/head/camcover sandwhich?

This car was clean until 110k and this is first leak in engine bay. I have repaired all the usual things(and everyone who has one knows the list is long) but I'm probably not going to bother with this one.

What about the oil cooler.?

Post by **vtl** » 23 Feb 2018, 15:27

With the timing belt cover off you should definitely see where it is dripping from... The one on the side of engine, not top.

ashgoldS60 · Post by **ashgoldS60** » 24 Feb 2018, 10:12

oil cooler/warmer is below and to the left of leak. As i described, the oil comes down engine and drips onto the plastic guard just rearward of right center engine mount.

Post by **jonesg** » 27 Feb 2018, 01:57

ashgoldS60 wrote: 24 Feb 2018, 10:12 oil cooler/warmer is below and to the left of leak. As i described, the oil comes down engine and drips onto the plastic guard just rearward of right center engine mount.

Dye in the oil, uv light and glasses might help find it. They sell a dye kit for this.

ashgoldS60 · Post by **ashgoldS60** » 07 May 2018, 15:24

this weekend I pulled the timing cover and timing belt off in hopes that it was the crank seal or oil pump seals. The oil pump and crank seal area looked ok. The cams seals look fine and belt is not wet. The leak looks like it is coming from behind the inner plastic timing belt cover half. In order for me to see behind it looks like tensioners need to come off at least, maybe cam sprockets. I suspect the interface between the cam holder half's since it uses a chemical gasket but not many people have posted with that problem.
Also, there was mention of a threaded plug and gasket for the turbo supply line which is not used on the car since it is NA. I can't locate that plug. I see the return freeze plug but not the supply side. Really hate to dump this car but this oil leak may be a deal breaker

Post by **jonesg** » 07 May 2018, 20:34

Maybe if you took a photo with a pointer showing where the oil drips, drip implies it falls through the air. Or are you saying that's where it drips from?

When you say right corner of the block ,to me that says close to the power steering pump.

Post by **cn90** » 07 May 2018, 22:27

- My 1998 S70 GLT with 140K leaked at the exhaust cam seal, oil trickled down BEHIND the inner plastic cover and ended up just behind the crank pulley area. Cam seal leak is hard to detect simply b/c the oil leaks BEHIND the inner plastic cover.

- Clean the oil stain and starts monitoring the leak. You may need a flash light to look carefully into the cam seal areas.